[gme]

Much as it disappoints me to say it but the indoor trained comp climbers are going to end up being much better than those who take the more traditional outdoor route.

A new breed of mutants is on the way and they will make a mockery of the hard routes outside on their infrequent trips out. The future of hard climbing in the UK is probably indoors.

[Wil]

A new breed of mutants is on the way and they will make a mockery of the hard routes outside on their infrequent trips out. The future of hard climbing in the UK is probably indoors.

I wonder how many under 30s there are climbing >8c who didn't come through the comps as a kid? There's certainly a very strong crop at the moment with Jim Pope, Kieran, Hamish MacArthur, Will Bosi and more. Not a lot of interest in hard trad (perhaps understandably given their strengths).

[Davo]

[/quote]

I wonder how many under 30s there are climbing >8c who didn't come through the comps as a kid? There's certainly a very strong crop at the moment with Jim Pope, Kieran, Hamish MacArthur, Will Bosi and more. Not a lot of interest in hard trad (perhaps understandably given their strengths).
[/quote]

I have seen a video by Jim Pope that would suggest he has a fair interest in trad. Think it is Big Falls and Big Balls?

[Wil]

I have seen a video by Jim Pope that would suggest he has a fair interest in trad. Think it is Big Falls and Big Balls?

Yes, Jim seems to be the exception. He also seems to have a very particular interest in doing hard routes on grit, not a lot of trad outside of that.

[remus]

I wonder how many under 30s there are climbing >8c who didn't come through the comps as a kid? There's certainly a very strong crop at the moment with Jim Pope, Kieran, Hamish MacArthur, Will Bosi and more. Not a lot of interest in hard trad (perhaps understandably given their strengths).

Depends a bit on what you mean by 'coming up through the comps' as I guess a lot of the younger generation will have done the odd comp here and there without it being a focus.

Had a little browse of the list and a few non-comp-ers stand out: Will Smith, Dawson brothers, Oli Grounsell, Haydn, Josh Ibbertson.

[yetix]

Think Pete D did a fair few comps

[Wil]

Oli G and Josh I were both on the British junior team. Defining it that way could be viewed as too broad I guess, because most kids showing this sort of talent will be training and their coaches encouraging them to compete. If nothing else competitions are an easy structure for parents to understand, whereas getting out at a young age is more likely to require climbing parents.

[abarro81]

Yeah, with if you start young and are good then
- You're likely to end up doing comps to at least some extent
- You're likely to end up being very good at climbing if you don't quit, and burning off most people who started later
.. so you'd expect most good climbers to have come through comps to some extent. Not that I disagree with what I think gav was saying in that going tradding, or fondling damp holds after driving for an hour to crag, or brushing up dirty boulders/routes are shit training compared to just going training like the comp climbers do!

[T_B]

Even the best climbers of my generation ‘came up through the comps’. We had comps in the early ‘90s dontcha know. I seem to remember Bransby being quite good. Also remember watching a teenage Ian Vickers pissing up E5s in Pembroke. Pretty sure he was quite good at comps too.

[Orrincoley]

Will Smith used to compete in all the youth comps for years, regularly making top 10 or even the odd podium in youth nationals I think.
Pete and Like Dawson were both on the GB Youth team for quite some time as well.

[remus]

Shows how good my knowledge of the comp scene is 

[gme]

Even the best climbers of my generation ‘came up through the comps’. We had comps in the early ‘90s dontcha know. I seem to remember Bransby being quite good. Also remember watching a teenage Ian Vickers pissing up E5s in Pembroke. Pretty sure he was quite good at comps too.

It was totally different then Tom. Most were outdoor climbers who did comps, especially the two you mention.
I was more talking of the new generation who are fundamentally comp climbers and occasionally climb outside. I can see that in 5-10 years this will be the norm and the uk won’t have much to challenge them.
A classic example would be Janja who Did 9as for something to do and I have no doubt would climb 9b if she was vaguely interested.
I don’t know him but bet Will Bosi would happily forgo all his outdoor stuff for an Olympic ticket and he’s probably our best climber.

