UKC

Our Friday Night Video this week takes us deep into the world of long-term projects. How far does your perseverance stretch? Three years of effort, over 150 sessions, -6ºC in 50cm of snow, all-night 12-hour sessions, then 25ºC in July. Ninja Skills Sit Down Start was Martin Keller's ultimate nemesis. In this short film, join Martin on his journey as he discovers the secret to unlocking his first ascent of Ninja Skills 8C/8C+.

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He seems a really nice guy with incredible determination but did anyone else find all the power scream’s a little bit over the top? It seems, post Sharma, that power screaming is the de rigueur  thing to do with Ondra taking over as the new scream master. At least Alex Megos tends to be more of the old school silent ninja type!

He didn't power scream to annoy you but because it enhances his performance. There's an Ondra interview where he's asked about this and he explains that screaming is a way to ensure that he is breathing out at certain high intensity points in time. Some top tennis players also do this. If you don't like it mute the video or better yet go climb 8C in silence and post the vid.

In reply to xyz:

I don't mind hearing the outpouring of effort in climbing but some (most?) of the time it just seems very much LAM (look at me). There should be a grade barrier, if you're screaming on anything below 8b you need a muzzle, Wim Hof explanation or not. 

Ondra screams because if he didn't he'd cry, ask his Mum. 

Boulder looks stunning. 

In reply to UKC News:

hey there; glad most off you you liked the movie; i think the puzzleglass-guys did a great job capturing the essence off what it means off projecting hard stuff at a personal limit! 

just one thing to explain; about that „powerscreams“. i can understand that some people dont like this! but its not always like this. sometimes its more. sometimes its less. its not forced!!! its coming from deep within when i push further then what my mind and body really want to go (at that moment). 

the startsequence in ninja is total limit for me physically (absolute limit of my span und power) and mentally (fallen off so many times) - in the endsection i had totally numbed out, therefore my forearms had started to cramp and all my body and mind wanted was to let go! but „i“ wanted to keep going; so that screaming forces my mind and body to push through even though they did not wanted to keep going. it is literally „war“ between my unconscious and concious mind.

that tends to happen especially in long-term (=50+ sessions) projects as you start to know the moves so well your mind is not anymore 100% occupied with climbing and starts to wander (... am i really strong enough today; what if that heel slipps again; that hold felt better last time..) this screaming is in in other language; a (my) coping-strategy to deal with enormous physical and mental stress. thats it - thats all!

try for a few years to push constantly, every few days, at the same piece off rock above your physical and mental limits... let me know how you „deal“ successfuly (so you can use it in your favour for reaching your goal) with that amount off pressure/stress.

In reply to xyz:

Oh for God's sake. *THAT's* what you get from that film?!

jcm

In reply to Martin Keller:

Good work Martin, looks mega.

And you don't have to justify anything  

In reply to UKC News:

Flipping brilliant. Well done Martin! Bonkers degree of obsession and commitment. Good video. After all that, screaming all the way came across to me as totally natural. 

In reply to Martin Keller:

Amazing to hear about such outstanding achievement after so much commitment.

The calm explanation of power screams is clear and useful... do you mind if its linked if the same question gets asked in the future?

In reply to Offwidth:

thanks 🙏. don’t mind at all!!!  

In reply to deacondeacon:

thanks its more an explanation then a justification - i am a teacher - can’t help myself 🙈😂

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

i actually was thinking the same!

but this goes deeper!!! i think this is a very interesting and important topic; so heree i go again  

everybody is walking around with their own set of “filters” and recognize/perceive their environment in a certain way. very interesting to see the differences in what people “see/get” from the same message/movie!!! 

interesting enough there are lots of people walking through life with a primary focus on (whatever) the negativ. (that is no surprise though because it is the biologically default set for out unconscious mind!!!). as they then literally just see negative stuff they get confired that everything is bad and so on and basically they have a miserable life!!! that is a real PITY!!! 

because taking somebody with a more neutral or positive default bias and put them through the same life/experiences they will notice way more positive things and will get confirmed that life is not that bad and that are many positive/good things out there (and this literally changes your brainchemestry to the „good“) they will live quite a happy and fulfilled life (and so will the people around them) .

good news though is that we can relatively easy change that (naturally programmed) - negative-default-bias to a more neutral/positive one and like that get a more fulfilled, satisfied and happy life!!!

that means it’s heavily in our OWN HANDS how we perceive life and like this how life will „happen“ for/to you!!! 

try it; it was/is life-changing for me, in every aspect of life!!! and also the reason why i managed to climb my two hardest boulders this early spring - and there is more to come 😜🤟💪👊

In reply to Martin Keller:

Amazing line, amazing dedication, great video!

Great explanation of the power screams too. Nice one Martin!

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

I merely expressed an opinion on the screaming and in no way was I trying to denigrate the magnitude of the climbing achievement or the dedication required to achieve the end result.

my comment, innocent as it was, appears to have elicited some forthright replies including the rather terse reply above, a flippant reply from “rad” and a pseudo psychological appraisal from Mr Keller himself! 

In reply to xyz:

did not see any degeneration at all; all good.

and for sure you can express an opinion and i can very well understand that people dont like screaming at all! thats why i explained WHY there is screaming in the movie. still you dont have to „like it“ (i dont really like it myself) -  but like this you may can understand it in a context. 

about the „flippant reply from pseudo psychological „rad“ mr. keller himself“... well its cool to be „rad“ isn’t it?!

but this reply does not necessarily refer to YOU in person but more in general (but it looks like you did take it personal. why?). and its not so „pseudo“ as you might think. may you educate yourself a bit in neuroscience. could change your life (to the better)! or do you have studied behavioral finance, psychology, neuropsychology at a master level at university? well i did! feel free to discuss this topic on an educated level. very intersting stuff and very helpful (not just at university) but foremost in (daily) life!!!

