In my role as the Climbing Narc I do my best to bring you interesting topics on all aspects of climbing. I like to think that I don’t miss many of the more interesting things out there, but thanks to a post on The Adventurist I found while perusing the FRB Message Board I now realize I missed something really, really cool. The post on The Adventurist highlights an article in National Geographic: Adventure about the famous boulder problem Midnight Lightning (V8) in Yosemite’s Camp 4.
The article itself is along the lines of what you would expect to read in a magazine not aimed at climbers. It has the requisite amount of hyperbole like when photographer Corey Rich is quoted as saying, “Climbing Midnight Lightning is equivalent to running a 4.5-minute mile” which seems like a bit of a stretch to me. It’s also not entirely accurate like when Rich says that, “When Midnight Lightning was established (in 1978), it was the hardest problem on the planet”. Of course, Jim Holloway’s Trice (V12) was first climbed in 1975, 3 years before Midnight Lightning.
But I digress.
The real reason I brought this up was not to nitpick the words in an article. It’s not even the high quality pictures of Tommy Caldwell climbing the problem. The real reason is the Midnight Lightning Photosynth.
Using Microsoft’s Photosynth technology*, Rich stitched together over 3500 photos of Midnight Lightning to create a quasi 3-D world that you can use to examine literally every inch of the problem. Ever wonder how good the “lightning bolt” hold is? (Hint: it’s pretty good) Curious what the holds are like at the infamous crux mantle? With this technology you can get a pretty clear picture of what each and every hold is like. If you’ve never climbed on the problem you might be suprised to see how the holds start pretty small and get bigger as you get higher. Using the Photosynth you can learn (almost) as much as people that have actually climbed (or in my case, nearly climbed) the problem.
Here are a few pictures that will give you an idea of how it works:
Boxes appear around hundreds of areas on the boulder that you can zoom in on to get a closer look
Zoomed in on the left hand start hold
Zoomed in on the undercling you use during the crux mantle
The only real negative about the Photosynth technology is that it was created by Microsoft which means you have to download and install it on your computer (followed by an annoying restart). In most cases this would be enough to deter me from even mentioning it, but the end result is so cool that I highly recommend jumping through these hoops.
If only someone would do this for every problem I ever wanted to do, I could stop leeching beta from my friends!
*The same technology was used by CNN to capture “The Moment” Barack Obama was inaugurated, but who wants to see that when you can see every inch of a piece of rock you want to climb? Priorities people…
Whoa, cool. I wouldn’t need Sweatpants anymore!!!
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It appears it is not OSX friendly. Boo, again Microsoft.
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I figured that might be the case. No bueno.
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am i the only person who gets an error message after doing the install? argh! must.have.beta.
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Did you restart your computer? It did the same for me until I gave in and rebooted.
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I would hate to be made obsolete… blast you technology
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It is quite funny. I wrote that small post awhile back and suddenly it is getting some attention. I had to see what all the hoopla was about. Thanks, Narc, for the link. I do agree that this technology should be used/could be used to a bigger extent, especially in the climbing community.
Cheers-
Jason
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Personally, I think that I’d be more likely to run a 4.5 minute mile than climb Midnight Lightening. I don’t think Corey’s statement is hyperbole at all. If you are at the top of your game in your chosen sport, either is possible.
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Perhaps Midnight Lightning is an exception, but there are thousands of people that can climb V8. In the grand scheme of things V8 is a fairly moderate grade.
I was never all that good at running when I did it regularly in high school and I never could have sniffed a 4:30 mile, but perhaps it is relatively attainable for more talented runners??
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Good news, now it works on macs !
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Excellent! Thanks for sharing that.
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