The brothers Pou (Iker and Eneko) just visited Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and climbed two first free ascents on two of the area's big walls. Iker also repeated Wolfgang Güllich's testpiece Southern Comfort (5.13d), tacking on a start that plumped the grade to 5.14b. Check out this video of their trip and visit planetmountain.com for the full story.

Yuji Hirayama has just cranked the roof crack Greenspit 5.14a in Italy’s Valle dell’Orco.  

The website 8a.nu quotes Hirayama’s Facebook post, which states, “Back from Italy.  I did the Green Spits (I think it’s more like 8b+ with placing gears) second go!  Short trip but great satisfaction.”

Greenspit was originally climbed by the Swiss crack master Didier Berthod in 2003.  Berthod first climbed the line with pre-placed gear before returning to send while placing all gear on lead.  Greenspit traverses a 40-foot roof and was originally equipped with green bolts, which is how the climb received its name.  Berthod chopped the bolts before sending the pitch and graded it 8b+ (5.14a).

Greenspit has been credited as the hardest crack climb in Europe.  Featured in the movie First Ascent by Sender Films, the crack remained unrepeated for five years until Nico Favresse of Belgium nabbed the second ascent in seven tries.  Tom Randall of the U.K., who has recently made headlines for his offwidth skills, made the third ascent. (See full report here).  Stevie Haston, also hailing from the U.K., made an impressive flash of Greenspit in 2009.

Although widely known for cutting edge sport climbing, Hirayama is no stranger to climbing hard cracks.  In 2009, he made the sixth ascent of the iconic Cobra Crack (5.14) in Squamish, Canada.  He has also made ascents of other notable cracks climbs such as The Sphinx Crack (5.13b/c), Pheonix (5.13a) and Cosmic Debris (5.13b).

Magnus Midtbø has claimed the second ascent of Nordic Flower (5.14d) at the newly developed granite cave in Flatanger, Norway.

Midtbø writes on his blog, “Without a doubt the most beautiful route I have ever done.”

In early September Jorg Verhoeven established Nordic Flower,  a 55-meter roof climb located in what is now being called the Hanshellern cave. (See full report here).

Proposing the grade of 9a /5.14d, Verhoeven wrote on his blog at the time, “I do hope that some people will try this soon (Magnus [Midtbø] and Dani [Andrada] are on their way next month), 'cause it’s so damn nice.”

After repeating the climb, Mitdbø commented, “I’m not sure about the 9a grade, but on such a beautiful route I don’t think the grade even matters.”

Mitdbø, 23, is a leading climber from Norway.  Often traveling more than 250 days a year, Mitdbø has made fast repeats of some of the world’s hardest climbs including Dani Andrada’s hybrid boulder/sport climb Ali Hulk extension sit-down start 5.15b.

Check out this video of Midtbø bolting routes in Flatanger's Hanshellern cave.

Here is another video featuring the Hanshellern cave.

[Verhoeven on Nordic Flower. Photo by Saku Korosuo.]

Of Ramon Julian Puigblanque, Chris Sharma once jokingly said: "He is so strong, he actually makes me want to quit climbing."

But then he added, seriously: "He's the strongest climber I've ever seen climb."

"Ramonet" Julian Puigblanque arrived in Colorado last week for the first lead World Cup on U.S. soil in two decades. Puigblanque entered the finals round on Sunday evening tied for second place with Sean McColl, and was certainly a favorite for the win. However, a height-dependent dyno early on seemed to discriminate against the 5'2" competitor, and Puigblanque fell--the only finalist to not even reach the dyno hold. After lowering down, he was professional, but his face appeared notably disappointed.

"These were not the results I had hoped for," Puigblanque wrote on his blog. After the comp, Puigblanque, along with fellow Spanish compatriots Edu Marin and Toni Roy, planned to visit Rifle for a couple of days of climbing. It would be safe to say that the Puigblanque's performance in the last two days has more than made up for his disappointing World Cup finish.

On the first day, Puigblanque onsighted Der Stihl (5.13c), the Bride of Frankenstein (5.13d) and Slice of Life (5.13d). He also tried to onsight Zulu (5.14a), but fell at the crux--a V9 dyno. After pulling back on, he casually climbed to the top, calling the line a beautiful route.

On day two, Puigblanque onsighted Living in Fear (5.13d), shaking out in the worst possible places, and making the super-sustained testpiece look like 5.10, according to witnesses. After onsighting Living, Puigblanque returned to the Wicked Cave, and surprised himself by onsighting The Crew (5.14c), one of the hardest routes in the canyon. The performance was a true "a muerte" fight to the end. Some of the hardest moves on the route are right at the top, and are said to be especially hard if you're short. Puigblanque did not wear knee pads.

