UKC

This week's Friday Night Video takes us to Adršpach in the Czech Republic where Sean Villanueva and a few local climbers attempt an awful looking offwidth on the frictionless sandstone of the area. Villanueva describes the process of working the route as 'like reading Chinese.' Once the team has had their fill of jamming, they move on to a beautiful project on old, spaced bolts that are typical of the area. 

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In reply to UKC News:  enjoyed that

In reply to wbo2:

The thing I find a bit weird about looking at this is that he never seems to think about arm jamming, facing left into the crack. Plus heel and toe and a bit of knee. I'm sure I've done some (admittedly shorter) things at High Rocks that looked just as fierce as that. To try and hand jam and/or layback the way he does is obviously going to be desperate.

In reply to wbo2:

Me too.

Mick

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:  I have a suspicion it's one of those things that looks a lot easier than it really is.  

In reply to wbo2:

Yes, it's got to be, hasn't it? In which case my comment is outrageously ridiculous

In reply to UKC News:

I was stupefied when he inverted (a la Johnny Dawes attempting Ray's Roof), using foot jams whilst hanging upside down. It looks audacious and balletically poetic, but I've never seen anyone successfully make progress using this technique ps also curious how he manages to change from a t-shirt into an anorak (and back again) whilst completing the route?

In reply to Marc C:

Obviously it's hard, though difficult to know quite how hard without knowing either the grade or how better / more practised offwidth climbers would fare on it.

In reply to UKC News: I watched utterly bewildered. I have absolutely no idea why anyone would want to go anywhere near such a hideous grovel. I guess the 'delights' of off widths are just lost on me.

In reply to UKC News:

The sandstone in that area is no way "frictionless"! 

End of pedantry; enjoyed the film a lot, thanks!

In reply to Marc C:

youtube.com/watch?v=vOlLYFPQlvk&

In reply to UKC News:

"Project which has not  been done yet" is nonsense. The sandstone rules are very strict and the only way how to put rings is to climb the route. It´s not possible to install the rings first and climb the route

The chalk is forbidden in Adršpach, its not a "convention" Because the rings look old it´s quite likely someone climbed the route without chalk in the past

In reply to pavelk:

Isn't it allowed above VIII or so, or was that in another area in the Czech sandstone?

CB

In reply to cb294:

That is convention but that does not apply to Adršpach. Adršpach is nature reservation with the highest level of protection. Except for marked routes even entry is prohibited. Climbers have an exception under certain conditions and of those conditions is no chalk. If climbers don´t respect these conditions there could be complete climbing ban imposed in the area (parts of Adršpach are closed already)

There is Křížový vrch just across the road (and quite a few other areas in Czechia) where chalk is not banned by authorities and climbers can really break convention only