The lead World Cup this weekend, the first such since 1991, will kick off with—but of course—a parade.  Opening Ceremonies will begin at 7:00 Friday evening, October 7, on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, attended by all athletes. Sixty-seven climbers from 14 countries are registered, with 31 North Americans among them. (See all contestants here.)

The mayor of Boulder, IFSC officials and Phil Powers, executive director of the American Alpine Club, which is a partner in the IFSC event, will speak.

Powers says, "Climbing takes many forms, and the AAC has long encouraged climbers to pursue their dreams. Competition climbing pushes the envelope for all of us. "

The comp will occur over the following two days at Movement Climbing and Fitness Center. Qualifiers start at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with a two-route flash format; with semis on Sunday at noon, and finals at 7:00 Sunday evening.

The Boulder event is the sixth in a circuit of 10 lead WCs, the latest only last weekend in Belgium. It was dominated

Do longstanding projects always morph into V15s when Daniel Woods visits an area?  

Just two days ago, while spending time in Magic Wood, Switzerland, Daniel cranked the sit-start to the famous V11 Muttertag, now dubbed Mystic Stylez and given V15.

“The sit adds in four moves of frontal body power to the one-move dyno of Muttertag,” says Woods. “The line seems straightforward, but when you actually pull on and do the moves, the style changes.”

Woods elaborates, “I named it Mystic Stylez because the style of the climb starts out chopped-n-screwed and finishes with a powerful dyno. The differences between the two styles are significant.”

Regarding the grade, Woods has suggested V15 for the line but he feels that “like every ascent, time will tell.”  

He says, “The breakdown is a powerful 8B (V13) directly into a one-move 8A (V11).  For me it was hard to slap a grade on the climb, but it felt harder than some of the shorter 8B+s that I have completed recently.”

Courtney Sanders, Woods' wife, has also been climbing well, having completed three V11s while in Silvretta, Austria, before the two moved on to Switzerland. In Magic Wood Sanders has put down the classic highball Blown Away (V8) and Man of the Cow (V9).  

Sanders has temporarily left Switzerland to check out the climbing in Finland, while Woods continues his two-month stay in Ticino, Switzerland.  

“I want to repeat The Story of Two Worlds (V15), From Dirt Grows the Flowers (V15) and Big Paw (V15),” says Woods.  “After that I have projects that I am eying up before heading to Italy to try Gioia” in Varazze.

Gioia, established by the Italian climber Christian Core and suggested at V15, translates to “joy.”   The problem has yet to be repeated, although Adam Ondra climbed the stand-start at V12/13.  Ondra commented on his 8a.nu scorecard, “[S]it is another level, 8C+ for sure.”

Is Gioia the hardest boulder problem in the world? Again, time will tell.

[Daniel Woods on Mystic Stylez. Photo by Courtney Sanders.]

The new issue of Rock and Ice is out, and features Ammon McNeely's report about his second ascent of Wings of Steel, the controversial route on El Cap that went unrepeated for nearly 30 years. Critics called the route an unnatural bolt ladder, while experienced wall climbers who attempted it were all thwarted, until now. Central to the often heated debate is the amount of drilling on the route. Here, for the first time, you can compare the first ascent team's topo to one from McNeely. The top topo is from the FA. Drag onto desktop for better resolution.

Mayan Smith-Gobat has posted on Facebook that she sent the 3,000 foot Salathé Wall (VI 5.13b).

"Thanks for all the bday wishes," she posted from Yosemite. "Just got off the Salathe! Bday sendage!!!"

Smith-Gobat had attempted the route in  2010, but was thwarted by a five-day rainstorm.  

Having returned to Yosemite Valley this fall with the Salathé Wall as her main goal, Smith-Gobat reported on her blog, “My season in the Valley has been filled with psych, I have become very comfortable on the slick  granite slabs and perfect splitter cracks of El Capitan and my sights have been broadened. I have spent most of the last few weeks building up my fitness and re-familiarizing myself with the crux pitches of the Salathé Wall.”

The Salathé Wall was first free climbed in 1988 by Paul Piana and Todd Skinner, opening central El Cap’s first free route.  In 2005, Steph Davis sent the 32-pitch line for the first female ascent.

Rock and Ice will post more information as it becomes available. Meanwhile Smith-Gobat has been receiving congratulations from friends all over the world.

She is the subject of a Rock and Ice Spotlight interview in issue 193 (page 24).

[Photos by Max Farr]

Jonathan Siegrist found the dreaded Rifle kneebar. Yep, sure enough, the new Rifle testpiece Shadowboxing, which Siegrist completed Saturday after a week of effort and suggested a rating of 5.14d, might only be 5.14c. Rats!

Siegrist discovered a mid-crux kneebar only yesterday, two days after his first ascent, while cleaning the route for others to try.  

“I think to some extent I really didn't want there to be a kneebar anywhere and so I didn't look too adamantly,” says Siegrist. “I kept thinking of Chris Sharma—that dude never wears knee pads!!”

