UKC

Patxi Usobiaga just keeps on trucking. This weekend, he climbed Mendeku, 9a, at Egino, his sixth 9a in the last three weeks; this on top of his historical 8c+ onsight.
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Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

Patxi climbs 9a? 8c gets onsighted? We had this last week.
Does this qualify as news?

In reply to Owen W-G:

Not the Mendeku bit we didn't


Yes, do you think climbing six 9a's in three weeks is not significant?

In reply to Owen W-G:

yes

I been reading these reports of what Patxi has been up to and to be honest it simply blows me away. What climbers like Patxi Usobiaga, Dani Andrada, Ethan Pringle, Dave Graham, Chris Sharma and even our own Steve Mcclure have achieved this year in sports climbing is nothing short of amazing. Combine this with the incredible rack of V14,s that are being dispatched on-sight and the tremendous trad climbing prowess of McCleod, Trotter and Birkett must constitute 2007 as being one of the greatest rock climbing years for pushing standards ever!!

For me it's a real inspiration and makes me try that bit harder at whatever I'm doin'

Lee

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

Madness! 6, 9as in three weeks!!! thats as many as McClure as done in total.

and an 8c+ onsight...

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

from the report "Daila Ojeda reports that Chris Sharma did Digital System, 8c".....more pics of Daila please!

In reply to xyz:

V14 has not been onsighted or flashed.

V13 has been flashed three times, by James Pearson. (And nobody else.)

V12 has been onsighted by several people.

Okay so my numbers were out a grade - still bloody impressive though!

In reply to robin mueller:



Tony Lamiche may have flashed V13. I got this from an email from Wills Young when we ran the news item about Jame's flahes.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

May have? And which one? And when? I'm sure people would be interested to hear about it...

In reply to robin mueller:

"By the way ... several people have made flashes of alleged 8b in the
past
... Tony Lamiche, for example, has flashed 8b in different areas (I
believe several), but doesn't consider any of them as hard as their
given
rating ...
Wills"

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

Hmmm. That's not really news. Several people have in the past flashed 8b's that have been subsequently downgraded. This is well known, I think.

In reply to robin mueller:
word on the street (ie. what i got told yesterday) is one of the australian boulderers has flashed 8B (can't remember his name, surname began with an S tho)... he's coming to the uk sometime in jan i think so maybe we'll find out then..

In reply to robin mueller:

If it is well known. List them.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

when do we get to see 9b/9b+? If he keeps on like this he's going to run out of routes in the 9s.

Whats making this most recent generation of super sport climbers climb the routes so much faster than the previous lot? Phsychology? or did they start off as sport climbers much younger than others used to?

In reply to Northern Alliance Commander:


Well after over 10 years Akira, 9b, is still unrepeated and it's not like no-one's been trying!

In reply to Northern Alliance Commander:



I talked to John Dunne about this last Friday. He said climbing walls have a big part to play.

He has witnessed new climbers climbing 8a withing 2 years.

With the Spanish they have the rock, the weather, the temperament and the genetics.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:



A quick google returns the following:

Tony Lamiche flashed Leopard Cave at Rocklands, and Mandala at the Buttermilks. Both are now considered 8a+.

James Pearson flashed Secret Splendour at RMNP, now 8a+.

James Litz flashed Forced Entry at the Grampians in Oz. Seems this now gets 8a+.

Fred Nicole flashed Massive Attack in Magic Woods. This now gets 8a/8a+.

There are probably others...

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:


And the culture. Train hard in this country and you are regarded as something of an oddity. There is a lot of respect for, and adoption of, proper training techniques in Spain, and the difference, I think, is apparent.

A microcosm of the UK culture is contained in the "8a boulderers only..." thread. Amongst the replies are no encouraging ones, no specific training advice and someone suggesting he'll never climb any harder without getting on real rock (despite the likes of Paxti and Josune spending significant amounts of time away from real rock to focus on training). Culture holds us back more than the weather and genetics.

In reply to midgets of the world unite: Absolutely and definitely agree.

How many climbers do you see down the wall actually training, as opposed to just doing laps on the same old 6a+'s, standing around chatting or having coffee and pies, and somehow hoping they'll magically get strong while they slag off the guys that are actually putting some science and effort in.


As for the Aussie boulderer - Sharik Walker, was it?

In reply to midgets of the world unite: Strongly agree with you on this one. It seems in this country, if you don't go straight to the pub and drink 10 pints of bitter after a "training session", you're a big puff. There's no encouragement for people who are properly dedicating themselves to improving, like you say you're just seen as a weirdo. Also, peoples knowledge of basic sports science applied to training for climbing is pretty poor. The old trick of going to the wall and traversing for an hour, and thinking it's going to make you climb 8a... bet you don't catch many spaniards doing that.

In reply to Steve McQueen: Yeah that's basically my point too!

In reply to GDes:
surely you would want to do that for SACC? which would probably come in handy for spanish uber-pumps..

In reply to Steve McQueen:

certainly sounds right.. any idea if it's true?

In reply to abarro81: But it generally takes a lot more than that!

In reply to abarro81:


Nope, he's definitely strong, but hadn't heard anything about it, although I don't immerse myself in the Aussie forums much at the moment.

In reply to Glyn Jones:


I think your irony detector may require a slight tweak, sir.

jcm

Has anyone noticed that almost all the posters on this thread are climbing f7b and aove coincidence me thinks not!

In reply to mat098:

probably not a coincidence at all. I think it's quite hard to get excited about sport climbing news unless you do a fair bit of sport climbing yourself. Otherwise it's just too far removed from what you get up to at the weekend to really fire you up.

For most climbers in the UK, Paxti's rampage is only marginally more relevant than someone smashing the marathon record. To appreciate the significance of this achievement you probably have to have ticked a few 7's along the way....

