This Week in Climbing #5 (November 15, 2015)

This is a roundup of all of the best rock climbing-related news from the past week. Feel free to submit things to me throughout the week if you have a climbing blog or come across a great video or find something else that you think is interesting. And if you want to subscribe to This Week in Climbing via email, there is now a signup form in the sidebar.

– Tristan

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New on The Undercling

• What’s a sandbag?

Good Climbing Videos

• What Does It Take to Climb 9a (5.14d)?
• Osprey Packs | Climbing in Escalante Canyon, CO [2:55]
• ‘The Dagger’ and ‘Mensch und Maschine’ – Toehook Teachers [2:30]
• Joshua Tree ’14-’15 [7:31]
• Ground Up [8:22] – Putting up new routes in Vermont
• Federica Mingolla – Mont Blanc Climbing (Digital Crack) [9:12]
• The 14-Year-Old Female Rock Climbing Phenom [6:52]
• Climbing Ice – The Iceland Trifecta [16:10]
• The Green Bridge of Wales – Pembroke [4:49] – A beautiful video with a beautiful soundtrack.
• Alex & Thomas Huber´s dream of sending Latok 1 | Pakistan | adidas Outdoor [5:04]
• La Diga di Luzzone [3:52] – The highest-artificial climbing wall in the world.

Climbing News

• Winners of the 2015 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival at Gripped
• Two Magic Wood 8B’s in one night for Dave MacLeod at UK Climbing
• Second Ascent of [El Cap’s] The Secret Passage for Whittaker and McManus at UK Climbing (With links at the end to the climbers’ blog posts. See also the Gripped article.)
• Monte Cimo: Nicola Tondini climbs three new 8a multi-pitches at Planet Mountain
• NEPAL
  • French climb new route up Dazampa Tse in Nepal at Planet Mountain
  • Sherpa and American Teams Climb First Ascents in Rolwaling Himal at Alpinist
  • New Big Mountain Routes Climbed in Nepal at Gripped
  • First Ascent of Gave Ding by Fowler and Ramsden at UK Climbing
  • Tragedy on Nilgiri South at Alpinist
• Dark waters, ~8B, by Alex Puccio at UK Climbing (See more at Planet Mountain and DPM.)
• Frankenjura 8a+ for 11 year-old Josh Ibbertson at UK Climbing
• Fatalities on Snake Dike and Washington Column at SuperTopo
• New Jasper Rock Climbing Guidebook at Gripped
• Mike Foley Sends the Fly (5.14d) at DPM
• Dani Andrada repeats Chilam Balam, ~9b at UK Climbing (See also DPM.)
• Adam Ondra and Mina Markovic win Lead World Cup 2015 in Kranj at Planet Mountain

Climbing Articles

• Unbelayvable: Steep Routes and Swings at Climbing
• Why We Fall Off—the Relative Performance of Four Muscle Groups at DPM
• Climbing Gyms: The Saga Continues at The Stone Mind
• Battling Gender Stereotypes in Climbing at Crux Crush
• Don’t Just Boulder: How to Get Stronger for Climbing, Faster at Alli Rainey
• The Bulgarian Duo Leading an Indoor Rock Climbing Revolution at Bloomberg Business
• The biological secrets that make Sherpas superhuman mountaineers at CNN
• A Jack In The Box In The Chalk Bag by Spenser Tang-Smith at The Climbing Zine

Gear and Book Reviews

• Book Notes on Learning to Fly by Steph Davis at Gripped
• ‘The Ghosts of K2’ Adds Twists to the Early K2 Saga at The Suburban Mountaineer (See also Book Review: Ghosts of K2 by Mick Conefrey at the American Alpine Institute Blog)
• Field Tested: Patagonia Houdini Jacket at The Alpine Start
• Petzl Dual Connect Adjust and Connect Adjust Lanyard – The best and most versatile personal anchoring system. at Ontario Climbing

Trip Reports

• Route Profile: Bloodline (5.11a, II+) at American Alpine Institute Blog
• A Crag-Date in the High Country at Cragmama
• Earning My Santa Hat Immunity by Dave MacLeod
• Tangra Tower Cory Hall Memorial expedition in Pakistan’s Khane Valley at Planet Mountain
• The Long Way Up the Owen-Spalding at SummitPost– A solo of Grand Teton
• Shouting Out an Open Window Between Two Worlds at No Skin Left – A blog post detailing climbing trips to the Red River Gorge and Smith Rock State Park.
• Finishing the Secret Passage at Dan’s Blog
• Solo on the Prow at SuperTopo 
• Beggar’s Buttress at SuperTopo – Just a topo.
• Nose In A Day! at No Retreat, No Surrender!
• Right Dovetail – Month 11 of the LPP – A mixed route on Longs Peak

Interviews

• Petr Blaha’s quantum leap on Abysse at Gorges du Loup at Planet Mountain
• 6 Questions with Champion Rock Climber, Alex Honnold! at Vromans.com

Other

• The new SuperTopo Newsletter is out.
• Poaching the Eiffel Tower Climb at Adventure Journal (See also this video.)
• Sprinter Van Buildout: Van Living 4 at Steph Davis
• Alex Honnold’s book Alone on the Wall came out this week.
• Tom Frost Documentary – And Indiegogo campaign to raise money for a documentary about pioneering Yosemite climber Tom Frost.