UKC

Another thread said nobody solos to their physical limit,
in the purity debate.I've seen plenty of people just about manage to throw themselves up routes on solo,no mats.You need neither bouldering mat,chalk bag nor climbing shoes to sight solo a route.The more gear you take to the crag,the less pure it is;that includes guidebooks.Therefore I am not pure.Still judgemental though...

In reply to paul mitchell:


Bouldering.... Climbings purest form.


I take it you mean the thread pasted above, Paul.

I am not judgemental except when folk are dishonest or damage the rock.

Also just realised its in the Bouldering Forum, don't usually bother with it.

In reply to paul mitchell:

Soloing is just a waste of gear placements

In reply to paul mitchell:
It all depends on what one means by 'physical limit'. I'd go one further say probably no one climbs at their physical limit.

The first reason is that its hard to find a route precisely at your physical limit (neither too easy nor too hard).

The second problem is that to climb at one's physical limit implies making absolutely no mistakes at all, perfect timing, perfect pace, using all your muscles in perfect coordination to negate any wasted effort. To have any chance of performing such a feat would require many days or weeks of practice on the route first.

Thirdly I'd say that 'physical limits' in climbing are at least partly mental limits anyway.

Defined that way I'd certainly go along with the statement no one solos at their physical limit.

People can look very sketchy when soloing but I think that might often be more mental than anything: climbing badly because panic sets in. Put the same person on a top rope and see how they climb the route then.

In reply to stp:



Maybe you've just not articulated what you mean very well, but lots of people do this all the time, or at least close enough to say that they're only almost there and they could have done better is just splitting hairs.

In reply to @ndyM@rsh@ll:

If we draw the analogy of weight lifting,sometimes the lifter makes it by just a kilo of effort.One more kilo and the weight is dropped.Climbing can be just the same.It is possible to climb perfectly at maximum effort.Rarity does not mean non existence.

In reply to paul mitchell:

Fair enough though its easy to add that extra kilo to the bar, but finding a route that's just perfectly fits one's physical limit is going to be that much harder. But as this is about soloing what one does soloing is going to be pretty far from what one does when climbing something after days of practice.

In reply to paul mitchell:

Does climbing without-sight (blindfolded) make it more pure? As we all know sight is actually cheating.

In reply to SteveoS:


Less pure. Any extra kit (the blindfold) taints the experience. Maybe closing your eyes?