Lisa climbs The Mandala (v12)

Jan 18 2008, Bishop, California: Lisa climbed The Mandala (v12), becoming the first female to climb this line first done by Chris Sharma in 2000. The problem has gained almost mythical status as one of the most popular and most famous lines in the world, and for good reason: it is an extraordinary climb. Lisa was psyched to achieve this goal that she's been aiming for since last season when she first started trying it. A torn bicep, weird weather conditions, a mystery illness, and a flim project revolving around her ascent of the super-highball This Side of Paradise (v10) kept her from success then, but this season, on just her third day of tries, she climbed the line at the third attempt, saying that moments before doing it, she felt strangely certain of success. She nailed the critical, and for her extremely long, first move to perfection, and powered through the rest of the sequence with precision, only hesitating for a second before turning the lip onto the icy summit.

Here's a shot of Lisa on The Mandala from last season (clearly not the cold, crisp conditions enjoyed on the day she climbed it):

Lisa Wins Bouldering Regional

Jan 12 2008, Ventura, California: In a quest to qualify for the National Bouldering Championships, Lisa drove down to Ventura to compete in the ABS series regional at the gym there: Vertical Heaven. It was a fun event that was really well attended, especially in the mens field. Lisa beat out one of the stronger women competition climbers, Alex Puccio, to win the comp and was within a whisker of flashing all the finals problems (falling with her fingers touching the last hold of the last problem). Alex showed up out of the blue from Colorado to surprise Lisa. Of course, Alex was even more surprised to see Lisa there! All in all a great training session to prepare for the real projects outside!

Results: http://usaclimbing.net/rockcomps/comps/event_details.cfm?id=1574

Lisa Wins "Stone Fort" Bouldering Competition

December 1 2007, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Lisa flew in from California to compete in the third and final leg of the Triple Crown Bouldering Series, held at the Stone Fort (a.k.a. Little Rock City), near Chattanooga. This outstanding sandstone area provides one of the densest concentrations of world-class bouldering in the United States. It had been three years since Lisa last competed at the area, and having missed the previous two events held at Hound Ears and Horse Pens 40 she had no chance of winning the series title. Nevertheless, she was ready to test herself against the strongest local climbers on their home turf, get an amazing workout, and enjoy some incredible bouldering.

At this event climbers compete by climbing their best 10 problems among the 250 or so natural lines established at the area, and readily pre-practiced by those living in the vicinity! It may not be a "fair" competition, but it is a lot of fun, and a daunting test of skill for visiting "rock stars" such as Paul Robinson (this year's men's winner) and Tony Lamiche (who won the event last year).

Lisa felt good on the day and pulled off what she describes as one of her best days of climbing ever. She dispatched four v8s, five v9s and crushed the v10 Bedwetters on her second try. At the very end of the day Lisa fell on the last move of King Cobra, another v10 -- which ultimately escaped her that day. Lisa gained first ahead of the very talented and strong local Kate McGinnis who was the winner of the overall series.

Climbing Magazine Report: http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/triplecrownstoneft07/

More photos: http://www.triplecrownbouldering.org/gallerylrc07.htm

Here's the blurb from Jeep: Check the schedule here

January 24, 2007. Bishop, California: Lisa made the first female (and fourth overall) ascent of the stunning Bishop testpiece This Side of Paradise (v10), at the Bardini Boulders, first climbed only a little over a year ago by Matt Wilder. This line (aka The Bardini Arete) gained a reputation as one of the greatest lines in Bishop long before it was finally climbed, and certainly remains one of the boldest and most sustained. The crux, a huge move to a pinch just below the lip, comes with the feet about 20 feet up. Being short, Lisa had to pull her weight up onto her left foot, perched on a knob, high on the steeply overhanging arete, and make an enormous lock-off to the pinch from a very bad right-hand crimp. Above the pinch came a pair of crimps and a moment of contemplation before the mental crux, a bold and punchy dyno to a good jug. But it was still not over, as Lisa needed a steady nerve to gain the slab (photo below).

Lisa before the final hard move of This side of Paradise (v10)

December 2006: The latest DVD from Big Up Productions (www.bigupproductions.com) features Lisa making her groundbreaking ascent of Gaia (E8) at Black Rocks on the gritstone of England. This excellent DVD includes must-see footage of top climbers Chris Sharma, Dave Graham, Tommy Caldwell, and others climbing the most amazing lines around the world. Lisa's segment is a gripping account of her battle with nerves as she attempts Gaia. It splices the shocking scene from Hard Grit (a film by Mark Turnbull and Richard Heap) in which a climber takes a death-defying fall from the route, with footage of Lisa's ascent.

