Rock Climbing News


11/23/2009 12:58 PM
Harrogate Climbing Centre is Coming!
In January 2010, Manchester Climbing Centre (MCC) will be opening the doors of Harrogate Climbing Centre and giving you another great place to climb! The centre will have over 65 roped lines, bouldering, abseiling and auto belays.

As with MCC, there will be a great cafe on site and plenty of easy parking. The centre is in easy reach of many of Yorkshire's top crags, and so will be a great wet weather alternative as well as regular training venue.

For updates and info keep an eye on www.harrogateclimbingcentre.com If you are local to Harrogate, MCC is also currently recruiting for full and part-time staff- more details on the website!

For more details, please visit www.manchesterclimbingcentre.com..


11/23/2009 12:58 PM
Andy Cave Tour Autumn 2009
Internationally acclaimed mountaineer and ex-coal miner Andy Cave is set to travel around the UK this autumn with his gripping lecture show Learning to Breathe.

Andy Cave is a figurehead for British Mountaineering, with more than 20 years of desperate routes to his name. Aged just 20, he became one of the youngest mountaineers ever to climb the North Face of the Eiger, an achievement made all the more remarkable as just 4 years earlier, Andy was working 3000 feet underground at Grimethorpe Colliery in South Yorkshire.

Andy's story of transition from Yorkshire coal miner to one of the UK's best climbers is a gripping and compelling tale. Traditionally a gentleman's sport, a young coal miner from Barnsley was an unlikely mountaineer. His journey from the blackened grime of the pit to the breath-taking Himalayan summits is both moving and startling. His gritty insight into the turmoil of the miner's strike - which ravaged his local community - and his audacious decision to break with family tradition and seek out a life of adventure in the mountains is a tale of tremendous courage and ambition.

For more details, please visit www.speakersfromtheedge.com.


11/23/2009 12:58 PM
Silvia Fitzpatrick Climbing Hard in Spain
Silvia Fitzpatrick is one of the best female climbers in Britain and she has just climbed her second route graded with a difficulty rating of 8b. This makes her only the second British female to have climbed more than one route of this difficulty.

She reports that she climbed the route - Golpe de Calor - a couple of days ago on a trip to the Spanish region of Andalucia. The route is located close to the town of Villanueva del Rosario on the massively overhanging limestone walls of the Chilam Balam cave. This cave rose to prominence 4 years ago when the hardest route in the world (Chilam Balam 9b+) was claimed here and since then some of the worlds best climbers have come to the cave to try the route.

Talking to one of her sponsors, DMM Climbing, Silvia said: "I had been trying Golpe de Calor - Heat Wave in Spanish - in the Chilam Balam Cave for six days, spread out over the last two weeks of October and could mostly only make one attempt each time as the route was so physically and psychologically draining. This is only the fifth ascent of the route overall and the first female ascent. The first half of the route uses tufas and crimps to climb a twenty degree overhanging wall, followed by a desperate roof that is climbed on undercut tufas and slopey footholds. The route stays hard all the way to the top and has a very technical top wall with a minimum of footholds. Plus the protection is quite sparse and so you can take some big falls."

Silvia explained: "I found the route quite hard because I could not get a crucial kneebar rest below the overhang - my leg is just not long enough plus my right foot is pinned so I don't have much movement in it. I wasted a day trying to get my foot and knee to stick before deciding that I was wasting more energy than I was saving. On the day I finally succeeded on climbing the route I initially fell off very close to the top when a small hold broke; I did not think I would have enough power left to give it another go, but managed to fight my way to the top."

Silvia Fitzpatrick was South American climbing champion and made the first female ascent of Cerro Fitzroy in Patagonia before being invited to Europe to climb the North Face of the Eiger for a television program; shortly after this a climbing accident put her in hospital and a wheelchair for over a year before she started the long struggle to climb again. Silvia had to learn how to climb in a completely new way because of the severe damage to her feet and legs, but trained relentlessly to eventually win the British climbing championships and compete all over the world with the British Climbing Team.

Silvia's time is divided between the UK and Andalucia where she runs climbing courses. She had been worried that, after a busy summer working in Snowdonia as a climbing instructor, she might have lost too much fitness. During this hectic period she was only able to manage after-work evening sessions on her fingerboard. However, this clearly helped when she was able to climb regularly through October, after arriving in Spain for the winter. Silvia's take on it is: "It has not rained for months in southern Spain and the beauty of the long days and dry weather is that it allows you to do a lot of climbing even if you have work most of the day."

The full story is on her climbing blog: rockclimbingcompany.blogspot.com

Source: www.prlog.org



11/23/2009 12:58 PM
Buff, Inc. Sponsors Jordan Romero with Product
Santa Rosa, Calif., - Buff, Inc., known for stylish, versatile and multifunctional headwear, is sponsoring youth athlete Jordan Romero with 200 custom Jordan Romero UV Buff for re-sale on the Jordan Romero website (www.jordanromero.com). Proceeds from sales of the Jordan Romero UV Buff will aid Romero in his quest to be the youngest person in the world to climb the highest mountain on each continent, "the Seven Summits."

"Buff, Inc. is proud to have the opportunity to sponsor Jordan with custom Jordan Romero UV Buff headwear," says Shirley Choi Brunetti, general manager and vice president, United States. "Buff, Inc. feels strongly about supporting Jordan and the next generation of outdoor enthusiasts."

Having just turned 13 this past July, Jordan Romero, a native of Big Bear Lake, Calif., only has two peaks remaining on his list of the world's seven highest summits: Mount Vinson Massif on Antarctica and Mount Everest. Romero aims to climb the remaining mountains before the end of 2010. For additional information and to support Jordan's quest by purchasing a custom Jordan Romero UV Buff, please visit the Jordan Romero website (www.jordanromero.com).

The UV Buff protects against 95-percent of damaging UV rays and can be worn over 12 different ways to accommodate different temperatures and offer a custom fit. The UV Buff is made from CoolMax fabric to provide superior moisture wicking and dry comfort properties, as well as helping to reduce skin temperature and maintain hydration.

All Buff models, except for the Wool Buff, incorporate Polygiene technology for active odor and sweat control by releasing non-toxic silver ions to break down odor-causing bacteria.

Please visit the Buff, Inc. website (www.buff.es) and Social Media Release webpage (www.verdepr.com/smr/buff) for new products, as well as up-to-date company news, a "how-to-wear" demo video, images and much more.

Source: www.outdoorindustry.org


11/23/2009 12:58 PM
Irish Bouldering League - Round 2
Round two of Irish Bouldering League will be held on November 21, 2009 at the Play At Height, Dingle.

Kindly sponsored by Patagonia, and supported by Mountaineering Ireland, the Irish Bouldering League (IBL), this will be taking place at various venues across Ireland this winter.

21 Nov 2009: Round 2 - Play at Height, Dingle
5 Dec 2009: Round 3 - UCG, Galway
16 Jan 2010: Round 4 - Middleton, Cork
Round 5 - To be confirmed

For further information, visit www.climbing.ie or go to www.mountaineering.ie.

Source: www.mountaineering.ie