The guy is eleven years older than me. I guess I see what I can look forward to---if I'm really lucky...
The moment a few people referred to as a near fall really isn't anything of the sort. What happens is an example of what aging climbers have to continually cope with and adjust to: the strength to perform certain moves, a strength that used to be there and that the brain still thinks is there, is no longer available.
Climbing---well, trad climbing anyway---is all about coping with what is. You have to carry on with what the rock gives you, with the rack you actually have, the shoes you chose, with the water, food, and clothing you brought, the environmental conditions, and finally, with whatever strengths and infirmities you bring to the route.
Aging adds a new variable to the equation. The body you have to work with isn't the body your brain thinks you have. It issues commands that the troops can no longer carry out. As far as I can tell, the brain does not adjust to this new state of affairs, and instead the climber has to add a new feedback mechanism, one that tells the out-of-touch commander-in-chief that he's nuts if he thinks you can do that, and perhaps we should explore a way than demands a bit less power.
The video is unique in that it makes a moment of this internal dialog visible. The climber pulls up, realizes immediately that he can't lock off, drops back down and locks instead with the other hand. It doesn't look elegant, but I don't think there was anything marginal going on.
The most poignant thing for me, the thing that spoke the most about the indomitable spirit now confined to a failing body, is the difficulty the climber has with high steps, and the pride and effort that goes into not using his knees. This is most visible early in the clip as he surmounts the lower buttress.
There is another moment, very early on, that I found moving, although I may be adding my own interpretations to a entirely random gesture. Just as he begins, the climber pauses for a moment and touches his forehead to the rock.
Was this just an instant of imbalance corrected with a head touch?
Or was it, as I prefer to think, a gesture of acknowledgment, of thanks to the crags that have obviously been a shaping influence in a long life, and perhaps also a plea for safe passage, yet another time, after all these years on the rock?
The climber confronts a very old adversary that is simultaneously a very old friend, and with the slightest tip of the head, a lifetime of experiences, like an electric charge, passes between them. Thus begins another in a series of ascents stretching back for years, a performance, with all its awkwardness and frailty, that speaks of the eternal bond this man will carry with him to an end that is, relative to the span of his life, now not far off.
Looks more like a 5.10. Its UIAA rating would indicate that as well.
It is about 5.8 actually, as the rating is VIIa (saxon grade) and not 7a (french grade). But I guess the real problem here are the runouts anyway, they look quite dangerous.
inspiring... love to see the older guys still cranking, even more inspirational to me than the feats the young are carrying out. anyone can be strong, bold and powerful when young, but those who show us how to carry the momentum forward teach invaluable and rare knowledge
"Or was it, as I prefer to think, a gesture of acknowledgment, of thanks to the crags that have obviously been a shaping influence in a long life, and perhaps also a plea for safe passage, yet another time, after all these years on the rock?
The climber confronts a very old adversary that is simultaneously a very old friend, and with the slightest tip of the head, a lifetime of experiences, like an electric charge, passes between them. Thus begins another in a series of ascents stretching back for years, a performance, with all its awkwardness and frailty, that speaks of the eternal bond this man will carry with him to an end that is, relative to the span of his life, now not far off."
rgold, I think he was acknowledging an old friend with that nod, saying hello at least one more time. And he was thanking whatever gods he admires, that he could still climb that Stone Steep Grade.
I imagine he's climbed that route dozens of times over the years.
Let us know!