In June, Alex Megos came over to the UK for some unfinished business. He had very briefly tried Hubble back in 2013 and was attracted by it's history, aura and difficulty. In this latest video about 'The Alex Megos Formula,' we get to see his ascent, as well as hear Jerry Moffatt describe Isaac Newton's law of Universal Gravitation - thanks Jerry.
I love that this kid has such a respect for history, and the stories that surround climbing. It's one of the reasons I love this sport so much - the stories, the people who went before, did crazy things - the myths. Well said Alex!
For someone who can send so much harder than 8c+, for an 8c+ to mean so much to him is really cool. He cares more about the history than the number.
Maybe I'm wrong but I got the impression he was rather underwhelmed by the whole experience. Call me cynical, seemed more like he was just for-filling his obligations to his sponsor and their UK market. Which, to be fair, is his job I suppose.
I agree, and I thought the same about Honnold and the slate. Something like:
Yeah, great, unique... Well, I wouldn't travel around the world for it... but if you find yourself in Llanberis , it's OK.
As I said, something like that.
> I've never been to Yosmite but my guess is once you have Llanberis ceases to impress.
I've been to Yosemite twice and it'll always be a special place for me, but Llanberis still impresses. I'm probably more keen to get to Gogarth than anywhere at the moment.
Agree with you on Honnold - he was totally underwhelmed. Disagree with you on Megos. I genuinely thought he was participating and enjoying a bit of history - too cynical to think he was saying this for his sponsors. I thought this was a breath of fresh air when you read some of the comments on here by our younger climbers.
I know Alex (Megos) loves the British climbing scene and the climbing here (except the Trad) :P Like a lot of us, I think he really likes the history of climbing.
And i've been to Yosemite and right now I'm in Llanberis parked at Bus Stop Quarry in my van and loving the slate :P I think they are two different experiences and you can't compare, they are special in their own way - but slate is harder than Yosemite granite!
Well apparently Megos was pretty underwhelmed when he onsighted 9a so I wouldn't take this too much into account. ☺
What a truly impressive climber though...
In reply to shouldbebetter: > For someone who can send so much harder than 8c+, for an 8c+ to mean so much to him is really cool. He cares more about the history than the number.
If my understanding is correct Hubble is basically a roped extended boulder problem. Therefore it's got much harder moves than your typical 8c+ so your average 8c+ climber won't be able to climb it. You probably need to be a 9a+ climber (whatever that might mean) to get up it. Hence the very few ascents and why Hubble is still a coveted tick.
Having said all that surely it should be graded harder than 8c+, but there was nothing harder than 8c to compare it to at the time (doesn't Rockfax now give it 9a).
Slate is an acquired taste, I think that is the issue... I don't know many people who loved slate the first time they climbed it. I've climbed there loads of times and I'm yet to fall in love with it as a climbing medium, despite having some great trips... interesting what he said about kalymnos though - I personally find those grey forbidding quarries in the lee of the mountains much more evocative and inspiring than generic bolted european lime cliffs, even if I am partial to a bit of sunny holiday clipping.
What he said is that some 9a+ climbers wouldn't be able to do it because its a very specific kind of climbing, whereas there would be 8c+ climbers that could do it.
Or to put it into a different level, there are plenty of folk who climb E2 at Pembroke but get spanked on a grit HVS jamming crack. Doesn't mean the grades are wrong, just that different climbs suite different people.
> What he said is that some 9a+ climbers wouldn't be able to do it because its a very specific kind of climbing, whereas there would be 8c+ climbers that could do it.
> Agree with you on Honnold - he was totally underwhelmed. Disagree with you on Megos.
Yeah I agree with you. Megos has been to Britain several times before so he knows what it's like and yet he comes back. That's not for sponsors. He could go anywhere in the world and make climbing headlines. I also think the style of climbing here suits him well - powerful boulder problems on small edges.
I said "What did he send? And where did he send it to?"
And it's had two dislikes!!! Ha.
I'm fed up with people crushing and sending. What's wrong with "climbing" routes?
And highball? Whats wrong with high? Where did the ball bit come from?
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