Climbing February - March 2017

CLIMBER Michaela Kiersch ROUTE The Golden Ticket (5.14c) LOCATION Red River Gorge, Kentucky On November 14, 2016, Chicago climber Michaela Kiersch added The Golden Ticket (5.14c) to her 2016 tick list, a résumé already stacked with area classics like Lucifer (5.14c), Pure Imagination (5.14c), and Thanatopsis (5.14b). First ascensionist Adam Taylor originally suggested 5.14d for The Golden Ticket for its 75 feet of powerful reaches on small holds. Kiersch describes it as “riddled with big moves and powerful jumps, including a full-on, double-hand dyno” to a tricky slot. In between college (Kiersch is a senior at DePaul University) and competitions, Kiersch made the seven-hour drive to the Red nine times this fall. She says, “It feels like home, [where] the trees, sandstone, pizza, Ale-8, locals, non-locals, and windy Kentucky roads all combine into paradise.” ANDY WICKSTROM CLIMBERS CLIMBERS Tom Randall…

[Berne Broudy] A climber, skier, and fat-biker living in Vermont, Berne Broudy fell in love with the snowy peaks and blue waters of Greenland on her first visit. “Greenland has a way of worming itself into your heart,” she says. When she heard about a climbing initiative to address the area’s social problems, she had to get involved. She writes about her fi. h trip to the island in “Climbing to a Better Future” (p.64). [Sasha Turrentine] Growing up with an old-school Yosemite Valley climber for a father, Sasha Turrentine was following multi-pitch routes in California by age 6. While trad climbing was bred into her, Turrentine spent a decade on the youth-competition scene before moving to New York City and falling in love with gear again. For this issue, the photographer explored…

“HOW CAN YOU NOT FIND IT INSPIRING?!” my friend exclaimed. “It makes me want to try really hard!” We sat in my van at the Red River Gorge, waiting out the rainy weather and arguing over whether Adam Ondra sending the Dawn Wall was inspiring or not. I was underwhelmed by the feat because it’s Ondra—there’s never really a possibility of failure. He sends everything. “I’m not wrong for thinking it is inspiring, though,” my friend said. “It’s just a matter of opinion.” Of course, he had a point. If my friend told me his favorite color was blue, would I list the reasons why he was wrong? A few weeks later, when editing the feature on Ondra’s achievement (“New Dawn,” p.72), I realized just how monumental it is to climb…

cwag wabbit This is my friend’s crag rabbit, hanging out in the Little Rain Cave in Kunming, China—a great little cliffnestled amidst the farmland. Seeing a crag rabbit was a first for me, so I thought I’d send along a picture. —Michael Hook, via email ED. You did the right thing sending us this photo. Adorable crag pets are always welcome! Elitist Athlete Your Isabelle Faus profile (tinyurl.com/gpz6oht) was interesting. It’s fun to shine a light on the silent crushers and share other climbing perspectives with the community. However, I was turned offby one quote—“Sponsorship companies would rather put money into cookie-cutter Barbies and CrossFitters. I’m a rock climber and I don’t fit into their box, so they simply aren’t interested”—which I found bitter, elitist, and condescending; it’s the type of thing that promotes division…

Levi Parchen goes all-points-off for the finishing jug at.Lolo Pass, Montana. —CHRISTOPHER GIBISCH I’m small, so learning dynos when I fir st started was a big thing for me. And to be honest, I’ve never looked back. —GEORGINA JACKSON Snagged this photo of myself on Deliverance (7b+/V8) at Stanage Plantation, UK, with a 30-second timer. —MICHAEL HANBY Brian Barry sticks the dyno on Icky Sticky (5.12a) at Forgotten Wall in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. —JAMES DUNNET Josh Finkelstein makes the crux dyno on The Evictor (5.12+) in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. —ROB KEPLEY (@ROBKEPLEY_PHOTOGRAPHY) Me sticking the dyno on Shosholoza in Rocklands, South Africa, this August. —RYAN COSMAN In South Wales, UK, searching the Preseli Hills for the next great classic. The search still continues, but this 7a gave us a great picture. — SIMON RAWLINSON Two-year-old Ben goes for the dyno at Moonstone Beach, California. —STEVEN HUGHES Thanksgiving…

WHILE THE REST of us have been playing add-on at the gym, the folks at Augmented Climbing Wall have taken climbing-based games to a new level. First launched as a research project in Finland, the Augmented Climbing Wall became an internet sensation after videos of the interactive games hit the web. With a camera, projector, and computer software, the project’s developers have created an interactive game of plastic pulling. We spoke to CEO Raine Kajastila about the platform and its development. Describe the Augmented Climbing Wall. It combines motion tracking and projected graphics to create fun but challenging interactive games, as well as more serious training applications. Basically, you can point our system at an ordinary climbing wall and turn it into a huge touchscreen and gaming platform. What sparked the idea? When I…