Niall is now doing Jam Crack Live. His next event is with guest Molly Thompson Smith in Sheffield on April 17th. All the info can be found here www.niallgrimes.com/jam-crack-live-1
Interesting story at the end and also Pete's cautionary tale of continuing with frozen sausages for fingers when he should have sacked it off. Live and learn as they say.
I fell while onsight free soloing last may and broke my back in three places and legs in ten. I don't recommend this for anyone as its about as self destructive of a vice as any drug. However i made a recovery and was back to climbing by october. A lot of people aren't as fortunate though. Be careful out there!
@@RekySaiYessir! Thankfully my repercussions were rather minor. I'm fully recovered with only a few degrees of dorsiflexion lost on my right foot. Nothing i notice during training or climbing luckily. All in all it was one of the best learning experiences i've ever had in climbing and risk in general.
Just recently i was soloing a 5.6 and when i got up to the crux putches of the route (only 5.6 so not much of a crux) the crack i was supposed to climb was basically a waterfall, i tried climbing it but just wasnt comfortable making moves on the wet rock. I ended up having to downclimb roughly 200 feet. Thankfully everything up to that point was low 5th class to 5.5 but definitely got the heart rate going a bit.
Glad you’re safe man. Me and a buddy topped out dark shadows full in rr last year and got monsooned on outta nowhere. We were in the unroped 5th class and it got really serious really fast. Unexpected bad conditions are not fun even when you’re climbing well within your pay grade
I love Niall. If anyone hasn't listened to his podcast, you have to! He's so funny and original but also makes you feel like you are getting to him in intimately. Talanted story teller.
I was at Stanage many years ago, and led the precarious Easter Rib. Then watched a climber soloing several routes around HVS level. That was clearly his limit, as he wobbled on them quite a bit and had us very worried. I went on to the easier Via Media. The soloist moved to Easter Rib. I'll never forget the sound as he hit the deck. No mats in those days, and it's a rocky landing. There were plenty of people to assist, thankfully, and Mountain Rescue evacuated the injured climber. Serious injuries, but hopefully he was eventually OK. I've done lots of soloing, but always with a very cautious attitude.
As a non-climber, it's fascinating to hear climbers speaking so frankly about their fears and close calls. There are not too many sports where people are quite this open or humble.
Thought that last story was going in the direction of the guy throwing him a rope and saving him or something. Nope, just concerned about him splatting ruining the mood 😂
Niall has some mega stories on his podcast though! He talks about how one time he got stuck while soloing and someone had to rescue him by soloing up next to him and reaching an arm out so he could swing off him onto another ledge!
If anyone wants to hear an extended version of Niall's story about Fairy Steps & Olympian Kelly Holmes as well as just the funniest episode of any podcast in existence I'd recommend listening to episode 062 of his Jam Crack Podcast "Moon, Megos, Yuji, Lucille and Me" Absolute craic and puts Tommy Caldwell's Kyrgyzstan story to shame.
STORY TIME: I’ve never planned to solo, but one day I was kinda forced into it… 😮. It’s 20th September 1997, I’m for the first time in the UK and I’m with Quentin Fisher who I just met the day before (!), we’re going climbing with Ben Moon, the godfather of Quentin’s son, at Curbar in the Peak District. It was my second day in the UK and I had never ever climbed on grit before so I just paid attention and followed along. For warmup they said they usually climb up some easy stuff, and up they went. I didn’t wanted to look like a gumby so I put on my shoes and went after them… having NO IDEA how hard it was… i did my very first moves on grit without a rope and then I found myself up halfway, freaking out! Couldn’t climb down anymore, and I was way too high for a somebody used to European limestone crags with lots of bolts. I seriously wanted to scream for a rope, but was ashamed to do so in the presence of Ben Moon… so I stood there for 5 minutes and then just continued up. On the top my hands were completely soaked, my heart was pounding and I swore to myself to never ever free solo again. The rest of the afternoon I just toproped what they lead, climbing “Cool Moon” and “Moon Crack”. I have no idea what the free solo route was… maybe somebody here knows a popular “warm-up” in that area?
