The most impressive piece of climbing you’ve witnessed?

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On my first ever Uni club trip day out we went to Froggatt on a baltic, crisp day.

What I now realise was a fair few wads were there, but I got to watch The Dawes do Downhill Racer one-handed.
 
AMorris said:
I might be the only person on this site not to know any wads, so all of my more impressive memories are of my friends trying dead hard.

One of my mates, who was trying to break into the 7A range (and used to get very nervous at height) cruising up Tempest (7A at Tan y Grisiau) third attempt. It's a bit high, with a bad landing, and quite frightening at the top so that definitely sticks out.

Ah yes, on this sort of level, my friend Emma doing The Storm at Ash Head was an amazing moment. 6C is towards the top of her grade range, especially on small holds, and with a dyno, and she hadn't looked all that close but out of absolutely nowhere she just blasted up it, full sideways cut loose and everything. One of those moments that I just wish we'd set the camera up for!
 
Jan 89, having become frustrated relying on mate to be able to use his dad's scout gear, we bought a small rack between us and headed off to Froggatt to lead climb for the first time.
As we walked along looking for routes in our library copy of Paul Nunn's select guide we watched a guy in just a tee shirt (and I'm sure he just had his kit in a plastic bag that he once returned to) soloing up and down, up and down, moving so fast and fluid and so confidently.
As were under Green Gut about to do my first lead he came up to us and asked in a highish voice if we had any chalk he could "borrow". We offered him chalk and coffee, if he was cold, but he said he'd been drinking coffee all morning, took a handful of chalk and disppeared up Brown's Eliminate.
Only found out when we saw a picture in a mag or on a poster who it was.
 
One of = Jerry in the Office early 90's when he was going strong.

(Upstairs bit at the Foundry, not just sat on a computer having a cup of tea)
 
tomtom said:
I'm gonna nominate UKB's Plattsy... for a dyno at Conies Dale (think Shark had it on film)

On one of the 7A+'s that had a big move left we were all stuck on. Up steps the big man - presses launch and flies across to grab the jug. Superb - and totally unexpected (to the rest of us at least!)

Here you go

https://youtu.be/R2u1rslQEoQ
 
I was hanging out with a mate at Area 51 at Joe's Valley punting our way up the V3s and failing on other stuff and some random bloke turned up, looking like a dirty broom, heavily suntanned, filthy, mop of messy hair and as much meat on him as a greyhound. One finger so strapped up it could barely bend. Got straight on (like to think he'd been somewhere earlier and not got on it cold) Resident Evil, did it in about 3 goes, then started trying the bottom bit of Black Lung, and managing the first few moves to hitting but not holding the big pocket, before asking us if we had any beta on the move! No idea if he did it or not.

Climbed once or twice with a guy called Paul Every in SA. Never seen such a natural climber, was doing the hardest routes in SA before he left school. He did the first South African one day ascent of The Nose, basically existing on a diet of porridge and pancake mix before an untimely death in the Alps. Just made everything look effortless.
 
I saw Mark Katz do the first ascent of the caseg sit, (2000 ish?) me and my mate had managed to do the stand and were feeling very pleased with ourselves. I clearly remember him matching on the slopiest bit of slopey hold and just reaching up into the stand. My memory is generally pretty bad but this has stuck with me!
Since then I've been lucky enough to be in the cave when Jack Pal has been on fire, I saw him do a new v14 link and I wasn't even giving him my full attention as he had looked so solid for the several hours earlier I didn't realise it was a "real" burn
 
shark said:
tomtom said:
I'm gonna nominate UKB's Plattsy... for a dyno at Conies Dale (think Shark had it on film)

On one of the 7A+'s that had a big move left we were all stuck on. Up steps the big man - presses launch and flies across to grab the jug. Superb - and totally unexpected (to the rest of us at least!)

Here you go

https://youtu.be/R2u1rslQEoQ

I mean maybe if he engaged his shoulder upon catching it...
 
