Ollie Kerr reviews the new Petzl Hirundos sport climbing harness I don’t often buy new harnesses – certainly not often enough. My second harness was purchased after my first harness failed. Literally failed. I was seconding my partner up Infinity at Frog Buttress, hauling a rope up behind me. My good friends on the ground, impressed at my climbing prowess, thought they would make the route a challenge by tying my pack to the haul rope. For added challenge, they…
Ocun is a brand that is probably unfamiliar to many Australian climbers, but it’s just recently become available here. We asked Nati local and climbing instructor, Adam Demmert to take the Ocun WeBee Quattro for a test run. This is what he had to say. As a self-professed gear freak and proponent of comfort when climbing, the Ocun WeBee Quattro harness was on my radar to get my hands on or, more to the point, get my waist into. The…
Snakes in the Jungle, Special Operations in War & Business by Jim Truscott (Zeus Publications, Gold Coast, 2015) Jim Truscott’s Snakes in the Jungle is one of the most unusual climbing books you’ll ever read, and that’s because it is far more than a climbing book. There are no doubt very few people who have succeeded – much less even tried — to put together careers in mountaineering, the SAS (Special Air Service) branch of the Australian defence force, and big business….
It’s unusual to review a coaching service, but when VL’s resident training guru, Duncan Brown from Athlete by Choice offered us the chance to have a month’s coaching under his tutelage, we jumped at it. Under review – Athlete by Choice online climbing coaching with Duncan Brown, RRP $99 month Best for – Intermediate-advanced climbers who need extrinsic motivation and assistance to focus their training. Historically I have done a lot of flouncing in the name of training. As training this…
I generally always enjoy British climbing films, and Project Mina and The Last Great Climb are two (relatively) new ones out of old Blighty, directed by Jen Randall and Alastair Lee respectively. Shared nationality aside, that’s all the films have in common, for the two stories concentrate on vastly different subjects within the climbing genre. Project Mina is a beautifully shot profile of British boulderer Mina Leslie-Wujastyk. Mina’s a very talented climber, who’s climbed numerous V12s around the world as well…
