PAIGE CLAASSEN FIRES 5.14 EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI

I first visited the Red in October of 2009 for a short 5 day trip. I tried God's Own Stone once during that trip and was able to do all the moves. I returned in October of 2010 for another short trip during Roctoberfest and worked on the route for 3 days. Then, this year I got back to the Red for a 10 day trip over Thanksgiving and sent on my fourth day of that trip. In total, I gave the route about 12 attempts.

I chose to work on God's Own Stone in part because the Gold Coast struck me as a really beautiful wall with all of the gold and black streaks. The angle suited me as well. It isn't quite as steep as many other difficult walls at the Red. The route is crimpy, which suits my style, but I still really had to fine tune my crimping skills because the holds on the Gold Coast are so sloping. I'm used to cranking down really hard on crimps and trying really hard to hold on and not let go. I quickly learned, however, that the sloping crimps on God's Own Stone required a more delicate approach. I couldn't crank down super hard on the crux holds or I would fall. This was a very new concept to me, as I'm used to my amount of effort and determination directly influencing my success. As I worked the route, I learned that I needed to carefully grab each hold with about 50% grip instead of 100%. As soon as I learned this, I was able to finish the route.

God's Own Stone is very different from other difficult routes I've climbed because it has one specific crux that is surrounded by pretty moderate climbing. The first 4 bolts of the route offer 12+ climbing on mediocre crimps but no where to really stop and rest. The crux required a backstep to move out right to a poor, uncomfortable two finger dish. Then I had to bring my left hand down to match in a nearby crimp and then dead point the right hand up to a sharp crimp. This series of three moves basically equals the full redpoint difficulty of the climb. After you stick the dead point crimp, its just about holding on and not giving up to the top. There is no where to stop and none of the holds are great.

Although I finished the route in a fairly short period of time, I definitely faced a lot of frustration. The high amount of effort I was putting in still wasn't allowing me to climb through the crux. It was really cool to learn that I needed to use a more delicate grip and I look forward to seeing how this mini-revelation will help me on future routes. Mostly I am really psyched because this route was one of my last goals for 2010.

We have a more in-depth interview with Paige about her experience in the Red, God's Own Stone, and the future on our blog at www.golightgofast.com.

BLAKE HERRINGTON NABS ROPED SPEED RECORD ON THE NAKED EDGE ... FIRST TRY!

Blake sent us an email, "I'm going to try for a speed record on The Naked Edge with my friend Scott this week."

That was it! For those of us who aspired to climb The Naked Edge in our earlier days and spent time training for this singular objective, to hear about such an undertaking described in such a casual tone was shocking. We had questions!

What is the time to beat? Must be a roped ascent and not solo if you are doing it with Scott? Simuling? Is that base to summit, car to summit, car to car?!

Blake was good enough to indulge us, "I think we have to beat like 1 hour and 22 minutes. We will be roped, pitching it out, not simuling. Car to car."

Again, totally casual.

1 hour and 22 minutes! Having climbed the Edge numerous times, I can tell you that this is the real deal. The Edge, while not terribly tall (Mountain Project has it as 6 pitches, but it's not) still requires some doing to get to the base (focused scrambling - this is no fall territory), friction cruxes where a foot can pop any time, and true 5.11 climbing. Then the descent - raps and scrambles down featured slabs where moving too fast could be hairy.

I went climbing at the Industrial Wall on Friday and couldn't stop thinking about Blake. This was the day he was going for it, just one valley over from where I was climbing. It was windy, gusts up to 80 mph and there was nip in the air. But Blake is part of the advent of bigger and badder routes in the Cascades that only come about as a result of hiking further, trying harder and dealing with worse conditions than those who came before. In other words, he is solid.

So how did it go? CLICK HERE for the recap from Blake.

ASK THE ATHLETES - THE WINNING QUESTION

In our last newsletter, we asked readers to look over the the bio pages for our athletes and suggest additional questions. The winning question came from Cliff who wants to know how the athletes keep themselves motivated.

We will be asking the athletes to answer this question and the responses will be included in their bios by the time we send our next newsletter in January. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. Cliff, for sending the winning question, you have won an Armour helmet ... enjoy!

Athlete bios and profiles can be viewed in our Athletes Area.

Colorado: Ouray Mountain Sports - Ouray, CO

Colorado: Telluride Gravity Works - Telluride, CO

Colorado: Mountain Shop - Fort Collins, CO

Utah: Out N Back - Orem, UT

Oregon: Mountain Shop - Portland, OR

Washington: Pro Mountain Sports - Seattle, WA

Montana: Prolite Gear - Bozeman, MT

Montana: Silvertip Mountain Center - Silver Gate, MT

New York: Mountaineer - Keene Valley, NY

New Hampshire: I.M.E. (Internation Mountain Equipment) - North Conway, NH

North Carolina: Looking Glass Outfitters - Pisgah Forest, NC

CAMP USA EVENTS CALENDAR

MONTHLY DRAWING

Win the ultimate alpine belay rack. The Piu 2 is a well-oiled machine on long rock routes. Auto-blocking for belaying the second and optimized to handle a wide range of rope diameters. We team it with the HMS Compact that features a large barrel stock and tear drop shape for extremely smooth belays and rappels, and an Orbit Twist Lock, a compact and lightweight auto-locker that works great for attaching the Piu 2 to the anchor. For the back up, carry the lightweight Shell (a standard tube style device) and the hyperlight HMS Nitro. The winner will receive both the Piu 2 rig and the back up system!

As a CAMP USA E-News subscriber, you are automatically entered in the monthly gear drawing. Tell your friends and good luck!