Good listening, cheers. As an inexperienced climber I soled a few winter climbs a few years back and had to do some proper self reckoning afterwards. One of them I told myself I was just going to see how the axes felt in the ice then before I knew it I was away and in a position where I thought, 'wtf am I doing here, i've lost my mind'. As if I hadn't learnt my lesson I did another that winter on a long exposed ridge. After a 100m or so of climbing I stopped for a while to get my breathing under control and my heart rate was up at about 150bpm. I was fairly fit at the time so it was purely from adrenaline. After a minute or so I got my heart rate back down and carried on to finish nice and calm. I kind of loved the second experience but also recognised that I'm not cut from the same jar of mustard as some other climbers. There's something about that feeling of getting in a pickle and thinking, 'well if i get this wrong now I've really fucked it and no one is gonna sort this out except me'. It's a pyscological experience I am glad to have had but doubt I'll be back at it.
Great video Pete! Different and interesting. I'm permanently scarred from attempting to boulder some rock in Shropshire only about 10m high. I'd only be climbing maybe 6 months and it didn't look too hard but I didn't have a mat. I was only bouldering V3-4 anyway but two moves up I realised the next move was too scary to commit and I froze, with my left foot heel hooking this dodgy sloper and I didn't have good hands. I slipped off in slow motion - couldn't save myself whatsoever - and fell only 3 metres tops. I'm so lucky because there was jagged rocks underneath and I managed to land in-between them and got away with a mildly sprained ankle. Not quite as epic and anything mentioned here but I can relate!
I went through a phase of free soloing in the early 80's. I accumulated a few scary episodes that created a realization - if I kept on with this, I'd die in a free solo fall some time in the future. That was long time ago, evidently. I had quit. Since then, I've formulated a simple logic - a free solo climber faces too outcomes 1) quit free soloing, and live to die some other way. 2) free solo until dying in a free solo fall (if something else doesn't kill them first)
Ever had encounters with nature when soloing that forced a decision? I was soloing some like 5.3 and came across a giant spider web completely blocking the line with a big ass spider on it. Could have traversed to another climb or maybe attempt to dodge it but ended up just downclimbing because it felt off to make such a decision on the spot especially since I have very limited soloing experience.
On multiple occasions I have encountered North American porcupines while soloing trees. Sometimes they are chilling up high in the tree and are visible early, other times I peak into their homes on accident and end up being within feet of them.
I used to solo quiet alot through the 1970s...soloed most routes on idwal slabs..and a fair few more around the county ...never really came to that stage of....if i let go il die....never enter my head...my brother climbed alot harder than me.... watching him solo cenotaph corner.... I remember being in awe...and not scared for him....he was just so in control......ied still do a bit now even in my sixties....its an odd one but knowing how far to push your limits,mind.... conditions etc..hey im still here so is he.....
The prophet, Mr Grimes. The real crack. Like an old cheese left in the sun his witty flavour only improves with age, his heart is 100% choss and he doesn’t give a sh*t about your Lettuce training plan or beastmaker fetish. Learn when he really came closest to death by checking out his podcast.. 5 stars!
Thanks for posting this, Pete. Reminds of.of a conversation between Brad Gobright and Cedar Wright about Brad’s free solo of Haristyles and Attitudes (5.12b/c). Starts around 12 minutes in. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eoRMp0wvEXM.html
I was on the crux of Valkyrie at the Roaches twenty something years ago and someone fell off and broke his leg on the wall next to me. His screams really shook me, but I finished the root.
😅 Interesting that you don't seem to see any hypocrisy in the two statements you made. Bolting IS a climbing ethic. If an area is bolted you loose an aspect of the climbing. Risk has always been a part of climbing. Some people want to remove it from the sport and focus solely on difficulty. Others embrace it and recognise that personal growth can be made by developing a (healthy) relationship between our fear/confidence and risk/consequences. We're all adults, we can make our own decisions and take responsibility. As Pete says: if it's not your bag- climb somewhere else.
