Every now and then, I find myself explaining that my dream is not climbing as high as possible but rather as "hard" as possible, be it 5 meters from the ground. This of course is met with even more confused face from my random colleague/relative. Normally, if the other person is really interested I proceed with showing a video from Action Direct or Demencia Senil. With that regards: which is the most impressive sport climbing / bouldering clip you've seen that even a person who has never climbed would appreciate the difficulty of?
The move Pete Whitaker makes on Dynamics of Change, with his left heel clawing at a hold around ear height, (see about 2:49 on the below) is something;
Pretty much anything from Stone Monkey.
Just watched The Dawn Wall, the dyno halfway up, just because of the position of it.
Pocket moves on Action Direct...
2nd vote for THAT move!!
And a 3rd.
I remember watching Christopher Webb-Parsons on Wheel of Life and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an elegant climber. His footwork is so precise, his body positioning so balletic you are left wondering what the crux move was.
youtube.com/watch?v=dl1h0Jmqswc&
The mono jam at 0:46 here (the following inverted foot jam is also pretty good)
> I remember watching Christopher Webb-Parsons on Wheel of Life and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an elegant climber. His footwork is so precise, his body positioning so balletic you are left wondering what the crux move was.
this as well: http://www.climbing.de/news/video-alex-megos-bei-der-erstbegehung-von-wheel...
First thought was Dynamics of Change, but second:
These are all so impressive. Tom Whittaker's "top rope, top rope..... " is scarily inspiring. Thank you.
Nothing to add except: what a great thread with some excellent suggestions.
I suppose you're right about the move itself but I can't help being swayed by the context of Pete W's awesome achievement.
Don't know if it's the most impressive ever but the move from the slab to the wall on Dreamcatcher is pretty cool - youtube.com/watch?v=UlcQ3mxlNfs&
In some ways a better answer to this post is to speak from our own personal experiences on routes that we have climbed, where the move sequence is so good, so memorable we dream about repeating it.
You obviously have to be in the moment, climbing well and moving effortlessly as we move through the sequence. For me I still recall the moves up Artless and on to Great Slab climbed nearly 30 years back. It's a sequence that I have been unable to repeat on subsequent visits to Froggatt. It begins with some stretchy fingers moves. Then its the way the feet are precisely placed as I stepped through the sequence, just beautiful!
I'm surprised those ironstone nodules on Witness the Fitness didn't snap off.
Dreamcatcher always amazed me. The traverse across the big line of slopers seemed impossible.
Good point. Joe's Arete at the Roaches does it for me - not particularly hard, just elegant.
> Every now and then, I find myself explaining that my dream is not climbing as high as possible but rather as "hard" as possible
Sounds to me like you need to go bouldering more
I guess there was misunderstanding due to English not being my native language. What I meant is that quite often I have to explain to others that the climbing I do is not about getting on top of peaks, rather doing hard moves, be it just a few of them.
> In some ways a better answer to this post is to speak from our own personal experiences on routes that we have climbed, where the move sequence is so good, so memorable we dream about repeating it.
I think Damascus Crack Left-hand Finish (VS 4c) does it for me: a sustained crack and then exposed finish. No big sections of easy ground, no temptation to reach for easier holds off the line.
> THAT move on Witness the Fitness -Chris Sharma
Just got a major rush of nostalgia watching that, esp the music, taking me back to my mid 20s when climbing hard was all that seemed to matter...
The "rebirth" sequence on Trench Warfare (around the 3.30 mark):
youtube.com/watch?v=2Ok0tstkS2I&
Not that difficult compared to some other examples on offer, but what a bastard move!
CB
Not seen that before, looks brilliant!
That bit at the beginning of Mission Impossible 2....
Having seen at close quarters, No Kpote Only at Rocher Brule in Font, I think that Charles Albert's sequence on barely visible holds is astonishing. I've seen plenty of upper 8th grade problems and most I could make sense of, but this left me questioning the human potential. Kameyama Ryohei's repeat is no less impressive.
Just remembered the clip from progression from the groove: 1:50 to 2:20
youtube.com/watch?v=I-OdxfCrXe4&
My first one would have been Witness the Fitness to but the link below is also good, BJ Tilden on Genetic Drifter.
Has anyone got footage of the mantel on A little peculiar?
I love the spin move and invert move before it on L'autre Cote De Ciel. (2:10 on) youtube.com/watch?v=rEa8JJ5Kcdg&
Plus the endless foot-off moves on Akira, some of which are very spanny
youtube.com/watch?v=dSSxk71e-2k&
I guess Dimencia Senil is the modern equivalent. Non climbers always find single finger stuff impressive so this occasionally gets an outing among the training videos of campusboard work youtube.com/watch?v=-1KcoSPBiPQ& . People find it hard to comprehend how good climbers are until they see training videos of things they can relate to.
You could show them this clip.
youtube.com/watch?v=O2cO2cHHQKQ&
I think it captures sport climbing perfectly.
> I love the spin move and invert move before it on L'autre Cote De Ciel. (2:10 on) youtube.com/watch?v=rEa8JJ5Kcdg&
But the whole route appears to be chipped!
Or should I say drilled?
Many years ago we went to do Il Duce thinking it was e3, Martin’s lead of the damp roof pitch was one of the most impressive bits of climbing I’ve ever seen😀
I am not sure what you mean by this. You are not saying that "tailored" routes can be good are you?
Yes they can be but its cheating isn't it?
I do not want to start a whole new tedious thread on the merits or demerits of "manufactured" routes
Anything harder than 4+ that I manage to get up after the lockdown.
Eh?
Jim Pope holding on on Appointment with Death!
> Jim Pope holding on on Appointment with Death!
Yes, and then doing a mini-one arm pullup on that hold
> But the whole route appears to be chipped!
> Or should I say drilled?
Some holds probably are 'cos it's from 'that era', but the moves are still cool though.
So it doesn't go on now?
I have always loved the ninja kick on Cypher at slipstones and found it massively inspirational. This short of David Mason on it is wicked and shows the move at around 2:20 youtube.com/watch?v=gp1_961ix6c&
And then Tom Newman on the same move at 1:55 vimeo.com/253157194