Quick tip for any new viewer: don't check the comments before watching! You'll find spoilers for sure... And for those of you who've watched already, thanks for viewing and I hope you liked this story! I'm really psyched for these coming months, and thanks to the patrons who have supported me I'm starting to be able to finance some upcoming film projects properly, and put my full effort into making them as good as I can :-) You all are awesome.
This was the realist climbing video I have ever watched. So much of climbing is about the struggles, the almost sends, the frustration, and this video has them all. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
RU-vid is filled with sick send videos. But so often the stories of sick almost-send videos are never told. Your story is inspiring and despite the difficulty of route also really relatable and humble. Yet another masterpiece of content from you Emil that also motivates me to get back on my projects and train harder! Keep up the awesome work!
“People conceptualize conditioning in different ways,” he said. “Some think it’s a ladder straight up. Others see plateaus, blockages, ceilings. I see it as a geometric spiraling upward, with each spin of the circle taking you a different distance upward. Some spins may even take you downward, just gathering momentum for the next upswing. Sometimes you will work your fanny off and see very little gain; other times you will amaze yourself and not really know why. Training is training, it all seems to blend together after a while. What is going on inside is just a big puzzle. But my little spiral theory kind of gives it a perspective, don’t you think?”
Emil, your growth in climbing has been one of the more inspiring parts of my journey. I’ve been with you since the first few EKB episodes, and will be with you as far as you take this. I screamed like you screamed when I watched you static the move on the big island. I felt the same joy of movement every moment of this boulder. Your journey has greatly challenged me in what I think is possible for myself as a climber, and my training and effort has grown substantially because of it. And with all the successes, I needed to see the failures, because it’s as much a part of my climbing as it is yours.But there aren’t typically role models showing us the process, all the falls, all the disappointments and setbacks. That’s the non-glamorous side of climbing that typically doesn’t make RU-vid. But you did, and it was brave. And I was taking mental notes the entire video about how your psych and perspective pushed you through failures and how I would in turn need to deal with my failures in the future. I needed to see how many sessions it took, how you dealt with the mental fatigue of falling on the same move or moving on from a problem unsent, or how you were able to appreciate progress that didn’t ultimately end with the goal. This was inspiring. It was educational. And it showed a side of both the climbing process and the climbing journey that are so rare. Thank you for every moment of the journey you’ve posted. I’ll dance around my living room and show all my friends when you send the power of now, and I’ll absolutely lose it when the island finally goes. And I’ll keep cheering no matter how many failures it takes to get there.
The end of this video is beautiful and made me tear up bro. I love seeing other people learn from anger and see the Beauty of the struggle. Raging is fun till it ain’t, no matter what grade you are working on. Congrats on your progression and your accomplishments Emil!
I like the fact that you upload videos of your fails not only your sends. Most people only show their achievements whereas reality is full of failures. In those failures is where people really grow. Sharing that process feels very open and natural. Thank you.
I think the direction you are heading mentally is awesome. The fact that you didn't get the top on that last boulder hasn't truly affected you or how any of us see you. You are an amazing person and climber. I would watch a video of you falling off of a v14 over and over, even if it was shot with a potato. We love you and we love to see you express yourself on the rock. Videos like this remind us that the best climbers are just like us, and could probably use some time off from self imposed expectations. You are totally right! Some days pr weeks or trips, it's just about getting together and touching the rock, no more or less. Just entered my first comp, will be the 22nd of next month. I aim to train hard but keep this mindset and just enjoy the experience.
For me, this is the best video you posted ever. The content, the story, your thoughts and reflection. Love it! And even though I climb "just" 7B grades, I still can find many links to what I experience on my boulder projects and during the outdoor season. Thank you for sharing :)
Hey Emil, I’m so happy about this honest masterpice. The feeling to leave a open project is something every true climber knows and it provides a lot to learn from :) hope to see you back in magic wood autumn season an cruch this one :)
you put me on to having Off the Wagon as my life-long goal boulder and I have loved your videos every one I've watched since then. you give me motivation and inspire me to do the things I'm not yet able to do mainly because I don't have a group or my own gear but my desire to climb outdoors have skyrocketed since watching you. thank you for sharing this part of your life with us and giving me something to hope for
Emil, i've been a big fan of yours since EK vlog days. It's been a real joy to watch you grow as a climber and person. Hearing you reflecting on your own shortcomings in your recent videos has been very encouraging. I struggle with crimps a lot, far more so than any of my friends (all of us have been climbing for years now) and it often feels like climbing hates me in particular. But sharing your sendless sessions, and moments of frustration/anger/sadness makes it feel like maybe climbing hates everyone a little more equally than I thought (lol), and that makes a big difference to me. Thanks.
Sometimes you are so genuine that i forget how strong and how much courage you have we are different but not at all, i love climbing and my final live purpose what means everithing to me, happiness. Wish that to everyone. Thanks.
