Chris Sharma Back In Action At Oliana

Chris Sharma Back In Action At Oliana

Things have been quiet on the Chris Sharma front of late, but the season is apparently on in Spain as Sharma did the FA of Power Inverter at Oliana over the weekend. According to this update on girlfriend Daila Ojeda’s blog he is proposing a grade of 5.15a for this new line.

To remind you just how amazing the climbing at Oliana looks, here’s some footage from Progression of Sharma on another of his 5.15 FAs there, Pachamma:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8iadf0izcQ]

And some additional footage of him trying the Shaxi Raxi project at Oliana earlier this year:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DOk6zGiTbA]

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19 Responses to Chris Sharma Back In Action At Oliana

  1. dannyboy December 20, 2010 at 8:09 am #

    meh who cares anymore unless you’re a girl or a fanboy

    you can just pretty much awesome he’s virtually superhuman and let it go at that, it’s uninteresting at this point. Maybe he should do some alpine or something, nothing to see here

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    • Dave December 20, 2010 at 11:42 am #

      Who cares? Well, you clicked… and then you commented. I’d say you might care.

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      • ironic don't ya think December 20, 2010 at 1:17 pm #

        have to agree with dave, you did click on the article and comment

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  2. Matt December 20, 2010 at 8:23 am #

    I hear ya. I’ve always wanted Sharma to get his Trad on and see what he could do.

    Kauk’s Magic Line still needs a 2nd Ascent.

    Can’t believe NO ONE has even tried.

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    • Justin September 2, 2011 at 7:38 am #

      you are uninformed. It has been tried by quite a few.

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  3. Daniel December 20, 2010 at 10:19 am #

    I’m beginning to lose track, so I made a small list from memory and google. Did I miss something?

    Chris Sharma’s hardest redpoints

    ungraded
    Es Pontas

    9b
    Neanderthal
    Golpe de Estado
    Jumbo Love

    9a+
    Power Inverter
    First Ley
    Pachamama
    Demencia Senil
    Papichulo
    La Novena Enmienda
    La Rambla
    Biographie/Realization

    9a
    Era Bella
    Samfaina
    Analogica
    Gancho Perfecto
    3 Degrees of Separation
    Dreamcatcher

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    • Narc December 21, 2010 at 8:02 am #

      Golden Direct (5.14d) in southern Utah done 2nd try

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  4. Neil December 20, 2010 at 11:23 am #

    That is a totally unimpressive ticklist. Daniel, I can’t believe you would even have the sack to post it here. Clearly, you must be a homosexual.

    Now, if Sharma were to use his superhuman powers to climb something I only wish I could climb–that would be noteworthy.

    Until then, please don’t post anything on a climbing website that I don’t approve of; it’s really hard to maintain the illusion that my opinions are the center of the universe, as I’ve always believed. Thank you.

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  5. ironic don't ya think December 20, 2010 at 1:16 pm #

    You know times have changed when 5.15 does not impress the folks. I just can’t wait to see what this new group of crushers are going to do on a rope. 5.16 was such an impossible idea years ago, but now it seems only a matter of time.

    Good for him for getting a project, but that are so many people out there crushing that the number 5.15 will soon be climber by more and more people. Kids are coming out of the wood works and flashing v 12’s. People have now become desensitized to super human displays because the internet has shown us that there are a bunch of mutants out there.

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    • Mattm December 20, 2010 at 10:41 pm #

      I’m not jaded with 5.15. I have absolutely NO relation to what that means. It’s so far and above most climbers abilities that unless you actually SEE the climb, you really don’t have a CLUE what 5.15 means. Things like the TC and KJ project have at least SOME meaning to people because they place gear and are probably familiar with the Captain. Still way out there but there are some tangibles.

      I don’t think you’re going to see breakthroughs in difficulty. Yeah you’re getting a lot of new talent on the rock but Sharma really set the bar high (genetically speaking). There are only so many more spots left on the bell curve. You might be waiting a LONG time for 5.16

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  6. Chris December 20, 2010 at 2:03 pm #

    Any updates on Sharma still working FRFM. I hope he gets the FA on this route with all his dedication and hard work put into it. FRFM is probably one of if not the most incredible rock climbs I have ever seen.

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  7. polaropposite December 21, 2010 at 1:07 am #

    “Kids are coming out of the wood works and flashing v 12′s.”

    99.9% of whom will never rope up or see climbing as anything other than instant gratification (bouldering).

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    • Daniel December 21, 2010 at 6:53 pm #

      Enough with the talking down on bouldering . . . try a boulder problem that takes you years of work to send, then tell me that it’s all about instant gratification.

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      • jungledog January 2, 2011 at 6:35 pm #

        if it takes years to send 15′ of rock you are missing out

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    • ben December 23, 2010 at 4:33 pm #

      not sure i agree with you on that one. there are plenty of boulders that have taken a long time for the first ascensionist a long time to complete. for example there is an 8b+ at my local crag which took 10 years of hard work for it to be climbed, and also when any boulderer is working a problem, it can often take a lot of work like in a route. except instead of working sections you work individual moves and micro moves in them

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  8. Daniel December 21, 2010 at 2:56 am #

    5.16 is coming, I’m sure. Maybe not next year but in 5-10 years. Dave Graham once stated that climbing two 9as in a row would probably already equal 9b+ or 9c. So, how long will it take for someone like Ondra to climb two 9as in a row, or a 9a and a 9a+ or two 9a+s?

    You have to consider that he hasn’t really tried so far. The hardest thing he has done to date (Golpe de Estado) took him something like 30 tries, and only because conditions were bad..

    I guess, progression could also lead in another way if more of these young mutant boulderers would bother tying in. The projects are there already. Chris Sharma bolted a route right next to Realization where he could barely hang onto the holds for 1 or 2 seconds (http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/features/threedegrees/index8.html)

    @Chris: According to BigUp Blog, Chris Sharma is working on FRFM again, with a new solution for the crux.

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    • j.schro September 1, 2011 at 7:12 am #

      how can you say that ondra hasn’t really tried yet. he is climbing as hard as he can for the time being. that doesn’t mean he won’t get better, which he will, but he tries as hard as he can on those 9bs/15bs

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  9. Rhoads December 28, 2010 at 9:21 pm #

    I clicked to post “LAME” but everyone already beat me to it.

    Numbers are dead, trad LIVES!

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  10. j.schro September 1, 2011 at 7:04 am #

    You guys expect too much from these climbers. you will not see 5.16 for a very long time, and if you do, i would not be surprised if the grading is not very legitimate. i don’t think that you are taking into account that 5.16 is still three full grades harder than anyone is climbing right now (5.15b). although these climbers really want to push themselves to the next level, they cannot just pull the hardest routes from their back pockets. it took sharma 7 years to up the grade from 15a to 15b, so for anyone who thinks 5.16 is coming within the next 10 years, or even the next twenty years, you might want to rethink your conclusion, because for someone at the highest level to move up an entire grade, let alone 3, it takes serious time  and commitment. (this doesn’t necessarily mean every grade will take 7 years to complete, for instance, sharma and ondra are both getting close to 15c, but d is very far off.)
    I AGREE STICK TO TRAD

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