July 2006, Rocklands, South Africa: It's a rare thing for Lisa to find a first ascent of any boulder problem, but one as beautiful as Pinotage is truly extraordinary. When she and her household of climbers found this area, The Sassies, in Rocklands, they knew they had discovered gold. First ascents were made left and right and Lisa waited for cold conditions to attempt this stunning sit-start she named Pinotage in honor of a local wine grape. What a line! Perfect crimps lead to a huge move past a sloper to a diagonal crack.

April 16 2006: E is for extreme and Gaia's E8 grade has never been in doubt. This sweet, enticing line tackles a shallow groove in a free-standing 50-foot tall prow at Black Rocks, England. It was made famous in a sequence from Hard Grit, a film by Richard Heap and Mark Turnbull, which opens to Jean-Minh Trinh-Thieu (a top French climber) taking a harrowing fall from the climb's precarious upper section, breaking his leg.

The do-or-die section comes near the top, where a mistake crossing a tenuous section of sloping holds, climbed on pure friction, carries the risk of hitting the ground from 40 feet, or swinging into the lower arete. Lisa waited for appropriate conditions to make the ascent--a week of amped-up nights, as weather changed from rain to snow to sun and back again.

"When you reach the top you get this crazy adrenaline rush and excitement that you don't get when you do something 100 percent safe," she says. This was Lisa's second E8 after End of the Affair. She is the only woman to have climbed a route this grade.

March 2006: There were frustrating conditions in Fontainebleau, France, as is typical of the area, but Lisa was able to make a rare female ascent of some spectacular lines. One of these was Haute Tension, (v10) a beautiful tall wall at Cuvier Rempart, with the crux up high, and Megalithe (v10) at Rocher Greau, near Nemours, a pretty frightening highball arete that takes a steady head. She climbed both ground-up. See the report of her trip to Fontainebleau in the On The Road section of this website.

Feb 2006, Joshua Tree: In a weekend at the end of February, Lisa Rands pulled off two amazing female firsts: So High and Planet X. She climbed the impressive and awe-inspiring So High ground-up, bouldering it out above a couple of bouldering pads. So High is one of the most famous ultra-highball problems in the United States and had never before seen a female ascent (as far as we know). Planet X is another outrageous and famous highball that demanded a huge dyno way off the deck. Obviously a good weekend for Lisa!

December 2005: On Christmas day, Lisa Rands and Wills Young made a fast all-free ascent of Saint Exupery Spire, in the Fitzroy Range of Patagonia, via the excellent 2800-feet long 22-pitch rock route Clara de Luna (VI, 5.11). Lisa led the crux pitches, and the pair simul-climbed the entire line in around 6 hours. This may well be the first free ascent of the popular Clara de Luna by a woman. From the Polakos bivi site on the Torre Glacier, the climb sits atop a 3 hour, 3000-vertical-feet approach. For more info about Lisa's Patagonia trip, see the On The Road section of this website.

Sports Illustrated interviews Lisa

July 2005: No it's not the swimsuit edition! In their July 27 2005 "Bonus Adventure" section, Sports Illustrated, the world's best-selling sports magazine, ran an amusing interview with Lisa. Click the image to see the close-up.

Lisa triumphs at Petzl Roc Trip, Squamish

June 24-26 2005: Petzl's set-up for the "invitational" event was a relatively informal competition between top athletes including such stars as Lynn Hill, Liv Sansoz, and accomplished local Thomasina Pidgeon (a.k.a. the climber formerly known as Darlene). At the end of the day, Lisa made an inspired send of the striking highball testpiece, Ride the Lightning (V8), which she climbed from the low start, putting her win beyond contention. She also climbed the second female ascent of No Troublems. For more details see: www.petzl.com and www.climbing.com

Lisa Rands climbs Ride The Lightning (V8, highball). Photo by Luke Laeser, Climbing Magazine.

Lisa climbs Shine On (E7), at Stanage Edge, England

Sunday, May 15, 2005 - With her ascent of the powerful and bold Shine On, her third E7/8, Lisa continues to push female climbing and change the image of what is possible for a woman in the sport. That such an ascent is about total confidence is a given for any line of this grade, but in this case -- an overhang with big moves off small crimps and sloping pockets -- it is also about strength and dynamic power.