Hey Emil, Epic video, I definitely can relate to you. I am an overachiever. I became an emergency physician at the young age of 26 and never really experience failure. Even climbing I was getting stronger very fast, achieving V10 in less than 2 years of bouldering. I was projecting 2 V11 (easy for you xD) that in the end destroyed me. Got so close a few times, but ended up having a finger injury and a small fracture from falling off the pads. I learned that failure is ok and that you should have fun when climbing first. Isn’t what brought us to those hard boulders in the firs place. And also always trying to learn something new from the process. The boulders won’t move and you’ll only get stronger with dedicated training time. Being a doctor, I experienced a lot of bad patient outcomes. I have had young patient die from something they shouldn’t; life is unfair. I try to remember how fortunate we are to have the health and the opportunity to push ourselves into climbing hard whenever I go bouldering. Thanks for your story, It is refreshing to see someone going through the process completely unfiltered, Sincerely Jon
Wow, gotta say this is one my favorite videos of yours yet! Not only some sick footage of sick moves, but some important lessons learned along the way. Keep it up man, your content just gets better and better!
10:55 i've had the same feeling and same outcome too last season. i sessioned an 8B+ last winter and made it to the last hard move from the start after like 4 sessions but was never able to send even tho the move in isolation isnt that hard, just a bit low percentage. i guess sometimes its better to let a project rest a few months and then come back with new psyche by the way those projecting videos are very inspiring. nice work. and insanely good storytelling
Haha arguably I don't know so well :P I climb with a lot of optimism, sometimes it's great sometimes it's detrimental. For me it feels like a climb is gonna go when I can do each move with ease, and on repeat. On Casavino for instance, I could do each move of the boulder with a 90-95% success rate individually, which is very very high for me. However, once I started working the full line it was a completely different game, and so my analysis of how close I was turned out wrong
What an incredibly inspiring video for any aspiring climber. Your attempts on Power of now had me at the edge of my seat, and im impressed by your ability to turn seemingly setbacks into a positive. It's easy to get caught up in the send instead of enjoying the journey for what it is
It was great to see how excited you got on those outdoor projects! Bummer you didn't send them, but I'm glad you seemed to have fun on them and didn't beat yourself up too much. I think it's important to be able to take a break from pushing your limits and just enjoy climbing whatever. Also, some great music choices that help us feel the stoke. I laughed at 'my circumcised finger' and 'the intense skin-requiring nature' of the Power of Now. All in all, this was my favorite climbing video I've seen in a long time and in my opinion, one of your best ever!
I watched a lot of climbing videos and I always felt like videos without sent at the end can’t be as good as videos with sent. You proved me wrong as it was one of the best climbing videos I have seen. Btw: Do you plan to return on these climbs in close future (I mean up to next year)? If so do you have an idea when?
Dang, thank you so much for saying so! I truly appreciate that, warms my heart. These climbs are in the forefront of my mind, and there will most certainly be follow up videos to each one of these stories! The idea is around winter time, that's when it makes the most sense. Currently figuring out ways to finance it, and already the patreon is making it into a possibility :-) I don't really spend money on anything else, so the "video-making--account" is building slowly but steadily.
wholesome ass shit right here. the value placed on sending is such a weird mental and emotional battle that climbers face and i think your take is really meaningful.
I was thinking about not watching this video today and go straigh on sleep but I'm glad I didn't... This is more than just a good climbing video, it's a fantastic reminder of a really important way of aproaching our climbing journey and life in general... Now I can reflect on that while falling asleep, thank you Emil :)
Super enjoyable little documentary you made here, beautiful footage, calm and collected commentary, good vibes despite some setbacks. Just excellent editing, really enjoyed it! Also with the @HardIsEasy cameo and Waterhouse shorts :D
Best climbing movie in a long time. So real. Trying to climb hard is rarely a smooth path and the level of belief on display to even try these problems is incredibly inspiring.
Dang Emil is really really good at almost doing boulders. Kidding of course, great video about the process. Sometimes you think you’ve done the time- that you’ve put in the blood, sweat, and tears prerequisite to doing a climb that’s hard for you. Only then do you see that the boulder still has more to teach you. Excited for the follow up with some inevitable send footy!
Great video. You climbed really well on that last solid attempt on Power of Now and in the end, that's the most you can ask for when you walk away from a project - knowing that you gave it your best when the door was open. I'm sure that door will open again :D
Just want to say thank you about this video. Very inspiring to see someone this positive shering his difficulties and how he can enjoy the proces of getting over it and learning from it :)
This video has made me more psyched for the upcoming fall/winter season than anything I've seen this year. Super infectious climbing mentality and I hope these go down for you soon!
