I came here to post this. One of my favorite Netflix documentaries. Alex H is god mode climber. I'm simply astounded on his free solo ability and even watching it gives me shivers.
Rock climbing // Lead, Boulder, Alpine
- Thread starter Kasper
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La Sportiva Legends Only is always good fun. I heard Alex Megos is co-commentating this time as well, which is cool. Sadly I won't be able to watch it live as I will be at a birthday, will have to settle for the replay tomorrow.
I'm watching it right now, Jim Bridwell popping acid up on El Capitan, holy shit.
These guys were insane. I love bouldering but high walls scare the feck out of me.Same here. I’m still mustering up the courage to watch the documentary about Honnold’s free solo of El Cap. I get sweaty palms just thinking about it!I'm watching it right now, Jim Bridwell popping acid up on El Capitan, holy shit.
Apparently coming out in february, can't wait!
Just saw that Lama uploaded this short video a week ago. Some spectacular shots from 7:15 onwards.
Sweet. He’s such a freak. Love watching him climb.
Already seen the film of it?
He released it yesterday on youtube. It's beyond insane, as is his preparation for it. And he's only 25 and should have at least one higher grade in him.
I can't imagine how much work he must've put in that route. Years of extreme dedication. His determination is from another planet. I can't wait to see his next big project, even though it's hard to imagine how much more difficult it can become. At some point we're entering the realm of the physically impossible, even for him.
I really love watching climbing documentaries, I’d be a shit climber but I’d love to take the hike out to Everest base camp one day it looks beautiful.
I’ll check Silence out later, Ondra looks fecking brilliant.
I’ll check Silence out later, Ondra looks fecking brilliant.
That’s a great watch. Felt like it could have been longer though. I’d have happily watched loads more detail about his training. Fecking awesome climb though. He’s an absolute machine.
Spectacular. Thanks.
I've never understood how they can trust those anchors.
Turns out Aquaman is pretty damn good at climbing. He seems to have been best mates with Chris Sharma for ages, so I guess that’s not a big surprise.
Yeah, I think I once saw a video with him and Sharma. Climbing outside in the area of 6b-6c. Pretty good given that he must be quite heavy haha.
Anyway, great idea to revive this thread! Has anyone seen the video of Lama climbing Lunag Ri? Did it on his 3rd trip, after he failed twice with Conrad Anker. Mad but beautiful shots:
Cool. Haven’t seen that. Alpinism not really my thing but always photogenic. Presume you’ve seen Free Solo by now? If not, why not?!?
I've seen fragments of Alex Honnold's free solos (El Capitan but also older stuff he did) and even knowing he survives it's an extremely stressful watch. Just imagine how those camera people must've felt.
On another note, I've been bouldering for a couple of years now but I feel I've been stuck around 6b-possibly 6c for ages now. It feels like a ceiling I can't break through. I guess the only way to progress would be to increase frequency or do some additional training outside of climbing? It's a bit frustrating, even though the activity itself remains incredibly satisfying.
On another note, I've been bouldering for a couple of years now but I feel I've been stuck around 6b-possibly 6c for ages now. It feels like a ceiling I can't break through. I guess the only way to progress would be to increase frequency or do some additional training outside of climbing? It's a bit frustrating, even though the activity itself remains incredibly satisfying.
That’s a fairly common plateau to hit. I was bumbling along at the same grade for ages. Seems to be hard to push through without a proper training plan. I ended up hanging a fingerboard in my kitchen and using the Crimpd app (which I highly recommend) to try and improve my grades. Helps to keep an eye on your weight too, watch what you eat and try to get that BF% as low as possible. Still not sent anything harder than a 7a/7a+, mind you. Reckon I might be too old to keep improving
Yeah the majority of regulars at my local gym seem to be stuck around that level as well. There are a few aliens doing the 7c+/8a problems though, which never fails to blow my mind. You can feel the whole gym holding their breath whenever someone is close to topping those.That’s a fairly common plateau to hit. I was bumbling along at the same grade for ages. Seems to be hard to push through without a proper training plan. I ended up hanging a fingerboard in my kitchen and using the Crimpd app (which I highly recommend) to try and improve my grades. Helps to keep an eye on your weight too, watch what you eat and try to get that BF% as low as possible. Still not sent anything harder than a 7a/7a+, mind you. Reckon I might be too old to keep improving
I guess I'll have to stop ignoring the campus board if I want to improve from here. It's just that I love the climbing, but I don't like boring exercise. At 31 (pushing 32) I still have some hope to improve at least a whole grade. I'm always cursing myself for being such a lazy bastard most of my 20's and not taking up this sport earlier. If I ever have kids, I'd definitely start taking them at a young age.
I'll have to check that app, thanks for the tip.
