Paul Robinson Repeats Jaws II

After having done five 5.14’s including the only repeat of Dave Graham’s 5.14+ Psychedelic, Paul Robinson took it up a notch with a repeat of Jaws II (5.15a) in Rumney, NH yesterday:

I spent two days falling off of the top and finally today, 10/30, I managed to make the fifth ascent of jaws II, 5.15a. This marks my hardest sport climb to date and a dream realized, to climb both v15 and 5.15. The psyche is high as I leave Rumney on a high note.

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24 Responses to Paul Robinson Repeats Jaws II

  1. dsm October 31, 2013 at 10:06 am #

    rats, i saw the 30 comments in the screen grab and mistakenly thought there was some epic controversy. no dice.

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  2. SportCrimping October 31, 2013 at 12:58 pm #

    5 ascents is too many. Time for a downgrade.

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    • Narc October 31, 2013 at 1:25 pm #

      Even though you’re trolling a bit I’ll oblige in that it does seem like a lot of ascents from people without a deep background to draw on when it comes to the grade. Time will tell I suppose.

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      • cp October 31, 2013 at 3:56 pm #

        Anyone that is familiar with Rumney will tell you that it is, for the most part, as close to bouldering on a rope as you can get. Most of the routes tend to favor that kind of strength and power, since they are on the shorter side but quite athletic and powerful.

        Obviously, we all know that suits Woods and PRob quite well. But, let’s not act like Mike Foley, Vasya and Andrew Palmer are somehow slouches. They all have fairly established track records on a rope. You may not have heard too much about them, but that is, in part, because not everybody feels the need to self publicize. Mike, Vasya and Andrew are actually really good examples of ‘normal’ people who have regular jobs and/or are pursuing Phds (amongst other things), who also happen to crush. Climbing is not necessarily their top priority.

        Lastly, Rumney is located a couple hours drive from Boston making for any easy day or weekend trip for many of these guys, which allows them to project things around busy work/school schedules. Visiting other top sport climbing destinations in the US and abroad often requires taking an extended vacation for most people, which is a luxury not everyone has or necessarily wants to use in pursuit of climbing.

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        • Edge November 1, 2013 at 7:44 am #

          Very well said. Five ascents does seem high at first, but I’m sure people thought that when 5.14’s were beginning to be repeated frequently. Time will definitely tell, and maybe even a few of Europe’s best will come over and confirm. Besides, Rumney being as accessible as it is, and Jaws being one of very few 15s in North America certainly makes it a prime candidate for Americans to try to repeat. If we perhaps had more 15’s the repeats would be a little more dispersed.
          And also, Vasya is a multi time sport climbing national champ right? So its not like he’s new to bolts.

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      • VTClimber October 31, 2013 at 8:21 pm #

        Two people I know are fairly close to sending it, one has climbed up to 14c while the other has only sent 14a, definitely not 15a, no offense to any of the guys who have sent it, but none of them have sent 15a prior or since (minus DWoods’ FA). Still a proud and extremely hard climb regardless of the grade, anyone who sends it should be psyched!

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        • Bert October 31, 2013 at 9:15 pm #

          Respectfully, I get what your saying, but fairly close is not a send, it’s speculation.

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          • VTClimber November 1, 2013 at 7:56 am #

            It definitely is just speculation, the point I was trying to make was more that people with limited 14 experience are getting on this thing and having a legitimate shot at sending, and if they end up doing so I think that it would definitely call in to question the grade given. Now the route to the left of Jaws will easily be in the 15 range if it ever gets a FA. Ondra definitely should come to Rumney next time he is in the US.

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          • dsm November 1, 2013 at 11:39 am #

            thanks to all my attempts at mild controversy!

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        • Glk November 2, 2013 at 6:10 pm #

          I would very much like to know who these people are that are close to sending!??

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  3. Anon October 31, 2013 at 3:05 pm #

    Not a deep background? I mean sure, Prob and Woods haven’t climbed all that many hard sport routes, but they both boulder v15 and this doesn’t look to me(as a boulderer so I could be wrong) to be a particularly long enduro test piece. Also I believe another one of those 5 ascents is Vasya Vorotnikov(sorry if I just butchered that), another super strong dude. Until it sees more ascents from relative no names, Im willing to believe its actually 15a.

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    • Narc November 1, 2013 at 7:48 am #

      I wasn’t implying that any of these guys aren’t capable of climbing 5.15, just that, for the most part, they haven’t climbed a wide variety of hard sport routes to get a good feeling for what grades could or should be.

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  4. Jpless October 31, 2013 at 3:15 pm #

    Get Adam Ondra on it. If he falls on his onsight attempt, it’s 5.15.

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  5. hairMetal4eva October 31, 2013 at 3:23 pm #

    foley did it in 95 degree humidity and said it was soft. woods went on to FA a route in CO (mission impossible?) which he said was harder and called that 14d… time for the harry potter avatar to settle this mess.

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  6. Luke October 31, 2013 at 5:32 pm #

    For reference JStar called Mission Impossible 14b or 14c: http://www.jstarinorbit.com/2012/11/mission-complete.html

    Regardless of the grade, solid work by P-Rob!

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  7. Matt October 31, 2013 at 7:39 pm #

    I think Paul meant to say V16 and 5.15

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    • Narc October 31, 2013 at 10:21 pm #

      I don’t. He self-downgraded Lucid Dreaming not long after the FA.

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      • Matt November 1, 2013 at 4:54 am #

        I think he caved to internet pressure.

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        • Narc November 1, 2013 at 7:49 am #

          If we learned anything in the past couple of weeks, it’s that the internet knows best*

          *sometimes

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  8. JM October 31, 2013 at 7:57 pm #

    As to the grade comments here, it also must be noted that 5.15 is basically unestablished in North America. With so few 5.15 routes here, some uncertainty is unavoidable. Jaws is the only 5.15 that has been repeated without being downgraded. Only 2 other (unrepeated) 5.15s exist on this continent, and both are at super obscure, remote, and hard to get to crags, which means they haven’t (and won’t) get much attention. As such, there just aren’t that many Americans who know where 5.15a starts and ends, difficulty wise. It would be nice to see some Euro with a wider experience at 9a+ come over and repeat Jaws, to help align the grades.

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  9. Sherry November 1, 2013 at 10:58 am #

    This route was originally grade 14c by graham and then one hold broke and everyone has upgraded to 15a seems unreal to me

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    • JMB November 1, 2013 at 12:59 pm #

      Holds broke in both crux boulder problems. Also it was reputed to be hard for the 14c grade before the breaks.

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  10. Narc November 1, 2013 at 1:07 pm #

    All I know is that the original Jaws was featured in a Sterling(?) ad back in the day with Dave Graham doing the crux sequence. Always one of my favorites

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  11. Miles December 14, 2013 at 4:15 pm #

    What are the current boulder problem grades on this thing? I’ve heard it’s a V12 into a v10. That alone surprised me because dreamcatcher (14d) is also v10 and v12, but the v12 is at the very end instead of so early.

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