Ground Up has confirmed their Grand Opening for Saturday, December 12th, 2015 starting at 12pm Pacific. These folks have been hard at working getting their facility set and they are finally ready to show the outside world. Details below.

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After a seventeen year hiatus, Will Gadd returned to The Fang Amphitheater in East Vail, Colorado, home of the seminal Jeff Lowe masterpiece, “Octopussy” (M8), as well as Will’s own groundbreaking routes “Amphibian” (M9) and “Reptile” (M10), and made the third ascent of my route “The Mustang P-51” (M14-) on his second attempt, besting our friend, the Korean powerhouse Kwon Young-Hye, who made the second ascent last December in a mere three tries. As with Kwon, Will finished the climb reaching the no-hands ledge with a single bolt anchor atop “The Flying Fortress” (M13), down-climbed a bit, and then jumped off . . . just for fun. Please pardon the length and the roughness of the edit; I wanted to get a long version up fast so Jeff could enjoy an unabridged reminiscence immediately.

Another great trad video coming out this week.

“Red Planet” (5.13b) is an two pitch crack climb established by the prolific Arizonan rock climber, John Mattson. The route lies across the canyon from Devil’s Bridge in the Coconino National Forest, several miles from downtown Sedona, Arizona. The crux second pitch ascends an overhanging off-fingers crack that splits the southeast end of a soaring buttress of red Schnebly Hill sandstone. This route is magnificent: GO DO IT!!!!!!!!!!

Nice video featuring Lee Cossey and Grampians climbing.

Lee Cossey puts a long-standing Grampians project to bed and in nailing the first ascent of Agent of Cool (31) establishes one of the hardest all-trad routes in Australia.

This week, Training Beta features local climber Thomasina Pidgeon. Thomasina has spent the last two years in Europe, setting and honing in on what it takes to be a top indoor competitor.

Be sure to check out Training Beta for other fantastic podcasts.

Last night, The Hive North Shore hosted a CEC National Series bouldering competition that was sanctioned both by Climbing Escalade Canada and Sport Climbing BC. This was the first competition in the newly built venue and it did not disappoint! With its two tiered building structure and spacious location, The Hive North Shore proved that it is a premier venue for climbing events in Canada and soon-to-be host for many future events.

Big action at The Hive North Shore. Photo courtesy of The Hive ©

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Well produced video featuring Eddie Bauer and Ben Ditto on their first ascent of High Times (5.13b) in Tuolumne Meadows, CA.

Eddie Bauer athlete and renowned climbing photographer Ben Ditto ticks the first ascent of High Times (5.13b), a steep, northeast-facing line on Drug Dome in Tuolumne Meadows. A longtime Yosemite local, Ditto ticked his initial first ascent on one of climbing’s holiest grounds as a means of finding motivation again after a period of social-media driven “living the dream” malaise. Owen Bissell captures the pitch-by-pitch essence of the ten-day, hand-drilled, four-pitch, free climbing rebirth in this stunning edit from the Sierra high ground.

There has been a lot of rumours floating around as Ground Up Climbing Centre in Squamish, BC puts the final touch on their new facility. Things the gym are set to go but they are still waiting for their occupancy permits from the city before they can start their soft opening for members.

Nonetheless Ground Up has announced they will be hosting a Grand Opening Party on Dec. 12, 2015. See poster for details below.

Second trailer of bouldering in The Tetons from Cold House Media.