The Year of The Pooch™ continued yesterday as Alex Puccio became the first woman to climb Ben Moon’s legendary Joe’s Valley testpiece, Black Lung (V13). In just the last five months now Puccio has done 7 boulder problems V13 or harder after somehow having done 0 previously. World Record breaking. Ridiculous.
Training works…
Ben Moon’s first ascent of Black Lung, which took place back in 2000, was chronicled in this short piece first posted on the original Momentum Video Magazine1. For many who were into climbing at the time this piece elevated Black Lung to an almost mythical status. A visiting legend in Ben Moon comes to the U.S. and does the first ascent of this amazing looking, hard problem2. I lost count of how many times I watched this movie when it was first released.
I’m curious about climbers who have only started climbing in recent years though. What movies or boulder problems or routes do you look at in the same way, if any? Let me know in the comments.
As a new climber, the video I look at in this same light would be J-Webbs Rocklands video where he ends up flashing all those v13’s. I’ve seen it countless times and always watch it for motivation/pump up before I climb anywhere!
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Sharma on Es Pontas was the first climbing video I ever saw, right as I started climbing, so that’s stuck out in my mind.
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Johnny G climbing All of the Above. Grainy footage is a must!
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I actually went to the same high school as johnny, as far as i know he still holds the pull up record there. Do you know where that footage can be found?
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https://vimeo.com/19153325
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The first video I got really psyched on when I started climbing was Sonnie Trotter doing the first ascent of Cobra Crack in Squamish. I must’ve watched that thing a hundred times by now.
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Well, I’m definitely of a different generation: Johnny Dawes on The Quarryman in Stone Monkey.
Also, Jan Hojer has better form on one-armers 🙂
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i would say sharma on the wheel of life was one of those videos i rewetted over and over when i first started climbing.
but my favourite video in recent years is Jan Hojer’s KINETIC, and anything with jimmy webb/nalle hukkataival in it is awesome too
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i’m a retard, i actually meant sharma on Witness the Fitness….he has never done wheel of life (although that is also a super-cool problem)
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Great comments so far, keep them coming.
I’ve been doing this site for a long time and climbing for even longer, so I’ve come to realize that I’m not always in touch with what gets people excited in recent years compared with “back in the day” (and by “the day” I mean when I started climbing).
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For me, it was definitely Sharma on Dreamcatcher in Dosage 4 and Berthod/Trotter on Cobra Crack – I used to live in NW WA so it was really rad to see such inspiring lines just a couple hours from home. Right now, I’m pretty excited about the Dawn Wall project!
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I first got stoked on “first ascent” and “progression” from peter mortimor and those guys. I think his movies have alwyas stuck out in my mind, I like the narration and story line of them. haven’t seen valley uprising yet though..
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My first exposure to climbing videos was Dosage 3 & 4. The swiss section and Sharma on Witness the Fitness blew my mind…
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Those are still the two movies I would go back to if I wanted to watch something to get me psyched. I can’t think of a movie that has come out since that has grabbed me the same way as the Swiss/Hueco segments in those movies.
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I agree. The Dosage movies are still my favorites. Especially Witness The Fitness. Watched that one way too many times.
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Rampage. More recently, Dai Koyamada’s short of him re-sending The Story of Two Worlds.
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Masters of Stone where some dude named Fred climbs a 5.14 FA in the Martini Roof.
Otherwise, the Reel Thing. Jerry, driving 100 mph to the peak district while thumping 1990’s UK house. To cap it off, Ben does Karma.
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apparently we started climbing at the same time, watching the same videos
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Hard Grit
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The first video that I really liked was Sharma on Realization, but as I got more into climbing and focused in on bouldering exclusively I got really into DDubz vids, most notably the 76 v points one and the in search of time lost one. I’ve probably watched those three videos somewhere around 200 ish times all together
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i just love the energy and vibe of the africa segment from progression. the lowell brothers do such a good job with using music to build and amplify the momentum of a story. we need another dosage!
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I’ll parrot a lot of these replies and add a movie of a local hardman sending Stern Farmer, an old aid route that goes free at 5.12b in Index, WA. The climber’s movement is so fluid and precise and the route has a hint of Index mysticism about it. One day… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk5kua_LJYk
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Sonnie Trotter’s FA of Cobra Crack, and James Kassay on Wheel of Life Direct. The former I love mostly because Sonnie is just such an articulate, compelling person. The latter because the movement looks so well-rehearsed and truly beautiful.
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Jan Hojer’s training video is awesome, so is Nalle sending Livin Large in Core.
