[JackAus]

Angie Scarth-Johnson. I've put some stuff in Sig Repeats before about her first 7B+ on her 2nd day bouldering but she's done it again.

First 7c+ last week. Skin Boat @ Red River Gorge.




And today, her first 8a. Golden Boy @ RRG.



Yeah, 9 years old...

Yell if the photos don't work.

[gmod]Edited title because more grades...see below[/gmod]

[SA Chris]

Shit, our oldest at nearly 4 is a write off already. Need to get youngest at nearly 1 1/2 on the beastmaker.

[Jaspersharpe]

Blimey. Ondra did his first 8a at 9 yrs old too.....

[Oldmanmatt]

Damn! And I was so proud of my two eldest leading 6a's indoors at 8 and 6.

We had Emily Allen training with us for several weeks over the summer, the youngest British girl to lead 8a, earlier this year.
 I have to say she was outstanding for a 14 year old.
(Says next bit very carefully...) She was, though, essentially an adult physically.
Some of our young lads were extremely shocked (and disappointed) to realise she was so young (this shock was often followed by strangely red faces and an awkward silence).

However...

I've noticed, from watching my own kids, that in many ways they can climb things that would seriously challenge an adult.

Small crimps, become jugs for little hands.
Vague intermediates, become positive.

They seem to leap up steep stuff with ease, whilst fit adults struggle (my two 4 year olds regularly chug up and down the 45 degree board and swim up the Bachar ladder, footless, giggling (they are not supposed to use it/be on the ladder and so it is their first target when we look the other way)).

Reach, seems to be the greatest limiting factor (and this is more pronounced indoors, where the wall is always blank between blobs, so the points raised above are nullified).

I'm keen to see how this carries over, through puberty.

Ondra, obviously, carried it through.

Who else?

[JackAus]

Well shit, she's a little beast. Can someone change the title to 8b at 9 years old??

Yesterday she onsighted Tuskan Rider 7c and today she's just done Swingline at 13d (31, 8b)....

[abarro81]

 

[Wood FT]

what IS the hardest route to have ever been done in socks?

[Oldmanmatt]

Sheee-it!

Most of my reservations, expressed above (I'd wondered if it was a bit of a fluke and if that route had just suited her), are negated by that level of consistency.

Mini-beast.

[Muenchener]

what IS the hardest route to have ever been done in socks?

Is Careless Torque a "route"?

iirc it had a route grade in the days before pads, and Ron generally wore socks.

[Muenchener]

what IS the hardest route to have ever been done in socks?

Steck Annapurna South Face? I'm assuming the socks.

House/Anderson on Nanga Parbat? Socks confirmed here: three pairs:



I'll get me belay jacket coat

[Wood FT]

You've got me there,  leave your coat....      but take your socks

[JackAus]

Looks like shes's the youngest person to ever climb 8b...

Her first 8a (Golden Boy) was also the first 8 for both Ashima and Brooke but they both did it at 10 years old...

Mini-wad.

[JackAus]

Here she is doing Golden Boy:

[cheque]

what IS the hardest route to have ever been done in socks?

That's exactly what I said when I was watching her working Skin Boat. The consensus at the crag was "this style must be easy to transfer to from doing routes indoors". Her mum revealed that she's hardly ever climbed at a wall as they live in the mountains in Aus (no idea where) and that her home crags are pretty different in style. Beast.

The runouts on those routes are fucking massive when you're about 4 feet tall and she seemed totally composed. No-one else in her family seems to climb so she was putting all the clips in and stripping them herself too.

As you can see from the first picture, her dad's not the smallest guy and he just winches her up the routes when she's working them!

[JackAus]

what IS the hardest route to have ever been done in socks?

That's exactly what I said when I was watching her working Skin Boat. The consensus at the crag was "this style must be easy to transfer to from doing routes indoors". Her mum revealed that she's hardly ever climbed at a wall as they live in the mountains in Aus (no idea where) and that her home crags are pretty different in style. Beast.

The runouts on those routes are fucking massive when you're about 4 feet tall and she seemed totally composed. No-one else in her family seems to climb so she was putting all the clips in and stripping them herself too.

As you can see from the first picture, her dad's not the smallest guy and he just winches her up the routes when she's working them!

They moved to the Blueys a few months ago and yeah, no on else in the family climbs at all... Rope gun..

[Kingy]

Jean Minh Trin Thieh climbed Mecca in socks in the 90's. It took him 9 days (sans kneebar of course)

[JackAus]

They've just taken a quick detour to Hueco and Angie has done her first V9: 'Kim with a bath tub in her head' @ East Mountain.

[abarro81]

Does Australia have weird school holidays or something?

[slackline]

Does this sound weird?

[JackAus]

Na not weird. Its not school hols now though.