UKC

2 hours 31 and 20 seconds!

They did Zodiac

What speeds do you reckon are possible. Sub 2 hours?

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

How fast is that in terms of metres climbed per second?

Anyway, what IS the big deal about this speed ascent thing. Yes, it's fast which is impressive (kind of). But the constant attempts at new speed records is making it look ridiculous. Is it a new olympic event? Should we also have a jury watching to award style points?

In reply to JonC:

Yeah agree. Its impressive but ultimately dull and not really in character to what I see as climbing IMHP etc

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

They may as well be soloing these routes, as the speeds that are being attained make a mockery of moving safely while roped together.

Okay, I admit they are way up there in terms of ability and climbing fast has got to require an amazing level of concentration, but they'll be moving together, corners will be cut, and sooner or later there'll be a mighty long fall on to the screes below.

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

want to make it cleat this was not a dig at you or the thread Adam

just interested as to other's views on this - this type of speed ascent does seem rather a shallow thing in comparison to many other aspects of climbing.

In reply to JonC:

Ha, no probs, not entirely into it myself, but impressive. Considering the way they did it. Did last 4 pitches in less than 20 minutes!

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

I didn't read about it. I assume aided - how hard?

Ever tried big wall stuff yourself? Always looks a bit dull when you see them going for the full aiding bit, though I'm sure it has it's moments...

In reply to JonC:

I think it's a very interesting aspect of our sport. Especially when you look at the difference between the original days spent on walls and the hours spent now.

New techniques have been developed to make these fast times possible which transfer well to even harder (technical difficulty) ascents on more remote big walls and alpine faces.

I ignore the Florine hype.

M

In reply to JonC:

To achieve this blistering fast speed the Huber brothers spent little time properly "on belay". Instead they used a "short fixed" technique whereby the lead climber would reach a belay, tie off the rope with about 20 meters of slack rope fed out, and then continue climbing whilst the second climber is jumaring up to the belay! They free climbed about 80% of the route, and used aid on the rest - whatever was fastest! Thomas led the first half or the route and Alex the second.

http://www.8a.nu

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

and exactly how fit would you have to be to do that?!

yes, impressive indeed - perhaps it's because I don't understand it fully that makes it hard to comprehend what an achievement it is.

I suppose the fitness and technical ability (hardware/ropeworl related) is fairly amazing even ignoring how good they are in pure climbing terms.

But still, it does seem a bit of a strange activity...

In reply to Adam Lincoln: Somebody told me once that one of the old valley charaters turned to a speed team on half dome and said something along the lines of- you may have done it in 3hours or whatever, but I've had 15 hours more fun than you guys have doing the same route.

In reply to vscott:

Ah, but the Hubers get an extra 15 hours to spend on Rocktalk.

In reply to Adam Lincoln:
Top effort. It took me five days to do seven moves in the Pass last week!

In reply to tc:

Bloody hell!! That's seven more moves than most boulderers do in a lifetime!!

Bob

In reply to Bob:

Don't knock these Huber geezers - this is a seriously impressive acievement no matter what your views on speed climbing....

In reply to Anonymous:

Sorry? Look who I was replying to.

Bob

In reply to Adam Lincoln:
So the leader is effectively rope-soloing while the second is jumaring, untying the dead rope and generally tidying up. So..er...would that be 2h 31m 20s be the time taken from leading off to leader topping out, or both topping out? Just getting me facts straight...

In reply to JonC:

I for one find this speed climbing very impressive and one of the healthier turns that our sport has taken in recent years. To climb that fast one obviously has to climb with supremely good style. As for the safety angle, this form of climbing looks pretty justifiable to me. Whereas one can argue that soloing is always semi-looney (in that anyone, however good, is fallable and could make a fatal mistake), there has not, to my knowledge, been one accident yet with this mode of climbing.

In reply to Mick - Rockfax USA:

What speed techniques transfer well to the more remote regions, then ?

The only technique I picked up on this thread is the leader carrying on roped solo whilst the second jumars. Surely this technique only works with prior knowledge of bomber (bolt ?) belay anchors ?

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

As someone who once spent 5 days on The Zodiac, this is incredibly impressive. Climbing a 1500' VDiff in 2'30" would be beyond most people...

I think this approach is a worthwhile goal in itself. It's a terrific feeling climbing fast and efficiently where you might otherwise labour for days. I do think it's a useful pointer to what will be done in the big hills. The specialised techniques are specific to well known routes with bolt belays but the fitness and confidence levels are transferable. Working a boulder-problem with spotters is very different to onsighting trad, but most people would think the former helps the latter.

These style of ascents obviously involve a certain amount of pushing the boat out. Essentially you have to be happy soloing at the grade you are climbing. The rope is there to prevent utter disaster, but long falls happen quite regularly and there have certainly been broken limbs. It’s a bit like the hard grit scenario: the medium is predictable, it’s fairly obvious what the risks are and the practitioners are generally pretty competent but one day someone will get seriously hurt.

In reply to GrahamD:
Well, there's a few techniques for simul-climbing which can really save time on long routes anywhere: using tiblocs on crucial runners, the second using a gri - gri to vary the length of slack rope out, ways of racking and types of gear for quick transfers amongst others.
Hans Florine has written a book about it - can't remember the title.

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

"2 hours 31 and 20 seconds!"

That is pretty impressive.

I guess we'll be seeing more and more speed ascents of harder faces/walls in years to come as folks are forced to push the boat out further for recognition in the sport...

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

We spent longer than that getting up a 30m VS recently :-|

In reply to JonC:


When you see the speed with which some of the Yosemite veterans have been able to scorch hard routes in places like Patagonia, The Karakorum and Baffin Island, you start to get an idea of where these skills may be leading. In such areas, with potentially short weather-windows, the ability to move light and fast on technical ground is critical.

JAMIE B>