[jwi]

Pete Whillance E5 FA. I’d seen a photo from this in the Gable and Pillar guide but didn’t realise it was from a film.  Amazing how calm Whillance is on runouts with no helmet and a bloody Swami belt!

I’m always stunned by how in the 60s, 70s and early 80s (This is from 84 apparently) there were documentaries on normal TV with immersive 20-minute sections of uninterrupted trad climbing footage, with high quality natural sound, seemingly no reconstructed close-up shots or even music over the top. Today it’s incredibly rare to find that in specialist online climbing films, let alone on BBC2!

Mesmerising!

[cheque]

Follows a very well-worn Yosemite film groove (seems mad to release a film in 2020 and describe the distinction between the Boulder Problem and Teflon Corner pitches on Freerider without even mentioning Free Solo) but I really enjoyed it.

[Fultonius]

Literally just watched it was about to post, beat me to it!

Really nice wee video, and, personally, quite glad it didn't mention free solo. The whole video was so much more inspiring and relatable.

[jwi]

Follows a very well-worn Yosemite film groove (seems mad to release a film in 2020 and describe the distinction between the Boulder Problem and Teflon Corner pitches on Freerider without even mentioning Free Solo) but I really enjoyed it.

This was wildly inspiring!

[cheque]

I should have probably said “alluded to the fact that anyone who’s seen Free Solo (which is surely the entire audience for this film) will be familiar with the distinction”.

[Wood FT]

Really enjoyed that!

[Ged]

What an excellent film.

What's with the fixed cable draws on the Teflon corner though? I've seen those on a few spirt crags in the states, but seems pretty overkill up there, or am I missing something?

[jwi]

I was thinking that they are an american version of the chasse d'eau? The bolts are inconveniently high placed for climbers on the onsight, so they have fixed extenders? The french would just tie a bit of tat directly to the bolt and call it good, but I have a feeling that they are more attached to metal in the US.

[Ged]

That makes sense.

I was quite dismayed at the amount of fixed kit on sport routes over there, often when just no need (I. E. Not steep or difficult to strip). Some of it was the cable draws like in the vid, which are just really ugly. Some of it was old quickdraws which were just really dangerous. I fell off high up on darkness at noon in Smith Rock, and heard a loud scraping sound. Looked up after the rope came tight to see the sheath had come off and was down to core only. Terrifying. I proceeded to take all the fixed draws off, as they all had sharp worn edges, intending to throw them in the bin. Got a right earful from a local, even when I showed him my rope, and a news report of a guy who had died in Switzerland the week before from the same thing.

[jwi]

I agree. Fixed draws is a lot more dangerous than people think. That's why I like the french way with a piece of cord directly through the bolt: you clip your own draw in the sling, and there is no stupid quick link of inferior strength that has rusted shut and is impossible to replace without specialised tools. Just take a knife to the tat if you think it is bad and replace it with a new piece.

I have the feeling that we are seeing less and less of fixed draws on crags around the mediterranean. I used to always bring pliers so that I could remove fixed draws, but it doesn't seem to be worth the bother any more. Maybe I am going to different crags 🤷🏽‍♀️

The wire draws are a nightmare to grab and a real eye sore to boot.

[remus]

Got a right earful from a local, even when I showed him my rope, and a news report of a guy who had died in Switzerland the week before from the same thing.

Fucking hell, that's mental that you could be standing there with a cored rope in one hand and a load of shitty fixed draws in the other and still gotten a dressing down.

[SA Chris]

Great little film, didn't give much reason why he didn't give the boulder problem option a bit more work?

[Will Hunt]

It was a great film, but I do wish we could have seen more of Mark climbing on his free-as-can-be ascent. Would have been great to watch him on the Enduro Corner or the Freeblast.

[Ged]

Got a right earful from a local, even when I showed him my rope, and a news report of a guy who had died in Switzerland the week before from the same thing.

Fucking hell, that's mental that you could be standing there with a cored rope in one hand and a load of shitty fixed draws in the other and still gotten a dressing down.

Not to mention the article describing the recent death of someone who had their rope chopped on an old fixed draw. Apparently it wasn't my place to decide such things.

[andy popp]

I loved that film. Starting in the late 70s, it was natural I grew up on tales of Hudon and Jones in Mountain magazine. They seemed like wild, rather unknowable characters, outside the mainstream. What a delight then to find out Hudon is such a lovely man; funny, lighthearted, full of joy. He wears his heart on his sleeve and his emotions on the surface. His relationship with his young partner was very touching. Some very good climbing scenes too I thought. I was gripped watching him battle the Teflon Corner, not knowing the outcome.

[jwi]

I even got psyhed on Freerider. Started to google topos and stuff, thinking that it could be a vanity project for my 50-years birthday or something. Then I remembered it is in the US, would require an unnecessary transatlantic flight considering how much rock there is in the alps, and that it has tons of crack climbing which I am not doing anymore and which would require specific training.

Will have to find a more suitable vanity project nearer to home

[webbo]

When I went to Tahoe in 1979 I got myself a Strawberry Mountain chalk bag and swami belt just like Hudon and Jones used to wear. No idea what happened to them. I did meet Max Jones when he was on a UK visit.

[Ged]

Great little film, didn't give much reason why he didn't give the boulder problem option a bit more work?

I thought the same. 

Also interesting to see that the younger guy used a different sequence to Honnold on the boulder problem, made it all look pretty steady, did the ninja kick into the corner thing, and then STILL fell off.  Puts Honnold's solo into even more perspective...

[teestub]

Great little film, didn't give much reason why he didn't give the boulder problem option a bit more work?

I guess as he’s a proper trad daddy he may not have ever bouldered 7b+ and therefore wouldn’t have much of a shot at the boulder problem. Also seem to remember reading (when Haze did it maybe?) that it’s a lot harder if you’re short and he looks really small.

[andy popp]

Feel bad for him that at the one point on the route where there are two choices they are both super knacky boulder problems. Feel he would have crushed a 5.13 splitter.

[webbo]

I would have thought that he must think that if he’d been allowed the ethics of today I.e. rapping down to practice the moves and placing bolts. He and Max could have free climbed El Cap in the late 1970s.

[Will Hunt]

I know it's not as good as being able to say "free" but two points of aid on a rock that big - it's not bad is it?

[SamT]

Loved that.  So much more 'soul' than Free Solo.

[SA Chris]

Great little film, didn't give much reason why he didn't give the boulder problem option a bit more work?

I guess as he’s a proper trad daddy he may not have ever bouldered 7b+ and therefore wouldn’t have much of a shot at the boulder problem. Also seem to remember reading (when Haze did it maybe?) that it’s a lot harder if you’re short and he looks really small.

I wondered about the reach thing watching the other guy do it. Must be workable though, rather than trusting feet to smearing on glass.

Agree webbo, such a different time and place though.

[SamT]

What became of Max Jones (I could google).  Thought  it was strange that there was no real mention of him.