| >28-11-2003 Tragédie de cap Trinité |
| Trop de grimpeurs surestiment leurs capacités |
| (Claudette Samson, Le Soleil, Québec) |
| Les pratiques d'escalade qui se sont développées ces dernières années
ont donné lieu à une culture dangereuse, amenant les grimpeurs à surestimer leurs capacités.
Le témoin-expert de la coroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier, qui enquête sur le décès des alpinistes
Jacques Veillette et Lucie Poirier survenu en août 2002 au cap Trinité, a présenté hier un portrait
inquiétant de l'évolution de ce sport, non seulement au Québec, mais un peu partout dans le monde. |
| Mais auparavant, Claude Bérubé avait fait part des nombreux indices
qu'il a relevés, lui démontrant que « Jacques et Lucie n'avaient pas d'affaire au cap Trinité ». |
| Plus de détails dans la version papier du journal Le Soleil. |
| (Les détails de l'accident) |
| .............. |
| > Climb Those Nasty Cracks |
| (Steve Petro & Lisa Gnade) |
| Hand Cracks |
| Today's climbing world is much different from what it was 10 years ago. Many of today's climbers are introduced to the sport through gym or bolted routes, and they can move quickly into the 5.10 and 5.11 range but when these same climbers try their skill in cracks, they need to drop down several grades to start. Face moves are natural to many people; crack technique is not. Placing removable anchors is a very important skill that must be developed to protect crack climbs. Removing pro (when seconding a pitch) has to be learned as well. So the key to beginning crack climbing is patience and concentration. Give yourself time, don't worry about numbers, and enjoy the world of rock that crack climbing opens to you. |
| Most cracks contain constrictions that provide good opportunities for both protection and jamming (placing the appropriate body part above or into the constriction and pulling down on it). Some cracks, however, are parallel sided (the width remains constant); these you must jam by squeezing your hand (or other body part) hard, so it expands against the sides of the crack. Jamming can be painful; wrapping athletic tape around your fingers -- including thumbs -- and hands can protect your skin. Be aware that, although tape protects the skin, skin provides better friction on rock. |
| (Suite et illustrations) |
| .............. |
| > The whole natural art of protection |
| (Doug Robinson, Chouinard Equipment catalog, 1972) |
| There is a word for it and the word is clean. Climbing with only nuts and runners for protection is clean climbing. Clean because the rock is left unaltered by the passing climber. Clean because nothing is hammered into the rock and then hammered back out, leaving the rock scarred and the next climber's experience less natural. Clean because the climber's protection leaves little track of his ascension. Clean is climbing the rock without changing it; a step closer to organic climbing for the natural man. |
| In Britain after thousands of ascents of the popular routes, the footholds are actually becoming polished but the cracks that protect them are unscarred and clean. The "Nutcracker" in Yosemite, which ... |
| (Suite et illustrations) |
| .............. |