Good shit! Free solo tho? Always stop your friends from doing free solo shit its not worth it
@angusdavidson7501
Жыл бұрын
Cheers! Below I've written out some of the reasoning behind why I chose to solo 'The Wave', it started out with just a couple paragraphs but I ended up wanting to expand on it more as it's such a controversial topic! Apologies for the wave of text, I'm going to pin your comment as I think it's important for people to see how much thought goes into planning to solo a climb. The stuff you don't typically hear/see in videos! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soloing, especially if the chosen route takes gear, is always tricky to justify not just to yourself but to others around you. A foot-pop or a hold snapping would have made for a quick trip to Berwick Infirmary rather than grabbing some Maccies on the way home. Personally, the consequences in many situations outweigh the 'utility' of completing a successful solo, hence why the majority of my climbing is done with a rope! Choosing to solo will always be the exception rather than the rule. In this case (The Wave), the choice to solo, rather than lead, came down to a few factors: Gear evaluation; the height, both of the entire climb and crux; Adjectival and Technical grade; a respect (or admiration) for historical ethics/culture; and my physical and mental state. *Gear Evaluation* Realistically, the only protection on the route is found in the high break that separates the swelling 'wave' top-out with the wall below. I say 'realistically' as gear can be placed below but becomes quickly ineffective at preventing a ground fall anywhere near the crux. I have heard stories of cams having a tendency to blow out of the break in what seamed like good placements. This may or may not be true but I didn't want to take any chances; a pre-inspection on abseil was the safest way to determine the placements. When I arrived at the break I found what looked like evidence of gear ripping, divots and patches of fresh sandstone (that can't be seen from the ground) scar the 'good placements'. Now, this is a tricky judgment call, is it safe to lead? Possibly. If I choose to solo, am I surrendering the ability to place gear that could save me from severe injury or even death? Potentially. Would more experience in placing gear and assessing rock - particularly soft sandstone - help my judgement? Absolutely. To me, the placements looked adequate to abseil from, but likely incapable of holding a whipper sliding off the mantle. In my eyes, I'm sacrificing only my ability to retreat off the climb, but once committed, a fall from the top will likely result in severe injury _regardless_ of whether I choose to lead or solo. *Height* Around 9-10 metres with a crux at around 6-7 metres (the blind 'pop' to the high, sandy break). Now these are heights that you see quite often in modern day 'high-balling' or 'sky-balling'. Admittedly, the vast majority are done over a sea of pads and nervous spotters, but as far as routes are concerned, 'The wave' (as with nearly all routes at Bowden) is considered a short route. That's not to say a fall from heights of 6-10 metres would be without consequence, it's quite the opposite, but the likelihood of a survivable fall is high. It's when you start reaching the territory of 14+ metres plus, death becomes increasingly more likely if not certain (depending on surface). Additionally, the ground below is quite earthy/spongey(?), I don't know how much of a difference this makes but at least it's not rock! *Grade* 'The Wave' is given E5 6a in the most recent and previous guidebooks (to my knowledge). Love em' or hate em', British trad grades can be 'vague' at the best of times and dangerously misleading at their worst. A bold County E5 feels like it'd get E6-7 in the Lakes, with tech 6a being anywhere between f6A - f7A. Now these are slight exaggerations but I feel hard Northumberland trad should always be approached with a great deal of humility and respect - for both your ego and safety! At the time of climbing this, I was bouldering f7B+ to f8A (maybe a stretch), and capable of leading up to E7/8. I also had a good deal of soloing experience under my belt, E5 was within my soloing capabilities but towards upper end, caution and diligent considerations of the challenge as a whole _must_ be undertaken. *Historical Ethics and Culture* Now this can quite the controversial topic, I find people possess very strong feelings on both sides in regard to whether standard practices, safety measures, style ethics should be preserved and passed on to current generations or whether a new cultural shift is needed to displace the 'archaic' practices and values of the past. Back in the 70's and 80's, County legends such as Bob Smith, Steve Blake and Bob Hutchinson were at the forefront of British climbing and established many of Northumberland's great hard trad routes, such as 'The Wave' (B. Hutchinson 1978), that even today don't see too many repeats. What's more impressive is that these ascents were very often done ground-up over nothing more than a beer mat to wipe your shoes on before you climb. Bouldering mats were not commonplace until a couple decades later, it's rumoured Bob Hutchinson hauled a couple mattresses in to cushion the potentially nasty fall of Barbarian E5 6B just a few lines over! In most cases, if you fall and you don't have gear in - you're hitting the ground. Now, just because they did it this way, doesn't mean I should. I have means at my disposal to make it as safe as it can possibly be - Boulder mats, better gear, beta from others - that would drastically reduce my risk of injury or even death. Making something needlessly riskier, in almost every case, is more idiotic than it is brave. To reasonably argue otherwise, well.... you'll need a pretty damn good reason. For me, I have great admiration for those who are at the forefront of climbing, those who strive to continually push the limits of the sport. Not only those who are currently at the pinnacle: Ondra, Bosi, Stefano, Nalle; but those who have come beforehand who laid the groundwork for the worlds best to build from. Climbing a route in its original style adds an element to the experience that I can't quite describe nor can I justify whether it's enough to consider soloing. It's almost an act of respect or appreciation for the FA, it allows me to experience at least to some degree, what Bob felt on that day. Saying this, I opted for the pre-inspection and practice on abseil which Bob was unlikely to have done. I didn't feel confident to attempt a Solo Ground-Up as I had heard the top out had spat a few people off, with one guy breaking his back from a ground fall! I'll need to give it more thought in order to articulate it clearly, it's more of a feeling than anything else, and this for most people isn't a great justification! I hope this provides a good overview of my process of how I assess and judge risk and why I consider soloing in the first place. If you have any questions fire them over, I'll do my best to answer them! Angus
@lewisproffitt6872
3 ай бұрын
Loved this comment, super interesting!
@nucnadthor7179
2 жыл бұрын
if my partner ever slacks off belaying to jam piano while I climb there'll be hell to pay Nice climb
@angusdavidson7501
2 жыл бұрын
Hahaha cheers :)
@Crimpitsucka
Жыл бұрын
That was cracking! The music was very serene, but my heart was going watching you use the sidepull to gain the roof.
@angusdavidson7501
Жыл бұрын
It was a joy to climb! I'm always a bit weary of county sandstone and it's tendency to break when you're least expecting. I had pre-inspected the top-out to make sure everything was secure and brushed, didn't fancy breaking my legs that day!
@kingsindian8948
2 жыл бұрын
Nicely done. Very controlled and elegant climbing...
@bazwax77
Жыл бұрын
Very impressive dude!………and the soundtrack 🔥🔥💪🏻🧗🏻♂️
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