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Century Crack
Century Crack is a 120 ft (40m) long offwidth roof crack climb in the White Rim Sandstone, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, graded at . It is one of the hardest and longest offwidth crack climbs in the world. The first aid ascent of the route was done by Steve Bartlett in 2001, and the first free ascents were by crack specialists Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall, known as the Wide Boyz. The route Century Crack starts with an 85 ft roof crack, requiring the climber to hang upside-down, making progress with various jams throughout the crack's varying widths. It requires a mix of hand jams, hand-fist stacks, fist jams, and various other offwidth techniques. The first 15 ft of the crack is small enough for straightforward hand jams. This is followed by the offwidth crux section, wide enough for No. 6 cams, and the rest of the horizontal section fits No. 5 cams. The crux of the climb is where the crack transitions into a 45-degree overhang, requiring the climber t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Rim Sandstone
The White Rim Sandstone is a sandstone geologic formation located in southeastern Utah. It is the last member of the Permian Cutler Group, and overlies the major Organ Rock Formation and Cedar Mesa Sandstone; and again overlies thinner units of the Elephant Canyon and Halgaito Formations. The ''White Rim'' is eponymous, as the sandstone is named for its prominent white color, and forms the rims of cliffs. Geology It is the continental geologic formation deposited at the time of marine transgressions during the Early to Middle Permian Period. ;Toroweap Formation The coeval Toroweap Formation was laid down under marine conditions along the southwest margin of the North American continent and is found in northwest Arizona layered between Coconino Sandstone and the Kaibab Formation. The Toroweap is mostly from the Grand Canyon and just eastwards to Lee's Ferry-(Colorado River, Grand Canyon), south to the Verde Valley region (Sedona, Sycamore Canyon, Oak Creek Canyon), but t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. Legislation creating the park was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 12, 1964. The park is divided into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the combined rivers—the Green and Colorado—which carved two large canyons into the Colorado Plateau. While these areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character. Author Edward Abbey, a frequent visitor, described the Canyonlands as "the most weird, wonderful, magical place on earth—there is nothing else like it anywhere." History In the early 1950s, Bates Wilson, then superintendent of Arches National Monument, began exploring the area to the south and west of Moab, Utah. After seeing what ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its west by Nevada. Utah also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast. Of the fifty U.S. states, Utah is the 13th-largest by area; with a population over three million, it is the 30th-most-populous and 11th-least-densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two areas: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which is home to roughly two-thirds of the population and includes the capital city, Salt Lake City; and Washington County in the southwest, with more than 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the Great Basin. Utah has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups such as the ancient Puebloans, Navajo and Ute. The Spanish were the first Europ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pete Whittaker
Pete Whittaker (born 1991) is a British professional rock climber. He is one half of the duo known as the Wide Boyz, along with his climbing partner Tom Randall. Whittaker came to notability from crack climbing, including the first ascent of the world's hardest off-width climb, the ''Century Crack''. Climbing career In 2011, Whittaker and Randall made a visit to the United States, where he was the first to flash ''Belly Full of Bad Berries'' (5.13b), a highly regarded off-width in Indian Creek. Continuing the trip, Whittaker and Randall made the first ascent of the Century Crack (5.14b), the world's hardest off-width climb. After initially sending the route with pre-placed gear, both subsequently repeated the climb while placing their own gear. In 2014, Whittaker became the first to flash ''Freerider'' (5.12d) on El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Randall (rock Climber)
Tom Randall is a British professional rock climber. Randall and his climbing partner Pete Whittaker, known as the ''Wide Boyz'', are some of the best crack climbers in the world, known for their the first free ascent of Century Crack in 2011. They also produce crack climbing media content, and equipment such as crack volumes for indoor crack climbing training. Climbing career In 2011, alongside climbing partner Pete Whittaker, Randall made the first free ascent of Century Crack (5.14b), one of the world's hardest offwidth crack climbs. They won the 2016 '' Climbing'' Golden Piton ''Vision Award'' for their achievement. In 2015, Randall made the first ascent of The Kraken in Hartland Quay, Devon, England, a 40 ft horizontal roof crack, giving it a grade of V13. Ascents * Century Crack (5.14b), 2011 * Cobra Crack (5.14b) * The Kraken (V13) Wide Boyz Randall and his climbing partner Pete Whittaker are together known as the ''Wide Boyz''. They have a busines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crack Climbing
Crack climbing is a type of rock climbing in which the climber follows a crack in the rock and uses specialized climbing techniques. The sizes of cracks vary from those that are just barely wide enough for the fingers to fit inside, to those that are so wide that the entire body can fit inside with all limbs outstretched. Many traditional climbing routes follow crack systems, as they provide natural opportunities for placing protective equipment. Widths In the context of climbing, cracks are classified by their width in relation to the climber's body: finger, off-finger, hand, off-width, and chimneys. * Finger cracks are just wide enough for all or part of the finger to fit inside; this width incorporates techniques used in face climbing and tends to favor climbers with small hands. * Off-finger cracks are wider than finger cracks, but not large enough for the entire hand to fit inside. * Hand cracks are just large enough for the entire hand to fit inside; the techniques fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crux (climbing)