In reply to Martin Keller:

I enjoyed your video - and appreciated the screaming (without "liking" it). Fantastic effort. I appreciate even more your replies to the thread. It is rare that a really good boulderer has anything interesting to say about the process.

Hi Martin

You are a phenomenal athlete with a level of intrinsic motivation that’s on a completely different level to most people. You’ve just climbed one of the hardest boulder problems in the world in a stunning place and in great style. From your posts on this forum I’ve discovered you are a highly educated person who has studied hard and    become a teacher which is a very commendable occupation. 

I wish you well in all you future endeavours both in climbing and life. 

In reply to xyz:

thank you lee for the kind words - and for your (critical) input!!! i am well aware that this topic „can offend“ people and i am truly sorry for that; thuss the lengty explanation. and thank you for articulating and responding in a very constructive way - and not in the (these days so common in the online world) aggressive and/or personal level! 🙌🏼.

have a great weekend and keep rocking - at the end its scrambling on rocks what we all like so much and brings us together here  

In reply to UKC News:

Martin, this is superb. Let me know if you need a spotter some time. I'm living in Brugg in the north.

Luke

What blew my mind was climbing all through the night. Martin, how do you adjust to irregular sleep patterns? Do you do this often? It would totally wreak me. Plus spending 12 hr sessions on the same boulder.. respect man, you have superhuman levels of psych.

Also, maybe no one wants to hear it often at the crag, but there's no doubt that screaming helps performance. It helps engage the core via the diaphragm, sometimes its very hard to get muscle groups like the obliques firing.

In reply to owensum:

well its a really bad "habit!!!" just had another epic session with a 1'000km roundtrip back at home at 3:30 am back up at 6:30 for work... was not at the top off my game the next day... but ok!

but regular sleep patterns are very important! i have to work on that! but looks like i am a lucky guy as i tend to recover from these big sessions quite ok in a few days. but i also just climb 2-3days a week. so thats enough for me to recover - somehow

and turns out when you are really inspired (by doing something) and have your (unconscious) mind set right (the real "mindset") you can handle any kind of "stress" way better. will put up a blogpost in the near future about that "mind-set" thing - it goes way deeper then what you normally hear of this - but if you get this right its life-changing!!! not just for climbing. every aspect of life!!! at least it was for me!!! close on another 8C-FA  kind off unlocked the "big secret" for me there

In reply to Martin Keller:

I was screaming with you as you climbed the last section - my wife wondered what the hell I was watching. Awesome work.

E

In reply to Martin Keller:

It's amazing to think that you could climb this with little or no feeling in your hands, i find that really interesting because at my limit i often lose the mental contact with the holds as much as also feeling like physically i can't pull on them anymore.

Do you think that it is the way you have been able to train your unconscious mind that helped you in that situation?

"Just don't let go" is always easy to say but in reality a lot harder to achieve when at your limit so well done on an amazing achievement!!

In reply to Enty:

ahhh; too good 😳😜🤟🙌🏼 - you can’t imagine how brutal this section was for me with totally numb fingers and cramping forearms; all my body wanted to let go for the last 30sec off climbing 🙈. biggest fight ever for me !!!!

In reply to misterb:

interesting topic!

for clarification; i did not already numbed out at the bottom; i numbed out at the second part: when sticking the big throw up right;  from compression to the crimp with my righthand; where nalle did his famous ninja-move (jump!!!). from there on its may a (pumpy) 7B+ to the top with one really big move out off the roof; where i managed to fall twice in spring 2018 (that move got harder since a big foothold underneath the roof broke; this did „cost me“ 6months!!!).

this „numbing“ out happens to me a lot; i tend to press all the blood out off my fingertips; so they numb out (happens even in summer!!! may my ass is just too fat?! as a result off  not feeling anything anymore i start to overgrip and normally fall down the next two moves. in this case it helped that the holds/footholds were really big and i had it dialed so well i could make it to the „mini-rest“ before the big move out off the roof; shake out shortly, closed my eyes and put my head down (—> more reach) and somehow sticked to the sloper up right. thats no mental thing for me; purly physiological! 

if you tend to loose mentally the contact to the holds; dial the sequences until you’re body can do it himself; then go fast... and just focus on the next move!

btw. does anybody have a „cure“ against this?! i tried a LOT; not much seems to help though!!! (short rests help, although its nearly impossible to climb your hardest boulder when you are tired) .

also this was not the thing with the „right mindset“... more to this later!!! 

In reply to UKC News:

thanks you for so much positive feedback and it makes me truly happy to see so many people inspired and motivated nevertheless i received some concerns about night-climbing and i think its important to address this topic! also to avoid misunderstandings!

please note!!! especially in night sessions; minimize emissions (no music, no fires, not too much light, no forced screaming around, that screaming in the movie just went on and off for two minutes (not forced!!!) and then it was absolutely quiet for an hour or more - and i would have had watched out for this if it would have had been in a sensitive area - which it isn't down there!!! and even though night-climbing is no (legal)-issue in ticino (switzerland) it can be in other climbing-areas. please inform yourself before and always play low key! thanks and keep crushing everybody