@@areteclimbing 👍Sounds great. I'd advise against blindly following the opinions of top athletes who are fixated on being the best at any cost, often to the point of obsession with their goals, especially since they frequently engage in risky behaviors and openly discuss them.
No judgement, I've climbed out above someone who got stuck in the alps, made an anchor and thrown down a screwgate on a rope and lowered them off to easier ground. Amusingly in short distance of the viewing platform of the Aiguille du Midi... cue lots Japanese tourists with big cameras photographing the sequence.... Never felt more like a hero... Just saying it can work.
Even longer version of the story.. back in 2001, the guy was a then regular mixed ice climbing partner of Dave Macleod... he was about the only person crazy enough to second Dave on the sketchy stuff he was doing then. He was MUCH better than me mixed, similar rock standard, but he got BORED on the pretty damned easy Cosmiques Arete. It was my first mixed route, and I was partnered with someone else and had already finished. He was the second roped pair in our fairly big group. So bored that he just had to climb massively off-route and try and onsight a cool crack that wasn't in the guide book, looked great, but had no grade we knew of. He got into difficulty so I climbed out, on belay, along the top of the arete above him and made an anchor and got a rope to him. He made me promise to never tell Dave... (oops!) ... no names.
Personally don't agree with the dogma against bolting on the grit. Pete used the word "ethics" but I don't see anything unethical about it. (It's certainly not damaging to the rock.) I think it's just an example of gatekeeping by traditionalists trying to keep the rock less accessible to others.
I don't think saying that respecting how it used to be done is a good argument at all. Or saying go to another area where you can use bolts if you want to use bolts. That's like saying, oh women are not allowed to vote here, why not? that's just how it's always been. If you want you can go to a place where they are allowed to vote. If someone did bolt it, then people can always still climb it while using skyhooks or whatever and not use the bolts. But having said that, if you want to climb it safely you can already do it just by top roping. So really there isn't any good reason to bolt it, or not to bolt it.
It will be so ridiculous to die on one of those small climbs. I mean, this is presented as if it was a huge climb, like a Fitz Roy free solo ascent, when in fact it is a 12 meters rock face, enough to get killed? Yes. But absolutely not worth it.
I think you could take a small fall on these. Also gives the option to bail and lower off if necessary. Can put some weight through them which means you can be lowered to the ground within a fall (like I explain in the video) 😀
its a runout trad lead, not sure what the gear is like but its entirely possible to deck even when being belayed, rope was likely more for setting up the top rope than for him
Im more of a v3-v4 kinda free soloer :P No effort, no one will follow me, and risk of falling is still there. You still get into your zen and it is therapeutic... its the perfect balance.
There was a long tradition of using no bolts in other parts of the world too. Then people realized that just because climbers who have come before you have done things in a certain way, doesn't mean that you'll have to do the same way.
It’s it’s own thing, like transcending your body, safety is bullshit, everyone can take their own risk, pads, top rope whatever. But when your on the edge with a ground fall below its complete focus, it’s nirvana, go to Spain if you want to clip bolts you mong
Repeated elsewhere, but the peculiarly provincial ethic of Gritstone holds a very problematic and contradictory element. Once hard, basically unprotectable routes are rehearsed on toprope, even to the placement of mostly useless hooks, before a final "lead," the actual lead itself becomes moot, an exercise for bragging rights - at the risk of career-ending falls, along with damage or breakage of holds in the process. This is indefensible, outside of ego boosting, and other areas in other countries have no issues with toproping, and focusing on onsight ascents, where honest failures are not derided. Paradoxically, the environmental impact of pads and grooming and brushing and gardening in many places are worse than using a simple toprope would involve. Apart from his legendary ground-up development of the Thimble, John Gill had no issues with toproping many of his hard Horsetooth Reservoir classics, and this has not diminished his fame or reputation. The sheer numbers of climbers swarming the crags today warrants some reflection on what old ethics were about, and where style is not actually about protecting or preserving the finite resource.
I'm usually one of the last ones to go around poking holes or even mention it but this seems a bit excessive to me. I have a, perhaps loose, understanding of climbing ethics and likely zero understanding of ethics at this area but why is it so sacrilegious that this route have any hardware?