Though finding better beta on a route is nothing unique, it does have a prominent history in Rifle, where cryptic (but often easier) sequences don't immediately reveal themselves.

Despite the downgrade to 5.14c, Shadowboxing’s first ascent is the coup de grace to a stellar Rifle season for Siegrist.  Having claimed the second ascent of Bad Girls Club (5.14c/d), and quickly dispatching Waka Flocka Flame (5.14c), The Crew (5.14c), and Planet X (5.14a), Siegrist might have had the best Rifle season ever.

Rock and Ice caught up with Siegrist on a rest day.

So what’s up with Shadowboxing?

It's a power endurance climb through a sea of underclings. It has very distinct boulder problems that are separated with a tenuous shake at best, and finishes with a brilliant pocket and edge crux up high dubbed the 'Ten Sleep Zone'.

So how did you find the kneebar while cleaning yesterday and not while working it?

Hahaha. I was dangling for a while above this dull undercling that defines the crux-- where before I was always below it. It's hard to say how much this knee bar will affect the climb, but even without it I may have been tempted to lower my grade estimate, just to keep things honest.  

A 14c FA in Rifle.  Are you stoked?

Yes! I'm so dang excited to have the chance to add a route in Rifle, and such a brilliant one at that!

What did you think about the scene in Rifle?

Rifle is super social, more than any crag I've ever been to. I definitely prefer to climb in more solitude, but spending time there really helped me to develop some new friendships and meet people. I think like most 'scenes', sometimes it can get you down, but for the most part, the more you get involved the more you enjoy it.

What were your favorite things about Rifle?  Not so favorite?

The canyon is beautiful! Especially right now. The climbing was challenging and really helped me see a lot of growth as a climber in just a few weeks. I met a number of new rad people.
However, by the end I was ready to move on. Three and a half weeks of camping has worn on me a little. Plus basically every one of my projects was best in the evening (Shadowboxing wasn't really climbable until almost 5 p.m.) and I was getting tired of killing time and waiting all morning and afternoon.

So you’re heading to Kentucky?

I'll be in Kentucky and West Virginia starting this weekend and into December (depending on weather). I am focused on finding a challenge and ambitious to apply myself to my own next level. I'd even be psyched to find a route that is too hard for me, one that I'd have to leave for next season. I've been feeling ready to make a breakthrough in my climbing and I'm hopeful that it'll be this fall.

Check out Siegrist's blog here.

[Siegrist cruxing sans kneebar on Shadowboxing. Photo by Andy Mann.]

The Slovenian Charakusa expedition of 2011 was successful in establishing a new alpine-style route on K7 West (6615 meters).

The route, The Dreamers of Golden Caves, is located in the Karakoram range and was the result of four Slovenian alpinists, leader Urban Novak (age 25), David Debeljak (26), Luka Strazar (22) and Nejc Marcic (26).  

Strazar and Marcic comprised the summit team of The Dreamers of Golden Caves, which they established from September 6th through the 9th.  

Strazar says, “We climbed the route in 4 days. The lower part was manly ice and upper part was manly rocky passes and mixed climbing.”

The routes description is VI/5, M5, A2, 1600 m.

The Dreamers of Golden Caves is only the second route to summit K7 West, the first being established by Slovenian alpinist Marko Prezelj and Americans Steve House and Vince Anderson in 2007.

Prezelj commented on the new route saying, "I congratulate the boys, for they were really active during the expedition. A new route on K7W is an excellent achievement - and only the second one to top out on its summit."

[The Dreamers of Golden Caves.]

[Luka Strazar and Nejc Marcic on the summit of The Dreamers of Golden Caves. Photos courtesy of Charakusa 2011 Expedition archives.]

Registration has closed for the lead-climbing World Cup this weekend in Boulder, Colorado.

Both Sasha DiGiulian, who is from the Washington, D.C., area, and Vancouver's Sean McColl made the finals at last weekend's World Cup in Puurs, Belgium, further brightening their solid prospects.

But not on the list is Jain Kim of Seoul, winner of the Belgium event, and the 2010 overall World Cup winner, at the top of her abilities at the moment.

Last week she confirmed to Rock and Ice that she would be attending the Boulder event.

The website 8a.nu reported early this week that she would not: "Jain Kim ... has made a FB comment in regards to not been able to compete in the USA WC the next weekend, 'Korean Alpine Federation and Sport Climbing Committee, are you happy now that I'm not going to the USA Worldcup? You're not even a bit sorry to me. You'd rather think you're able to control athletes your own way. Happy now?'"

Jonathan Siegrist just upped the ante in Rifle, Colorado with his recent send of Shadowboxing, which he believes is 5.14d.

Siegrist writes on his blog, “while warming up at the Project Wall I gazed across the canyon at a long standing open project bolted by Nico Favresse and attempted over the years by Tommy (Caldwell), Dave Graham and Andy Raether among others.”

Siegrist eventually found a sequence for the unclimbed line and began making links on what he dubbed the Shadowboxing project.

He writes, “With every attempt on the project, sussing beta, cleaning here and there I became more and more excited about really investing in this forgotten monster.”

