Cross Posted & Edited from B3Bouldering

In 1994 Lynn Hill free climbed The Nose on El Capitan in a day, a stunning feat that is clearly one of the greatest achievements in rock climbing history. Not only did she climb the first ascent of one of the hardest routes in America at the time, (it went unrepeated for 10 years and that was only after a 261 day seige!), it was arguably the best route, on the most prominent rock climbing feature in the world. On top of that, she did this in a completely male dominated sport and built the road for the future of free climbing big walls, one day ascents of such walls, and women climbing hard around the world. Few ascents could claim to have such an impact.

But where has that left women’s climbing today?

In America, 2008 was a pretty good year for women’s bouldering, in terms of difficulty.

Lisa Rands made an awesome ascent of the Mandala V12 in Bishop.

Angie Payne climbed European Human Being V12, in RMNP, Alex Johnson climbed Clear Blue Skies V11/12 at Mt. Evans, and Alex Puccio did CBS, The Marble V11 or V12, and most impressively Trice V12 on Flagstaff Mtn.

This year Puccio added The Gentleman’s Project V11, The Maze of Death V12, and several other V11s to her ticklist.

During the same two years the top men flashed several V13s (including a V14) and established problems up to V15, one of which is 25ft tall. It would be hard to argue that the gap hasn’t grown. Have women fallen behind, or is this gap appropriate? Should there be any gap?

While Ms. Hill’s ascent was not a bouldering ascent, it was a significant advancement in climbing, and in some way addresses two key issues. First, the idea that women can climb at the same level or higher in terms of pure difficulty, and secondly that women can do important and classic first ascents.

Perhaps twenty years ago the top women of today would have been climbing stronger than the strongest men. If one were to look at the total number of hours men have spent climbing, it would far out number the total number of hours that women have spent climbing (simply due to the fact that there are far more men than women in our sport) and is this the gap that is reflected? Often times when such a debate arises, the fact the men and women have different bodies is used as the reason for the difference. There seem to be climbs that favor a smaller climber, like Chablanke in Hueco Tanks and Clear Blue Skies at Mt. Evans, but those are the exception. More often than not climbs established by taller climbers will favor taller climbers, and most of the climbs established are put up by taller climbers. Perhaps The Nose just happen to fit into the exception, an excuse many men used when they failed to repeat Hill’s route. Do men have a psychological advantage simply because as a group they have more practice and have had the opportunity to push the bar farther? Should we even be comparing the differences between men and women? Perhaps it is the lack of an objective standard that blurs this line, unlike swimming, or (more…)

Finals for the 11th edition of ABS Nationals went down Saturday  night in Alexandria, VA and it sounded like quite the show. Daniel Woods topped a strong men’s field and Alex Puccio edged out Alex Johnson (again) with some surprises following them on the podium, especially on the Men’s side of the ledger. (The top three men and women made the U.S. bouldering team for 2010) Complete records are hard to come by but I believe this was Woods’ 3rd win in the past 4 years while Puccio has won 4 out of the past 5 years losing a close battle with Alex Johnson last year. Of course, if you weren’t in the gym you really had no way of seeing the action unfold which is unfortunate in my opinion.  Jamie Emerson tried his best to keep us posted via his twitter feed but he reached Twitter’s limit right as the heavy hitters were starting to climb.  Garrett Gregor was also at the comp posting videos to twitter via his cell phone which was certainly better than nothing.  Hopefully this will be the last year without some sort of live stream. For pictures of Finals you can check out Ben Carlson’s site. Report from routesetter Chris Danielson & Excellent pictures from Caroline Treadway. Cross Posted & Edited from climbingnarc

Cross Posted from DPM

Prologue

There are so many people you meet along the way that you may only get the chance to know for a moment in time. Sometimes a few of those people are the ones that leave the greatest imprints on your life. This journey begins with one of them; a man who’s name I don’t even know.

“Where are you off to?” An old man asks me as we’re sitting on the hard plastic airport chairs waiting for our 7:40am flight to board in Denver.

“Italy,” I lied, stuffing Fritz’s head back into her carry-on crate. I wasn’t supposed to leave for the Arco Rockmaster for another week.

“Wow! What are you doing in Italy?” He seemed genuinely interested.

I’m not the girl who bears my soul to my barber, or in this case, the stranger seated next to me on the plane. I hate mornings, small talk, and especially explaining the sport of climbing to people who have no idea what I’m talking about. “So is it, like, how fast you go?” For life in general most people would say yes; but in rock climbing, absolutely not. This isn’t NASCAR. My attitude most certainly isn’t helping the promotion and growth of my passion, but honestly—these strangers probably don’t care. They just want to pass the time.

