Climbing Narcissist » Interviews

If Only We Could All Be Failures Like Adam Ondra

Narc — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:07:18 +0000

Reading about famous climbers it often seems like they never fail, that they send every route they try. Obviously this is not true, but in the world of high-end sport climbing and bouldering 99% of stories are about success when the majority of anyone’s time as a climber is spent failing. This is what makes articles like this interview PlanetMountain did with Adam Ondra all the more interesting. In it, Ondra reviews 9 climbs he has tried and failed on:

There are of course many other routes, even in the lower grades, which I’ve failed to climb, but those I’ve talked about are the ones that, for one reason or other, have frustrated me most. And of course I’ve failed on many more boulder problems, since in bouldering it’s easier to come across certain one-movers that don’t suit my style, or perhaps the line doesn’t inspire me enough to keep trying. But one day I might be back!

Of course Ondra has climbed almost 300 5.14′s or harder in the past five years including many 5.15′s and several 5.14c onsights, so it’s not like he’s been a total failure. Read the full list here.

If Only We Could All Be Failures Like Adam Ondra from Climbing Narcissist

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More From Honnold On Too Big To Flail

Narc — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:15:15 +0000

Alex Honnold talks with PlanetMountain about his new highball in Bishop called Too Big To Flail:

This might be the biggest line that I’ve seen at the Buttermilks but it’s hard to say for sure because there is so much rock out there. It’s definitely rare though to find such a high-quality line on such good rock.

Defining Your Style

Narc — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:00:25 +0000

In a post related to his recently released book on bouldering¹ Peter Beal sat down with Carlo Traversi to discuss some of the “attitude and psychology” that goes into being an elite boulderer. The entire interview is well worth reading, but the opening point Taversi makes stuck with me:

The way I see it is that looking at elite boulderers, they’ve defined their own styles and have excelled in those styles separately. What has defined the stronger boulderers in the world is that each has a very definite and distinct style and they have perfected that style to a certain extent, beyond what anyone else has.

Traversi is referring to elite boulderers having defined and excelled at their own styles, but I couldn’t help but feel as though people at more pedestrian levels of climbing have something to learn from reading these words as well. Regardless of whether your limit is V15, or V10, or V5, or whatever, defining and improving on your style of climbing is something that strikes me as incredibly important.

While a focus on increasing physical strength is certainly not a bad way to spend one’s time, what I’ve found throughout my years of climbing is that the longer you climb the more physical strength takes a back seat to other aspects. Things like flexibility, technique and, most importantly in my mind, a clearer understanding of how to move your body over rock are just as valuable as being able to do 1-5-9 on a campus board².

Check out the rest of Traversi’s thoughts on the subject here, and then check out this video he put together of some of his alpine exploits from the summer of 2011.

Which I hope to review shortly here ↩
Actually, that would be pretty helpful ↩

Defining Your Style from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes – 1/17/2012

Narc — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:42:52 +0000

News…

Dai Koyamada adds a potential V15 called Shanbara near Toyota, Japan:

On 20th December 2011, I completed a new line in Toyota, Japan.
This problem is a sit down start version of Agartha, V14, and is called Shanbara.

Iker Pou is well known for repeating finger intensive testpieces like Action Directe (5.14d) and Demencia Senil (5.15a), so it’s not surprising to see Kairn reporting that Pou has done the FA of Nit de bruixes in Margalef, Spain suggesting a grade of 5.15a for the line.
Sasha DiGiulian has been in Hueco Tanks for the past couple of weeks where she’s done a couple of V10′s¹ and the V11 Sunshine according to her 8a scorecard.
In the past couple of weeks Jimmy Webb did the 3rd ascent of Daniel Woods’ Crook By The Book (V14) in Hueco and added two V13s near Chattanooga according to his 8a scorecard.
Isabelle Faus and Kasia Pietras were also in Hueco and both succeeded in repeating Sunshine (V11), with Pietras following that up with another V11 once she got home to Chattanooga.
Jorg Verhoeven and Katha Saurwein have been cruising around Bishop climbing several notable highballs including Ambrosia (V11) for Jorg and Golden Shower (V10) for Katha. Check out videos of them getting high off the deck here, here and here.
Alex Johnson has been busy on the higbhalls of Bishop this winter as well:

On this trip she has taken things to a new height by getting off the deck on some of the area’s taller problems. It impresses to hear of her ascents of Mesothelioma (v7), Golden Shower (v10) and The Ninth (v6), all at The Pollen Grains (a.k.a. Lydija Boulders) in a day.

Magnus Midtbø climbed two 5.14ds in Santa Linya, Spain as 2011 came to a close with repeats of Fuck The System and Open Your Mind Direct. Footage of the latter route can be seen here.

…and Notes…

Short interview with Camp 4 Collective’s Renan Ozturk who went from nearly dying in an avalanche last year to being part of the team that did the FA of Meru Shark’s Fin:

Yeah, it was a really intense year going from a complete state of helplessness after the big accident (two broken vertebrae in my neck, fractured skull, severed vertebral artery) to taking part in a very intense and demanding Himalayan expedition

Rock band The Killers come to the defense of Red Rock:

As members of the rock band The Killers, we don’t usually get involved in local politics. When we learned how Red Rock Canyon is being threatened, however, we wanted to do all we could to help. Timing is urgent.

