UKC

I've got a funny feeling they may not be after a middle aged punter, maybe i'll have to make some outrageous claims like trying to move from being an E1 climber to E6 in 12 months or some such thing.....

Will it work?

In reply to tatty112:

Not too outrageous, if the sponsorship was enough to let you take some time off work I'm sure most people could go from E1 to E6 in 12 months

In reply to Jeremy C.:

Onsighting E6 is pretty hard, very few people with a year of dedicated
climbing could go from E1 to E6 in a year.
It took me 15 years, but i'm just a middle aged punter.
Dan

In reply to dan gibson:

I dunno man, I flashed an E5 on toprope in the same year I did my first E1 (not that I toprope any more!). Just saying I don't think it's unfeasable, you could get an E6 tick in that time span if you picked the right routes! Something boldish like Life assurance maybe.

In reply to Jeremy C.:


yeh, cause like the indian face is only F7b+ innit. i know lots of people who can onsight F7b+ innit.

In reply to tatty112:

Even if you did, i'd be surprised if that was enough to pull in enough sponsorship to live off.

In reply to Franco Cookson:

Yeah... but isn't Indian Face E10? Onsighting E6 and simply just doing one mean very different things. I am sure someone can go from onsighting E1 to doing an E6 in a year... if the climber is very strong on sport and applied him/herself then I am sure he/she could onsight E6 for sure! I know guys who are lucky if they can onsight 7a+ but have flashed E7, but I also know guys who have come from a life in sport climbing, learnt trad and within a few months have gone from E1 - E6 flash/onsight...

Indian face though aint a very good example, its a 7b+ slab that means death if you fall... Even bold trad climbers are shit scared of that!

In reply to jonny2vests: Ha I wish, was reffering to the premier post from camp in the other thread asking for applications for applicants for people who want to be sponsored by having some gear.

In reply to Jeremy C.: so like French 6a/+ to 7b/+ (onsight of course) in 12 months (not to mention the mental progress required to get on many E6). yeah, thats easily done and simply a question of time.

In reply to Jeremy C.: youre well-qualified to comment then.

In reply to tatty112: Onsighting E6 is highly unlikely to get you sponsored. Unless you happen to be 10 years old, then you'll stand a chance.

Andy F

In reply to tatty112:

Easy to get a sponsorship deal. All you have to do is walk up to Scafell and onsight all of Dave Birketts E8's & E9's, simple ha ha.

Or you could just get really good at bouldering and go and crush a load of little Grit E8's.

Does anyone else agree that Mountain routes such as "If 6 was 9" on Iron crag or "New Horizons" on Scafell are far superior to routes of the same grade on Grit??????????

Honestly which route do you think would be harder, Another Lonely Day E8 6C on Scafell or Angels Share E8 6C at Black Rocks (which it seems you can just slide down onto a couple of matts).

In reply to djmarko75:

Its a highball boulder problem with mats. (v9/10) For the E8 6c tick, you need to be trying it ground up/onsight, with no mats. That is how the grading system works. Try falling off the top without mats and say its a boulder problem.

In reply to djmarko75:

Getting a deal with a climbing company is more than climbing hard.

To do it well you have to have a good business head. It's about helping a company to sell more gear.

Most deals are gear only and those involving money require you to work hard on your 'rest' days.

There are only a handful of 'professional' climbers in the UK.

It isn't an easy life.

Mick

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

I see your point, but to gauge which route is harder/bolder you just have to look at the number of repeats its had.

Bishop in California has boulder problems that are higher than anything at Stanage!!!! Not a bit of wonder their lads came over here and spanked loads of grit routes eh.

In reply to djmarko75:

I am not disagreeing with you, but ease of access is also a factor. Most of Birkett's routes in the Lakes will be dirty, not have had traffic and wont have chalk on them. Turn up in the peak and most routes will be dry and a high chance they will have chalk on them

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

Agreed mate, yeah I did Psycho at Caley a few years ago and it had chalk all over it. I was probably the tenth person to do it that day.

I was actually with Leo Houlding when he tried to repeat If 6 was 9 in 1994 just two years after its first ascent. The route was dirty and needed a proper clean. Needless to say although Leo had done The Torture Board E7 6C the week before this route was something else.

Routes Like Echo Wall will probably have to wait for a decade or more for a repeat just becasuse of the massive walk in and the fact that its only in condition for around 1 month a year.

Dont get me wrong when I was bouldering around V9 I tried The New Statesman on tope rope and couldn't touch it ha ha. Oh and I certainly wouldn't want to lead it.

In reply to djmarko75:

Two people on ukc agreeing? What is going on?

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

Ha ha I know mate. Nice one, catch you later.

In reply to tatty112: For those who I hadn't twigged I was merely making a quip in response to what I would have to do to get this:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=441386

Rather than thinking I could ever be a real sponsored climber

In reply to Mick Ryan - Senior Editor - UKC:

I notice the news says "sponsored climber" whilst in the detail it says "climbing ambassador".

As you say, very different things!