UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => news => Topic started by: squeek on November 11, 2003, 01:42:32 pm
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By Si O'Conner, see www.8a.nu.
Good going!
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Cool - Uk's second 8c, well done to Mr O'Connor !!
Hope there's some piccies somewhere....
It's location should keep repeat attempts to a minimum though!
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to be honest he could grade things hes done whatever he wants cos ain't no fucker going to go and try them - could be graded 7a-9c for all we are going to find out. consider how many top rockstars go all the way up to lakes to try gaskins stuff, then divide that number by about 1000 and you'll have a ballpark figure.
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Yes, that's true, but then Si O'Connor is one of those few who *has* done some of Gaskin's Lakes stuff, so I suspect that he knows his grades....
Isn't Malcolm Smith based back in Scotland again now?
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Bubba - You might want to delete my thread on this very same subject.
Must be favouritism, i posted before Squeek :(
:lol:
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Sorry Adam, I didn't see your post 'til afterwards :oops:
I'll chop it now anyway....
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Isn't Malcolm Smith based back in Scotland again now?
yeah but edinburgh is still a fuck of a long way from skye or wherever it is - it probably takes longer than getting to the peak!
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Yeah, but he's probably done everything in the Peak!
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whats he ever done at roche abbey? god damn punter!
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I suppose there is The Ace as well - or am I wrong?
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to be honest he could grade things hes done whatever he wants cos ain't no fucker going to go and try them
Eeezee now, young man. This fucker has been practically living in boulder fields in Scotland this year! :twisted:
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to be honest he could grade things hes done whatever he wants cos ain't no fucker going to go and try them
Eeezee now, young man. This fucker has been practically living in boulder fields in Scotland this year! :twisted:
fair doos! hope you get a quick repeat.
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Its' called "Extradition" by the way...
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I don't think the Ace has had a repeat yet...
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fair doos! hope you get a quick repeat.
I wasn't making any inflated claims to super-stardom there - just attempting to point out that there is a lively bouldering scene north of the border, beyond the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire :wink:
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nice one - if i'm ever up that kneck off the woods i'll check it out. acutally it must be proper bo to be somewhere with potential for almost infinite bouldering undescovered all over the place, even if a bit seasonal.
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>I don't think the Ace has had a repeat yet...
Does anyone know anything about this being repeated very recently?
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>I don't think the Ace has had a repeat yet...
Does anyone know anything about this being repeated very recently?
The only people i heard that where close were Malc and Ry Pasquil
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you'd think chris davies would be able to put it to bed ok, since didn't he recon the joker was no more than font7c? :lol: ?
me mate steve says he's trainig for the ace. since he's not planning on doing the joker first i don't know wether to take it seriously!
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I was there when Chris Davies did it - it didn't take him very long at all, it was pretty warm and he'd just had some ...errrm "herbal assistance" just beforehand :shock:
The boy is strong!
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I don`t think you will find Si has actually climbed a Fnt8b+ (so how can he claim 8c) as he in fact gives Little Women Fnt8a on his own topo...
http://climb-guide.com/boulder-guide/little_font.html
Fnt 8c ... I`m not convinced, sorry!
To me the thread of comparrison to Liitle Women (which he must have made) is just another nail in Si`s already well nailed coffin.
Cheers Greg :evil:
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Strange, I've seen that post somewhere else :wink:
He has done Aeons (8b) at Fairy Steps and Isla de Encanta (8b) at Trowbarrow - can you give something two grades more than the hardest thing you've done?
The only real way to find out is for somebody capable to go and repeat it.
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i gotta say i get where greg is coming from.
check the scorecard (http://www.8a.nu/cgi-bin/scorecard/show.cgi?view=4296&page=2), i think when the vast majority of the problems on here are his own first ascents then you've got to take grades with a pinch of salt.
we've all bin in the situation where we've had a project down the wall, been convinced it so-and-so grade, takes you months then someone else pisses it.
when someone (or a small group) is opperating in isolation grades can and will go apeshit. take the peak bouldering in the late 80s early 90s. a relativley small group operating in isolation and you get grades like The Thing at engish 8a going around!
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Strange, I've seen that post somewhere else :wink:
He has done Aeons (8b) at Fairy Steps - can you give something two grades more than the hardest thing you've done?
The only real way to find out is for somebody capable to go and repeat it.
It didnt stop Bernabé Fernández!
Aeons is a funny one too. Its V11 from left to right. V12 Right to left finishing up the crack. And V13, doing the two left to right, right to left in one push
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when someone (or a small group) is opperating in isolation grades can and will go apeshit. take the peak bouldering in the late 80s early 90s. a relativley small group operating in isolation and you get grades like The Thing at engish 8a going around!
Don't forget a lot of the Scottish boulderers have very easy access to Font, courtesy of Ryanair, so they're not exactly completely in isolation.
Also, the Peak crew snided John Dunne for years because he operated on his own, and also people like Ken Palmer's hard ascents at Anstey's were instantly dismissed because he was from the south west, so "he must have been overgrading".