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The way he says “Project real big” is awesome.
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Various newer and older (for me) stoke in mountaineering, trad climbing, and bouldering:
Slovak Direct, Denali
“I certainly would say this is unbelievable!”
“I thought it was amazing?!”
“No, it’s unbelievable really, that’s what this is”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUMHPnV8qz0
The Power of Jam – Music, Cobra Crack and an FFA on El Cap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nb-YMwqwW8
Adam Ondra 2 V16s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeR47AQ05Jo
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Still Masters of Stone, 1-5. Didn’t care for 6 as much. 3 Weeks and a Day was a classic too, probably really hard to find now. Don’t watch many bouldering vids.
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3 weeks and a day is one of my favorites as well. I love that the movie ends with failure, even as good as Boone was, not everyone gets to send on schedule. Also Dale mic’d while climbing out the roof, masterful.
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any info on where/ how to watch it now?
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Looks like you can purchase used copies if you are into buying videos. Small clips might be available on you tube
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Personally the Arkansas section in Dosage 3 still gets me amped up. I personally enjoy and get syke from the original sock hands videos… classic! (https://vimeo.com/user1242197)
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I’ve watched Leif Gasch do the FA of Skinner’s route”Strawberry Roan” countless times since it was first posted here. That climb inspires me most, even though I’ve been climbing for a few years.
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For me, watching Klem climb ‘Loskot and Two Smoking Barrels’ in Mallorca on old school shitty dial up. Endless buffering only heightened the feeling that those falls into the ocean must have been from 200 feet up the cliff. Still get psyched thinking about that one.
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Wyoming Vid
http://vimeo.com/3182587
Climbing should always be as fun as this looks. Hundreds of watchings and Chris Lindner chewing the tape off his finger mid crux still gets me all hot.
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I started when dose vol 1 first came out. Really liked climbxmedia too. Any body know the classic southern slopers? Or sessions? Both very good.
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Seriously here – if somebody has a copy of Southern Slopers (or Yank on Hits 3: Movement) they are willing to part with, I will pay mad cashy money for it. I’ve been on a tear collecting climbing vhs\dvds, and with the new stuff checking in at 25-30 bucks a hit, its been worth padding out the “older vids” portion.
My favorites? Before a comp I watch the old PCA videos. Any of the older “Shut up and Climb” era videos with Steve Jeffries / Jason Kehl always get me stoked too.
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Another dosage 3 guy checking in.
On another note, Alex’s ascent of Black Lung is super impressive. It’s a 3 move, power-oriented V13…which is just badass.
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Progression – Rocklands with Daniel, Paul, and Tommy
Exposure 2 – Chapter 4 with Alex Megos
The Real Thing
Dosage 4
Jimmy and Daniel climbing The Nest
Daniel climbing The Ice Knife SDS
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3 weeks and a Day
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The BJ Tilden / Genetic Drifter short on Core,
and this: http://vimeo.com/13831211
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Scarred for Life- Australia.
Any of the momentum videos on Ty.
Dosage 5- Arkansas
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Jimmy Webb’s First Try in Rocklands is a favorite. As well as every segment of Reel Rock 7. I used to tell myself I’d just watch one them, I have since accepted the fact that if I’m starting it, I’m going to end up watching the whole thing.
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Pretty much any clip with Dave Graham getting psyched. Most memorably his Dosage stuff.
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i concur!
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http://vimeo.com/6048642
Nothing else to say
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In terms of what vids got me PSYCHED first in my nascent days of climbing, mostly the Dosages. In particular, Sharma on the wagon problem, Sharma on Dreamtime, Sharma on Witness the Fitness… you get the idea. And then when King Lines came out, that got a lot of play. Es Pontas was great, but I actually really loved Ethan Pringle freaking out on the highball send in Bishop — gets the palms sweating, for sure!
As far as newer stuff, whenever I need a quick psyche I turn to the same video. Adam Ondra flashing Gecko Assis in Font. I’m generally a fan of little-to-no music in climbing vids, but the music in this one matches the intensity of the climbing very well.
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the island videos get me pretty psyched. can’t wait for vol 2 !! will it ever come out?
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For me it was Sharma sending Dreamcatcher in a youtube vid. Something about it, it’s so rad.
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personally, Jim Merli. taking down his 10 yr proj.
https://vimeo.com/99430650
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Hard Grit. And Rampage. Chris and Obe are like a comedy duo.
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Sharma on Witness the Fitness was one of the first videos I saw when I started climbing 7 years ago. At the time it was one of the craziest thing I’d ever seen. Scratch that, it is still one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen.
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