This onsight of The Crew is, without a doubt, the hardest onsight in Rifle history, and probably the hardest onsight ever recorded on American soil. To put this into perspective, no 5.14 has ever before been onsighted in Rifle, a place notorious for cryptic, hard-to-read movement. 5.14c onsights, in general, are rare, with only Adam Ondra, Ramon Julian Puigblanque and Patxi Usobiaga having ever climbed the grade first try, with no knowledge. Prior to Julian's visit, the hardest recorded onsights in Rifle were Yuji Hirayama's onsight of Sometimes Always (5.13c), Francois Legrand's onsight of Present Tense (5.13d) and Dave Graham's onsight of Gropius (hard-as-nails 5.13d). (Graham also flashed Slice of Life (5.13d)).

After onsighting The Crew, Puigblanque finished his day with a final send of Tomb Raider (5.13d), of course, also onsight. As with most World Cup climbers whose time on real rock is limited by training and competitions schedules, Puigblanque is psyched to get back to training for the next World Cup, slated to take place in Amman, Jordan.

Hayden Kennedy and his fellow alpinist Kyle Dempster have returned from an impressive first ascent of Hassan Peak, located in the Charakusa Valley, Pakistan. ( See report here).

"Before I went on the trip, people were like, 'You’re going to Pakistan, really? That seems like a bad idea,' Kennedy told Rock and Ice.  "But Kelly Cordes had been there like four times and my friend Josh Wharton had been there six times, and they were like, 'Dude, don’t even worry about it.'

Kennedy and Dempster spent three days climbing Hassan Peak, enduring two storms and climbing rock, snow, and ice to summit a first ascent in Pakistan's Karakorum range.

Rock and Ice caught up with Kennedy, 21, today (October 12,) to discuss climbing in Pakistan.

It's almost pull down time for City Rock's annual Ice Night in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Taking place Saturday, November 12, the unique indoor ice comp features tool demos, free pizza and beer, as well as a cash purse for competitors including 500 dollars for the first place winner.  The event kicks off at 2:00 p.m. and the pro comp begins at 7:30.  A slideshow by Andres Marin will also take place at the event. Ice Night costs 25 dollars for a day pass or 10 dollars for a comp spectator pass.  To enter the pro comp competitors must complete the qualifying route and pay 25 dollars.

For more information visit www.climbcityrock.com.

Here is a video from last year's event.

Below is a report of 2010's Ice Night results:

Indoor ice comps – next big thing?

By Alison Osius

An indoor competition last weekend in Colorado Springs, Colorado, showcased athleticism, a cash purse, a cheering audience and a beer party. Yet the CityRock Climbing Center event was a bit different from most: If a climber dropped a tool, the tool stayed dropped. Competitors wore gloves and helmets. This was the Pro Indoor Ice Brawl.

An indoor ice-climbing comp is a funny notion, yet perfectly logical, and the UIAA hopes to create a circuit in North America.

Says Brian Gallant, who won the locals’ event on Friday night and was fifth Saturday, “Comp was great! City Rock has held an ice event before and it is always a great turnout and fun. I can't believe this has not caught on more—it's the best crowd pleaser!  I think it would be awesome at the Trade Show in SLC or to start a series here in Colorado!”

Says Terri Parham, co-owner and designer at Iceholdz, an event sponsor, who has been communicating with UIAA officials in Switzerland, “We are also hoping that in the future, the winner will have an automatic invite to the Ouray Ice Festival.”

The event winner, Justin Spain of Albuquerque, intends to compete at Ouray. Other contenders, such as one 19-year-old, were only just learning about various ice-climbing events, or were perhaps talented climbers newly learning to dry tool.

Iceholdz provided ice-like molded holds for the routes. Other holds that look more like regular gym grips but are designed for drytooling were also used. UIAA rules would dictate use of crampons, though with gym owners reluctant to damage their walls, this event used rock shoes instead. Next year it will require crampon use.

The three-day ice fest began on Thursday, November 11, with demos and instruction, and featured a friendly locals’ and rec climbers’ comp on Friday night. The top three finishers in a field of 12 qualified for the pro invitational on Saturday night.

Justin Spain, a rock and ice climber and backcountry skier who guides for Beverly Mountain Guides, Albuquerque, walked away with the win and $250, David Nickel of Colorado Springs took second and $150, and Canmore, Alberta’s, Gord McArthur was third for $100.

Some women participated on Friday night, although none on Saturday.

This was the fourth year CityRock has held the event, but the first year in its new location, formerly a theatre, creating ideal viewing.