At Almscliff one evening back in the day. Stood under the Virgin Boulder, when up walks Ken Wood. He puts his towel on the ground under Opus and just glides up it for the second ascent. As he pulls over the top he says” That will piss the thug off”
 
Menestrel onsighting Deliverance high foot method with the direct start. We gave him all the beta for the traverse and the dyno, but having watched me fail he said 'I think like you I am too small' and proceeded to waltz up direct. Not wanting to look like a groupie I didn't follow him over to Brad Pit, doh.
 
a13c said:
I saw Mark Katz do the first ascent of the caseg sit, (2000 ish?) me and my mate had managed to do the stand and were feeling very pleased with ourselves. I clearly remember him matching on the slopiest bit of slopey hold and just reaching up into the stand. My memory is generally pretty bad but this has stuck with me!

Have a memory long ago of seeing Katzy campussing up and down the small rungs on the campus board at the Pudsey Depot. This was before Instagram made that sort of thing very common to see. Just remember being completely awestruck that someone could do that.
 
As a teen, we would stop in Boux on the way back from a summer trip, for a few days before going to Font for the last week before school started.
Watching the Wads there, working this, that and the other was pretty cool, but nothing stands out these many years later.

But, there was a stupid incident and my mate Mike Halsey (just incase others know him), climbed The Runnel in Cairngorm, half blind, missing teeth and severely concussed; in a white out, in complete darkness.
Long story short, we’d driven up from Cornwall and arrived in the carpark at 14:30 ish. Young and dumb, we raced over to check the connies, for tomorrow and decided we had a half hour of light to race up The Runnel (it’s only a II or III iirc, with a long easy snow gully and a short mixed or ice pitch to the top). So we soled quickly up to the last but one pitch, then it started to snow, so we roped up and he went to lead up to the foot of the crux. There had been a couple ahead of us, on the last crux pitch, and in the snow, we’d assumed they’d finished and gone. They hadn’t, in the white out we got too close, they dislodged a hefty dinner plate of ice, Mike copped it in the mush at a serious rate of knots.
Anyway, by the time I got to him, made safe and did the first aid thing; it was almost dark. He was slipping in and out of consciousness and I figured trying to lower him multiple pitches wasn’t going to fly, because he wasn’t going to be able to make himself safe etc. So I lead out to the top with some half baked plan to haul him out, or tie off, making him safe, and running like a twat to get help (no mobile phones in those days).
Anyway, luck was in, the guys ahead had dropped a camera and were waiting to see if we’d picked it up. Mike responded to rope signals and he climbed most of the way, never completely lost it and we were only half hauling for the last ten feet.
We had to carry him down, mostly unconscious, and that was an epic, but a whole other story.
 
Megos onsighting 9a, Estado Critico in Siurana, it felt like the whole valley stopped to watch and clapped him as he lowered off. Suddenly realised it was the milky bar kid who was camped next to us.

Nige on Dynamics of Change. I couldn’t touch the camera as I was shaking too much but he slinked his way through the moves and a spell was broken.

Mark Rankine on White Water. Everyone was udging out the mantle, cheeks to grit, and Mark just flicked through with confidence and momentum. Later at a film night, Dawes told Mark that’s how he’d done it.
 
Watching Jim Pope flash RnP this summer is right up there for me. I'm sure Wood FT, filming, remembers my awestruck face. I'd been flailing on the bottom all day and he just casually minced it. The 'good' hold at the end of the roof is a one pad, slightly slopey crimp and as Jim inched onto it (its really reachy and requires a pull on a dire sloper) his whole body relaxed- it was like he knew he was back on casual ground for him. Sadly the vid below doesnt have the bottom but you can still hear me and WFT vocalising amazement in the background as he hangs on the holds for ages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiVI9IYP77E&ab_channel=MakingOtherPlans

Pete Dawson doing Rainshadow in greenhouse conditions also a contender. It was so utterly appalling it hadn't even occurred to me that redpointing would be possible. I glanced up to see him above the bulge and presumed he had just pulled on. It was only as he began to make noises on the last bolt or two I realised he was on the link and that he had climbed through the bulge without so much as a sound!
 


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