Squamish Prow Wall Free Ascent Local Squamish climber Will Stanhope has completed the much-coveted first free ascent of The Prow Wall on the Chief. Stanhope, with Lucas Holtzman jugging in support, climbed the wall via Teddy Bear´s Picnic 5.12d (E6/7) adding a few extra pitches to link the route from the bottom of the wall. Jeremy Blumel had climbed the first free ascent of Teddy Bear´s Picnic as a rap route from the rim, but the entire wall had not seen a continuous free ascent.During the climb Stanhope avoided the original 5.12b third pitch and instead climbed a 5.12d variation tips corner. The difficult 5.12+ route climbs 8 pitches: 5.10, 5.10, 5.12-, 5.11+, 5.12+, 5.12+, 5.12+, 5.11+. The route has seen attempts by Sonnie Trotter, Jean-Pierre Ouellet and Matt Maddaloni and is considered somewhat of a sandbag. Source: Gripped.com New Search Engine Raises Funds for Mountain Fund It won´t be replacing Google anytime soon but a new search engine has been launched that aims to improve the lives of impovrished mountain communities around the world. In partnership with the Mountain Fund (see below), mountainsearch.org is a search engine that will donate 50% of its gross ad revenue to non-profit organisations supported by the Mountain Fund. The revenue is generated through the adverts being displayed on the page of your returned search query, if / when you click on one of the advertised links, 50% of that cost will got to the Mountain Fund project. In this way the end user can hepl support a fantastic organisation without having to put their hands into their own pockets. The Mountain Fund is a global coalition of organisations that aim to improve the lives of mountain communities by providing environmental, economic and healthcare programs to those towns and villages most climbers and trekkers simply pass through on their way to the higher peaks. Search Engine: Mountainsearch.org Source: Rock and Ice