The few venues in this country to host similar events include the Portland Rock Gym in Portland, Oregon, and Cranmore Climbing Wall, North Conway, NH, as part of the Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest.  

A portion of CityRock proceeds went to the Catamount Institute (http://www.catamountinstitute.org) for ecological stewardship.

Pro Comp Results
1    Justin Spain    Albuquerque, NM    Sect 3, 4:20
2     David Nickel     Colorado Springs, CO     Sect 3, 4:25
3     Gordon McArthur     Canmore, BC, Canada    Sect 3, 5:54
4     Marc Beverly     Albuquerque,NM     Sect 3, 6:09
5     Brian Gallant     Colorado Springs, CO     Sect 3, 5:47, 2nd attempt
6     Andres Marin     Grand Junction, CO     Sect 2, last hold, 4:15
7     Kurt Ross     Colorado Springs, CO     Sect 2, 1:50
8     Daniel Battin     Colorado Springs, CO     Sect 2, 3:19
9     Matt McKinley     Colorado Springs, CO     Sect 1, 1:16

Hayden Kennedy and Kyle Dempster stormed the mountains of Pakistan this fall, making the first ascent of Hassan Peak, circa 6,300 meters.

"It was a good adventure with a good friend," Kennedy told Rock and Ice.  "There wasn't one pitch that was more fun than the others, it was just the whole experience of getting up and down the route safely that made climbing Hassan Peak special."

Kennedy wrote on the Black Diamond website, “The mountains of Pakistan are unreal and for an alpinist it’s a dream come true to get a chance to travel to the Karakoram.”

The climbing on their route up Hassan Peak involved a little of everything, from granite rock to WI5 to M5.  Dempster and Kennedy spent two nights and three days climbing the route and had both good and bad weather during their ascent.

Kennedy had traveled to the Karakoram Range with fellow alpinist Kelly Cordes.  Dempster, who had been riding his bicycle for seven weeks throughout China and Kyrgyzstan, joined the two in Pakistan's Charakusa Valley.  The trio climbed several established routes,  including Tasty Talking (III 5.10+, ca. 300m), on Nayser Brakk (circa 5,200m).  While Cordes was hampered by the six surgeries, including both a shoulder and knee reconstruction, that he has endured this year, he wrote on his blog, "I spent 30 days in the Charakusa Valley, an immaculate place that I’m psyched to have visited again (I was there in 2007 as well), along with young guns Kyle Dempster and Hayden Kennedy. They’re both beasts, phenomenal all-arounders (man, I’m so impressed with the younger generation!) and great people."

Dempster, 28, recently made climbing headlines worldwide for receiving the 2010 Piolet d'Or award along with partners Jed Brown and Bruce Normand for their epic alpine ascent of China's Xuelian West.  To read more about Dempster's climbing adventures check out the Rock and Ice Spotlight in issue 186 here.

Kennedy, age 21, is an accomplished all-around climber.  He has sport climbed up to 5.14c with a repeat of Rifle's The Crew, led the run out Bachar Yerian (5.11c R) in Tuolumne Meadows, and made a ascent of Fitz Roy's Supercanaleta (1,600m, TD+ 5.10 90deg).  He is featured in the Spotlight section of Rock and Ice 197.

Jakob Schubert powered through the crux of the men's finals route this evening to pull off a near-unbelievable sixth World Cup title in a row.

"I keep thinking that someday this has to end," he said after the event.  "But then I win again."

Schubert climbed confidently on the finals route at the lead climbing World Cup in Boulder, Colorado, making several moves past the other competitors' high points before falling.  The orange holds of the route required a powerful and bouldery sequence complete with jumps and upside-down beta trickery that drove a crowd of 1200 psyched fans at Movement Climbing + Fitness into a frenzy.

Boulder's own Matty Hong had climbed first among the eight male finalists, and pulled smoothly through the opening boulder problems before giving the crowd its first view of the crazy sequence through the route's crux.  Hong executed the initial moves into that section, and then fell just below the seventh quickdraw, finishing the World Cup in sixth place. The Frenchman Romain Desgranges also climbed fluidly into the crux,  falling several moves higher than Hong, thus making it on the podium for third place.  Japan's Sachi Amma made rapid progress on the route, falling a few moves below Schubert's high point and tying Desgranges in the finals to clock second because he was ahead in the semifinals.  The current World Cup Champion Ramon Puigblanque of Spain fell low on the route when he missed the big dyno below the fourth clip; the Canadian Sean McColl also fell low, slipping unexpectedly from the holds just after sticking the dyno.  Solid efforts by both Manuel Romain of France and Jorg Verhoeven of the Netherlands landed them in fourth and fifth place respectively.