Being short means Lisa has to make a huge move around the lip, and she had to call on her bouldering muscle to complete the sequence. While it is not such an airy undertaking as The End of the Affair or other famous "death routes" on the grit, it is in every way a mini-classic. Call it an ultra-bold super-highball, or the world's shortest super-route, Shine On is a gem in the Stanage crown.

Lisa top-roped the line before soloing it.

Lisa's climbing recognized by "Golden Piton" award

"An eerie flash of brilliance from a cultish discipline shunned by most women, was Lisa Rands' ascent of The End of the Affair at Curbar edge, one of British gritstone's classic E8s" ― Climbing Magazine.

The introduction states: "Each January, Climbing reviews the performances of the year: who was bold or strong, what was off-the-map wild, which "last great problems" finally went down … and choose the dozen or so absolute best efforts of the year."

Lisa received the Golden Piton award for traditional cragging. Click the Climbing Magazine image in the Press Clips section for more details.

Lisa Triple Crown Series Champion 2004

Saturday December 4 2004: Lisa won the Little Rock City bouldering competition at the diverse and extensive bouldering area not far from Chattanooga, Tennessee. On a long-awaited blue-sky southern winter day, a crowd of hundreds of competitors were shuttled from downtown Chattanooga to Little Rock City for this, the final round of the Triple Crown Bouldering Series. The day began crisply with fine temps, perfect for pulling on this fantastically featured sandstone, and turned almost balmy by the afternoon. Lisa climbed strongly to create a giant margin of victory in this three-part series. For a report on Climbing magazine's website, see: http://www.climbing.com/news/triplecrown04/index.html, and also see http://www.triplecrownbouldering.org/completeresults.html for overall series results.

Lisa wins Horse Pens 40 bouldering competition

Saturday November 6 2004: Lisa won the HP40 [www.hp40.com] bouldering competition at the amazing Fontainebleau-esque bouldering playground near Steele Alabama. On a perfect warm sunny day there was a huge crowd of climbers for the event which had a festival atmosphere. Lisa made short work of two V9s, Slider and Ghetto Superstar, plus a slew of V8s such as the awkward and powerful Law Dog and the slopey Consumption to give her a big margin of victory. See http://www.seclimbers.org for more info. Some video footage of Lisa during the comp can be found at http://www.drtopo.com/index4.html -- click "media," then click on the movies image, then HP40 (Part 1).

October 2004: Lisa makes history with gritstone "E8"

Monday October 11, 2004 -- Lisa led the stunning arête The End of the Affair (E8 6c) at Curbar Edge, England, to become the first woman ever to lead a traditional E8 at Britain's most popular climbing playground The Peak District (and perhaps anywhere). The route was first climbed by gritstone aficionado and technical master Johnny Dawes back in 1986, and marked the end of his most prolific streak of death-defying ascents. For shorter climbers, the holdless rounded arête with its huge reaches presents a truly mind-bending proposition. Due to its awesome appearance, The End of the Affair soon became the most sought-after hard-grit line in the Peak and has remained, along with another Dawes testpiece Gaia, probably the most popular line of its grade (if you can call an E8 popular!).

http://www.planetfear.com/news_detail.asp?n_id=5144
 

Lisa wins competition at Hound Ears

Saturday October 2, 2004 -- Lisa won the Hound Ears bouldering competition at this outstanding bouldering area near Boone, North Carolina. It was a beautiful early fall day with the leaves just beginning to turn color. A sprinkle of rain in the early afternoon wet some of the topouts and dampened scorebooks for a short while, slowing the accumulation of points, but as the skies brightened toward evening, conditions became better and better and it turned out to be another fantastic event. This was the third time Lisa has competed at Hound Ears, and it was her third win. The competition was the first of the "Triple Crown" series. See www.triplecrownbouldering.org for more information.

(c) 2004 Andrew Kornylak

June 2004: Lisa climbs V10 in two tries

Invited by climbing equipment manufacturer Petzl to attend the Petzl Roc Trip in Targasonne, France, Lisa showed up fit for the April 29-31 event that drew around 500 climbers. She had a great few days at this beautiful bouldering area high in the Pyrenees and made fast ascents of numerous area testpieces. On the Saturday of the big gathering, she inspired everyone by climbing Tony Lamiche's beautiful, tall V10, Absinthe, in just two tries before a huge crowd of onlookers, many shooting photos or videotaping the ascent. She had already climbed one V9, a V8, and flashed a V7 that day. Then, later, she made short work of another V10 -- making two V10s in the same afternoon (neither of which she had tried before). Among the many problems she dispatched fast at Targasonne was the Baleine Boulder's classic sloper testpiece Magic Instant (V9), which she powered up in just two attempts.

