An Afternoon in Eldorado Canyon: V10 in one session!

I hadn't been to Eldorado Canyon in years and have done very little bouldering there ever. Perhaps I am a bit too thrifty but I really don't like paying to climb outside. But since there are a number of worthy problems and a universe of routes, I decided to buy a pass anyway. Yesterday, I drove out there to check out Qigong, also known as the Schulte Arete, and 606, a Will Lemaire classic on the Gill boulder. Qigong looks interesting but the boulder was cold and clammy and I needed a few more pads than I had to clear up the landing properly. It also looks very hard. So it was off to 606. 606 is a well-known crimpy V10 that climbs the west face of the Gill boulder and has the advantage of being directly adjacent to the parking lot. I gave it a thorough looking over and thought it looked very feasible. The flash attempt was pretty futile, though with good beta it is very flashable. Anyway after some time spent working out the specifics of the holds, I was soon falling at the last hard move, or what I thought was the last hard move, a stab for a horizontal slot. I realized however, that a better option was to throw for the big sidepull on the right. I tried it that way from the start, stuck the sidepull and finished the problem, happy to complete it in one session, 5 or 6 tries.
It is interesting to compare this problem with the other V10s and V11s I have done recently. 606 is regarded as solid in the grade which is why I feel that Ted Lanzano's Red Wall Traverse, which is very similar in style is much harder. That took me 5 or 6 sessions and many tries. The visit to Eldo also reminded me why I prefer climbing outdoors as much as possible; the experience is much richer, more complex, and so much more meaningful overall. Of course the weather is always an issue but I find it is part of the challenge. Seeing the glowing orange aretes and fins of sandstone against the brilliant blue sky and hearing the distant shouts of climbers high up on the West Ridge made me want to head up there again, to be high up on a crag in the sun gazing across to the snow-covered peaks to the west. Perhaps soon.

Visit UK Climbing for Ty Landman's review of the year in bouldering. Good pictures and video.

Adam Ondra Video

A very high quality video of Adam Ondra on Open Air 5.15a

This video makes it very clear that Adam has apparently no muscles, very efficient climbing technique, and no fear. Especially remarkable is his skipping a clip at the crux, which is a V11/12 boulder problem, a clip that would be no problem as it is at a good shake, and then skipping the next one as well. Essentially he is facing a 30+ foot fall at the last "hard" move, maybe more with all the rope stretch and slack in the system. Obviously he has total faith in his ability.

After two ass-kicking sessions at the BRC and the Spot my faith is being tested. I have taken about a week off to let my right knee heal after it was bruised in a fall I took a few weeks ago. Things are better now but I feel subpar to say the least. My hopes for feasible conditions outside may come true this week but physically I feel under-prepared. However these things have a way of working themselves out quickly. So once I wean myself from the gingerbread, I should be back on track.

8c+ at 52: Stevie Haston

Go to UK Climbing for a short piece on Stevie Haston's ascent of an 8c+ in Ariege in the Pyrenees. The comments are pretty interesting as well.

I have been snowed under in the past week,literally and figuratively, as the weather has been very cold here in Boulder recently and the snow and ice is being very tenacious. I have been finishing up a long paper for my seminar, focusing on John Keats medicine, and sculpture. Lots of research on old anatomy illustrations and medical history and I am glad to be done. I have a great new V11/12 project at Flag, hidden in plain sight as usual, that is very sun-friendly so I may try to tackle it again this afternoon if the sun stays out. Fingers crossed...

UPDATE: 8a.nu. mentioned Haston's ascent but then pointed out that the Italian climber, Maurizio "Manolo" Zanolla, had climbed Bimbaluna, 9a age 48. Something about a world record, whatever that would mean. Once again the numbers seem to be what 8a.nu is focusing on, not the fact that not many 50+ year-old climbers get up 14c.

Also thanks to Tissue Tendons for posting his top-five list of blogs at 8a.nu. I would add his to the list as well.

What is Up at 8a.nu?

8a.nu has had its detractors since it was first established. There were claims of fostering overt competition, overgrading, commercialism, etc. but a recent post in the forum at the ClimbingNarc titled "What's going on at 8a?" had me thinking that there is a deeper problem. There have been a number of peculiar posts in the news section at the site that indicate something needs to change:

High ball & DWS grading: 7A!!!
First Anchors and extensions
The fourth gripping position
Maximizing/Understanding your grade
Comparing grades performances into seconds etc.
Differences in Trad & Sport ethics

Endless top ten/five lists

And so on. Many of these seem primarily to have annoyed people particularly the posts about trad climbing, which have attracted a number of angry responses. My main concern about 8a.nu is the relentless push for rankings in everything such as "All-around Climber" or "Best Female Climber." My view is that the website is trying to make itself something that doesn't yet exist and probably shouldn't, a kind of Google for climbing that everyone ultimately has to use/refer to or be left out of the conversation. They even have a suggested list of Top Ten English-speaking climbing blogs!(naturally this one was ranked 11th, though Climbing Narc did make it, congratulations) Enough already with the obsession with ranking everything! The scorecard is fine as a motivational tool but past that I really question its worth. I'm not saying boycott the site, though Tyler Landman has done so, but I hope they recognize that they are not the final or even important arbiters of anything climbing-related.

Fred Beckey in the New York Times

The New York Times has a lengthy profile of Fred Beckey, still climbing at 85. A nice video piece is included as well.

Jamie Emerson has posted a video of a V12/13 called Schule des Leben in Switzerland.


Schule des Leben from Jamie Emerson on Vimeo.

and the Climbing Narc has posted a video called Heart of Stone.

Heart of Stone - HD from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

Both are great to watch and both point out that Youtube is going to have to upgrade or get left behind. The Heart of Stone video can readily be watched (and should be watched) full screen.

Just Another Traverse

Saturday afternoon, I finished a project that I have been working on for number of days, Just Another Traverse on the Red Wall at Flagstaff. Ted Lanzano did this earlier in the year and rated it V9/10, a nice bit of understatement. After about 5 days and at least two dozen attempts, I would propose V11. The traverse starts with a couple of moves on thin crimps, followed by a very powerful and crimpy solid V10 section getting to the pod on the left. A strenuous shake leads to a final four-move crux which I fell from on Thursday. Basically V10 to V7 and much harder than any other V10 I have done this year, even harder than the Left Graham Arete at V11. It's a great problem that I would highly recommend.

As I write, there is 4 inches of snow on the ground so climbing outside may be done for a while. Cold weather and snow may stick around making most of the local areas unclimbable for at least a week.

Here's an interesting piece about sponsorship in the big leagues. It can't be long before climbing is seriously affected as well. The economic picture is so terrible, especially in employment and retail, I would imagine that the climbing industry is very worried at this point. A report at the Outdoor Industry Association shows growth except that, "In specialty stores, equipment, equipment accessories and footwear each lost ground compared to last October." Here's another quote from the same report: "According to trendspotter and OIA Rendezvous keynote speaker Marian Salzman, the only businesses in which she would consider investing right now are soup and camping." Mmmm...soup