Climbing Narcissist » MVM

Chris Sharma Esperanza (V14) Video On MVM

Narc — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:46:09 +0000

The Momentum Video Magazine has posted a clip from Best Of The West of Chris Sharma repeating Fred Nicole’s Hueco Tanks testpiece Esperanza (V14). First climbed in 2001, Esperanza is (by my count) one of the most repeated V14′s in the United States. Beyond the climbing being impressive to watch, the clip sparked a couple of questions in my mind.

First, Esperanza is yet another example of Fred Nicole’s amazing vision and talent. Off the top of my head, I am unable to think of any V14 or harder problems in Hueco that were not first climbed by Fred. Why that is, I have no idea. Is everyone busy trying to repeat all of Fred’s hard problems or is there nothing harder out there? Are the regulations getting in the way of exploration?

Chris Sharma sending Esperanza (V14)

Second, I noticed that Esperanza doesn’t top out which got me to thinking: how important is it for a problem to top out? In a lot of cases the top out on a problem is not all that difficult, yet it feels like an integral part of the bouldering experience. Since bouldering is a fairly contrived activity in the first place, topping out seems like a requirement for a problem to be a true classic. Then again, the contrived nature of bouldering also means that we often climb any of the climbable surface on a boulder, even if it doesn’t lead us to the top. I’m confused…

Chris Sharma Esperanza (V14) Video On MVM from Climbing Narcissist

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A Conspiracy Theory That Has Nothing To Do With The Election

Narc — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:47:00 +0000

A few weeks back, Skyler Weeks opened a new dyno at Clear Creek Canyon, CO called Zion. You might be asking yourself, who is Skyler Weeks and why would I care about some dyno in CCC? It turns out that Skyler Weeks is the world record holder for dyno-ing, so when it took him 76 days to stick this dyno it raised some eyebrows and caused Jens at 8a.nu to wildly speculate that Zion must then be V16. Weeks’ efforts were captured on film by Chuck Fryberger for a segment in his upcoming film, Pure, which is how the news was first publicized. Remember this last part, it will be important later.

Skyler Weeks sticking the dyno Zion

Photo: Chuck Fryberger

Obviously, when someone comes out with news of a new, hard problem in the Frontrange of Colorado it is going to draw some interest from people looking to repeat it. With that in mind, Mark “Cookie” Hobson went to Clear Creek Canyon last week with filmmaker Brian Solano to check out Zion. Hobson nearly flashed the line and sent it within a few attempts immediately calling into question the grade of the problem. Hobson felt like the line was in the V8 range, not V13 or V16 as previously suggested. Solano captured Hobson’s send on film and it was to be posted on MVM in short order.

Mark Hobson sticking the dyno Zion

Photo: Brian Solano/MVM

Now, the point of this post is not to debate the difficulty of Zion. As has been pointed out in a discussion on 8a.nu, the grade is irrelevant and the realization of this climb is still a great personal achievement for Weeks. The point of this post is something most people probably haven’t even noticed: the video of Hobson sending Zion was quickly and mysterioulsy removed after briefly being posted on MVM. The Hobson footage has been replaced by a brief news blurb.

To me, this story exemplifies the ongoing debate within the climbing community over the effects commercial considerations are having on how news is reported. It doesn’t take an episode of CSI to speculate what happened to the Hobson footage. Certainly sponsors and filmmakers have their reasons for sharing/withholding information, but the question must be asked: How much influence should sponsors and/or filmmakers really have? It seems that nowadays they have an impact on the distribution of not only the news they’re directly involved with, but also in related news being distributed by others.

A Conspiracy Theory That Has Nothing To Do With The Election from Climbing Narcissist

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Momentum Video Magazine Switching To A Free Format

Narc — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:03:00 +0000

I think a model based more heavily on advertising revenue and less on subscription fees would increase traffic and might work out better for all parties involved.

That is what I said at the end of my review of the Momentum Video Magazine premium area last December. If you haven’t already heard, the Momentum Video Magazine is dropping their premium section and making the entire site free of charge. Non-paying customers will no longer see scaled down or preview versions of clips. It’s not that the subscription fee was ever exorbitant by any stretch, but I think that this will no doubt please many that balked at the idea of paying for online climbing videos. Obviously there are still other ways the site can improve (shared embeddable videos?), but I think that this is a step in the right direction.

The change is scheduled to take place starting September 1, and if you have 1 year paid subscription that extends past that date you will be given a prorated refund. No new subscriptions will be taken starting August 1. There will also be some new features added that have yet to be revealed so stay tuned to Climbingnarc.com for more details.

