Climbing Narcissist » Interviews

“You think it will be cool till it isn’t fun anymore”

Narc — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:14:51 +0000

The North Face catches up with their athlete Alex Honnold to find out a bit more about his and Tommy Caldwell’s big day in Yosemite, his plans to rope solo the same feat for his segment in the Reel Rock Tour and a casual mention of how he free soloed the West Face of El Cap. As to how the idea for the triple link-up came about:

You do one route and you have a lot of time left in the day and you think, “Oh maybe we should have done two.” And eventually you do two with time left over and you say, “maybe we could do three…” and we did three and we didn’t have any time left over so we said, “we’re over it.”

More detail and pictures from Kelly Cordes on the big day here as well.

“You think it will be cool till it isn’t fun anymore” from Climbing Narcissist

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Campus Training With Flannery Shay-Nemirow

Narc — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:40:05 +0000

Campus Training With Flannery Shay-Nemirow from Climbing Narcissist Get the ClimbingNarc iOS app in the App Store to enjoy all this site's content on your iPhone or iPad Related posts: Clear Blue Skies Repeated By Flannery Shay-Nemirow Interview With Flannery & Asher Shay-Nemirow ClimbingNarc For iOS Full Version Of Red River Gorge iPhone App Now [...]

Campus Training With Flannery Shay-Nemirow from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes – 5/9/2012

Narc — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:54:16 +0000

There’s so much happening these days in the world of climbing that even I’m having a hard time keeping up…

News…

Sweden’s Matilda Söderlund went on a tear in Spain where she onsighted a handful of hard 5.13′s in a relatively short time span. Rock & Ice caught up with her to learn more. Subsequent to this she also flashed Kale Borrroka (5.14a) in Siurana according to her 8a scorecard.
In addition to her repeat of Era Vella (5.14d), over the past few weeks Sasha DiGiulian has done the 2nd ascent of Atonement (5.14a) at the Virgin River Gorge and flashed Zona Zero (5.13d) in Siurana.
Andy Raether did the FA of Ancient Chinese Secret (5.14b) at Mt. Potosi, NV commenting on his 8a scorecard that it took him 6 months of work.
Austria’s Johanna Ernst climbs her first 5.14c in Santa Linya
James Pearson and Caroline Ciavaldini teamed up to do the first repeat of Aria, a runout 10 pitch 5.13c on the island of Sardinia.
Nice update from Dave MacLeod on his repeat of New Base Line (V14) in Magic Wood, Switzerland.
Rob Pizem has done the FA of The Frank Zappa Appreciation Society which, at 5.13+, is likely the hardest route in Colorado’s Escalante Canyon.
Silvia Vidal spends 32 consecutive days on the wall to establish a new route in Chile.
God’s Own Stone (5.14a) in the Red River Gorge saw two more ascents this spring from the under-18 crowd when it was repeated by both 12-year-old Drew Ruana and 11-year-old Mirko Caballero.

…And Notes…

Chris Sharma will be appearing at an event in Emeryville, CA on May 18th for a special fundraiser benefiting access threatened Castle Rock State Park. More details on the event as well as how to buy tickets here.

Review of the new Wolverine guide to Maple Canyon
Interview with South African Arjan de Kock who recently did the 3rd ascent of The Big Island (V15) in Fontainebleau.
Interesting discussion at B3Bouldering about women and the development of new climbing areas.
Ely, Nevada looks pretty legit
Speaking of looking legit, Jonathan Siegrist provides an update on his time spent in France’s Verdon Gorge.
Great recap of a trip to the Grit by Michele Caminati

News & Notes – 5/9/2012 from Climbing Narcissist

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Simon Carter Interview

Narc — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:32:09 +0000

Simon Carter Interview from Climbing Narcissist Get the ClimbingNarc iOS app in the App Store to enjoy all this site's content on your iPhone or iPad Related posts: Simon Carter Talks Photography, Shows Off New Camera ClimbingNarc For iOS Full Version Of Red River Gorge iPhone App Now Available FrontRangeBouldering.com Interview Daniel Woods Video Interview [...]

Simon Carter Interview from Climbing Narcissist

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Interviewed By Thestonemind

Narc — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:13:48 +0000

It’s beginning to look more and more like this site is run by a real person Interviewed By Thestonemind from Climbing Narcissist Get the ClimbingNarc iOS app in the App Store to enjoy all this site's content on your iPhone or iPad Related posts: ClimbingNarc For iOS Full Version Of Red River Gorge iPhone App [...]

Interviewed By Thestonemind from Climbing Narcissist

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Daniel Woods Talks With Colorado Daily

Narc — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:18:14 +0000

Nice interview by Colorado Daily with Daniel Woods touching on what he’s been up to lately including that new 5.14+ at Clear Creek.

Daniel Woods Talks With Colorado Daily from Climbing Narcissist

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DPM Interview With Alex Johnson

Narc — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:46:31 +0000

DPM catches up with Alex Johnson for a wide-ranging interview about sexism, the balancing act between climbing in comps and climbing outside and sponsorship:

I think it should be difficult to get sponsored, like in surfing or snowboarding. We would have a more select group of positive role models and icons in our community for reasons other than just ability.

DPM Interview With Alex Johnson from Climbing Narcissist

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Adam Ondra Interviewed By Mountains & Water

Narc — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:06:14 +0000

Great interview with Adam Ondra over at Mountains and Water:

I have always taken climbing really seriously. Climbing hard and obtaining my goals has always been very important. It was very difficult to admit failure and I did get frustrated. But at same time, it has always been a perfect and beautiful game to play.

Adam Ondra Interviewed By Mountains & Water from Climbing Narcissist

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SLC Winter Tradeshow With Dave Graham

Narc — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:13:50 +0000

SLC Winter Tradeshow With Dave Graham from Climbing Narcissist Get the ClimbingNarc iOS app in the App Store to enjoy all this site's content on your iPhone or iPad Related posts: Updated Dave Graham Blog Video Friday: Dave Graham’s Life On The Edge Dave Graham Realization (5.15a) Video Dave Graham Doing What Dave Graham Does: [...]

SLC Winter Tradeshow With Dave Graham from Climbing Narcissist

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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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