In reply to mat098:

The news page gets 3,500 visits a day.....lots of people will read about it but decline to comment, nothing unusual in that.

In reply to mat098:

Have climbed 7b...

I have that in my profile or 7b+ but it was what I climbed not what I am climbing....

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC: It should be bore in mind that some climbers will flash a route given, for example, V13 and say 'hey look at me I've just flashed V13' whilst others will do the same and say 'actually it felt like V12'. There is a subtle but important difference I think!

In reply to whispering nic:


But the psychology is complex and originated in Yorkshire 30 years ago.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:


yeah, remember him talking on hard grit years ago about a "new generation of climbers coming in and tekin it very seriously indeed". It seems like he had to wait 15 years for it to actually happen (not that i'm trying to put down the efforts of everyones efforts between now and 15 years ago).

I'm just interested that if I have my facts straight steve mclure said a while back that no one would flash harder than 8a+ but then the scene just exploded since then (note - I know I may not be correct on the actual numbers etc).

I think its fab that the scene has taken off so at the moment.

In reply to niggle:


thanks - I've heard rumours of a 9b but never knew where it was. Where is it and who climbed it and is it really 9b? I think we need a campaign for Paxti Usobiaga to go and climb it no whilst he's on form!!!

In reply to Northern Alliance Commander:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/older.html?month=12&year=2007#41590

Only three years ago Steve McClure said about 8b+, "Reaching 8b+ is a whole new world of hard climbing. 8a may be the magic grade, but 8b+ is touching the boundaries of what is humanly possible. 8a can be climbed on fitness and power, 8b+ cannot."

Which shows you how much Steve and others have improved.

In reply to Northern Alliance Commander:
It's in a cave in France, and was climbed by Fred Rouhling.
But 9b's not cutting edge, for that you want Bernabe Fernandez's 9b+ Chilam Bilam in Spain.

In reply to Serpico:

Was this the one which originally had 4 bolt on holds and graded 9a+ but then after (more) working he managed to remove three of the bolt on holds to up the grade a little...

In reply to Serpico:



Is there still doubt about that ascent?

"Not surprisingly, the proposed grade has sparked an onslaught of online controversy around the world, “I cannot take Bernabé's proposal seriously as I can't see any references that would demonstrate his skills of climbing at such a high level — far above the rest of the world. I would be lying if I said that I believed in the correctness of the grade 9b+!,” writes German Alexander Huber on the European spray-tracking website, www.8a.nu."

http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/andalusiadream/

Chilam Bilam: youtube.com/watch?v=QJ234otpVxg&

Steve McClure said:

"And now we have 9b+ by little known Bernabe Fernandez. Just like way back in 1995 when Fred Rouhling claimed 9b with Akira, the World has sat up and cried bullshit. OK, so you can see why: Fernandez should be able to onsight 8c easily and crank 9a after lunch. And is he so much better than Sharma and Ramon? Well who knows –yet.

Personally I’d like to think it is 9b+. The amount of time and effort he has put in is incredible; the route is on his home ground and in his favourite style.

Maybe the route suited him perfectly. Maybe to him it’s only 9b, but to everyone else it will be 9b+? From what I hear it’s like running a marathon in 400 m sprints with no rest in between. This route is 80 metres long with 400 moves – try building that in your cellar! Whether its 9b+ or not you can be sure it’s not your average jog around the block."

http://www.freakclimbing.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid...

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

hold on - genetics?! in what way do they have better 'genetics' as you put it?!

In reply to Wingman:

Basque

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

hmmm I think that may be stretching it somewhat.

In reply to Wingman:

I think students of genetics may beg to differ. Google "Paleolithic type." The Basques are a hardy race.

Is it by some coincidence that Josune Bereziartu, a Basque, is the world's best female sport climber and strangely Patxi Usobiaga, also a Basque is the world's best male sport climber?

In reply to Jeff25:

Possibly, but that sounds like Orujo which went from 9a to 9a+ when he eliminated the bolt ons.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

What's a grade without a bit of controversy? It's there to be downgraded, just as Akira is. Akira however seems to be standing the test of time, and with Fred demonstrating large sections of it for disbelievers is gaining a bit of credibility. It won't see a repeat any time soon though as it's in a bit of a sh*t hole.

In reply to Wingman:

nah! i spent this summer in the basque country and those people are so much more focused in everything they do in life.

i didnt see any climbers but i think if anyone can do it, they could. the rest of us would just get bored.

i think grades should stand until someone disproves it. i would like to know if any of the top boys have tried the 9b+

In reply to SI A:


Otherway around, the first ascensionist has to prove the grade. Time and time again chancers propose a grade and it gets deflated.

Lokk at the track record of the first ascensionist.

Is it on home territory?

Then the acid test, confirmation by other climbers - repeat ascensionists.

In reply to Serpico:

Ah yes that was it. Orujo. I checked this line out in Archidona when i was there and its absouloutely jaw droppingly long and overhanging. It didnt have the purity of line of something like dreamcatcher but it was awe inspiring in a different way. (i couldnt find the remaining bolt on hold though!)

In reply to Serpico:
i thought the doubt was in whether he'd actually done what he'd claimed to have done, rather than whether the route he'd bolted was rock ard...

In reply to abarro81:
Which one? Fred or Bernabe? I thought Fred's was originally in doubt over the ascent, but after demonstrating large sections/all the moves it was generally accepted he'd climbed it. And Bernabe's was just in doubt over the grade, and not the actual ascent.

In reply to Serpico:
was thinkin Bernabe.. but it's accepted he did it? wicked.

In reply to abarro81:

so what we need is another 9b in europe where the current top boys climb.