Drop by if you are interested!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Beginning of Semester
I won't have much time for writing since the school year is starting up. I have a show of paintings opening on the 5th of September and I will upload the images shortly. Otherwise I will have to lay low for awhile until I get caught up.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Peter Kamitses Interview--Enough with downgrading already!
Go read the interview at MVM with Peter Kamitses. Here's an excerpt:
What are your thoughts on the 9a grade in the USA?
It seems a little strange to me that in a country this big, that has produced some of the best climbers in the world, that there are only a few routes graded 9a. Why are so many people scared to throw that grade on something that could reasonably be that hard?
People are worried what others will think if someone repeats their route and then downgrades it. Some climbers love to downgrade things just to boost their own ego by saying, "what? You thought that was hard? Nah...I just did it faster than anyone else so it couldn't be that hard." I think it is a pretty common thing for grades to get a bit bunched up at certain levels like how in Rifle everyone was scared to have their routes downgraded so there are a huge number of 5.13d's that cover a range of difficulty with some of them being regarded as pretty solid 5.14a. Decades ago everything got 5.9+ because people didn't think they could be climbing 5.10. America has always been a more conservative place than countries in Europe; it was founded by a bunch of Puritans no less.... so there you go. I think its interesting how some of the best American sport climbers who are also among the best in the world, are in top shape and do new routes at the top of their ability and then grade them no harder than the hardest routes from 15 years ago. What’s up with that? Where is the progression? I think giving a climb a sandbag grade can be just as much, (or more) of an ego-based thing than over grading.
It's good to hear someone finally say what's really going on. Maybe Peter has a bit of an outsider's perspective on the issue but I think he's calling it absolutely right. My previous comments on the topic are here. Is this in part why the Front Range has seen many of its testpieces first climbed by outsiders such as Dave Graham? The grades might come down later but the innovating achievement remains long after. The confidence and self-belief needed to actually be a pioneer might also include the possibility of that climber proposing a grade that may be higher than what's already been done. Imagine that, progress!
Big congratulations to Dara Torres for 3 silver medals in Olympic swimming at age 41. This is in a way more impressive than Michael Phelps' 8 medals. We'll see if we hear much from Michael Phelps in 18 years.
What are your thoughts on the 9a grade in the USA?
It seems a little strange to me that in a country this big, that has produced some of the best climbers in the world, that there are only a few routes graded 9a. Why are so many people scared to throw that grade on something that could reasonably be that hard?
People are worried what others will think if someone repeats their route and then downgrades it. Some climbers love to downgrade things just to boost their own ego by saying, "what? You thought that was hard? Nah...I just did it faster than anyone else so it couldn't be that hard." I think it is a pretty common thing for grades to get a bit bunched up at certain levels like how in Rifle everyone was scared to have their routes downgraded so there are a huge number of 5.13d's that cover a range of difficulty with some of them being regarded as pretty solid 5.14a. Decades ago everything got 5.9+ because people didn't think they could be climbing 5.10. America has always been a more conservative place than countries in Europe; it was founded by a bunch of Puritans no less.... so there you go. I think its interesting how some of the best American sport climbers who are also among the best in the world, are in top shape and do new routes at the top of their ability and then grade them no harder than the hardest routes from 15 years ago. What’s up with that? Where is the progression? I think giving a climb a sandbag grade can be just as much, (or more) of an ego-based thing than over grading.
It's good to hear someone finally say what's really going on. Maybe Peter has a bit of an outsider's perspective on the issue but I think he's calling it absolutely right. My previous comments on the topic are here. Is this in part why the Front Range has seen many of its testpieces first climbed by outsiders such as Dave Graham? The grades might come down later but the innovating achievement remains long after. The confidence and self-belief needed to actually be a pioneer might also include the possibility of that climber proposing a grade that may be higher than what's already been done. Imagine that, progress!