I'm exactly the same! When I'm in the gym, it would kill me to spend any time on the finger-board or campus board when I could be climbing instead. The closest I come to training in the gym is doing boulder triplets or circuits. Time is a real issue too. I get the impression that the people who are able to spend a lot of time in the gym doing training that doesn't involve climbing are able to spend several hours there, several days a week. It's no coincidence that these dudes are the strongest climbers.
On the plus side, technique is just as important as strength and if you've only been climbing a couple of years, just spending time on the wall will continue to make you a better climber for a good while yet, even if that progress is a lot slower than the "newbie gains" you've enjoyed so far.
Having some sort of finger board at home is a game changer IMO. It's very time efficient. Can do a few sets of max hangs in 15-20 minutes. Because mine is in the kitchen, I'll often do them while waiting for something to finish cooking. Drives my missus crazy, obviously! Good luck with Crimpd. It's only out fairly recently. A year ago I was looking for bouldering training apps and they were all pretty terrible. This app is amazing, really comprehensive and completely free.
I haven't yet, simply because I don't think any cinema close by ran it and I don't have Amazon prime. Maybe it'll be on TV at one point or watchable on netflix, so let's see. Generally speaking, I haven't watched that many long climbing movies, I'm somehow more a fan of 10 minutes youtube clips
As for @Ainu and your's debate on progressing:
Yeah, specific training on hang and campus boards is the way to go, although I agree, it's incredible boring
And like you said, a specific diet also helps but again - at one point you have to ask yourself how much one is willing to sacrifice just for the sake of progress. I remember watching an interview with Pirmin Bertle (swiss climber) that once he stopped his habits of having 300g Pasta and two beers most evenings and looked more specific on what he should eat he really improved another step. I can totally relate to that but unlike him I'm simply not ready to give that up haha.I think it's a common thing in the majority of sports: Once you hit a certain level you really have to train very specific, become obsessed with details and processes etc. - but that kinda sucks the joy out of a sport for me.
I would also recommend to move the ambition to progress to outdoor only and use gym climbing as a simply mean to stay fit, enjoy after work sessions and the sport itself. The sheer variety of climbing options outside just offers more challenges in my opinion and the focus is less on the sole technical aspects but also more on the mental side of things and experience plays a bigger role.
I'd love to go climbing outside but it's not very practical. There's nothing within several hours driving distance from my home so any trips to outdoor climbing spots would be fairly sporadic. Being a city dweller I'll have to settle for a gym.
I’m the same. Plus I’m a massive coward. Can just about handle a heavy fall onto a huge, completely padded floor. No way am I putting any faith in being able to hit a tiny crash mat, surrounded by rocks. Bollocks to that.
Oh definitely, those crash pads don't inspire a lot of confidence in me. I'd probably chicken out of a lot of moves I'd risk indoors. Another thing I get a bit scared of is slab climbing with tiny footholds. Missing a hold on an overhang results in a short tumble to the mattress below but a slip on a slab can cost you a fair bit of skin and you never know what parts of your body are going to collide with holds below you.
In Italy they call those falls “striking a match”Oh definitely, those crash pads don't inspire a lot of confidence in me. I'd probably chicken out of a lot of moves I'd risk indoors. Another thing I get a bit scared of is slab climbing with tiny footholds. Missing a hold on an overhang results in a short tumble to the mattress below but a slip on a slab can cost you a fair bit of skin and you never know what parts of your body are going to collide with holds below you.
Don't know what you mean guys, just get a spotter and everything is sorted
Nah, I can totally relate. But I think the more you do it the more routine you get.
The location is definitely an obstacle, I have no idea about the climbing landscape in Belgium, I suspect due to it being quite flat the options are quite limited?
If you want to mix it up you could do some lead climbing (if there is a gym nearby), it demands a slightly different skillset to bouldering (endurance, timing, clipping) so there would be satisfying improvement at the beginning. Although you'll hit the same barrier after a while as well and it involves a lot more logistics than bouldering (climbing partner, more gear, trust in each other etc) so that obviously puts people off.
Nah, I can totally relate. But I think the more you do it the more routine you get.
The location is definitely an obstacle, I have no idea about the climbing landscape in Belgium, I suspect due to it being quite flat the options are quite limited?
If you want to mix it up you could do some lead climbing (if there is a gym nearby), it demands a slightly different skillset to bouldering (endurance, timing, clipping) so there would be satisfying improvement at the beginning. Although you'll hit the same barrier after a while as well and it involves a lot more logistics than bouldering (climbing partner, more gear, trust in each other etc) so that obviously puts people off.