[Top:  Ernst for the win! Age 18 now, Ernst won her first lead World Cup in 2008 at age 15, and won three such in 2009. Hitherto this year, she had yet to make a World Cup podium—until now topping one. Photo by Jacek Giecold. Second photo above: Schubert may have been fourth in semis, but in finals he took his customary place: at the top. Photo by Christopher Parker. Immediately above: Sean McColl, second in semis, is shown here in finals just before unexpectedly falling. Photo by Christopher Parker.]

While the event was sadly absent the defending women's World Cup Champion, Jain Kim of Korea (see explanation here), the women's final started off with a bang as Japan's Akiyo Noguchi moved quickly up the sustained finals route, even, while pausing at a rest, gesturing to the crowd to cheer her on.  Noguchi fell at a long move to a slender pinch that was the key to turning the roof to the finishing headwall, and placed sixth.  Strong performances from Austria's Angela Eiter and Japan's Momoka Oda, who each climbed to the same crux, placed them in fifth and third place. The USA's Sasha DiGiulian, 18, also climbed well, moving confidently through the extremely steep boulder problem just under the seventh clip before eventually falling at the same very hard sequence.  Charlotte Durif of France fell at the sixth clip and finished in eighth place while Maja Vidmar of Slovenia climbed just under Oda's high point to finish fourth.  Mina Markovic of Slovenia, who had been first after semifinals, looked very strong on the route, causing the event's announcer to comment that she was "shredding."  She static-ed the long move and fell on the headwall above it,  finishing on the podium in second place.  The night of the World Cup finals belonged to Johanna Ernst, however.  Ernst, 18, floated powerfully past the high points of all the other women finalists. Gaining the pinch hold that spit off all the other women except Markovic, Ernst secured a proud World Cup win in Boulder, Colorado.

Results and more photos below. See all semifinal and qualifier results here.

[A smiling Noguchi asks the crowd to cheer her on. Photo by Jacek Giecold.]

[Above two: Matty Hong, hometown fave in the finals, climbs confidently, and is unfazed by the Rose (turnaround) move. His psyched boosters gave him a standing ovation. Both photos by Jacek Giecold. Following two photos: Sasha DiGiulian hasn't missed a finals field yet this year. She comes off at the popular fall spot, the powerful move through the top roof. Photos by Jacek Giecold.]

[Oda, Ernst and Markovic on the podium. Photo by Christopher Parker.]

[Desgranges, Schubert and Amma share the podium. Photo by Christopher Parker]

Finals results, World Cup, Boulder, Colorado, October 9:

Women

1. Johanna Ernst (AUT)

2. Mina Markovic (SLO)

3. Momoka Oda (JPN)

4. Maja Vidmar (SLO)

5. Angela Eiter (AUT)

6. Akiyo Noguchi (JPN)

7. Sasha DiGiulian (USA)

8. Charlotte Durif (FRA)

Men

1. Jakob Schubert (AUT)

2. Sachi Amma (JPN)

3. Romain Desgranges (FRA)

4. Manuel Romain (FRA)

5.  Jorg Verhoeven (NED)

6. Matty Hong (USA)

7. Sean McColl (CAN)

8. Ramon Puigblanque (SPA)

The crowd went wild as Sean McColl quickly launched past the highest point of any previous climber at today's semifinals of the lead World Cup in Boulder, Colorado.  Falling just short of the top, McColl, of Vancouver, not only qualified for tonight's finals, he tied in the round for second place.

Hosting the first lead World Cup on American shores in over 20 years, the Movement Climbing + Fitness center presented two burly routes sitting center stage for the men and women who had advanced from the qualifying round.

The men’s route sported a tricky sequence that stymied the first few climbers at the fifth clip.  The Americans Ian Dory and Carlo Traversi both put in solid efforts,  and Matty Hong finally broke through and climbed past the sixth quickdraw, securing a spot as the only U.S. male in the eight-person finals field.

Romain Desgranges of France was the next climber past that crux bulge, pushing higher and falling just below the vertical ending.  Then it was Jorg Verhoeven of the Netherlands who also climbed past the crux, only to fall just below the slab.  

Canada's McColl, Ramon Julian Puigblanque (Spain), Jakob Schubert (Austria), and Sachi Amma (Japan) all climbed impressively smoothly through the crux of the route but all fell just one move from the top.  These climbers are likely to be battling for the title tonight. Schubert enters this event with five straight previous wins, Puigblanque is the defending overall World Cup Champion, and Amma was second at the most recent World Cup, in Puurs, Belgium, only last weekend.

