James Kassay Climbing Wheel Of Life Direct

14 Responses to James Kassay Climbing Wheel Of Life Direct

1. 

   Nick Henscheid June 27, 2013 at 10:59 am #

   Woah.

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2. 

   TL June 27, 2013 at 1:46 pm #

   double whoa.

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3. 

   Ryan June 27, 2013 at 2:34 pm #

   I want to see Ondra climb this. I bet he downgrades it to V14. I’m not trying to be a jerk here…but look at the moves and look at the effort every climber that has ever climbed WOL puts into the send. If the direct finish makes this problem V16…that means the new finish, alone, must also be V16. None of these sections look even remotely as hard as most short V15s in the world. I don’t care if it’s long. If I climb a sustained, 10 pitch, 5.11 trad route and decide to simul it with my partner, that doesn’t make it a 5.13 just because there’s more of an enduro factor.

   Regardless, sick send. He looked beyond smooth and sailed it. Major respect.

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   • 

     Ryan June 27, 2013 at 2:37 pm #

     As a follow-up, everyone should read Ethan’s thoughts on the climb here: http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/news-2/2010/08/17/ethan-pringle-wheel-life-and-why-grades-can-t-be-ignored

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   • 

     julio June 27, 2013 at 4:01 pm #

     That is not correct. You could argue that a route grade would be more appropriate, but most hard boulders can broken down into easier sections, none of which would individually be given the grade of the complete problem.

     See TSOTW, The Game, Desperanza, or just about anything hard.

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   • 

     PBC June 27, 2013 at 9:34 pm #

     If I remember correctly, the original line links Xtreme Cool (V9/10) into Sleepy Hollow (V12) into Cave Girl (V12) into Dead Can’t Dance (V12). Linking the first two is Under Siege (V14), the last two becomes Pretty Hate Machine (V14), linking the last 3 is Sleepy Rave (originally V15), and all 4 is WOL (originally V16).

     You must not subscribe to the ((Grade 1 + Grade 2) / 2) + 2 theory of boulder linkups then I take it?

     All in all, awesome work James. I love seeing climbers use the toe of their shoe as a hold to shake out on (Some American used that beta for WOL, anyone remember who? Dorey?)

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     • 

       Nick Henscheid June 27, 2013 at 10:04 pm #

       Yep, it was Ian Dory. http://vimeo.com/45097582

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   • 

     Ian June 28, 2013 at 9:05 pm #

     I think your thinking on grades is a bit oversimplified. To take an extreme case, there’s a route in Red Rocks that checks in at 12b: it consists of a 2 or 3 move V4 into a 5.8. But there are hard 5.13s in Maple Canyon that have no move harder than V4… just a lot of them without much rest.

     Or another example: Left Martini, a famous V10 in Hueco, is basically a short-ish V8 into a really long V6. But basically every rock climb is like this: it is not just the difficulty of the hardest move, but how many hard moves without adequate rest, which affects the grade.

     You can think that’s a stupid way to grade, but that IS the way it’s done. (And Ondra grades this way as well.) Your proposal would require re-grading everything in pretty drastic ways… many elite climbers contend that the absolute maximum difficulty move anyone has ever done is V13 — so there are currently no V14s (let alone 15s or 16s) on a grading scale that ignores endurance.

     Or maybe I’m missing your point? It’s easy to do that on the internet.

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4. 

   rorschah June 27, 2013 at 5:25 pm #

   James Kassay and Shauna Coxsey are the two recent additions to my short-list of Unearthly Graceful Climbers. With, like, Fred Nicole and Lynn Hill.

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5. 

   Dakota June 28, 2013 at 6:36 am #

   Oh. My. God. I don’t care what grade it is; if WOL were somehow a V5, I’d still have just witnessed some of the most graceful and inspiring climbing I’ve ever seen. Bravo.

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6. 

   Seth June 28, 2013 at 9:25 am #

   Beautiful! I like to think he took the chalk bag off because the direct finish is so hard that even that little extra weight is too much.

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7. 

   Guy June 28, 2013 at 11:18 am #

   Shauna coxey, graceful?!

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8. 

   KRSone June 29, 2013 at 1:40 am #

   V8 into no hands rest, v11 to a no hands rest (which he doesnt use), v9 (pretty much a one mover into a few metres of jugs) and then Dead Cant Dance v11. The original and the direct finish are about v4/5. As for the grade? Well James Kassay says he doesnt think that the direct makes it V17! Yeah…… that might just be a tad soft if you proposed that. So smooth from 10 years of dialing the moves

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9. 

   KRSone June 29, 2013 at 1:48 am #

   http://captainsofcrushaustralia.blogspot.com.au/

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