Nalle Hukkataival has finished a long term project with his FA of the sit start to Klem Loskot’s Bügeleisen in Maltatal, Austria. Loskot opened the stand start back in 2001, and Hukkataival repeated that line last spring.
Hukkataival mentions that this could be the hardest problem he’s done, which is saying something given that his ticklist includes problems like Gioia, The Understanding and his unrepeated Livin’ Large.
I really wonder if his hardest ever could create a new category of “very very hard 8C” or finally a 8C+?
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Two 8C+’s have already been established- Adam Ondra’s choss traverse and Gioia
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Yea, but Nalle has said he thinks Gioia is 8C and in all likelihood no one’s going to go repeat Ondra’s proposed 8C+.
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When did he say that Gioia is 8C? Also, how is Ondra’s (Terranova?) 8C+ confirmed?
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Oh, and somehow forgot to cheer while getting exited about grades. Awesome that he finally got it!
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8a seems to be more than willing to impose the V16 grade on it already, even though he didn’t mention anything of a grade. But would we expect anything less from them?
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Nope
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Pretty weak by 8a but it’s fun to see people debating the whole deal in their thread. Obviously, grades are malleable so if you climbing journalists wanna get all nit-picky, even if the climber gives a grade any first ascents should be prefaced with “alleged.” Confirmations should be reported and “fairly well alleged.” 8a reports should all be asterisked with a tacit “Jens alleged.”
-j
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and I just climbed an alleged V5 in the gym but I’m waiting for Jens’s long distance confirmation, else I’m pretty sure it was a damn hard V4+
-j
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**Listen guys and gals, I agree that Jens is an oddball. But bemoaning his ‘world records’, speculative grading, and grammar/spelling/grasp of English should be left for their forums. I dunno, I guess shit talking that site is pretty tired in my opinion. Even the ‘Brave and Humble’ thing peaked a few years ago (no offense, Narc). We all know it’s ‘quirky’, but it captivates our attention because historically it’s where pros keep their ticks. Until that changes, see it for what it is…I dunno, maybe I’m just curmudgeony, but griping here just seems like preaching to the choir.**
OK, onto a question: What’s the deal with adding sit-starts?
No disrespect to any line in particular, but I’ve noticed a bunch of strong climbers have focused on adding sits to existing hard lines (say, this one, ice knife sds, bossin up, the insurgency, etc.). Is it a difficulty thing or boredom after completing the original or that it’s less time-intensive than searching new lines or maybe a lack of new lines altogether. I guess the “complete line” thing holds some weight, but in areas where there’s a ton of potential, it seems a bit less applicable. Maybe super hard lines are rarer than I’ve previously thought? Also, how many moves are we talking about adding because maybe that’s my confusion. Is it a couple hard intro moves or like linking two boulder problems? Is this a more recent trend or traditionally part of bouldering? I wonder if there’s a generational difference between the Loskot/Nicole + Sharma/Graham eras and this one? I’m not sure whether the former dudes also put up sits that I’ve come to accept as THE line. Which in turns has me asking when and whether sits become the ‘real’ line once established (kinda like Jade).
Admittedly, I’m not strong enough to run out of projects anytime soon and that’s a lot of questions.
And, I know, I know – Climbing (and bouldering in particular) is contrivance, so why even ask…but I am pretty curious .
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maybe they just want to.
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Difficult and quality boulders (and routes for that matter) are outrageously hard to come by. “Professional” climbers travel the world for years to find and complete these climbs. Some times a problem has more than one “obvious start”. Typically the easiest one gets done first and eventually the harder starts get finished. No start can really be considered the “real” start, but climbing from the lowest one could rightfully be considered the “full line”.
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jimmy has the final word on all grades
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Its interesting that Nalle gave a quick upgrade (8C) to Emotional Landscapes but is staying vague about the Bugeleisen sit. I guess he’s choosing his battles carefully.
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