“Just hanging out, sightseeing and stuff,” I told the man unenthusiastically, hoping the conversation would die off.

“That’s wonderful! I think everyone should spend some time traveling when they’re young. You know, when I was your age…” He went on to tell me his life story.

This is when my eyes usually gloss over and I make noncommittal sounds like “hmm,” and “ahh.” When he started telling me he was a cow farmer from Wisconsin who moved to Colorado to chase a dream, I tuned in. He told me how he spent some of his college years thumbing around Europe, eating some of the best pizza he’s ever had. I realized I had a lot more in common with this man than I had initially thought, and it made me feel significantly more compassionate towards both him, and our conversation.

Just as I was about to open up and tell him I was “a climber” and the real reason I was going to Italy was for a big competition, they called his section to board.

“Have a really great time,” he said as he stood up. “Traveling is such a great experience.” I smiled and said thanks. He winked as he turned to board.

My seat was in the very front of the aircraft. I plopped down, shoved a comforting hand inside Fritz’s house, and we both fell asleep. I awoke as the plane was touching down in Minneapolis, met my mother at the baggage claim and gathered my things. As we were at the curb loading the car, I saw the older gentleman from the waiting area again and waved. He approached our van and extended his hand. When I reached out to grasp his, I felt something folded transfer from his palm to mine.

“Have a piece of pizza over there for me,” he said. He turned and walked away and I unfolded a twenty dollar bill. This man completely proved me wrong about strangers not caring. He may not have drastically changed my life, but I will remember him forever.

10. The Duel

9. The Celebration (more…)

Congratulations to Kate and Alex Johnson for placing 1-2 at the final Triple Crown event of the season! Here is Kate’s update on the event…

Triple Crown Birthday Weekend by Kate Reese McGinnis

This past Friday I turned 28 and I am proud to say that despite cranking out some serious boulder problems yesterday, I am not in a world of hurt today (just my hips- ha!) This Triple Crown event, like all the years past, did not disappoint and included a bonus SNOW DAY on Saturday. Kenneth and I headed up to Chattanooga Friday afternoon with Jack-the-Dog in tow and went straight to the pre-registration party and set up the Prana tent. It was when my hands turned to icicles during the tent set-up that I first began to wonder if I was going to have any hope of climbing well. I had on more layers than the kids in the Christmas Story as I handed out Prana beanies to all the crazy climbers (mostly Floridians) who had not brought any head-coverings to the event and whose ears were disturbing shades of crimson. From there we met up with Michelle and went to Mudpie for some beans, rice, cake, and karaoke.

We stayed with our good friend Michelle in St. Elmo at her new kick-ass abode. Hotel Michelle was also the headquarters for the boonies (Pat Goodman & Jessa Goebel) and for fellow Prana/FiveTen athlete, Alex Johnson. Michelle’s dog, Oliver the fluffy-white-talking-dog, was joined by my dog, Jack (an old friend of Ollie’s), and Fritz (A.J.’s 4lb. chihuahua). Oliver (a huge husky) and Fritz became the star-crossed lovers of the weekend with an unfortunate mutual attraction thwarted by dimensions.

We all hunkered down for the night and I was the first to wake up Saturday morning (comp day) and look out the window. Chattanooga was covered with an inch of snow and it was still snowing! Still in my sleeping bag, I grabbed my laptop and hopped into Alex’s room playing “White Christmas” on my iTunes. For those of you who don’t already know, Alex lives the life. She climbs and hangs out with Fritz and sleeps. That being said, the girl does NOT wake up early or easily. I turned up the music and started to dance in my sleeping bag until Fritz woke up and decided that attacking me was the only option. Poor Alex finally opened her eyes and in a very confused tone looked right at me and inquired, “what ARE you?” That was how the snow day began.

Our entire snow day events: coffee, Waffle House, coffee, Bluegrass show downtown (Gerle Haggard rocked it), hot chocolate, hike with the dogs, tea, dyno comp at the gym, served tea at the tent, and then went to bed with hand-warmers in my sleeping bag. Hot beverages were definitely the theme. Before the dyno comp started, they had a pad-stacking contest where you had to stand on top of bouldering pads and add pad by pad until you eventually toppled over. Hailey (bad-ass local climber) tore it up and beat all the boys with an impressive thirteen-pad tower with her teetering at the top. Zach Walker brought the pain in the massage corner helping climbers loosen up and work out the knots.