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aye but dunne went everywhere in the UK and did some of the hardest routes, and in many cases added his own!
i think what greg is getting at is if you've only done a couple of hard problems which are not your own, and the grades for them are not yet consensused, and the rest of your hard problems are your own FA,s then the margin for error on grading is huge. on the flip side of the coin if you live and climb in font all your life then when you put up an 8a its got a better than average chance of staying at 8a.
but as i said before the place where si's thing is may never attract the kind of attention ofrom the key playaz that is required to get repeats, so it could be graded whatever.
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Hi gang!
Look, as I said on rock talk I`m not looking to knock people for the sake of it, but it seems that every time Si says something about a problem venue etc. He shoots himself down. Why for instance would you compare a problem of V15 to a problem you originally gave V11 (which has had its grade confirmed). Surelly a better comparison would be to that new 8b in Skye, which he said on scottishclimbs was the hardest thing he had ever done! The beef I have with Si is the inconsistancy, and contrary to what the knob heads on cocktalk would say it does matter!
BAHH!!
Greg
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Well yeah, I can't see your average 8c boulderer (if there is such a thing) wanting to combine the Cuillin Ridge with trying this new problem so maybe it'll never get the attention that it requires but I kind of like this sort of thing because it might get people off there arses to go somewhere outside the norm for a change...
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Yeah, I believe now Ken's routes are known for feeling quite harshly graded.
If your average 8c boulderer went to Skye to do Si's problem, The Cuillin ridge and this (as yet unrepeated) local classic test piece:
(http://www.bath.ac.uk/~en1ts/pics/2002/second.jpg)
and came back with some Talisker, then that would be a worthwhile trip.
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Yeah, I believe now Ken's routes are known for feeling quite harshly graded.
Precisely.....
If your average 8c boulderer went to Skye to do Si's problem, The Cuillin ridge and this (as yet unrepeated) local classic test piece:
OMG :shock:
What is that pile?
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looks like paz's finest hour - onsight new routing.
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Anyway, I don't want this ending up like the sister topic on CT, so let's just leave it until sombody proves otherwise. None of us here really have any idea how hard this problem is, so all speculation is merely that, esepecially since none of us even know the crag!
Hopefully Si will see this (he's got a logon on this board) and will let us know why he felt this problem to be worthy of 8c.
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Hopefully, he'll post a pic or two, of the problem, area as well. Is there loads of bouldering potential around there?
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No idea - somebody has started a thread on ScottishClimbs so hopefully we'll get more local knowledge on that board. I know Dave MacLeod posts there and I believe he was with Si when the problem was done.
http://www.scottishclimbs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1003
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OMG :shock:
What is that pile?
Curiously, it looks like an outcrop outside Elgol I remember taking u/grads to to look at sed. structures - is that where it is? If so, I'm very sad for remembering that :oops:
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Spot on.
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I suppose there is The Ace as well - or am I wrong?
I hear Malc did this yesterday.
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I suppose there is The Ace as well - or am I wrong?
I hear Malc did this yesterday.
He should have! He has slapped the top enough times
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That's what I heard yesterday too, well over-heard, at the good ol' boulder UK.
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so has malc done the ace or not??
anyone else near it apart from ryan pasquil, who i heard is out for some time with a fu**ed up back.
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so has malc done the ace or not??
anyone else near it apart from ryan pasquil, who i heard is out for some time with a fu**ed up back.
He is ok now! Just a minor setback...
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so has malc done the ace or not??
yes. hence my earlier post!
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Is there now a cyber-race on for who can get £5 off planetfear?......
:arrow: :arrow: :arrow:
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damn straight. well since i got the jordan report in this week i figured i was on a roll. i don't usually do that sort of thing but am in a funny mood. :lol:
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anyway at least it proper news, not like some of the "so and so become youngest heflt handed ginger bulgarian to flash F7c+" or "R SIMPSON DOES SO AND SO BOULDER PROBLEM, 15 ATTEmPTS, 37.15 MINUTES, NOT 8a+".
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damn straight. well since i got the jordan report in this week i figured i was on a roll. i don't usually do that sort of thing but am in a funny mood. :lol:
yeah for which you owe me 2.50 you cheeky fuk :wink:
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when i get the green, you'll be on the scene!
that rhymes, and you know it.
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so has malc done the ace or not??
yes. hence my earlier post!
Plus Blazing 48's, and Walk On By...
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when i get the green, you'll be on the scene!
You been throwin' down the illest rhymes :8)
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http://www.smartboysonline.co.uk/Peak-Nov-037-Blazing-48s.jpg
Well Mr Earl might be an amazing climber, and only guy who topped out on my problem at round 2 of the BBC, but by the looks of this I'm the better spotter.
Probably because everyone I climb with always looks like they're about to fall off :wink:
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don't know whats more impressive - the earl flashing powerband, or the fact its still dry!
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Is Blazing 48s that thing at Burbage West ?
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yeah, left of westworld
i'd love t do a problem there and call it Westwood.