The women’s route also proved difficult for the first climbers of the day.  The first strong attempt came from Angela Eiter of Austria, recent winner of the Arco World Championships, pulling over the lip to the final few moves to secure a spot in tonight’s finals.  The route received its first flash from another Austrian climber, the teenaged Johanna Ernst.  With perfect style, Ernst executed a heinous match on a tiny crimp mid crux before continuing on to the top.   

America’s Paige Claassen and Chelsea Rude both made valiant efforts on the route, and Sasha DiGiulian from team USA climbed into the finals.  The women’s semifinals ended with another impressive flash of the route, by Mina Markovic of Slovenia, who is second in the World Rankings and first in the IFSC rankings for ISFC World Cup comps. Eiter is third in the World Rankings, which include the World Championships, which occur only every other year.

[Four out of the eight finalists relax while watching the end of the Semifinals. From left: Jorg Verhoeven, Sean McColl, and Jakob Schubert, standing. Ramon Julian Puigblanque sits closest to the camera.]

The finals will be at the Movement climbing gym at 7:00 pm tonight and can be viewed live on WWW.IFSC.TV. The event is sanctioned by the IFSC and operated by USA Climbing.

Today's semifinals results are listed below. Top eight in each will continue to finals.

Men:

1    AMMA    Sachi    1989    JPN  
2    JULIAN PUIGBLANQUE    Ramón    1981    ESP   
2    MCCOLL    Sean    1987    CAN  
4    SCHUBERT    Jakob    1990    AUT     
5    VERHOEVEN    Jorg    1985    NED   
6    DESGRANGES    Romain    1982    FRA     
7    ROMAIN    Manuel    1988    FRA      
8    HONG    Matty    1991    USA   
9    TAUPORN    Thomas    1991    GER     
10    LECHNER    Mario    1991    AUT       
11    TRAVERSI    Carlo    1988    USA  
12    SUPPER    Gauthier    1990    FRA    
13    RAZTRESEN    Jure    1993    SLO     
14    WATANABE    Kazuma    1985    JPN    
15    MARIN GARCIA    Eduard    1985    ESP 
16    HOBERG    Ben    1991    USA  
17    SKOFIC    Domen    1994    SLO   
18    RIDGE    Noah    1994    USA   
19    JONASMCRAE    Elan    1995    CAN   
20    DORY    Ian    1990    USA   
21    OZAWA    Shinta    1985    JPN  
22    BECAN    Klemen    1982    SLO    
23    LEVIN    Josh    1994    USA     
24    SEWELL    Ryan    1990    USA    
25    SPANNUTH    Ben    1988    USA      
26    DOYLE    Mike    1977    CAN

Women:

1    ERNST    Johanna    1992    AUT  
1    MARKOVIC    Mina    1987    SLO 
3    ODA    Momoka    1994    JPN  
4    DURIF    Charlotte    1990    FRA
4    VIDMAR    Maja    1985    SLO
6    EITER    Angela    1986    AUT
7    DIGIULIAN    Sasha    1992    USA 
8    NOGUCHI    Akiyo    1989    JPN  
9    SCHRANZ    Christine    1988    AUT 
10    CIAVALDINI    Caroline    1985    FRA
11    RUDE    Chelsea    1986    USA 
12    OTA    Risa    1993    JPN  
13    CLAASSEN    Paige    1990    USA
14    POSCH    Katharina    1994    AUT
15    MILLER    Delaney    1995    USA
16    JOHNSON    Alex    1989    USA 
17    SAURWEIN    Katharina    1987    AUT  
18    KIERSCH    Michaela    1994    USA 
19    SNIEZEK    Audrey    1971    USA 
20    YIP    Alannah    1993    CAN 
21    HARRINGTON    Emily    1986    USA
22    HENSLEY    Tiffany    1991    USA
23    KELLEWAY    Maegan    1993    CAN
24    METCALF    Amelia    1995    USA 
25    DOREY    Alyrene    1981    USA
26    SUTTON    Amanda    1991    USA

Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker continued their impressive tour of America's hardest offwidths by ticking what some have dubbed the hardest wide crack in the world, Century Crack, given a tentative grade of 9a (5.14d) by Stevie Haston, another UK climbing polymath who once tried freeing the fissure located in Canyonlands.  Originally aided by Steve Bartlett in 2001 and named "Chocolate Starfish," the 120-foot roof crack gained a reputation as an undone free climbing prize, repulsing all attempts until this visit by Britain's "Wide Boyz." Both Randall and Whittaker succeeded on the redpoint on their second day on the route. For more info and photos of Century Crack, go to Alex Ekins' blog.