Comments on: News & Notes – 10/16/2009

By: greg

greg — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:27:27 +0000

i would personally be a lot more worried about what dpm’s email said in peter beals blog then the raunchy picture itself. if he thinks thats what climbers respond to i dont think dpm will have a bright future by any means.

By: Narc

Narc — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:40:21 +0000

I too found the picture in the “blog” to be unnecessary, but the rest of the piece was still fairly entertaining. A bit crude for sure, but not over the line in the same vein as the ad you reference. Consider that an audience of men and women all laughed repeatedly during the recent reel rock tour in our town that had a segment that featured Alex Honnold discussing his van life (or lack thereof).

By: peter

peter — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:07:18 +0000

I read the Sherman piece too but I wasn’t laughing.

http://www.mountainsandwater.com/2009/10/media-matters.html

By: Tom B.

Tom B. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:45:01 +0000

Rich Simpson is one most bada#s motherf$#ker.
He runs a sub 4 minute mile and is a professional boxer as well.
I think he could easily take out Klem Loskot blindfolded with one arm tied behind his back.

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:14:47 +0000

So it is acceptable on FreeRider to climb either the Huber Variation or the Teflon corner (5.12d). In June 08 the Huber Variation broke making it more like 5.13b instead of 5.12d. Most people, pre-2008, had climbed the Huber variation since the Teflon corner is slippery and temperature dependent.

While the debate on 8a suggests it is no big deal to skip the freeblast (only 5.11) it is the time on the wall and the cumulative physical fatigue of spending time sleeping in the vertical that makes it a point of contention (in my mind).

This is for sure a really proud achievement and I don’t want to take anything away, just trying to share some knowledge. The obvious best style would be to climb all of El Cap, onsight (no falls at all), in a day, ground up. Most likely a full ground up onsight will happen within the next year.

For reference I was just on the FreeBlast and it took around 5-6 hours. Jugging the fixed lines to Heart ledges took about 30 mins. Big difference in both time and effort.

By: John Knoernschild

John Knoernschild — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:24:09 +0000

After reading a bit more, I would agree that he has onsighted every pitch of the original line. So I would agree with you Narc. Style could be improved upon. But a damn nice ascent!

By: Narc

Narc — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:19:09 +0000

I should have used slightly different terminology in the link there. I think it’s fair to say he onsighted the pitches, but as you point out his style could definitely be improved upon for a complete onsight ascent.

By: John Knoernschild

John Knoernschild — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:14:42 +0000

How can they say that Cedric onsighted Free Rider.

“Lachat onsighted the first 10 pitches of the route — the Free Blast — about 10 days earlier, and then skipped these pitches (no harder than 5.11) during the final ascent. He also fell repeatedly while trying to climb one version of the 24th pitch, and then onsighted an alternative line at 5.12d.”

So how can you skip part of the route, fall repeatedly, climb an alternative line, and then call it an onsight. Sorry, but IMO this was not an onsight.