@Pogue Mahone and @Ainu
Have you guys seen this:
It's Honnold reacting to some Hollywood depictions of climbing, it's hilarious - the scenes as well as his reactions, his humour is great
Have you guys seen this:
It's Honnold reacting to some Hollywood depictions of climbing, it's hilarious - the scenes as well as his reactions, his humour is great
Yes! Saw it the other day. So good. Thanks for sharing anyway. I watched all those movies before I started climbing. Had no idea they were so preposterous at the time!@Pogue Mahone and @Ainu
Have you guys seen this:
It's Honnold reacting to some Hollywood depictions of climbing, it's hilarious - the scenes as well as his reactions, his humour is great
Yeah it came up in my Youtube feed last week, pretty cool to watch. Some of the scenes had a sort of realistic starting point but then some bonkers stuff in there no one would ever attempt. Always interesting to hear him explain moves.@Pogue Mahone and @Ainu
Have you guys seen this:
It's Honnold reacting to some Hollywood depictions of climbing, it's hilarious - the scenes as well as his reactions, his humour is great
I'm planning to go and watch Free Solo one of these days, should be brilliant. I'm trying to convince some non-climbers to join me as I think it'll be a fantastic watch for anyone.
I made my wife and her parents watch it at the weekend. The in-laws thought it was great but the missus moaned throughout. Apparently “I can see why it’s interesting... if you’re a climber” and “he’s just a selfish asshole”. Although this tells you more about my marriage than it does about the movie
That was watching it on TV, mind you. I defy anyone to watch on a big screen and not be completely gripped.
Weirdly it was the first time I got the same expression from a climbing movie. I honestly don't know why, but something about how they portrayed Alex and his relationship to his girlfriend in the film turned that goofy and likeable character into a really selfish person. Overall I didn't like the film as much as I liked Meru or Dawn Wall. I'm also not sure I actually wanted to see the footage of him doing the boulder problem free solo. All the footage of his previous free solo climbs looked so much more in control and therefore "reasonable" within his world. This one actually did scare me. It also lacked the humour you usually see in interviews with Alex to balance the constant tension besides a few single moments.I made my wife and her parents watch it at the weekend. The in-laws thought it was great but the missus moaned throughout. Apparently “I can see why it’s interesting... if you’re a climber” and “he’s just a selfish asshole”. Although this tells you more about my marriage than it does about the movie
That was watching it on TV, mind you. I defy anyone to watch on a big screen and not be completely gripped.
I really enjoyed Dawn Wall the most out of those 3 recent big climbing films. It has the best balance between climbing and personal backstory and a more relateable motivation for the attempt, because Tommy Caldwell was driven by non climbing events that shaped his life.
I’m really looking forward to watching Dawn Wall.
Also need to find some time to watch this. Purely to see some ludicrously difficult climbing.
I actually laughed quite a lot during Free Solo. I took a lot of his most brutal honesty as kind of darkly funny. Then there was the stuff about teaching himself how to eat vegetables and hug people. He’s got a super dry sense of humour which makes me chuckle quite a lot, even if he’s not being goofy.
Full disclosure, though, I had consumed some marijuana infused chocolate before watching it in the cinema. Enhanced the whole experience but also may have helped me find humour where others might not!
Sad bump but David Lama, Hansjorg Auer and Jess Roskelley are missing and presumed dead after an avalanche in Canada:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/climbers-presumed-dead-avalanche-howse-peak-1.5103919
Especially Lama and Auer are two of my favorite alpinists, Lama's channel just recently posted this nice compilation of 2018:
Devastatig news
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/climbers-presumed-dead-avalanche-howse-peak-1.5103919
Especially Lama and Auer are two of my favorite alpinists, Lama's channel just recently posted this nice compilation of 2018:
Devastatig news
Very sad, man
. I felt so bad about Ueli Steck's death at Everest too. Guy was such a maverick. This is such a hard profession/passion to follow.Movie about Alex Megos and the free climbing evolution in Germany.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CHyEnY9Kohk/?igshid=bs9r0noukhe
Check this guy out. Those are 6mm edges. Absolute machine.
EDIT: Can’t work out how to post Instagram now. Where’s @Samid when I need him?
Check this guy out. Those are 6mm edges. Absolute machine.
EDIT: Can’t work out how to post Instagram now. Where’s @Samid when I need him?
Started bouldering just before the Covid outbreak. My incentive for bouldering was to train for a Spartan Death Race. This is something I hope to attempt within 10 years. In the meantime, I hope to experience obstacle courses of different terrains whether that's mud, or this one which caught my attention during my lunch break. Just need to improve my strength
General question - do climbing centres tend to do beginner sessions? I just had a gander at my local one and I can't see anything but as a total beginner I think I'd need some trainining...
It's a Depot Centre which I think is a chain so maybe somebody here has done one?
It's a Depot Centre which I think is a chain so maybe somebody here has done one?