It’s a different thing, sport climbings is as adventurous as having a luke warm bath with arm bands on, bold trad is like popping a big tab of acid and then trying sail a pedalo across the Atlantic in hurricane season. It’s like that but completely different and probably better. Death is guaranteed there’s no point hiding from it, choose life and a no bolting ethic
it seems to be less about history and ethics, and more about ego. Does climbing something without decent pro make you hard man, or a moron? No thanks from me
I definitely do not agree with the no bolting convention, and actively disrespect calling it an ethic (I do commend the video for also using the word "tradition" which is more accurate.) Climbing has evolved many times from no gear to terrible gear to better gear. At no point were routes set without some new gear or technique. An attitude of "my preferred style is the only correct one and those before or after are wrong and should just go somewhere else" might be convention but I'd keep it far away from the word ethic. That said, enjoyed the video and great climbing.
Ethic is the word used in the UK to summarise the practical and traditional reasons for agreed practices, and until we find a better word it will stick. Aside from the ‘tradition’ Pete also mentions enjoyment of the routes, and this should perhaps be emphasised more. If you climb in the Peak you understand this, a very important point. There are a huge volume of short routes across the region and keeping them trad protected adds interest, challenge and adventure to what would otherwise be very short sport routes - when did you last do a memorable 12m F5a? However the experience of a S 4a as a low to mid grade climber is vastly more complete. In the UK we have millennia of taming most of our wilderness into sterile farmland so maintaining all the wildness and adventure is especially important. Not the case in Spain, Italy, France, US etc. As prev mentioned for beginners a top rope allows any route to be enjoyed. I’ve climbed in other ‘traditional’ areas - the Elbsandstein for example. And from the outside the ‘ethic’ seems mad, but when you climb there with locals it makes sense why it hasn’t been changed. If you have climbed trad on the grit and still think it should be bolted I’d be interested to hear why? If not I’d encourage you to try it, an esoteric but great area with tons of fantastic crags. From a UK based gym sport climber totally converted to the ‘trad’ ethic!
A while ago Adam Ondra put out a video defending ground up bolting in a region in Czech for the same reason you give here, Pete: respecting tradition. Much like in Adam's situation, I think it's utter BS. You could use the same rationale to justify not having seat belts in cars and burning coal in fireplaces in our houses. Further, the notion of "preserving the area" holds no water. A bolt is one of the least destructive things you can do (literally just a tiny hole in the rock). A skyhook, in contrast, will often rip off sections of rock if fallen on. Either way, 100% support for you but 100% disagree with the notion that we shouldn't change with the times and prioritize easy-to-accomplish-safety over tradition.
OTOH, Magnus was recently advocating bolting long runouts, so more people could enjoy routes hitherto unavailable to them. It seems there's definitely a debate to be had. Excellent video anyway, whatever the opinion
I don't think everything needs to be climbed, if you can't climb it, don't, if you can, go ahead. Don't see why we should change the landscape to fit around us
@whelmking6497 Your rationale against respecting tradition is utter BS. Adding seatbelts and not burning coals indoors are examples of people learning from unknown dangers, unlike bold climbing. People approaching bold climbing are going into it fully knowing the risks and accepting the consequences of every outcome. As for preserving the area, bolting could be quite devastating for the rock itself. Yes, 1 bolt is a tiny hole in the rock, but is it going to stop at 1? The bolt will eventually become unsafe and will need to be replaced, adding more and more holes in the rock over time. At this point, chipping holds might make a return because people like you feel the need to “childproof” the outdoors and make every hold that might give you a pulley injury safer.
I like what you arr doing but when you have to belay sandstone with skyhooks thats where fun stops, i dint agree with british ethics here anymore, only very few people not able will ingure or die, so whats the point, its just again some hate for straners yhat invade your area, this at least what i feel when it comes to the extremes, in summary i promote like the elbsandstein not to use too much gear to protect therock but at the endall excuses to keep unwanted tourists frim playground😂😂😂
