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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Jan 12, 2015 - 11:51pm PT
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Rating climbs/moves that require balance and positioning is pretty subjective compared to climbs/move that require strength. People of different sizes have their centers of gravity in different places, relative to the holds, and that can make a big difference. I would guess that the climbing on the Dawn Wall is of this sort.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jan 13, 2015 - 12:29am PT
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John Branch @JohnBranchNYT · 3 hours ago
On his his third attempt of the night, @kjorgeson sends Pitch 20. At Wino Tower, with open path to the top of #dawnwall
Kevin Jorgeson @kjorgeson · 3 hours ago
Wino Tower. #dawnwall
tommycaldwell
2 hours ago
In another inspiring battle late into the night Kevin managed to send pitches 18, 19, and 20. Clouds swirled all around It was truly a surreal scene. Tomorrow we leave our bacecamp and blast towards the top. With some luck we will be standing on top in a couple days. I an excited to walk on flat ground again although I am sure I will truly miss this experience. Great photo of what has been out home for the past 17 nights @coreyrichproductions @bigupclimbing. http://instagram.com/p/xyPQDvj5d1/
Next up:
p21-28 5.12 and 5.11
p29 5.12 or 5.13a
p30 5.12 to top
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Bad Climber
climber
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Jan 13, 2015 - 06:34am PT
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Wow, this climb is going down. What an effort. Makes me more motivated for my insignificant projects!
Re. this:
how close we are to the absolute limits of capability.
A long ways.
I respectfully submit we are not too far from our human limits. Unlike past generations, we have folks like Caldwell who started climbing at about age 3 (?) and then got into hard stuff pretty early. We've got scientific training, 100% full time climbers. The hardest routes now take many, many days, weeks, sometimes months or years of effort. Even Ondra required 50 tries to repeat a Sharma route that was done a few years ago. Great, great climbers can spend all their time and effort and still not break into 5.15. No, I think we'll see some incremental improvement and different styles but not huge increases in difficulty.
I look at it like running events. For example, breaking a 2hr marathon barrier MAY be possible, but it's looking pretty unlikely. If we were a long ways from human limits in marathon running, we could expect 1h50m, maybe 1h40m marathon times. We'll NEVER see 1hr marathon times. We won't see a 2 min. mile either. There are limits. Look how long the record for the long jump stood. Now it progresses by very small degrees. From Wikipedia:
Does anyone think we'll see a 50 ft. long jump? I think in terms of absolute climbing difficulty we're pretty close to this situation. Improvements, sure, but not huge.
BAd
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Jan 13, 2015 - 09:20am PT
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Hmmm, they didn't use fixed ropes, but they were slow/heavy.
I believe the controversy was more because they used 330 bolts.
in some circles, that was probably true. but but by the time they went up on dawn, the critique of siege/expedition climbing outside of, and increasinly inside of, yoesmite,seems to have coalesced into a combination of criticisms that recur time and again: excessive time, excessive material, excessive support. on rock climbs, those criticisms typically focused on time, fixed ropes, and bolts.
we don't remember our anxieties about time so clearly anymore, because our priorities have changed over the last 30 years, at least on El Cap. Luxury cruises, Chongotowns, seasonal communal juglines, and other events have pretty much helped most of us get comfortable with the idea of extended sojourns in the vertical. so today we mostly remember bolts. (the more so as period methods and manners texts, notably royals', began to focus on hole count as a boundary line for style.)
in places like yos, extended time is also one of the things that tends to draw both official and media attention, and so many of the complaints about hype, circus, or whatever, are also complaints about the excessive visibility of sieges.
that's like a siege paragraph.
one of the things i do like most about this current version of dawn wall, is that it puts a focus back on the roped team. not just hero x and his or her generic belay slave.
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throwpie
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jan 13, 2015 - 09:21am PT
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When Fires replaced EBs, the grades jumped. Could the high jump or marathon times do the same thing just by changing shoes? Perhaps a bit, but not as big of a change as we saw in climbing. The pole vault was certainly advanced by pole technology....but it relied more on technology from its beginning...more like auto racing or windsurfing.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Jan 13, 2015 - 11:04am PT
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Granite climbing gets little respect in the ratings. Rating those crux pitches only 14.d is sort of an act of humility. Granite doesn't seem to qualify for 5.15 no matter how few of the world's best could ever do those traversing pitches.