[T_B]

I give it a few years. I don’t see it attracting enough money to be sustainable. The dynos are no longer exciting. There’s no proper measure of performance and no records to break. Kids who are driven to make a livelihood from sport will look elsewhere.

[Wil]

I don’t know him but bet Will Bosi would happily forgo all his outdoor stuff for an Olympic ticket and he’s probably our best climber.

I don't think this is true. Will would have had an opportunity to qualify in Moscow at the end of March, but at the start of Feb he was crushing 9b, then in early March he was lapping Evolution in his attempts to climb Mutation. Not the behaviour of someone who was totally focussed on that Olympic slot.

[Duma]

Speak of the devil...

Will Bosi, Superman Sit
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTzxXyjTB3/?igshid=sajnguapr4ze

[gme]

. Kids who are driven to make a livelihood from sport will look elsewhere.

Do you really think that’s what motivates them? 

[gme]

I don’t know him but bet Will Bosi would happily forgo all his outdoor stuff for an Olympic ticket and he’s probably our best climber.

I don't think this is true. Will would have had an opportunity to qualify in Moscow at the end of March, but at the start of Feb he was crushing 9b, then in early March he was lapping Evolution in his attempts to climb Mutation. Not the behaviour of someone who was totally focussed on that Olympic slot.

As I said I don’t know him but he’s always come across as someone who is more focused on the comps. He goes outside a bit between comps for a change and due to his comp training does hard stuff. Pretty much exactly what I am talking about.

[Wil]

This isn't going outside and doing a few routes in between comps though. It heading out on multiday/season projects and trashing your skin right at the point that you'd be mid training cycle if you really wanted to qualify for the Olympics.

[Bradders]

Speak of the devil...

Will Bosi, Superman Sit
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTzxXyjTB3/?igshid=sajnguapr4ze

He'll not have much left at this rate!

I can see that in 5-10 years this will be the norm and the uk won’t have much to challenge them.

I think this would be a bit of a shame if it came true (which I can see). Big part of climbing is the challenge, for me anyway.

[gme]

This isn't going outside and doing a few routes in between comps though. It heading out on multiday/season projects and trashing your skin right at the point that you'd be mid training cycle if you really wanted to qualify for the Olympics.

That isn’t true. He did his hardest route in three days and has walked away from projects before.
If mutation was a priority he would have done it by now. Most sessions on it are a few days between comp training.
As far as I understand All his outdoor stuff fits round His comp training.

[gme]

Speak of the devil...

Will Bosi, Superman Sit
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTzxXyjTB3/?igshid=sajnguapr4ze

He'll not have much left at this rate!

I can see that in 5-10 years this will be the norm and the uk won’t have much to challenge them.

I think this would be a bit of a shame if it came true (which I can see). Big part of climbing is the challenge, for me anyway.

Comp standards are only going to go up And the difficulty is infinite but in the uk our limit of rock Will mean that there isn’t anything to really challenge the future wads.
Maybe bouldering might but I can’t see it with routes.

[abarro81]

You're right that UK rock will run low on super hard routes, especially good ones, if only because it's easier for routes to be hard but possible with a long chunk of steep rock.. there'll be some hard boulder/route hybrids available, e.g. Belly of the Beast into Mutation would be pretty tough (8B into 9a+ = 9b/+???). Those operating at >9b are likely to have plenty of opportunity to travel though, same as megos and ondra. They have run out of most hard stuff on their own countries but still seem plenty psyched on rock.

[remus]

That isn’t true. He did his hardest route in three days and has walked away from projects before.
If mutation was a priority he would have done it by now. Most sessions on it are a few days between comp training.
As far as I understand All his outdoor stuff fits round His comp training.

I think this is downplaying the amount of time and effort Will has put in to mutation. It's by no means a shark/oak siege, but Im pretty sure he's had 10+ of sessions on it and has definitely done periods of specific small edge training in prep for it.

[Wood FT]

Well, it begs the question - is Mutation actually 9b then?

[Rob F]

Errr, scuse me. Thought we weren't mentioning Shark and the Oak for the rest of the month...