Climbing October 2016

CLIMBER Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll FILM Dodo's Delight LOCATION Baffin Island, Canada In the summer of 2014, Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll, Ben Ditto, brothers Nico and Olivier Favresse, and their 79-yearold captain, Reverend Bob Shepton, packed onto the Dodo's Delight, sailing the small ship on the rough seas between Greenland and Ba n Island. The men fought freezing temperatures and battled sketchy all-free big walls on their trip, establishing 10 new routes between 400 and 1,000 meters long. Telluride Mountainfilm, which awarded "Dodo's Delight" the Charlie Fowler Award, called the movie "the epitome of adventure." CLIMBER Brette Harrington FILM Brette LOCATION Squamish, Canada This Tahoe, California native grew up ski racing most of her young life, but found climbing when she moved to the Northeast for high school. Brette returned west for college to the granite playground of Squamish, which opened her eyes to redpointing.…

OCTOBER. The very mention of it sends a tingle down climbers' spines. Across the country, the mercury is dropping into that sweet spot that makes the air feel drier, the rock feel stickier, and the holds feel bigger. It's the single best month to climb outside, whether you live in Washington, Tennessee, or anywhere in between. While we dedicated this entire issue to that glorious time known as Rocktober, there was a surprising theme that subtly revealed itself in many of the stories: the climbing gym. Climbers fall into two camps: anti-gym and everyone else. The former group tends to blame "gym climbers" for overcrowding, littering, and abusing outdoor crags, but it's not that simple. Just because you started in a gym doesn't make you a music-blasting, nature-destroying, disrespectful maniac, and…

[Jackie Hueftle ] Based in Boulder, Hue le works as a setter for The Spot and co-owner of the hold company Kilter. She met V14 climber Isabelle Faus six years ago near Consuela, a V7 established by Hue le in Hueco Tanks. Describing Faus as "quiet, nice, and impressive," Hue le has enjoyed watching Faus progress "into one of the strongest women in the world," chronicled on page 26. [Matt Rhodin] A er taking a NOLS climbing course four years ago, this Massachusetts native bought a pair of shoes and a crashpad. When he wasn't skiing or drinking beer during his college years, Rhodin climbed at "little but awesome crags" in the Adirondacks and spent weekends at the Gunks. In this issue, he interviews Jonathan Siegrist about his adventures with Swiss sport climbing (p.20). [Dr.…

DIVERSE GUNKS I wanted to comment on the "Diverse Voices" letter by Amy Hafer [September 2016]. I am a minority (Korean), and I love rock climbing. My husband got me into it a few years ago. At my best I could climb Gunks 5.8+, and I have done some multi-pitch. While I agree that the majority of the climbing community is white, I have seen many minorities climbing at the Gunks. STALE SEXISM CARD I appreciate what you are trying to do in the women's issue [September 2016], but I found this issue alienating as a woman. I do not connect with many of the articles, specifically with statements found in "Accept and Adapt." A good spotter is a good spotter, and I don't care what sex they are. Good beta is good…

SWITZERLAND IS KNOWN by the climbing community for its stunning and challenging alpine objectives, like the Eiger and the Matterhorn, as well as the premier bouldering venue of Magic Wood. American sport climber Jonathan Siegrist spent May through July of this year touring Switzerland in an effort to experience, in his opinion, the under-appreciated sport climbing areas scattered throughout the country. What inspired you to explore Switzerland? I came to Switzerland for the first time two years ago. I knew that there was really good bouldering and that the alpine climbing was really rad. But I didn't know much about the single-pitch sport climbing scene. When I got to see it I was like, OK, this is legit. I tried to come back last year, but the weather was awful. Where exactly…