Sunday=comp day. With temps in only the 20s to begin, we filed into the frozen boulderfield. When it gets that cold outside, I usually tap out and stay home and knit next to our space heater. I do not function well in freezing temperatures. I had on more layers than I care to admit (notice there are no climbing pics of myself below in part because there was no time and in part because I resembled the Michelin man). I had hand-warmers in my pockets and in my down slippers that I wore to get from problem to problem- all while having my climbing shoes tucked in my long underwear to keep them warm. The day got better and better and my climbing got better and better as the sun graced us and I ended up having my best bouldering day ever- and managed to win the entire comp! It was unexpected, but a great birthday gift. My ticklist: 

1. Man Hands (V8)
2. Odyssey (V9)
3. Grimace (V8)
4. Spanky (V8)
5. Cleopatra (V8)
6. Bedwetters (V9/10)
7. Dr. Atkinson (V8)
8. The Brotherhood (V8)
9. I Think I Can (V9)
10. Fatigue Syndrome (V8)

Check our more from Kate’s blog

Music, friends, beer, fashion, and over 50 lbs of food and $200 cash donated to the Conscious Alliance! Scenes from last week’s Boulder Fall Fashion Show:

Our athletes turned supermodels… P.Rob, Steph, AJ, Angie Payne … and guest supermodel chihuahua Fritz!

Acroyoga down the runway with Phil and Jen …

Friends of prAna .. including Founder of Pangea, Joshua .. rockin’ the shades

Special Thanks to:

Steve Z photography, Twig Salon, Conscious Alliance, Waylon & Elephant Magazine, yogis and friends Braddon, Michelle, August, Claire, Joey, Alex, our raffle donors, and everyone who came out!

More photos available on Facebook with Steve Z <LINK>

Photo by Leland Marshall. Article from Climbing.com

Daniel Woods and prAna’s Alex Johnson won the Mammut Bouldering Championship in Salt Lake City. Woods dominated the men’s final, flashing three of the four problems and topping out on the remaining problem on his second attempt. Only one other climber, prAna’s Paul Robinson, flashed any of the final problems; Julian Bautista topped out on all four problems in a total of 10 attempts, good enough to grab second place.

prAna’s Alex Johnson battled with Alex Puccio for the women’s crown, with each woman flashing the first three problems. Johnson reached two holds higher than Puccio on the final problem to snag the win. Anna Stohr, the Austrian woman who is ranked second in the world in bouldering, was third.

The Mammut Bouldering Championships, held atop a hotel parking garage in downtown Salt Lake City in conjunction with the Outdoor Retailer summer trade show, drew several thousand spectators during the course of the evening final.

See full results and photos at Boulderingcomps.com.

Women’s Final
1. Alex Johnson
2. Alex Puccio
3. Anna Stohr
4. Sierra Blair-Coyle
5. Lisa Rands

Men’s Final
1. Daniel Woods
2. Julian Bautista
3. Paul Robinson
4. Jimmy Webb
5. Zach Lerner

Alex Johnson flashes her 2nd problem in the finals at the Bouldering World Cup in Vail:

Paul Robinson sends his 2nd problem in the finals:

Congratulations World Cup Champions!

Mens: Gold – Jonas Baumann, Silver - Daniel Woods, Bronze – Killian Fischhuber

Womens: Gold - Alex Puccio, Silver - Alex Johnson, Bronze - Akiyo Noguchi

*Photos and videos coming soon!

Tent is packed, shoes and chalk bag ready, and camera in hand. We’re headed off to the Teva Mountain Games for the World Cup and a weekend full of climbing, mountain biking, music, food, and festival!

We hope to see you at the prAna booth for some slacklining, yoga, and climbing fun. (Not to mention free massages during the weekend).

Here are a few of our favorite memories from last year’s World Cup.

Yoga Class with prAna

Send, Paul, Send!

Acroyoga fun with Team YogaSlackers - try it this year!

Womens defending world champ, Alex Johnson

Crowd Favorite: Free Massages at prAna

We asked reigning Bouldering World Cup champ, Alex Johnson for 3 climbing tips. Whether you’re a novice or a pro, here’s what she suggests:

1. My first helpful tip will be to exercise your fingers with a thick rubber band while you’re not climbing. Climbing requires a lot of strenuous pulling on your fingers, and if you work your hands in an opposing manner, you reduce the risk of injury.

2. Another piece of advice I have is always bring your rain jacket with you! Everywhere you go. Even if the forecast calls for 100% sunshine, there’s always the possibility of rain. And your down jacket, too, for that matter. It’s a lesson I’ve learned and I think a good warning to heed!

3. Always try hard. Don’t worry about anyone else, what they’re doing or what they’re thinking, because they don’t matter. It’s only you and the rock, after all. Always, always try your best!

(PS – HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Alex! )