UKC

Which were the ascents most impressed you and/or climbers of 2015 and why?

For me it's the unexpected stuff that impresses. Alex Megos's second go ascent Demencia Senile (9a+) stands out. Always thought that route looked super desperate after watching the Iker Pou vid of it. Adam Ondra failed on it and I believe injured himself trying. I was in Margelef earlier this year and watched strong Italian Gabriel Moroni hanging on it and I don't think he actually succeeded. So a second go ascent of a route like that blows me away.

I was also very impressed by Daniel Woods ascent of Ondra's Thor's Hammer (9a+) too. He's undoubtedly an amazing boulderer but this route is so different to what he normally does: 60m long and over 30 minutes to redpoint. It even took Megos 3 days so it's obviously pretty hard. So I thought it impressive to see a bouldering crimpmaster redpointing a massive enduro monster at such a high standard.

In comps the two climbers that stood out for me were Megan Mascarenas and Janja Garbrett. Mascarenas for first winning Vail WC, then the Adidas Rockstars as well as flashing font 8a outdoors. The past few years the women's bouldering seems to have been monopolized by the same five women so breaking through that, and displaying awesome technique too, was very cool to see.

Finally Janja Garbrett for almost winning her first two lead WCs was coo. She only lost on countback in the first. But then she went on to completely dominate the Sportiva Legends Only bouldering comp. Great to see someone so good in both disciplines at any age but at only 16... wow. Second go ascent of an 8c on rock is also rather impressive.

In reply to stp:
Was Ben Moon on Rainshadow this year? Seems ages ago now.

And wasn't Dawn Wall this year? I lose track of time... (and can't be bothered to Google!).

In reply to stp:

Ben Moon on rainshadow
Stu Littlefair on rainshadow
Ondra flashing Jade

In reply to stp:

Marc Andre Leclerc solo on Cerro Torre Corkscrew route.

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web15w/newswire-leclerc-cerro-torre-solo-corksc...

In reply to stp:

Boswell's winter routes would have to feature here I think, with extra marks for later fending off bears

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

Dawn Wall was this year and certainly impressive, particularly Jorgeson's battle with the crux pitch.

In reply to stp:
My own ascent of a grade 4 boulder problem at Back Bowden Doors. You should have seen me i flew up it. My 3 dogs were watching and they all seemed very impressed.

In reply to peewee2008:

Ben Moon Rainshadow. It put a lot of other reported hard ascents into perspective and was, for someone a bit older than ben, inspirational.

In reply to peewee2008:




Agreed. The best thing about the video of Ondra was the look of disbelief of Dave Graham's face.

In reply to Bulls Crack:


My big diy project for Spring will be a Moonboard in the garage. Total focus, and a real inspiration.
The other was watching Alexander Megos one afternoon in the ClimbingWorks effortlessly flying around the hardest circuits with little apparent effort. Again, really inspirational, and a really nice guy.

In reply to paul_in_cumbria:


Paul, my mate's wife got him a board in the garage three years ago, as a present when he turned 60. It's a bit smaller than a Moonboard but he's got a load of Moon holds on (the black ones). He reckons he's gone up at least three grades, from F7b to F7c+. And he's getting stronger, almost week by week. His fingers are almost obscenely strong. I've been on it for six months now and am just beginning to show a bit of form. Interestingly my stamina was/is the same as his and I've always thought my fingers were reasonable - but not compared to his! Those black holds seem just right - not too easy, not too hard. For me, there's a sweet spot, where I'm pulling maybe 85% of what I could, where I'm getting stronger but not getting injured.

Good luck!

Mick

In reply to stp:

Brit Centric but -

Stu LittleFair, Rainshadow - Inspiring display of dedication and passion

Mina Leslie-Wujastyk, Bat Route

Whittaker and McManus on El Cap

Robbie Phillips and his alpine rock tour, looking forward to seeing some footage from these trips. Burnt off Sasha and Carlo on Paciencia!

In reply to Mick Ward:

Hi Mick.
I'm 56 in April. My knees will never be what they once were, but my fingers are holding up. The black holds are certainly on my list as soon as the board is built. Hopefully I'll get it finished before my fingers give up ;-(

In reply to stp:

The Lunatics (have taken over the Asylum) (E6 6c)

In reply to stp:

Aidan Roberts must be top or near of any UK list, yoof European Bouldering Champ and F8c third ascent.

In reply to stp:

There's been many amazing shows of prowess and strength this year, but I'm going to focus on the two that stood out the most to me, from UK climbers: Ben on Rainshadow, and Aiden on Freakshow.

Both made me feel inspired and stoked for British sport climbing and pushing my own limits.

In reply to stp:

In UK bouldering terms, Dan Turner's repeat of Bewilderness 8B+ at Badger Cove is the most impressive UK ascent of the year that I can think of given a) it's probably harder than the FA due to him breaking a hold b) he did it in the middle of the summer when it would have been undoubtedly harder than an ascent in the cooler temps of Sep/Oct and c) he travelled down from N Yorkshire multiple times to attempt it. V impressive!

In reply to Tom Briggs:

Dan has had an amazing year

In reply to stp:
Best newcomer (Winter): Uisdean Hawthorn.

Niky Ceria finally repeating Voyager Sit

In reply to stp:

Ashima Shiraishi! In addition to just being generally awesome:
First Female Ascents of Open Your Mind Direct and Ciudad de Dios (both 9a/+) in March 2015
First Female Ascent of Phenomena (8b+) after 30 mins on the route
First Female Ascent of Terre de Sienne (V14)
Some other V14s
Won IFSC World Youth Championships for both lead and bouldering in the Female Youth B category