If you are wondering what you will be getting once the premium section is free to everyone check out the free preview at MVM. Also read my review of the premium section from last December (and a follow-up post) for more in depth information.

Momentum Video Magazine Switching To A Free Format from Climbing Narcissist

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Mometum Video Magazine Redesigned

Narc — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 20:10:08 +0000

I think I just blew my mind. Or rather, Mike Call blew my mind. I haven’t had a chance to check out the entire new site, but the Momentum Video Magazine has had a make over and it looks pretty nice. A quick glance raises the question of whether or not people are going to be willing to PAY a monthly fee for premium climbing content. Also news on a possible V15 by James Litz along with the video of Vasya Vorotnikov climbing Jaws II (5.15a??).

I will have more once I get the chance to check it all.

Mometum Video Magazine Redesigned from Climbing Narcissist

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Midweek News – 08/22/07

Narc — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:17:00 +0000

Here are a few interesting stories to check out

Splitterchoss has a couple of cool tidbits on climbing at Rifle.
- First is a post about a feature story done about climbing at Rifle Mountain Park in the Glenwood Post Independent.
- Second is news about a new guidebook for Western Colorado climbing that will feature updated Rifle information among many other areas. The book will be published by Wolverine Publishing. Check out my post on the new Red River Gorge guidebook for some samples of their work which is awesome.
Mike Doyle is back on the road again after taking a bit of a break upon returning home from his lengthy roadtrip to places like Hueco, Smith Rock, RRG and Australia. In the past month he has been in Riggins, ID, Maple Canyon, UT and Rifle. He has done 13 routes 5.13 and harder in just the past 3 weeks.
This is probably only exciting news to me, but a team of Russian mountaineers have put up a new route on the hitherto unclimbed West Face of K2 in Pakistan. K2 was the peak featured in the laughable film “Vertical Limit” and it is probably the toughest of the 8000m giants to climb via any route. This was the first new line put on the mountain in 21 years (and not for a lack of trying).
Even if you are not into mountaineering, the latest pro blog at climbing.com by Freddie Wilkinson is still a really good read. He recounts the sort of emotions a climber has when going on a rescue.
Check out the video of Steve McClure climbing one of the hardest routes in Great Britain, Mutation (5.14d), after you read the write-up at Dr. Topo.
Last week I raised a question after watching the new MomentumVM video in which it was said that Ben Scott only goes to Area D at Mt. Evans once a year to “lessen impact”. It seemed like a strange thing to put in a video. Courtesy of Chad Greedy, here is a more lighthearted take (along with mass repeats of Seth Allred’s new V11 Two Ton Tongue):

Midweek News – 08/22/07 from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes – 8/6/2007

Narc — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 12:04:00 +0000

As usual, I go out of town and a ton of things happen:

Last week Ty Landman visited Squamish and did what he normally does, which is climb hard problems. He did 1 V13 and a couple of V12′s including one flash. Throw in a handful of V10′s and V11′s and I think most people would be satisfied to call it a week. Well, after a few rest days Ty was back at it in RMNP where he made the 2nd ascent of Daniel Woods’ testpiece Jade (V15). You can read about his Squamish trip here and look forward to some upcoming video/blogging about the Jade repeat.
Climbing.com has a nice photo tribute to Michael Reardon up by Mark Niles.

Dave MacLeod has made the first ascent of a longstanding project near Great Britain’s Glen Nevis that he has called Ring of Steall (5.14c). Famous for the bone jarring falls he took doing the first ascent of the route Rhapsody (E11), MacLeod has lately been turning his attention to difficult sport routes. Here is a picture of him on the crux hold of Ring of Steall that he describes as “so smooth it’s almost like its been buffed and polished–nothing but pure strength will do to hold it”:

Photo: http://www.davemacleod.blogspot.com

The Momentum Video Magazine is back after some apparent technical problems with 5 new videos. Here is what’s new
- Ty Landman climbing Ode to the Modern Man (V14) at Mt. Evans
- Emily Harrington climbing Gropius (5.13d) at Rifle, CO
- Bouldering in the Caribbean
- Ally Dorrey bouldering on the Millennium Boulder
- A preivew of the upcoming film Sectors
The first DVD of MomemtumVM material is now available for purchase at Bouldering.com as well. At this point I’m not really sure what incentive there would be for someone to buy this as there isn’t much advertising of it on the actual MomemtumVM site.
Paul Robinson made a very successful return to bouldering in RMNP this weekend when he climbed 1 V12 and 3 V11′s (2 flash) all on the same day. I feel another Jade repeat coming on…
And finally, 14 year old Adam Ondra repeated Abyss (5.14d) this past week. You can download a video of Andreas Bindhammer climbing the route here.

