The 2013 Beal UNICORE Ropes

For 2013, Beal is adding five more ropes to its line of UNICORE ropes making a total of 13 UNICORE ropes. From a diameter of 7mm and up to 11mm, there is now a UNICORE rope for every type of climbing.

New to the UNICORE ranks is the Ice Line 8.1mm, Cobra 8.6 mm, Joker 9.1mm, Tiger 10mm, and Top Gun 10.5mm. For over a year now, the Diablo 9.8mm, Diablo 10.2mm, Wall School 10.2mm, Wall Master 10.5mm, Access 10.5 & 11mm, Baobab 13.5mm, and Spelenium 8.5mm have astonished the masses with its UNICORE properties that ramps up the ropes’ safety and performance.

Advantages of UNICORE:

On a classic rope, if the sheath is accidentally severed, it slides and bunches over several meters. It then becomes impossible to pass this zone, whether climbing or descending.

With UNICORE, the sheath stays in place and the user may escape, either by climbing or by descending, whilst taking all necessary precautions. You are not stuck on the rope with no way out!

The Real Truth About UNICORE

With Beal’s introduction of a new line of dynamic climbing ropes that feature UNICORE, climbers now have a safer option to consider when purchasing a rope. UNICORE permanently bonds a rope’s sheath to its core, eliminating sheath slippage, allowing a climber to escape off the rope if the sheath has been cut, reduces rope shrinkage, and allows for the temporary cutting of a rope without the sheath fraying.

Grivel G20 Crampons

The Grivel G20 crampons were featured in the December 2012 issue of Elevation Outdoors. In their series of gear guides filled with game changing gear, they praised the G20 crampons for being the top performing crampon to up anyone's game on ice and mixed routes.

The Kong Gipsy

Use this link to watch another video that shows the Gipsy in action: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_cCKSwlQLo&feature=share&list=ULf_cCKSwlQLo

Plugging Pieces on Black Bean

One year ago a video was posted on the internet of Arnaud Petit, a sponsored Beal athlete, climbing France's notorious Black Bean (5.13d) route on the Biographie Wall. The coolest thing about this video is the fact that he was so bored and inspired by this route that he decided to try something new and climb it while placing his own gear. Some call it "green pointing" and some call it crazy. We think it's pretty slick. See for yourself.




So instead of clipping into all the pre-placed bolts on his way up, he ran it out to the very few spots where we was able to place cams and nuts. You'll notice too that he opted for the Beal Joker 9.1 rope to be his lifeline on this super-stellar feat.

The Beal Joker 9.1 conforms to all three dynamic rope standards, e.g., single rope, twin rope, and half rope. With this versatility, the Joker is definitely the rope that extreme climbers love. But that's not all. At the start of 2013, Liberty Mountain will be distributing and selling the NEW Beal Joker 9.1 UNICORE.

Just like the Diablo, the Joker will now have Beal's phenomenal UNICORE to prevent sheath bunching and slipping, making the rope safer and more reliable in abrasive and wet conditions. This is a game changer. Learn more about UNICORE here.

The Grivel 10-Point Crampon - Outside Magazine's Most Influential Gear

Outside Magazine named the Grivel 10-Point Crampon as the most influential gear of all time. Why is that?

The Grivel family and brand have gone down in history as the innovators of alpine equipment. They really made a historical name for themselves back in 1908 when Oscar Eckenstein approached Henry Grivel with his plans for a 10-point crampon. At that time Henry was a blacksmith with a family legacy of making equipment for alpinists since 1818. Henry would cut up old railroad ties, reheat them, and forge them by hand to create a “modern crampon.” 

 

It wasn’t until 1932 that the 10-point standard for crampons was increased to 12-points after Laurent Grivel, Henry’s son, decided to add two front-points near the toes. Since then, not much has changed in regards to the general design and function of crampons. With all the different brands and models of crampons out there the overall 10-point and 12-point design remains the same.

Grivel continues to lead the pack in manufacturing the best crampons in the world. They now use much harder steel that forms a rigid structure under the foot that keeps sharp and penetrates the ice more efficiently. Grivel products are made in Italy with solar energy.

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Read more about Grivel’s history by clicking here.

Liberty Mountain has been the U.S. distributor of Grivel climbing gear since 2009.
Buy Grivel gear straight from Liberty Mountain at www.libertymountainclimbing.com.

UNICORE - Beal's "Special Ingredient"

We have some exciting news and we just can't wait to tell you all about it.


Imagine yourself rock climbing. You're seconding up a route that you partner just finished leading while fighting the worst rope drag due to numerous rock ledges and roofs. As you climb, your partner heaves on the rope to take in the slack. The next thing you know your rope looks like a snake trying to shed its skin and you are dangling from what looks like a bundle of white nylon threads.

At some point along the timeline of a climbing rope's life the sheath will get wet, cut, grated, and definitely stretched. This leaves the core of the rope to be exposed or free to make parallel movements inside the sheath.

Many people have been to a climbing gym and seen how the sheath of the ropes are all bunched up at the ends. And some have even seen the result of when the sheath is cut while climbing as illustrated above.

"Sheath slippage" is no joke. It's actually dangerous. And that is why Liberty Mountain and Beal brought a phenomenal game changer to the US market last spring...UNICORE.

UNICORE is the industry leading method of securing the core and sheath of a rope together without changing the rope's performance and durability properties. UNICORE is much like the biological tissue/membrane that keeps the skin attached to the rest of the body.


With a UNICORE rope, climbers won't experience their sheath bunching at the ends and the core will not be overexposed from sheath slippage if the sheath gets cut. That alone will allow any climber to retreat on a rope whose sheath is cut and still be able to pass it through the chains, carabiners, and belay/rappel devices.

In the video below a demonstration is given to show what happens to a weighted rope when the sheath is cut. The first rope does not have UNICORE and the second one does. See the difference.



UNICORE is stretchy, supple, and compatible with Beal's special water and abrasion treatments. This means that the UNICORE technology can be used on both dynamic and static ropes as well as ropes intended for dry and wet condition.

Now you are probably wondering what the big news is that we are so anxious to share, seeing how UNICORE has already been on the market for a hand-ful of months. Well, as of now there are only three ropes that are vested with the honorable UNICORE, e.g., Beal's Diablo, Wall Master, and Wall School ropes. So our big news today is that there will be more...we just can't tell you which ropes yet.

At the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in August, Liberty Mountain and Beal will reveal the extended collection of ropes that will reign supreme with UNICORE. Keep an eye and ear out for this big announcement and receive it directly by subscribing to our blog and social media pages on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.

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Beal qualifies as the worlds’ premier manufacturer of climbing and security ropes. This leading position is explained by indisputable technical advances in the production process, and sales of over 8 million meters of rope annually.

Liberty Mountain is the exclusive U.S. distributor of these French made ropes, making Beal a leading brand that is seen in many, if not most of the outdoor retail shops around the nation. Liberty Mountain also directly sells Beal products to the general consumer through LibertyMountainClimbing.com.

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