I think the great thing is that this route got repeated so quickly.....
The Long HopeLong Hope DVDThe 40 year story of the awe inspiring Longhope Route, finally freed this year by myself to make one the hardest trad multipitch/big wall routes in the world. 400 metres of loose, soft, dirty, fulmar infested battling up to E6, followed by a 65 metre final pitch of F8b+/E10 7a. All climbed in one day, single push, no falls.That was the goal for me, but it took many trips and attempts, a lot of training and a lot of tactical preparation. Filmed over the three years I worked on the project, I think the film really shows off how amazing the climb is. You’ll not find another 500 metre overhanging bigwall sea cliff with a trad route of this standard and remoteness anywhere on the planet.The film also tells the story of Ed Drummond and Oliver Hill's original 7 day tour de force in 1970 in making the first ascent using aid, and Ed’s emotional return to St John’s Head 40 years later to revisit the most intense and scary moments of his climbing career.Also includes the film of my 4th ascent of Indian Face (E9 6c) on Cloggy. No other route has attracted such a legendary status for raw danger as Indian Face. Hopefully my ascent, the first to be filmed, clears up some myths, or maybe reinforces some too? There are also extra features of climbing The Old Man of Hoy and Mucklehouse Wall (E5 5c, 5c, 6a). PAL format only.The music is by a wonderful Orcadian band The Chair. You can buy the album here on iTunes.If you would like your DVD signed, just let me know.£20€23$32
Didn't Tim Emmett sell people the idea that he was one of Britain's best climbers by basically being able to climb 8a+ and saying 'av it' lots?
ask fiend.
Quote from: petejh on September 15, 2012, 12:31:32 am Didn't Tim Emmett sell people the idea that he was one of Britain's best climbers by basically being able to climb 8a+ and saying 'av it' lots? Give Timmy a break. He's pretty handy especially compared to other media types such as "Master of Bullshit Movement" Bear Grylls.
The implication that he would deliberately over-grade a route for financial gain is one I find difficult to believe.
In tennis a while back, there was a female player — not at the top, but close enough — that was better looking than the other contenders by a long shot. Her sponsorship contract was also the most lucrative. The subtext is that what sells rackets gets rewarded and the public regards performance second to appearance. This is bleeding into climbing with brands starting to call their sponsorees “ambassadors” rather than athletes. It takes skill and effort to be a real athlete, while anyone comfortable behind a microphone or at a tradeshow can be an ambassador...My beef is with climbers that are put on an official, publicized pedestal by the sponsoring brand (and with climbers that are striving to be put on that pedestal) — via blogs, websites, magazines, slideshows, etc — but who really haven’t done anything of note to warrant their elevated status. This latter group seems to be growing in numbers, and that trend needs to be reversed.
"I think that grading a climb is extremely difficult, because our experience is completely subjective." - Nibile
"I've never heard Caff say a route is hard, he just states that everything thing is 'piss'" - JB
”Didn't Tim Emmett sell people the idea that he was one of Britain's best climbers by basically being able to climb 8a+…” - Petejh
Also as far as I'm aware, Caff's never onsighted harder than 8a+, even on perfect rock in perfect conditions at sport crags - so how quickly he climbed the pitch on TR, given the position, conditions, sandy rock etc, suggests that it's very unlikely to be any harder than 8a+.
Going well off topic and probably better off in a different thread so as not to take away from Caff's climb but..The 'climbing ambassador' thing is well and good and makes for nice articles in patagonia clothing catalogs. That company's 'ambassadors' are often also leading edge climbers but the term 'ambassador' could often also be a euphemism for 'mediocre self-promoter'. I'd prefer black and white objective parameters like in most other sports. I want the very best, say, 5 or 6 wads at the leading edge of their genre to get nearly all the recognition, and the rest of the mid-table Aston Villa's of British climbing to go on a long holiday away from calling themselves 'professional climbers' until they're able to climb at least 8c+, or 8B, or consistently onsight E8's, or FA/repeat the most bad-ass cutting-edge super alpine routes of the day. Seriously, it's the x-factor and this guy has it right: http://scottsemple.com/archives/ His slideshow was cool to watch.Quote from: Scott Semple's blog In tennis a while back, there was a female player — not at the top, but close enough — that was better looking than the other contenders by a long shot. Her sponsorship contract was also the most lucrative. The subtext is that what sells rackets gets rewarded and the public regards performance second to appearance. This is bleeding into climbing with brands starting to call their sponsorees “ambassadors” rather than athletes. It takes skill and effort to be a real athlete, while anyone comfortable behind a microphone or at a tradeshow can be an ambassador...My beef is with climbers that are put on an official, publicized pedestal by the sponsoring brand (and with climbers that are striving to be put on that pedestal) — via blogs, websites, magazines, slideshows, etc — but who really haven’t done anything of note to warrant their elevated status. This latter group seems to be growing in numbers, and that trend needs to be reversed.I don't want mediocrity clogging up climbing media like hair in a bath-plug with their latest E8 or E7 headpoints, just because they're 'good at self-promotion'. That level of performance was reached 30 years ago, where's the progression? Recognition of top-level climbing talent, no matter how quiet, should take priority over recognition of more mediocre climbers who actively self-promote. X-factor.Forgotten what this thread was about now.
Tim Emmett saying 'av it' lots?