Climbing April/May 2019

Sucking in briny air, my left foot pasted on a smear and fingers pawing waxy edges, I exhaled and launched for a spiny crimp. “Whooo!” I latched the hold and stood into a scoop. Only two more cruxes guarded the top of Freedom, a 140-foot 5.12 on the Point, a limestone bluff at the tip of Cayman Brac, a tiny Caribbean island south of Cuba. It was the last climb of our crew’s 10-day editorial trip, and I wanted to end on a good note by redpointing the route. At the anchor, I looked down to where Nina Williams, belaying, stood lashed to a glue-in. She appeared tiny against the immensity of the escarpment and the swirling blue sea. Earlier, a sea turtle had floated by, diving through clear waters to…

ABOUT FACES I love the article about Alex Johnson (climbing.com/alexjohnson). As a Midwestern boy, it’s cool to hear about a local star giving back to her hometown community. My one correction is that in the second sentence it says that the “Hudson River” runs by Hudson, Wisconsin, when in fact it is the St. Croix River. TONY PROBASCO, VIA EMAIL IS CRAGSTERS TOO HARSH? Love your mag, but I have one concern and it’s the Cragsters page. I don’t have thin skin and I’m not “bent,” but what gives with the generalizations and stereotyping? I would never stop reading your mag because of it and will simply not look at the final page. I find the climbing community to be open and welcoming to diversity, and it seems like you’re poking fun at people.…

“I draw pretty much exclusively while riding public transit on my commute,” says Shawn Lee, a motion and interactive designer for Porter Airlines in Toronto, Canada. “I use a Col-Erase for roughs, then ink using a brush pen, and then fill in tones using grey markers. It’s pretty bumpy on transit, but I’ve gotten used to compensating.” Lee’s pictures of famous climbers like Daila Ojeda, Matilda Söderlund, and Kathy Karlo (shown here) usually take about three legs of the commute—or 90 minutes. Lee began climbing in 2009; these days, he mostly to propes or leads in the gym while his wife, Laura, gets outside more. “When our daughter is a little older, I’d like to get her out and rebuild my climbing practice,” says Lee. Climbing has helped shape Lee’s…

I use nail polish—blue and green are my colors. Don’t buy cheap nail polish, or it’ll wear quickly! BRAD AUSFRESSER Kristina and I broke out the Dremel tool and engraved our rack a few years ago. ANTHONY JOHNSON I use thin blue electrical tape on my biners—I put it there while I’m sitting around, waiting for summer to return. CRISTIANO VIEIRA I decorated my Grigri a long time ago. CHRISTINA LIU I make two passes with Krylon pink spray paint. No matter how much wears off, one of the crevices in the gear will always have pink in it. JOSHUA FIGHTMASTER I mark my gear with colored tape. Be sure to stick the tape on places with the least amount of wear-and-tear. KOBE BURDACK All this year, Metolius is giving away a sweet prize to the best Re-Gram photo—check our social channels…

Where do you get your climbing gear?* 51% I hate having to put on pants, so I always shop online. 6% Who buys gear? Have you seen Free Solo? I don’t need materialistic possessions weighing me down as I ascend the mountains of my soul. 38% The guys at the local gear shop not only give me a discount, they also constantly uprate my projects. I support small businesses. 5% The Camp 4 Kiosk, the board at the Superbowl bathrooms, and “Dreadlock Carl” at the Squamish campground offer great deals if you’re willing to get into the back of a cargo van to see the goods. *Based on 170 responses I buy my gear at Mountainworks in Provo, Utah._It’s attached to the gym where I started climbing. They were so helpful and encouraging to me when I first started climbing—my…

• Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change, and the Race for 5.14 This rollicking book is a welcome trip back to the 1980s, the decade of greatest change—and conflict—in America, when resting on the rope and rap bolting were taboo. Jeff Smoot, a partner of Todd Skinner, one of the “hangdog” pioneers, takes you from the Valley to Smith to Index, often with Skinner. With engaging writing and research, Smoot’s book is a pleasure, even as it details the uglier incidents (bolt wars, Yosemite rope-shitting, Index crack greasing!) in American climbing. Without the 1980s, our sport would not be where it is today, a lesson Hangdog Days artfully conveys. $22, mountaineersbooks.org • Rock Climbing Technique: The Practical Guide to Movement Mastery This compact, user friendly manual is a great resource for developing technique, a foundation…