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Czech climber Adam Ondra has conquered the Dawn Wall in record time

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Re: Czech climber Adam Ondra has conquered the Dawn Wall in record time

#71
post #65

As a non-climber: who drills these holes into the wall with the carabiners in them? (AND HOW???)

How: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO4zuO1XSxQ Who: Aside from Yosemite, the answer is "it depends", a lot of these are just set up by enterprising enthusiasts, often technically illegally, but few care enough to bother them. In some parks & locations they're set up by whoever manages the park / owns the area to attract climbers & the business that comes with it. Some people in the mountaineering / climbing communi…

Dislike is something of an understatement. For many decades, there has been a tit-for-tat war between sport and trad climbers. Sport climbers bolt a route, then trad climbers come along with bolt croppers and remove the protection. In many areas, bolting is carried out under cover of darkness, for fear of violent confrontation with traditionalists.

The Dawn Wall has been a significant battleground in this war. The first ascent was made by Harding and Caldwell in 1970 using bolts and significant aid climbing; A year later, Royal Robbins made the second ascent, chopping off the bolts as he went.

Re: Czech climber Adam Ondra has conquered the Dawn Wall in record time

#72
post #41

Reading this I am once again fascinated by the link between body and mind. My hands start to sweat as soon as I read the headline.

That's what chalk is for :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR1jwwagtaQ&feature=youtu.be...

The whole video is pretty interesting, but may make your hands sweat even more.

Re: Czech climber Adam Ondra has conquered the Dawn Wall in record time

#73
post #4

I wonder if in my lifetime we'll ever see a big, sustained free climb go up that surpasses the Dawn Wall. It took Tommy Caldwell 7 years just to unlock it. Testpieces like that don't come around very often.

it's considered the hardest climb globally in this type of climbing. you won't find such a huge face in himalaya for example. so first we would need to find a tougher one. if you look at the photos/description, there are not many massive polished almost-vertical walls like this one

Re: Czech climber Adam Ondra has conquered the Dawn Wall in record time

#74
post #48

In what way is this a hacker piece of news ? What's next ? "This cat completes Record Backflip" ? Please refrain, Thx

You can find an explanation here

https://blog.codinghorror.com/software-projects-as-rock-clim...

http://adaptivepatchwork.com/2011/01/10/why-programmers-love...

http://breckyunits.com/what-can-a-programmer-learn-from-rock...

Re: Czech climber Adam Ondra has conquered the Dawn Wall in record time

#76
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no doubt these top level climbers have incredibly strong fingers. But as an amateur climber, you'd probably be surprised at how much your grip strength improves to the point that you can hang by your finger tips on such small holds. Grip strength is not really something people use in every day life so unless you lift weights at the gym or go climbing your strength is probably pretty undeveloped. I think a lot…

Just worth noting: for those who want to increase their grip strength. The things you squeeze are fine, actually climbing (or lifting weights (or whatever)) is optimal. Avoid fingerboards for quite a while as those are a sure way to injure yourself if your body is not ready.

lifting weights does very little in actual fingers strength. there are funny videos around when muscular lifters try climbing, they fail quite fast after couple of moves.

you can train a bit with various squeezy thingies, what helps too is just hanging by hands from some thicker bar (so you cannot grip it comfortably). but by far best training, especially in beginning is just climbing. it takes time for all connecting tissue to build up (tendons, ligament etc. - it's not about muscle for fingers). fingerboard can indeed be dangerous if attempted early - say from 6b-6c in french scale.

much of the art of staying on the wall is about proper balance - this can be trained a bit on slackline for example, but again best training is just climbing often.

Re: Czech climber Adam Ondra has conquered the Dawn Wall in record time

#77
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm very interested now in what these ethical considerations would be. Do you mean that if people put in bolts that it might somehow dilute the climb?

Two considerations when installing permanent hardware: 1 - You're drilling a hole in a rock. It's a small action, but it can't be undone. Can you justify forever altering part of a beautiful natural landscape to support your ambition? Keep in mind that the outdoors community in general has a leave-no-trace ethic. 2 - Every piece of permanent hardware makes the route safer and logistically and psychologically easier (…

Very interesting, thank you!

Re: Czech climber Adam Ondra has conquered the Dawn Wall in record time

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just worth noting: for those who want to increase their grip strength. The things you squeeze are fine, actually climbing (or lifting weights (or whatever)) is optimal. Avoid fingerboards for quite a while as those are a sure way to injure yourself if your body is not ready.

lifting weights does very little in actual fingers strength. there are funny videos around when muscular lifters try climbing, they fail quite fast after couple of moves. you can train a bit with various squeezy thingies, what helps too is just hanging by hands from some thicker bar (so you cannot grip it comfortably). but by far best training, especially in beginning is just climbing. it takes time for all connectin…

Honestly: it seemed a bit off to me too, but it was mentioned so I assumed it probably did something.

Although, the lifter thing is more just that they don't realize they need to use their legs. Common problem in general, but most people are weak enough that they realize "Something isn't right here" soon enough.

We like to mock one of our friends because he started off climbing and was completely drained after a single 5.7 because he used JUST his arms. Made it to the top (and got pretty damned far up a 5.8), but... holy crap. Few things will make you feel more inadequate than being reminded that your belayer used to do that.

Re: Czech climber Adam Ondra has conquered the Dawn Wall in record time

#80
I'm sure this will get down voted into oblivion. I respect the passion of climbing, I really do. However, I never agreed with drilling holes, and placing bolts, in all of these amazing natural structures. Just another thing we have to ruin for human enjoyment :(
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