Alex Honnold reports on the gym scene in Poland:

The contrast to US gyms was stark. Where a US gym is meant for fun, Polish gyms reminded me more of small training centers. Systems boards, steep bouldering caves, campus boards, and a few weights all crammed into a dark, extremely dusty little nook. Not really a place to play, but certainly a place to get extremely strong.

The 2012 Hueco Rock Rodeo fast approaches with this year’s event scheduled to take place March 3rd and 4th. This year’s event, which is sponsored by adidas, features clinics, slideshows and much more. Can anyone keep up with Daniel Woods?

Save the dates of September 27-30 for the 2012 Idaho Mountain Festival

She also flashed the problem 10-10 which is listed as V10 in the guidebook but I think everyone pretty much agrees that it is not V10 any longer. ↩

News & Notes – 1/17/2012 from Climbing Narcissist

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Adam Ondra Interviewed By New Swedish Website

Narc — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:23:52 +0000

Adam Ondra in an October 2011 interview with new Swedish website Stockholmsklättring:

I think I’m quite efficient in climbing routes in a few attempts but I do think that if I spent 50 tries or more on one route I might be able to climb 9b+¹ but certainly I wouldn’t be able to climb any harder. You have to bear in mind that when you are working on a route for a long time there is a mental barrier which you have to breach. Additionaly in reality you loose your power because your only trying a handfull of moves which means you are not training so much. You just keep climbing the very same moves and it could be true that you progress on these specific moves but in reality your shape is decreasing.

My question for Ondra: When are you coming to America??

5.15c ↩

Adam Ondra Interviewed By New Swedish Website from Climbing Narcissist

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Jeremy Zachariash On Going From 0 To 5.14 In Just A Few Years

Narc — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:03:46 +0000

DPM catches up with Jeremy Zachariash who progressed from not climbing to sending 5.14 in just four years:

My weaknesses are ice cream, sugar cookies with buttercream frosting, cinnabons, and chocolate mousse. My strengths are climbing in any conditions and whenever I can.

Jeremy Zachariash On Going From 0 To 5.14 In Just A Few Years from Climbing Narcissist

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Adam Ondra Talks Gioia

Narc — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:07:15 +0000

PlanetMountain caught up with Adam Ondra yesterday after his repeat of Gioia to ask him the important questions like how’d it feel, what’s next and what he thinks about the grade:

Well every single move is at the very limit and so I do think it’s V16. I’d compare it in difficulty to Terranova. If you were to give this V15, then the bouldering grades wouldn’t make much sense anymore. You’d have to downgrade all the V14 and most of the V15′s as well.

Watch the video of Ondra climbing Gioia here.

Adam Ondra Talks Gioia from Climbing Narcissist

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“I’m An Equal Opportunity Sheriff”

Narc — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:49:57 +0000

I’m a big fan of the interviews done on Boulder’s ClimbTalk Radio and thanks to the hard work of Dave McAllister we can all peruse transcripts of the shows. The latest interview to be transcribed with B3Bouldering.com‘s Jamie Emerson touches on a wide variety of topics including Jamie’s work on a guidebook for RMNP and Mt. Evans, the evolution of his blog and his status as the unofficial Sheriff of the climbing community:

You know, if I question, “Did someone start there or do this,” they take it really personally. Even though I think it’s important that we discuss these issues and I know a lot of times it’s my friends. In fact, I called Dave Graham out for starting in an inappropriate place and he was not happy with me, at all. We had to have a little talk about it. He was like, “It’s really ridiculous that you’re calling me out.” I’m like, “Hey, I’m an equal opportunity Sheriff. I’ll write tickets for everyone.” No one’s above being questioned, including myself. Ironically, I feel like I get questioned more than anyone.

Check out the full interview here.

“I’m An Equal Opportunity Sheriff” from Climbing Narcissist

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The Key To Being World Cup Champion?

Narc — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:00:01 +0000

With Austrian climbers winning the recent sport climbing World Cup in Boulder as well as the overall Boulder World Cup title, you might be wondering what their secret to success is. In an appearance on Boulder’s ClimbTalk Radio Show World Cup Champ Kilian Fischhuber let us in on this key tip:

I always climb my problems on my last try. And I keep doing that. It’s really cool.

Ok, maybe there’s more to being a World Cup champion than that, but check out the rest of the transcript of the interview for a fun conversation with Fischhuber, Anna Stöhr, Chuck Fryberger, Cody Roth and Jonathan Siegrist.

The Key To Being World Cup Champion? from Climbing Narcissist

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Alex Honnold: “I hardly ever do anything badass”

Narc — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:00:30 +0000

Alex Honnold has been getting a lot of attention lately, likely related to that TV show you might have seen him on. This recent interview he did with Trails Edge has several interesting nuggets including this one about what his life is like most days:

All I do is live my normal life and do my normal thing. I go out everyday and go climbing. People see a very cherry-picked thing, they don’t see the tons of days I go out there and totally suck. I hardly ever do anything badass. It’s just that when I do, it all happens on film. That’s the thing about climbing: at any level you’re always pushing yourself. So everybody, no matter how good they are, always feels like they suck because they’re always on some harder and harder project.

Alex Honnold: “I hardly ever do anything badass” from Climbing Narcissist

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