The Flash: Rock+Run Blog

Innovative brilliance in a versatile vehicle of climbing comfort and performance, it doesn't get any better than the modern day remake of the Scarpa Vapour S. Recent years have seen a renaissance for the climbing slipper with many of the top brands ranging one, although most seem to type cast their slipper into one of two categories; the left-field performance thoroughbred or the super-soft, comfy training shoe. But, as legendary inventor, Thomas Edison once said, "There's a way to do it better - find it", and I reckon Scarpa might just have done that with the Vapour S, here's why.

This week's video is a quicker hit than usual with uncut footage from Mellow of local Lake District lad, Aidan Roberts, flashing Momentum - a V14/8B+ in Valle Bavona, Switzerland. A Nalle Hukkataival first ascent, Momentum's crux is a painful quarter-pad right hand crimp with a huge lock off right through to a pinch, sounds right up Aidan's street if you ask us. Enjoy! 

From easy-going, summer trails to soggy coastal walk ins, the Mission Leather Lows from Black Diamond have been a revelation. Like a best hits album, the Mission Leather Lows combine a lot of the essential underfoot features of their superb approach shoe range with the best bits of a sturdier leather walking boot to produce the ultimate approaching machine. 

This week's video features everyone's favourite Mellow member, Keenan Takahashi, as he embarks on the quest for new king line highballs in the Buttermilks. From his journey through climbing to the ultimate development and send of A Little Life V14, this one had us on the edge of our seats throughout. We challenge you to get through this without sweaty palms, enjoy!

Faster, lighter, brighter, the Guide 30 is the quintessential Deuter pack within the new SS23 range boasting a range of subtle and some not so subtle improvements that put the new packs up there as the very best on the market. Perfectly sized for a day out in the UK hills, the Guide 30 sits at the fulcrum of the Guide range and will doubtless be one of the most popular options for UK mountaineers but, is it worth your money?

In 2017, British climber James Pearson made the first ascent of Le Voyage at Annott crag, near his adopted home in France. With runout 8b+ climbing above tricky gear, it weighed in at E10 on the British trad scale. Top British climber, Steve McClure, thought it sounded right up his street and couldn't resist donning the unlaced 5.10 Blancos to take a look. Cracks, crimps and cams, Le Voyage has it all - enjoy!

Bosi is BACK. Life after Lappnor looks sweet with Bosi firmly cementing himself as the world's in-form boulderer becoming only the second climber ever, after Shawn Raboutou, to climb two 9A graded boulder problems. In this week's video, we take a look at the trip that kickstarted Will's rise to outdoor domination. Going toe to toe with Adam Ondra on a super successful Czech climbing trip was just the start for Bosi - enjoy!

The Cuesta from Blue Ice is a sleek, modern rock climbing harness from the Chamonix-based French brand. While Blue Ice might be known more for their alpine gear, the Cuesta is very much a rock climbing harness – though the version that has adjustable leg loops would no doubt be at home in any mountain environment. I’ve been easing my way into the early season for rock climbing here in the south of the UK with the Cuesta in tow (along with gloves, hat and many layers!). 

This week's video is a break from the harsh realities of our more common world class climbing video recommendations, yes V17's hard and no, sadly we aren't that strong. In Casually Explained's summary of Rock Climbing, you'll find ample relief from the real thing with a tongue and cheek take on the sport and our wonderfully diverse community. Enjoy!

Deuter have been making some of the best packs on the market for over 100 years, and manage to keep surprising us with new ideas and designs of their packs. This season is no different with the release of updated versions of some much loved packs.

Fresh for this spring/summer season is a brand new range of revised and improved rucksack models from German powerhouse, Deuter. Having been in the game for 125 years, Deuter know their way around the pack market but, with an evolving clientele and ever changing mountain pursuits, this is the most radical range update and redesign we've seen from Deuter in some time. Fast and light is the name of the game for this year's range and the new and improved models come with this ethos at the heart of their design, complimenting the Deuter packs we already stock. Perfect for intense missions in the mountains, a real highlight of the Spring range actually comes from the new waterproof additions to the Deuter collection with the Vertrail and Durascent packs, but more on these later.

