UKC

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

Weird. Half those photos are taken on the outside of my office! As buildings go it does look a bit of a path: a nice chimney with horizontal breaks every couple of feet ... But plaudits to Alain for finding a fresh way to make a buck out of climbing.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC: Solo of a huge f7a mental!

In reply to thustler: Given that he's also soloed Rêve de papillon (8A), I'm surprised that so much is made of l'Ange en Decomposition.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC: when I very first started climbing (indoors with a lesson at the castle in london), someone said to the instructor "what about that alain robert eh? what a great climber he must be?" to which the instructor replied with "not really, its just the same move over and over again, hes not that great".

now, I didnt know much about climbing back then, but I still remember thinking what a cock the instructor was, and that Robert must have balls the size melons to do what he does. My opinion hasnt changed, hes got massive balls, massive stamina, and I suspect the instructor at the castle cant sport climb anywhere near Roberts level. And I doubt he has the balls to do what Robert does.

Books going on the xmas list

In reply to fxceltic: Sounds like you want to lick Alain's big balls...

In reply to John2:


Perhaps it's because your average punter like me can just about imagine what it's like to solo 7a in the Verdon but 8a is off the scale. Akin the response to Alex Honnold's 'day at the office' soloing London Wall.


Was this originally written in English?

"his experience had not left him a very positive impression of building escalations."

A certain amount of non-idiomatic language can be charming, but in places this reads like it was edited by google translate.

In reply to flaneur:

Robert has soloed harder stuff than Reve. 8b at least......

In reply to seagull:

List of routes climbed solo by AR: http://www.alainrobert.com/en/falaise.htm
Good article + interview of AR (in french): http://www.nice-climb.com/articles/ar.htm

Read the part of him climbing PolPot... I remember seeing those pics - so scary. In the same league as Honnold's Zion/Half Dome solos or HJ Auers solo of the Fish.

Soloing a short 8a on holds is not comparable to soloing a slabby, insecure 7_something 200 meters of the deck. Try to imagine doing it yourself John2.

In reply to Harald:

"Le caractère aléatoire d’une voie est une des composantes les plus importantes en solo. Il n’y a pas seulement la difficulté, la cotation, bien que je sois allé loin dans le chiffre. Si tu vas par exemple dans Mirage, un 7c à Céüse sur grosses prises, la part d’aléatoire est moins importante, bien que la cotation soit supérieure ! Et puis faire un solo à quinze mètres du sol ou à trois cents mètres, ça n’a rien à voir!"

In reply to fxceltic: What the instructor probably meant to say was that the buildings that Robert climbs aren't that technically hard. In comparison they are like ladders, I would guess, to him.

If you dig around and find him climbing rock, he looks 'great' to me.

But then again, those buildings are high, terminally risky and Robert has got in trouble. Those qualities make him 'great' in my opinion.

In reply to tommyzero:

There can be no doubt that AR is one of the climbing greats. However, he continues to inflict two unforgivable horrors on the world - his mullet, and a style of dress as jaw dropping as his soloing.

All of these were shown to great effect on tv recently.

Best,

Steve

In reply to SteveSBlake: Is it not also possible that a lack of washing may aid his ascents as he appears to waft up building effortlessly without anyone else in sight :-P

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

ive never really understood the fascination in climbing man made objects. After a few nonclimbing friends touted climbers likes Alain for being the 'best climbers in the world' it even started to annoy me. After reading this article, palms sweating, im finally starting to see the appeal. An excellent read and I'll have to get the book!

In reply to Silum: i think it's more to do with soloing than climbing manmade objects or how technically good you are..

In reply to fxceltic:


I agree with the intructor on many levels. I would be interested to know how hard some of the buildings he's climbed are. soloing the equivilent of severe at 300 metres does not require 'massive balls', but if he's soloed harder buildings, hats off to him.

The rock solos on the other hand are far more impressive.

In reply to Franco Cookson: like to see you try *any*, big balls

In reply to SteveSBlake:

I thought he came across as a complete arse in that programme

The article is an intriguing read.

I think the spirit behind his urban climbing is very different to scaling natural features like rock and ice.

For many of us the urge to climb is driven by our desire to 'play' and to liberate ourselves in a beautiful outdoor environment. Research and development in gear, technique and safety standards means we can afford to play harder and safer with the help of latest technology and the collection of other people's knowledge.

Human being do always have an admiration of the beauty of nature, however we are equally proud of what we achieved with our skillful hands and celebrate it in our built environment - we made gigantic machines that travels across the globe; we built roads and bridges that slice through the roughest terrain; we erected towers fearfully high and spotlessly smooth. We are endlessly breaking through nature's limitation, attempting to build greater than nature itself but at the same time we are creating something that's beyond an individual's ability to master. When we stand in front of a giant dam we can feel equally small and vulnerable as if were standing in front of a granite cliff (specially if the dam is relieving water...)

To me what Alain is doing is unique and rebellious. He's breaking through this framework we build upon. In sky scrapers we're building the ultimate machine - seamless, indestructible, unconquerable. He climbs them with bare hands as a child climbing up a tree, he conquer the fear of height - a byproduct of our modern civilizations when we created those towers. His performance is a relief of human being's inner animal nature which is often overwhelmed by our power as creative thinking beings.

Probably I'm thinking too far. I do have an admiration of this guy but never thought of him as being 'great' - rather a cheeky climber with very focused mind. I'm just trying to figure out where my boyish admiration comes from

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

Compliments to the author - the best article I have ever read on UKC.

In reply to Franco Cookson:


I remember Mike Robertson mentioning some building feature that was about F6c - but every move was the same, for a long way! The whole effort added up to a humungous pump at circa F7b. I guess buildings have different challenges (sustained difficulty, wind, etc).

Alain Robert can obviously do the business. I just hope he's around long enough to play with his grandkids.

Mick

In reply to morphus: so would I. I've soloed 300 metre routes, so not that dissimilar.

In reply to Franco Cookson:
What 300metre routes have you soloed?

In reply to Franco Cookson:

You've soloed a 1000 foot route! That's no Whitestone's route!

In reply to james oswald: some route in the alps. 300 metres, V me thinks? can't quite remember the name was a simu solo with Ian.

In reply to andi turner: have you climbed at whitestone?

In reply to mikeski:

Well, I thought him more weird than an arse - it was tv after all. But telly doesn't excuse his 70's porn star style of dress....

Steve

In reply to Franco Cookson: i'd argue that soloing a 300m route in the alps with resting places is far removed from 300m of relentlessly exposed verticality, whatever the grade..

In reply to morphus: fair enough, probably correct. The guy has obviously achieved great things, i'm just questioning whether these solos are his biggest achievement? how tall is the average scraper?

In reply to Franco Cookson: maybe try some of his solos in the verdon gorge, if you want to get the measure of him..

In reply to morphus: did I not just say that? I think some people read what they want to see.

In reply to Franco Cookson:

The Philadelphia City Hall, built in 1901, was 7 metres higher than the NNE ridge of the l'M at 167 metres, for example.

In reply to John P: haha, clever how high is the NNE rodge like? 160? I dont have a guide book. and how high is Eliminate A? I did a route on pavey as well which was pretty big 80+ 80 + some thing else.

In reply to Franco Cookson: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CAkqIG2Zbn4