UKClimbing.com News

Yesterday, the Hallett boulder, ~3300m above sea level, in the RMNP, saw some action. Alex Puccio flashed Fireball, 7C+, making it look easy, according to Jamie Emerson. Very few women have flashed this grade. Chris Webb-Parsons, who was there too, now felt he needed to "woman up" and promptly flashed Stranger in a strange land, 8A+. Chris says he was just lucky, but if you consider he just bounced back from a flu and that he's been, in his own words "spent almost 2 months sitting on a couch...

Andy Gullsten has now spent three weeks or so in the Averstal/Magic wood. The weather hasn't exactly been on the 18-year-young Finn's side, but it seems it's got at least slightly better. Yesterday he did Steppenwolf, for his second 8B of the trip. The first was One summer in paradise, which is an extension to Pura vida, traversing more or less the whole block from left to right, before getting to the spicy finishing crux. Last week, Sakari McGregor reported Andy was getting really close...

Swiss climbing photographer and, according to reliable sources, exceptional osteopath, Fred Moix recently managed to send a nice couple of boulders at Fionnay. First he made the 3rd ascent of the majestic Permanent Midnight, an 8B highball, and then the also 3rd ascent of Seveso , a low end 8B (according to Fred). These two boulders were both previously climbed by Dave Graham and Romain Desgranges. Fred is no stranger to 3rd ascents after these two chaps, having also done previously the 3rd of...

In this weeks' Friday Night Video Adrian Baxter climbs the classic F8b Tuppence.

"Anstey's is a really special crag—it contains perhaps the only piece of rock in England that is comparable to steep Spanish limestone, and on it is a very special route, Tuppence..."

Alex Honnold has soloed the Regular Northwest Face (VI 5.12a, 23 pitches) on Half Dome and The Nose (VI 5.9 C1, 31 pitches) on El Capitan in Yosemite, California - taking just over eight hours for both routes.

"We chatted a while and he walked off to the Nose, with a considerable rack and a rope. He muttered something about having read Han's book about speed climbing last night and was eager to see how the roped solo stuff would work for him..."

The next round of the Bouldering World Cup is this weekend at Eidhoven in the Netherlands.

There is a live video stream of the event, which kicks off this afternoon.

Nina Caprez has switched from multi-pitch climbing on Sardinia, to single pitch climbing at Céüse. Some of the pitches here are mighty long though... and as she felt she was used to it, she decided to try The black bean, a 70m monster of an 8b+. Unfortunately it started raining after her first try on it, and she had to wait. After a few days she returned and found it wet... so, while it was drying she did Le chirurgien du crepuscule, a really hard 8b and not exactly a boulder problem either,...

Over a hundred climbers have registered for this year's BMC British Bouldering Championships to be held this weekend in Millhouses Park, Abbeydale, Sheffield.

The BBC's are over two days and are being held in the same marquee and competition wall as the following weekend's IFSC Bouldering World Cup being held at the Cliffhanger Festival.

Ethan Pringle has made the 3rd ascent of Dai Koyamada's +65 mover The wheel of life in the Hollow mountain cave, Grampians, Oz. Dai, who gave it 8C+, felt it would warrant a route grade of 9a+, whereas Ethan, who's quite a bit taller (don't know if it makes any difference) feels 9a is closer to the mark. But then again, he felt Biographie/Realization was 9a too, so who knows... I'll try to get a hold of the man for a short interview asap. Source: 8a

I mentioned yesterday, Brion Voges had a low gravity day in the RMNP, dispatching Don't get too greedy, 8B, Top notch, 8B, and The Centaur, 8A+. As usual, Jimmy Webb was handy with his handy cam and caught it on video. With the snow melting fast, and with people like Graham, Cardwell and Jorgeson getting back in the bouldering game things are bound to be heating up in the park.

Jen Randall reports on the current buzz around Dumbarton:

So far this season at Dumbarton Rock, a storm of new lines and hard ascents have been put up by a group of strong young bucks...