"Granite's my favorite type of rock. I really enjoyed this area," says Lisa. "I feel like I was robbed of my bouldering season earlier this year because of my knee injury, so I was really motivated to get fit for this trip. What a treat to get there and find such amazing granite boulders all over the place!"

Hopefully, we can get you some pics of this outstanding area for the "On The Road" section later this year, though you can see some images and some incomplete info at www.petzl.com.
 

May 2004: Lisa interviewed for LA Times article

In the LA Times Outdoors section of May 11 2004, there's a cover feature based around photos of Lisa. The article begins by portraying bouldering as a new craze that is looked down on by "traditional" climbers. Not a very realistic hook, if you ask us! Of course, many climbers, Lisa included, love all kinds of climbing: bouldering, "trad" (and others). The piece also includes comments from Lizzie and Alexis Asher (from Austin, TX), and it improves as it goes on. 

The pictures are great, and on the LA Times website is an entertaining commentary from the staff photographer who drove up to Bishop to shoot photos of Lisa. (You may have to register to read the story and get the photographer's comments.) http://www.latimes.com/features/outdoors/la-os-boulder11may11.story 

Says Lisa: "I was impressed with the commentary from the staff photographer. He went up there not knowing anything about bouldering, and you can tell that he was interested in learning and came away with a pretty good understanding of what it's about."

April 2004: Lisa wins 2004 Phoenix BoulderBlast!

On Saturday April 25, Lisa pulled off her third consecutive victory at the world's largest outdoor climbing competition, held in the Queen Creek bouldering area near Phoenix, Arizona. Several hundred climbers competed and several hundred more showed up just for the party.

Only half an hour into the contest, Lisa split her index finger deeply when she caught it on a sharp edge as she jumped down from a move. "I was feeling really strong, but I split my finger so bad that I was struggling to climb," says Lisa. "Even though I ended up with about half my last years' scores, I felt like I put in about twice as much effort!"

"The one good thing about that day was that Gina was mixing great margaritas at the Voodoo booth. … I think I'll be taking a few days off now."
 

March 2004: Climbing magazine introduces a DVD version of Lisa's video.

Thanks to sponsor Climbing magazine, you can now purchase The Hit List on DVD from Climbing magazine's website: http://www.climbing.com/shop/movies/

October 2003: Lisa visits Japan, land of Hello Kitty!

This October, Lisa Rands visited Japan, spending about 10 days in and around Tokyo, where she visited the Pump Gym, and bouldered a few classic lines outside at the beautiful bouldering areas of Ogawayama and Mitake. While there, Lisa received many Hello Kitty gifts from Japanese climbers, and learned to sign her name in Japanese!

More about Japan in the On the Road Section

September 2003: Lisa leads "hard grit" testpiece!  Photo courtesy of Alex Messenger.

On Sunday, September 21, Lisa led a gritstone E7 called White Lines, on Curbar Edge. Curbar is one of the major grit edges on the east of the Peak, not far from Sheffield. White Lines (E7 6b/c) was first done by Johnny Dawes and has extremely thin climbing up an unprotected near-vertical wall culminating in a precarious high-step, using a tiny, embedded one-finger crystal for support with the right hand. This 30-foot wall is followed by a rest and gear at a horizontal break, then some slopey moves around an overlap and a bold and exposed finish over a four-foot overhang protected by micro-cams of doubtful worth. The route is on immaculate rock with great positions.

Lisa is only the second woman to do an E7 on grit, and the first to do one in nearly 10 years (Airlie Anderson "headpointed" Master's Edge in 1994). Lisa headpointed White Lines in traditional "hard grit" style -- leading it after top-rope practice. Because she'd done the route first on top-rope, she opted NOT to use crash pads for the lead ascent. 

What Lisa says:  "On Saturday, I top-roped it three times and was ready to go for it, but it started raining. On Sunday, the weather was really sunny and humid and conditions were terrible because the wall is sheltered from the wind. When I top-roped it, it felt desperate. I felt like I could fall off every move. We had waited all afternoon for conditions to get better. I looked around and saw my friends sitting there watching. The sun was about to set. . I thought, 'It might rain all of next week: I should go for it now!' 

When I led it, conditions still felt really bad, but once you reach a point on the climb, you're not going to reverse it, so you just keep going. I focused as hard as I could and tried to use perfect technique for every move. During the crux I never looked down, other than to see my feet. Once I got through the initial boulder problem, I really focused on relaxing. I placed the last bit of gear and convinced myself it would hold if I fell. Then I stayed as relaxed as I could pulling over the top roof, and felt very solid. 