A crux in climbing, mountaineering and high mountain touring is the most difficult section of a route, or the place where the greatest danger exists. In sport climbing and bouldering, the most technically challenging point in the climb is also called the ''crux'' section. In describing a climbing route using a topo, cruces (or cruxes) are usually shown with a key symbol. The grade of a climbing route is based on the technical difficulty of the crux (e.g. in the sport climbing system, or in the bouldering system), and for traditional climbing routes, an additional grade is used for the risk of personal injury to a climber of a fall at the crux (e.g. the British E-grade system). That means the rest of the route might be considerably easier, however, a route may comprise several cruces of equal difficulty, or simply be a route of a very consistent level of difficulty with no sections that stand out as harder than the rest. In planning a route it is important to know how far it i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spring-loaded Camming Device
A spring-loaded camming device (also SLCD, cam or friend) is a piece of rock climbing or mountaineering protection equipment. It consists of two, three, or four cams mounted on a common axle or two adjacent axles, so that pulling on the axle forces the cams to spread farther apart. This is then attached to a sling and carabiner at the end of the stem. The SLCD is used by pulling on the "trigger" (a small handle) so the cams retract together, then inserting it into a crack or pocket in the rock and releasing the trigger to allow the cams to expand. A pull on the rope, such as that generated by a climber falling, will cause a properly placed SLCD to convert the pulling force along the stem of the unit into outwards pressure on the rock, generating massive amounts of friction and preventing the removal of the unit from the rock. Because of the large forces which are exerted on the rock when an SLCD is fallen on, it is very important that SLCDs are only placed in solid, strong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overhang (rock Formation)
An overhang is a rock face or artificial climbing wall with a slope of more than 90°, i.e. it slopes beyond the vertical. Particularly severe overhangs that reach, or nearly reach, the horizontal, are referred to as a roof. In climbing, overhangs and especially roofs place special demands both in terms of technique and equipment as well as the constitution of the climber. With increasing steepness the loading on arm and hand muscles increases, because the feet can support less and less of the body weight. Rest points where the muscles can be relaxed, especially no-hands rests, are rarely found in overhangs. Climbing techniques to tackle overhangs include placing the body's centre of mass as close as possible to the rock and striving for the highest possible body tension. Many climbing techniques such as the foothook are almost exclusively used in overhangs and roofs. For a long time in Alpine climbing, roofs were almost always tacked using climbing aids. By contrast, in m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aid Climbing
Aid climbing is a style of climbing in which standing on or pulling oneself up via devices attached to fixed or placed protection is used to make upward progress. The term contrasts with free climbing in which progress is made without using artificial aids: a free climber ascends by only holding onto and stepping on natural features of the rock, using rope and equipment merely to catch them in case of fall and provide belay. In general, aid techniques are reserved for pitches where free climbing is difficult to impossible, and extremely steep and long routes demanding great endurance and both physical and mental stamina. While aid climbing places less emphasis on athletic fitness and raw strength than free climbing, the physical demands of hard aid climbing should not be underestimated. In early versions of the Yosemite Decimal System, aid climbing was class 6, but today the YDS uses only classes 1-5. Aid climbing has its own ranking system, using a separate scale from A0 th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely read magazines of all time. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine months after the establishment of the society, but is now a popular magazine. In 1905, it began including pictures, a style for which it became well-known. Its first color photos appeared in the 1910s. During the Cold War, the magazine committed itself to present a balanced view of the physical and human geography of countries beyond the Iron Curtain. Later, the magazine became outspoken on environmental issues. Since 2019, controlling interest has been held by The Walt Disney Company. Topics of features generally concern geography, history, nature, science, and world culture. The magazine is well known for its distinctive appearance: a thick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traditional Climbing Routes
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes (like lawyers' wigs or military officers' spurs), but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings. Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years—the word ''tradition'' itself derives from the Latin ''tradere'' literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have an ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose, whether that be political or cultural, over short periods of time. Various academic disciplines also use the word in a variety of ways. The phrase "according to tradition", or "by tradition", usually means that whatever information follows is known only by oral tradition, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