What are the secrets to climbing well? Well, while there's no magic bullet solution to rock climbing mastery, some relatively inexpensive bits of kit can make a heap of  difference!

This week's video follows Lake District local, Aidan Roberts, takes centre stage once again in the latest epic climbing film from Wedge. A 40 minute feature length, Mastery documents Aidan as he pursues a new limit of cutting edge bouldering, searching for new test piece projects both locally here in the Lake District, and further afield on the world class granite of Switzerland. Of course, Mastery documents Aidan's time on and subsequent send of Shawn Raboutou's 9A, Alphane - it's pretty incredible, you'll have to see it to believe it. Enjoy!

Do you ever wash your climbing rope? No? Well this week's video might make you consider it. Hard Is Easy are back with another geeky video from the Mammut testing labs and this time it's the turn of dirty ropes. Taking a deep dive into effects of dirt on your climbing ropes durability, Ben finds out whether it's a good idea to wash your climbing rope or not. Testing this on both dry treated and normally finished ropes, the results are pretty surprising... Enjoy!

Want to get stronger? Of course you do and you might be thinking that campusing is the perfect way to do this. Correct. But, do you know how to use campusing effectively, using proper technique to get the most out of the exercise? Well, in this week's video Hannah Morris is joined by Norwegian coaches and Climbing Bible authors, Martin Mobråten and Stian Christophersen, who delve into the dynamics of campus training, proving it isn't just a bravado based party piece reserved for your local crushers. 

We've picked out a few of our favourite women's climbing shoes in a concise top 5 buying guide, taking everything from performance levels and intended climbing terrain to cost into consideration.

This week's video comes straight from Sheffield where we're taken on a whistle stop tour through time alongside Adam Ondra and Magnus Midtbø. Embarking on this journey around some of the UK climbing scene's most significant spots with legends Jerry Moffat and Ben Moon, Adam and Magnus cut their teeth on some Sheffield classics. In this one we visit Pod's Wall, a tricky, pre-indoor brick wall testing ground found by Pete O'Donovan in the late 70's, and Moon's famous school room where board training was officially birthed. 

Organic pads have long been at the pinnacle of the bouldering mat market, becoming the premium go-to for keen boulderers everywhere with unique patchwork patterns and the unbeatable quality that can only come from a handmade product. But, are Organic pads still the best in the business? I've been test driving a full Organic pad set up with a Full Pad, Simple Pad, Slider Pad and the Muffin Protector and Load Flap accessories to find out just how good they really are.

This week's video comes from our backyard here in the South Lakes where supreme Scot, Will Bosi, takes on a host of the 8th grade classics. Taking in the quiet, woodland covered limestone of Woodwell and the crisp rhyolite of Kentmere, Bosi samples some of our favourite after-work venues - the only difference between our respective trips being the difficulty of the climbing!

Everything you need, all in one place. Lake District local, Andy McVittie's (AKA Process Physio), fantastic new book The Self Rehabbed Climber might just be the most comprehensive climbing physio guide we've ever seen and, not just that, but it's actually quite fun to read too.

A detailed review of the Sea to Summit Women’s Flame FmIII Sleeping System, incorporating the Flame FmIII Down Sleeping Bag, Ether Light XT Insulated Mat and Aeros™ pillow.

This week's video comes from the beautiful Buttermilks where Nina Williams made an ascent of Ambrosia V11 in 2017. First ascended by Kevin Jorgenson in 2009, Ambrosia stands at a positively massive 50 feet tall and watching Nina on this certainly gave us sweaty palms, partly through fear but mostly with psych. Enjoy!

Having been in the Evolv line-up for many years now, the Shaman could be viewed alongside other stone cold classics such as the La Sportiva Miura or the Boreal Joker. The Shaman originally entered the range way back when as Chris Sharma’s signature model, and there was a time when nearly everyone had a pair. Over time the design has changed (evolved?) slightly, but the shoe itself never lost the broad appeal and features that made it popular in the first place.

Super soft sensitivity - the all new Red Chili Sensor does exactly what it says on the tin with an unrivalled set of supple skills that dominate indoor terrain. But beware, this is no one trick pony.