??
The hardest climb in the world is on granite. Change, 5.15c
http://vimeo.com/68083454
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Jan 13, 2015 - 11:22am PT
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one of the things i do like most about this current version of dawn wall, is that it puts a focus back on the roped team. not just hero x and his or her generic belay slave.
I think that's because Tommy wants to go back and try to free it in a day.
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HMS
Trad climber
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Jan 13, 2015 - 11:47am PT
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@Oplopanax: Change is on gneiss. Just like most rock climbing in Norway, Hanshelleren crag consists of gneiss, not granite. Most of the hard bouldering in the Alps is on gneiss as well, but for some reason most climbers seem to think it is granite.
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labrat
Trad climber
Auburn, CA
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Jan 13, 2015 - 02:08pm PT
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Thanks for the link!
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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Jan 13, 2015 - 02:16pm PT
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about time they got a video stream going. Now I won't be able to work til they top out. :)
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oldnutz
Trad climber
OAKLAND
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Jan 13, 2015 - 02:19pm PT
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Where is this live feed camera located? I see lots of heat distortion so it must be quite far away? I remember the view from the base of East Buttress on Middle Cathedral being similar, but it could be that far away?
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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Jan 13, 2015 - 02:23pm PT
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tommy just took a piss. :0
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WBraun
climber
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Jan 13, 2015 - 02:25pm PT
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There's three media trucks in El Cap meadow right now.
Then there's a film crew grip truck parked on South Side Drive entrance to the picnic area that views the Dawn wall.
Whom ever is filming this has a remote feed to one of the satellite trucks.
It's fuking circus out there.
I didn't stop because I hate these kind of media circuses.
Instead went climbing in a peaceful setting away from this freak show .......
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Jan 13, 2015 - 03:57pm PT
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It's fuking circus out there.
hahaha! The Valley's been a "fuking circus" for decades, Werner. You need to get out more ;-))
Psyched to read that that Tommy and Kevin are reunited and galloping (or whatever they do) toward the summit.
Really psyched that they have put El Capitan, the best cliff on Earth, back into the limelight: a place for the very best climbers to do their most amazing feats.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jan 13, 2015 - 03:58pm PT
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Webcast of a climb, that's different.
Looks like Tommy(? - light green windbreaker) just led the 5.11d pitch off the 1' x 10' ledge (p26 on Sloan's topo). Partner (yellow windbreaker) is starting to follow.
6 pitches to go after the follow is done.
Their crew already hauled their haulbag and portaledge to the top of that pitch, so they are not stopping to camp at the 1' x 10'.
pitch followed. bag + ledge hauled up next pitch by crew.
photographer rapped into position.
Swapped leaders, yellow belay jacket handed off.
guy in red shirt starting to lead next pitch (5.11c, I think).
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Don Paul
Big Wall climber
Denver, Colorado
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Jan 13, 2015 - 04:05pm PT
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Werner, the grips are actually sherpa grips that haul the bags. They'll be climbing with headlamps soon. They need to try to time it so they top out in the middle of the six o'clock news.
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WBraun
climber
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Jan 13, 2015 - 04:21pm PT
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Normally this time of the year there's snow in the meadow and no one around.
So don't give this bullsh!t it's always a circus here.
In the winter it's normally very very quiet and peaceful.
The grip truck is not in El Cap meadow and is not climbers.
Even Largo is here but I didn't ask him what he's doing.
None of my business anyways ....
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Jan 13, 2015 - 04:22pm PT
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They are getting help from their alien alies, does anyone else see those white orbs floating around them. They can't claim a legit FA if they use alien assistance.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Jan 13, 2015 - 04:38pm PT
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Every time I see a topo of the route it looks like a work of art. It's a beautiful line, it meanders beautifully. It's the steepest, coolest-looking part of El Cap. If I had a freaking artistic bone in my body I'd, you know, do something artistic with this knowledge.
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