It is a really good feeling when it all clicks and you just climb and feel more solid than you do on a top-rope. It's a game of learning to control your own fears and put your mind in a relaxed place, even though you know there is the potential to get hurt. It was very rewarding because I felt that I put so much mental energy into it. I didn't feel disappointed. The climbing definitely didn't feel easy."

April 26 2003:  Lisa pulled down strongly again at the world's biggest and wildest outdoor climbing competition, the internationally renowned Phoenix Bouldering Contest.

There was a new format this year in which only FIVE problems (down from eight last year) were scored from a list of just 14 alternatives. Different format, same amount of fun! Lisa's 4200-point total was more than two-and-a-half times greater than that of her nearest rival. www.phoenixboulderingcontest.com

April 12 2003: Lisa dominates at the Petzl Roc Comp in Baltimore, Maryland To win the Petzl Roc Comp competition, Lisa cranked off all four finals problems in front of a huge crowd of 700+ spectators raucously crammed into the Earth Treks Gym in Timonium, near Baltimore, Maryland. Lisa was on TV briefly, on OLN explaining bouldering in about 30 seconds, and cranking the last two finals problems, that no other woman managed. More info:
www.earthtreksclimbing.com.

March 2003:  Lisa spent a few weeks at Hueco Tanks, TX, early this spring. On the last weekend of her visit, she completed both Chablanke and Sarah -- two V12-rated problems -- on consecutive days (29-30 March). The problems are listed as V12 by Fred Nicole in his tick-list printed in Climbing Magazine last year. Sarah is a problem that begins with a sit-start on underclings in a roof and turns a lip to finish with a very tricky rock-over on a slab. Chablanke is a sit-start to the super-classic Sign of The Cross, a beautiful smooth sweeping overhang with the crux involving very technical and powerful moves using bad pinches on a 40-degree overhang. 

Just two days later, under pressure to leave, Lisa also pulled off an ascent of Woman With a Hueco in Her Head (V10+). This face-climbing testpiece on the world-famous Mushroom Boulder had tormented her on three previous occasions when she fell from high on the wall. Lisa found it the most satisfying "send" of her trip! 

Over the preceding weeks, Lisa made quick work of Swiss Crisp Mix (V10), Dirty Martini aka Tequila Sunrise (V9), Dragonfly Sit-start (V9), Sex After Death (V9), and FLASHED many classic Hueco classics including Better Eat Your Wheaties (V8), Mushroom Roof (V8), Something Different (V8), Mr Serious (V8), Wild Turkey Roof (V8), Right El Murray (V8), and the ultra-classic Center El Murray (V6).

December 2002: Lisa cranks at the Buttermilks for the Petzl bouldering benefit, climbing to donate dollars toward the Access Fund. "It was a really fun day. I hadn't been bouldering much before arriving [from England], and I was bleeding out of six fingertips by the end of the event!" says Lisa. The scores were taken as the best eight sends of the day plus $25 bonus for climbing a circuit of "classics." Lisa skipped the "classics," missed the easy bonus cash, but got stuck into the boulders, pulling 138 dollars for her best eight: Center Direct (V9), Moonraker (V9), Soulslinger (V9), High Plains Drifter (V7), Change of Heart (V7), Pain Grain Sit-start (V7), Saigon (V6), Smooth Shrimp (V6) ... http://www.petzl.com

September-October 2002: Lisa learns to trad climb on the venerated gritstone cliffs of England. Her best efforts were a FLASH of a "don't fall" E5/6 called Nosferatu (here's a shot of it, but it's not Lisa.), a "headpoint" ascent of Pebble Mill (E5) after top-rope practice (no spotters or pads!), and another ground-up, but third try ascent of the powerful E5, Moon Crack. She has also ticked several E4s including the spectacular Rasp Direct and the heady Moon Walk. For more info on gritstone climbing, click here.

August 8 2002: Lisa wins the PCA Open in Salt Lake City. LINK TO R&I ARTICLE  Rock & Ice magazine double-page spread.

July 27 2002: Lisa wins the famous Open des Ecrins at L'Argentiere -- France's biggest and longest-running bouldering competition against a huge international field. HYPERLINK 

July 20 2002: While training for the upcoming bouldering comps, Lisa climbs Du Cote de Seshuan (V11), at Magic Wood (Switzerland). This is Lisa's second V11. (LINK TO VIDEO CLIP)