Dude, Josh Garrels ftw. I was so surprised when I heard the intro of "The Resistance" I paused the video to see if it was my Spotify that had started playing. I never expected to hear him on a video from Sweden!
what an amazing video. enjoyed tghis more than the recent reel rock. amazing storytelling/editing with philisophical undertones, bittersweet ending putting me right in the feels but a testament to what climbing is all about. perserverance/dissapointment/progression/failing/ and ulitmately success. i love videos like this where i dont know the outcome one of my favorites elements of videomaking
Hey Emil, really liked the story telling in this video, kept my scatter brain focused through the whole thing. Great footage as well, I really got a sense of the problems and their cruxs. No where near your level, but I'm working a v9 right now and I feel the same thing when failing on it. I picked a problem that would be hard for me, and that's the consequence, and each time I fail, I feel like I learn something, even if it is just super subtle. I really hope you get to revisit these boulders and get some revenge, and a video, of course. You looked super close on all of them, just a bit of endurance and mental acceptance of the send will probably get you there.
Watching this video 'felt' so good! Not everything in life is sweetness and light. You can only try your best in the presence and adapt to the circumstances. Do what feels good, it will lead to inner contentment and a happier life. Mental lessons were definitively learnt. Thanks for this extended version and taking us along your experiences in life. Music deserves an extra point. Hope to see more Cordi in front of the camera next time, rooting in Italian was powerful ;)
Such a great video! I rarely comment on videos but II really appreciated the insights to your emotions and thoughts. I also loved the philosophical ending and I think that what you said is applicable to any task in life. I have to write a paper in the next two days and it started to really annoy me. But I think with your mindset I might find more enjoyment in that process, too. Really looking forward to what comes next on your channel!!!
man first of all, amazing video, love this docu style cideo of your climbing adventure, this tied your previous videos to a nice coherent story :) and secondly theway you described chagning in mentality to climbing was something i went through earlier this year even though ive only been climbing for less than a year now, focussing on the moves and how they feel rather than achieving or failing the boulder with each go. anyways cant wait to see more videos of your climbing adventures
This episode got me so psyched on being out and trying hard. Failing or succeding but searching for the edge of whats possible for me. Very good video! Are you considering more consistent videos like Stefanos climbing diaries? Just updates on the projects/training etc? I think i would love to follow the climbing life as it unfolds. Might be to much work though.
I am! I can hopefully get more videos out now, I've found a good workflow and many ideas for what I wanna create, which will hopefully create a good story arc of sorts. I mean I don't know, since life hasn't happened yet, but I have a fun plan in mind :-)
7 minutes into this video..I know it's so easy to get used it because it is your norm and you always know that there are so many levels even above..but it must be so cool to be this strong dude!!!!
Super great video Emil. Now that I think about it, my favorites videos from you are about not doing a climb (total eclipse, big island, and this one) 😅. Good work, hope you send this three king lines next winter !
absolutly loved this video, even more so than most send videos. Everyone can relate to this process, not everyone relates to actually sending a 8b+ boulder. :))
Recently punting off the jug to jug move to top out one of my projects I relate to this video really hard, super frustraiting and its hard to accept it hasn't gone yet when it should have, its made me feel really shit about climbing in general and specifically that project that I don't want to touch it again. But I know eventually Ill go back and send it when im In a better head space, doesnt take away from the fact it should be done already.
Oh man, that was a good video! I like seeing more of the process instead of just sends. This time you didn't get the cherry but looks like all three could go with fresh set of skin and power. Maybe part two: what a weeks climbing trip can achieve when you prepare well =)
This video was a masterpiece Emil. The reflect you had on what the word "failure" could/should means is pretty refreshing and it's probably gonna help a lot of climber here and specially myself, so thanks for that. Keep up the amazing work. Also : where are your climbing pants from? I NEED THEM. Thanks for the video, and all the other ones to come!
Haha they're by Alex Waterhouse's brand Nimbus and he sells them to fund his world cup season! I assume you meant the colorful ones? Otherwise the long ones are from Houdini!
That slo-mo at @7:32 is unreal! So much control! I'm curious, when you say 'getting back in shape', did that only consist of outdoor climbing or where you also hangboarding and/or antagonist conditioning? Also we all know the feeling of thinking 'next session'....and it never happening, but I appreciate you actually showing that in a video since it's the majority for trying things near your limit.
hey Emil, first off thanks so much for the video and your take on mental health. You´re an incredible inspiration. I was wondering, since you are one of the most muscular climbers I´ve seen in the Pro-Scene, is your power/weight ratio what you want it to be? I hope this is not offending, my english is not good enough for a more polite version of saying this. Greetings from Bavaria
Heyo! So my S/W-ratio is not ideal to be honest, but I feel like there's a lot more important factors for me to work on first. Like endurance and vertical technique are stuff I'm lacking way more in, and with those better tuned it's easier to train S/W-ratio also! I can jump really explosively, more so than I ever really need to tbh, but my fingers won't always support it so well.