Update: Here is another gallery from Damon Corso dedicated to Michael Reardon.

News & Notes – 8/6/2007 from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes – 7/2/2007

Narc — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 23:08:00 +0000

Here are some tidbits and things to check out:

Dave Graham recently added another 5.14d to his impressive list of sends when he sent Ali-Hulk at Rodellar, Spain.

Infamous Ali-hulk Cave

Andy Raether recently repeated Tommy Caldwell’s route Grand Old Opry at the Monsatery outside of Drake, CO. Back in 1998 Tommy graded it .14a while Andy feels like it is probably closer to 5.14c. You can see the video of the send at MomentumVM.
Justin Jaeger climbed something that isn’t V7…what gives???
Ethan Pringle recently took a trip to Squamish to work on Chris Sharma’s Dreamcatcher 5.14c/d. This is the incredible line featured in Dosage 4. Ethan even brought his laptop out to the crag to help out with beta for the tricky slab at the beginning of the route. http://christie-images.com/

Daniel Woods added 2 more V13′s (and 1 V12) to the ole’ spraycard this weekend. He made quick work of Castellette SDS and Roses and Blue Jays at Great Barrington, MA. Conditions weren’t prime but that hasn’t really stopped him before. You will be able to see footage of Paul Robinson sending these problems in an upcoming Dosage video.

Paul sending Castellette SDS V13
Image from the new BigUp Blog

Speaking of climbing out East, I thought I saw a flier somewhere about some sort of outdoor bouldering comp last weekend out that direction but can’t remember the name of it to look it up. Anyone know what it was called?
In my blurb about climbing filmmakers last week I forgot to mention Wes Powell. I was familiar with his film work (which is really good) but I can’t say I am that familiar with him as a climber. Perhaps SG could shed some light on this? If you want to see some of his footage check out some excerpts from his film Homestyle at where else but MomentumVM.

News & Notes – 7/2/2007 from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes – 6/25/2007

Narc — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:47:00 +0000

Finally back with it…somewhat…

Of course the big news while I was gone was Daniel Woods fulfilling another portion of my earlier predictions when he did the first ascent of the Green 45 Project at RMNP. He has called the problem Jade and suggested the grade of V15. Several cameras were rolling and you can get a teaser of the send at Chad Greedy’s blog. The full video will be in an upcoming Dosage Video which looks to be quite a long time away at this point.
Speaking of Dosage videos, Big Up Productions has their own blog now.
The video I’ve been waiting for is finally up on momentumvm.com of Dave Graham doing historic FA’s in RMNP. Included in the video are the problems Skipper Roof V11, L. El Jorge V11, R. El Jorge V8, Golden Rows of Flows V11, and the Automater V13. Here is a picture from the video of DG almost sticking the crux move on the aforementioned Green 45 Project…

Picture from video at momentumvm.com

Joe Kinder had a pretty good day at Maple Canyon the other day when he sent .14b, .14a and .13d all in one day.
Issue 5 of the Momentum Video Magazine is starting to find it’s way online. The first 2 videos are up and they feature Fred Nicole and Bernd Zangerl bouldering in South Africa as well as some South Sloper goodness from Wes Powell.
Since I was gone (about 10 days) Ramón Julian Puigblanque has done the following: 3 .14c’s, 4 .14b’s, 3 .14a’s (1 onsight), 1 .13d, 3 .13c’s first try and a .13b onsight. Not bad at all…
What else did I miss???

News & Notes – 6/25/2007 from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes – 6/4/2007

Narc — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:12:00 +0000

Back from rock climbing in Iowa of all places…

Joe Kinder and Jon Cardwell both repeated Andy Raether’s route Kuru 5.14c at Rifle, CO. Joe commented that the route is 45% manufactured which sort of gives you the impression that he says this as a negative against the route. Of course 8a overreacts to this comment so Andy reponds:

i would like to say that Kuru is a link that i created connecting two existing routs that were put up at least ten years ago. The Crew, and Zulu. the link section that i created is %100 natural. The bottom of the Crew climbs through total choss that is loaded with glue. the link and as far as i can tell the rest of Zulu is all natural. i think that %45 manufacturing is a exaggeration.
i would also like to say that if you think that unnatural routs are wrong or not worth climbing, then dont climb them.
i have never manufactured anything at all.

Patxi Usobiaga has now onsighted 17 5.14a’s!
If you haven’t already, you need to check out Chad Greedy’s new blog. An endless stream of videos.
The rest of issue 4 of the momentum video magazine is up.

News & Notes – 6/4/2007 from Climbing Narcissist

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