On Friday, September 31, Siegrist linked past the last bolt and with only an eight-foot section of 5.10 guarding the anchors he broke a handhold and found himself quickly on the end of the rope.  

Undeterred, Siegrist returned on Saturday and sent the climb, now officially called Shadowboxing, on his last attempt of the day.  

Siegrist describes Shadowboxing on his blog writing, “It's the big boys version of Living in Fear - no knee-pads, no valuable resting and a complete pallet of stylistic challenges.”

Regarding the grade, Siegrist writes, "It's difficult to compare it with more broken up, knee-bar laiden, steep routes like The Crew 14c, Bad Girls Club 14c/d and Girl Talk 14b although I do feel that it is a step up from said climbs.  I feel it is adequate to suggest 14d for my new route based on my recent experience climbing on the Western Slope- although, like anything (especially in this Canyon), only repeats and time will help decide where it belongs amidst the plethora of burly climbs in Rifle."

[Siegrist on Shadowboxing. Photo by Andy Mann.]

Ice climbers, get ready: the season for swinging tools lies just around the corner.

In fact, tickets for this year’s Arc’teryx Bozeman Ice Festival go on sale this Saturday, October 1.

The 15th Anniversary Bozeman Ice Festival is honoring the vision of climbing pioneer Jeff Lowe.  Lowe is one of the forefathers of ice climbing, having established climbs such as Bridalveil Falls (WI 5) in 1974, which paved the way for vertical waterfall ice climbing in America.  Lowe, who is fighting a rare neurodegenerative disease, will be in attendance to celebrate the sport he helped develop.

Taking place December 7th through the 11th in Hyalite Canyon, the festival hosts instructional clinics by pros such as Kitty Calhoun, as well as after-climbing entertainment at Bozeman's Emerson Cultural Center with guest appearances by John Bragg, Margo Talbot, Henry Barber, and more.  

On Friday and Saturday night (December 9th and 10th), the Emerson Theater in downtown Bozeman will debut a multimedia presentation, narrated by the Montana alpine guide Joe Josephson and the filmmaker Chris Alstrin, that celebrates the sport’s colorful past.

[Yvon Chouinard on the third ascent of Repentance, North Conway,  New Hampshire. Photo by Henry Barber.]

Also the same weekend, Minnesota’s Sandstone Ice Festival kicks off with gear to demo, slideshows and more.  Check it out at www.sandstoneicefest.com.

Not far behind, the 16th Annual Ouray Ice Festival will take place January 5th through the 8th.  Touted as the largest ice fest in North America, this four-day event, with shows, dinners and an elite-level ice-climbing  comp, is not to be missed.  For details visit www.ourayicefestival.com.

Here is a list of more ice climbing festivals to choose from:

January 13th-15th- The Adirondack Mountaineering Festival. Keene Valley, New York. Clinics, Slideshows, and demos.  For more information visit www.mountaineer.com

January 20th-23rd- The 14th Annual Catskills Rock and Snow Ice Festival. Shawangunks, New York.  Gear testing, clinics, and more.  Visit www.rockandsnow.com

February 3rd-5th- The Mount Washington Valley Ice Festival.  Clinics for both beginners and advanced climbers, slideshows, and gear demos. See www.ime-usa.com

February 17th-20th-The Southfork Ice Festival. Cody, Wyoming.  “The friendliest little ice festival in the Northern Rockies.”  Featuring clinics, demos, and music from the Teka Brock Band.  See www.southforkice.com for more information.

February 17th-20th-Valdez Ice Climbing Festival. Valdez, Alaska. The frozen waterfalls of Alaska have long drawn climbers from around the world.  This ice fest was started in 1984 by Dr. Andy Embick. For updates on this event check out www.alaskagold.com/ice/

March 8th-11th-Agawa Canyon Ice Festival. Ice climbing and winter camping on the Northeast shore of Lake Superior. Check it out at www.northofsuperiorclimbing.com

If there is an ice fest not included in this preview please let us know by posting the festival on our events calendar.

British climbers Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker recently spent a couple of weeks in Vedauwoo, Wyoming, home to many of America's  offwidth testpieces. They ticked most of them before turning their attention to another offwidth capitol, Moab, Utah. While in Vedauwoo, the duo climbed six 5.12s including Squat (5.12b), Trip Master Monkey (5.12b) and Wings and a Prayer (5.12c), as well as a couple of 5.13a's, including the iconic Lucille (5.13a). Whittaker made a rare onsight of Lucille and Randall climbed the route second go. According to Alex Ekins, the British photographer accompanying the climbers, the idea for the trip occurred while Randall and Whittaker were sport climbing in Kalymnos, Greece and vowed to climb the world's hardest offwidths. They returned to the UK and constructed an offwidth-specific gym in Randall's basement. Last March the training paid off when the duo succeeded on the UK's hardest offwidth, Gobbler's Roof, believed to be mid-5.13. For photos and more info on the "Wide Boyz" blitz of America's hardest offwidths go to Alex Ekin's blog.