Big congratulations to Dara Torres for 3 silver medals in Olympic swimming at age 41. This is in a way more impressive than Michael Phelps' 8 medals. We'll see if we hear much from Michael Phelps in 18 years.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Rain Rain Rain
I think I'll try CATS today, the first time in months. No end in sight for the weather.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Nook's Traverse V8 Flash
This morning I tried to flash the traverse on the north side of Nook's Rock. After a thorough study, and before things got too warm I hopped on and made it to the hueco and finished up the V0 on the right. At some point I will check out the full traverse, starting low and left and finishing further right around the corner. This is definitely one of the best problems/routes on the mountain with great movement and top quality rock. I also have to say that the center of the West Slab is possibly the best easy problem on the mountain with the perfect angle, nice holds and the only true summit that I know of on Flag. No partiers or scramblers are likely to venture there.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Colorado Bouldering Guidebook Fiasco
The Falcon book is out and apparently it's worse than I imagined. Go to B3bouldering for more specifics. I hope that every guidebook publisher can learn something from this fiasco. Both the author and the publisher should retract the book and seriously reconsider the project. I personally can't recall a more spectacular failure in the history of climbing guidebooks.
It will be interesting to see if any of the magazines decide to pick up the story. The angle as I see it is that we are increasingly in a post-guidebook era where new areas and even word-class testpieces are in a kind of fluid state of documentation that is ever evolving and changing over time. Falcon was trusting in an older model of recording climbs that depended on a single expert setting down an agreed upon body of problems. The new model is one where users of the "book" rewrite it as it is being written and a tentative consensus emerges within a self-created community. Hence the importance of online guides such as Mountain Project and the new generation of blog guides, as exemplified by Chip's Flagstaff guide. Eventually with new bandwidth capacities, video guides will be common for many routes and areas. This has already happened at Fontainebleau, where a single book could never encapsulate 15, 000 problems.
The move is more and more to "lifestyle" guides that emphasize beautiful visuals which climbers will buy not as references per se but as accessories that enhance the sense of pleasure they get from visiting an area. This is a very significant change that both Wolverine and Sharp End have moved forward on. Falcon, which I do not sense is run by climbers, is way behind the curve on this trend.
It will be interesting to see if any of the magazines decide to pick up the story. The angle as I see it is that we are increasingly in a post-guidebook era where new areas and even word-class testpieces are in a kind of fluid state of documentation that is ever evolving and changing over time. Falcon was trusting in an older model of recording climbs that depended on a single expert setting down an agreed upon body of problems. The new model is one where users of the "book" rewrite it as it is being written and a tentative consensus emerges within a self-created community. Hence the importance of online guides such as Mountain Project and the new generation of blog guides, as exemplified by Chip's Flagstaff guide. Eventually with new bandwidth capacities, video guides will be common for many routes and areas. This has already happened at Fontainebleau, where a single book could never encapsulate 15, 000 problems.
The move is more and more to "lifestyle" guides that emphasize beautiful visuals which climbers will buy not as references per se but as accessories that enhance the sense of pleasure they get from visiting an area. This is a very significant change that both Wolverine and Sharp End have moved forward on. Falcon, which I do not sense is run by climbers, is way behind the curve on this trend.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Battaglia's Bottom V7/8 Video
Another hidden gem at Flagstaff. Short, steep and good holds. Well worth a visit.
Cryptic Magician V7/8 Flagstaff Mountain
Cryptic Magician is one of the great problems on the mountain with technical and delicate movements and a little bit of exposure at the finish. I was hoping to flash it but took a few tries to get it. My beta seems more straightforward than some descriptions I have seen.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Updates
Well I have gotten off dawn patrol as even lower chaos was too hot at 7:30 and I was clearly not getting much sleep. A visit to the graham boulder left me feeling like I had the beginnings of elbow tendinitis, a sign I am not getting enough recovery time. The conditions were too warm but maybe this week things will begin to cool down a bit.
Getting closer on the first V10 crux on the Spotdala, a likely V13 crimp problem I set at the Spot. Daniel Woods and Tyler Landman had a crack at it yesterday and said it was pretty hard.
Otherwise not much to report. I heard that Heart of Darkness, a 5.13 I put up in Boulder Canyon has substantially broken leaving a likely 5.14 which is great news. Another project!
Visit my Boulder Canyon Guide and check out updates for the Graham Boulder and Castle Rock areas.
Getting closer on the first V10 crux on the Spotdala, a likely V13 crimp problem I set at the Spot. Daniel Woods and Tyler Landman had a crack at it yesterday and said it was pretty hard.
Otherwise not much to report. I heard that Heart of Darkness, a 5.13 I put up in Boulder Canyon has substantially broken leaving a likely 5.14 which is great news. Another project!
Visit my Boulder Canyon Guide and check out updates for the Graham Boulder and Castle Rock areas.