UKC

Our Friday Night Video this week is a short clip of Steve McClure working the route . Rich Heap, the cameraman, was filming Steve from above on the same line of bolts. When Steve got close, Rich unclipped from the quickdraws on Steve's line and moved to one side - not noticing that the quickdraw...

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In reply to UKC News:

Brilliant, just keep filming, I'm safe behind the lens

In reply to UKC News:

He was making it look so easy too! I noticed the quickdraw and wondered if if was one of those ones that stays open until you weight it, and then... that had to hurt!

In reply to UKC News:

Hey, shit happens. But can just about begin to imagine how gutted he was. It so looked in the bag, until...

Amazing climbing though. Even tiring, the precision of his movements... something else.

To see climbing like this - beyond our wildest dreams.

Mick

In reply to UKC News:

Appears to me that whilst Steve is absolutely furious at the universe when it looks like pure bad luck, he actually looks like he gets LESS angry when he realises there might be somebody to blame in some way. Would have been easy to lash out more after discovering a target. If I'm not imagining that, it's a real credit to him.

In reply to UKC News:

Is it a special quickdraw or something? You don't normally close a quickdraw, well not the ones I use. Unless it is a bit manky. Though I must admit to venting my ire at times on my belayers of the past. Not now though, these days I am proper zen. honest.

In reply to elcapitainkev:

You were never zen! Bulka

In reply to elcapitainkev:

Nope! Just an old quickdraw in need of oiling by the looks of it. The original video description on vimeo read: 'In my defence: WD40'

In reply to mrteale:

My fault really, should have changed the krab. It had been there all winter and was a bit sticky. Never clipped it on lead so didn't worry about it, just made sure it was closed.... To get to the last move (I'd actually done the last move with the Left hand) but be 'stuck' was weird, couldn't figure out what was happening! After about 7 days trying on redpoint (not to mention the 30 before working on the 'real' route, which has become Rainman) I was gutted, hence the child-like outburst, which I'm pretty embarrassed about, but have learned from.
Ironically it didn't matter in the end, as I managed that route a few days later, but it was a link that was only ever meant to be a 'training' link for what was eventually to come..

In reply to ste mac:


I had a similar scenario on a trad route once where a nut on my rack was snagging under a little roof. I was on massive holds so could stay there all day but just couldn't work out what had happened. Somehow it was so outside of my mental model of where I was that I couldn't actually process the visual information that would have told me what had happened. After about 5 minutes faffing about I reversed the mantle that had got me there and as soon as I started to drop down it was immediately obvious but if I hadn't reversed it I'd still be u there now, I just couldn't work it out.


Brains are weird.

In reply to ste mac:

I think most people will understand the outburst perfectly, having been there once or twice myself! Watching the footage again it still seems incredibly unlucky for that to happen, I guess the silver-lining is that it didn't compromise your knot.

Great job again Steve, looking forward to seeing what the young euro-wads make of it!

In reply to UKC News:

Aaaagh, what a freak incident, it must have been really disappointing at the time! Great footage though and the rock on that part of the line looks so good.

In reply to ste mac:

For somebody that climbs like a mutant you're impressively humble - your angst over an understandable mini-tantrum proves this. Top respect for the route and being a great human being.

In reply to mrteale:

Do you know what - I hadn't thought of the knot being compromised! The Krab was wedged right in the knot, and i guess if it had gone through the wrong bit, especially if it had not being really tightened up...well that would have been a shame to have been stopped short on the move only to fall off to my death! Talk about being foiled at the last moment!

In reply to ste mac:

I thought it had managed to catch between the main (proper) knot and a stopper knot. I thought you looked very calm as if it was that, and the stopper knot had come undone, you would have fallen to the next bolt which was some way down!

Congrats on getting the route done anyway. Watching your foot and leg movements in that film is pretty inspirational, and reminds me how pants I am (last night I managed to get myself into a position where I had to slap for a hold or fall off whilst, ahem <whisphering> seconding my mate up an HVS... the shame. I'm sure if I had worked out my feet positioning with your style, I probably could have stood there no handed!

In reply to UKC News:

In the video of Dani Andrada and Edu M climbing Chiliam Balam Dani gets his knot stuck twice in the same RP - also incredible!

Well done Steve, great to see you in action at Malham over the last few weeks, inspirational and highly motivating to watch.

In reply to ste mac:

As others have said, an extremely understandable reaction and a salutary tale about getting everything right to achieve the goal. And to make you feel even better, I had 4hrs with you a few yrs ago when trying to get up 6c's. Did 2 F7bs last yr and intend to better it this yr - cheers for the advice.
Chris

In reply to UKC News:

I was actually amazed at just how moderate his response was - have heard far, far worse at the crag! Great bit of film though (the climbing) and top marks to Steve for not losing his cool too much.