Comments on: Why Chris Sharma Doesn’t Boulder More

By: sweatpants

sweatpants — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:32:40 +0000

I think what Achilleus is trying to say is… obviously commando. He likes to give little Sharma room to breath.

By: Karmavore

Karmavore — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:15:12 +0000

The fact is, the leading edge of the sport is wherever the top climbers are spending there time and effort. Right now it is Sharma and Ondra with sport climbing. If Ondra’s recent forays into the bouldering scene pick up momentum, it could be bouldering again in the forefront, because he is unquestionably the future of climbing, as Sharma was ten years ago.

At some point Chris HAD to focus his efforts, as being the top generalist knocking off V14 intermixed with 9a+ was no longer sufficient to be the Top Dog. The result of this recent specialization is that he now essentially owns the 9b grade, while he has ceded the hardest boulder grades to others. Five to ten years from now it could be Adam with the V18 grade OR the 9c grade. Unlikely that it would be both, but with this kid, who knows?

By: Achilleus

Achilleus — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:46:28 +0000

This conversation is about a sport that we all love, and a climber whose ability we admire. Your attempt to equate our conversation with a discussion about the type of underwear someone wears, just shows that you’re jealous of all of the attention that Sharma gets for being among the best at what he does. If you could just accept that fact that you are a loser compared to him, and that no one wants to talk about you because you’re a loser compared to him, then you wouldn’t feel the need to deride people who converse about him, and his skills/ethics.

By: Achilleus

Achilleus — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:40:13 +0000

John may not have said “all hard routes are manufactured,” but he may as well have, when he impeached the climbing ethics of Chris Sharma. It’s one thing to say that many/most route in Europe are manufactured or enhanced, and another thing to say that Jumbo Love is probably enhanced, when clearly the man eschews manufactured holds, or chipped routes. What a little guttersnipe this John guy is.

By: kytoe

kytoe — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:52:27 +0000

I heard Sharma wears boxers now instead of briefs. discuss.

By: antvicino

antvicino — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:56:49 +0000

Plebeian, you are correct that John makes the distinction that most hard routes are manufactured. Still a big claim, but I was wrong in changing his wording.

By: Remo

Remo — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:05:29 +0000

Some Guy and Plebeian make good points. All sport routes are manufactured due to bolts, that is true, point taken. And yeah, the ethic in Europe has always leaned towards manufacturing routes, that I too agree with. Lets just hope in the future people can appreciate the rock a bit more, and bolts will be the only modification.

By: plebeian

plebeian — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:48:11 +0000

@ antvincino

if you read john’s inital comment, he never said that “all hard routes are manufactured” he actually said, “most hard routes are manufactured.”

which, i would have to say is a big difference.

there probably is some truth to what john is saying, considering most of the hard sport routes are in europe.

drilling & enhancing the rock in order to make it climbable has been an acceptable ethic in europe for quite some time. i would say it’s really only been within the past 5-7 years that the ethic has started to change.

this is not a knock on europe; as matter of fact i adore the place.

i guess, my point is that i wouldn’t be surprised if these alleged routes were in some form manufactured.

By: antvicino

antvicino — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:15:55 +0000

I would agree with you on a technical level, however that is not what John was implying judging from this quote.

“Another reason sport climbing seems to be dominating right now as the primary medium for advancing climbing difficulty is that most hard sport routes – Dreamcatcher, Jumbo Love, La Rambla etc – are enhanced to some extent, usually just enough so they’re feasible for whatever the current elite level of climbing difficulty is.”

So, while on the one hand you have a valid point, it is unfortunately not the one John chose to defend.

By: cadaverchris

cadaverchris — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:02:35 +0000

not to say that Sharma is making excuses… but haven’t people said things like this before?
the “hardest problems today are either super painful because the holds are so small, or really, really condition dependant… it’s not fun anymore”.

and “it’s difficult to get much further [in bouldering], unless the problems simply get longer”

isn’t this what many in the climbing community said at before 5.10, 5.11 or 5.12 grades were broken into? isn’t this what others said before Sharma came along?