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Quick question to you guys in the know:
Using Mr Smith as an example as he's just done Monk's life and the ace, these are V13/14, or 8b/8b+. Now when I'm boldering the things that take me a while aren't that much above what I can flash, say 2 V-grades. So, what I was wondering is, if Malc is climbing V13/14 what grade will he consistently be flashing.
The news report has walk on by, blazing 48s, will these have been compartivaly easy for him?
Or will they still have taken quite a lot of work and attempts?
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in the past malc has flashed 8a/V11 on grit. i think that fits with your thing except Monk's life but thats a 10year project so you can expect it to be harder.
as for WOB and B48s, i dare say they might not have been that hard for him (and i would wager he'd tried them before from living in sheff previously) but then again they are very technical so he'd have had to use his feet, and he's wearing scarpas, so draw your own conclusions!
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blazin 48s n walk on by are very technical? :? i think not, none of them are technical at all. i'll admit they are technical if u can't crimp like a rat, which malc obviously can. he would have done both very quickly n they would have been nothing to him. would have liked to have seen him do 48s tho. :8)
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Is B48's that thing that is described in cockfax
scratch desperatly up the faint pock marks
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If it is then fair does, have you tried pullin on them (I wouldn't really call them) holds.
Don't recon its technical, just need to crimp like a mofo, but then again what do I know
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one finger crimpin on two shite holds. this is where its at. unfortunately not for me.
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Have a peek over on Scottishclimbs.com
Check the post in the forum
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http://scottishclimbs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1008
So, the Scottish 8c doesn't exist (yet) - it's all the fault of whoever sent this news to 8a.nu :D
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http://scottishclimbs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1008
So, the Scottish 8c doesn't exist (yet) - it's all the fault of whoever sent this news to 8a.nu :D
:roll:
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Actually, reading Si's post again, I can see why 8a.nu were confused:
"Sure it was on my 8a.nu boulders as a 'project'"
And though he has done it, he's loathe to give it 8c coz he's not done any others.....
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what the feck is he doing with "projects" on 8a.nu anyway?
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Guys, looking at the post on Scottish Climbs and reading through it i think he is just unhappy at the news being 'pushed' forward before he was ready to submit it. If you look he says its 8c without the finish moves anyways, but knowing Si he wanted the last moves before making it news. Lots of us new there was something hard in the pipeline...Extradtion was an 8b bloc with potential to be climbed above & through the overhang, so he was working it into the 8a section finish {highball} and fell. But the grade still stands as he reckons and Ive known him to be a hard-grader {something which is confirmed more as time goes on & repeats are made} Think about it...do all boulders finish at the top?...do all SS problems? I think its upto the ascenscionist to decide...the media unfortunatley decided for Si it seems!! :evil: and i think its a case of yes...a projected grade has been put forward, but SI would have wanted to do the last moves before it happened :? :? shame...fookin media machine.
Sgurr
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Fair points, but as has been said elsewhere, if he didn't want it publicised, then 8a.nu was a bad place to mention it !!
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Am I reading that email wrong - because it seems to me that Si fell off the problem, but felt like he'd done 8cs worth of climbing anyway. Now as he hasn't actually claimed the problem, fair enough. But surely it's just wrong to say that font 8c has arrived in scotland.
Say I fell off the third move of superman. I couldn't claim an 8a tick now, could I?
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thats hexactly what i was thinking - i got 8 inch off a 8a dyno in font, can i claim 7c?
seems a but stupid to put a project on 8a.nu anyway, afterall, 8a.nu is for logginh things you've done. if we're starting putting things on we've not done, than i'll start putting, brad pit, careless torque, kaizen, pool of bethesda, 8ball and hubble on mine.
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Too true. At least it was all a genuine mistake, and we can all hold hands and smile about it. I hope Si tops his problem out soon.
Now, who's going to explain to the 8a boys....
:wink:
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lol Dave...a trifle sarcastic? :lol: Si dinnae ever strike me as tryna claim things by missing a last move....hes one of these 'gotta get to the top' heads. but lol...yeah i guess you could go claiming 7c by missing the last move on an 8a but it might look a wee bit daft :wink: Hell...i hope he sends the last 2 moves, if just for his own mind. Also Fred Nicole has apparently repeated it already according to this site (see link below)... and some other guy reckons its 8b+. what utter bollocks :!:
http://www.zebloc.com/ARTICLES/8ctable.html
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Also Fred Nicole has apparently repeated it already according to this site (see link below)... and some other guy reckons its 8b+. what utter bollocks :!:
Fuck me, he gets about a bit that Fred, don't he? :D
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Thought we better have Si`s actual report on here to refer to...
We asked Si O'Conor to tell us about , 8C: "Ah! Extradition. It was crazy to do and took about two years of visits. Not far for me because I live on the same island but it's not a problem you can constantly be on. If not because of technical difficulty, because of the nature of the rock...I don't know if you
have ever climbed on Gabbro? It's like climbing on razors, after one or two hours your hands bleed! It also feels harder than any 8B+ or 8B I have done. The movement is extremely hard and often footless because of the overhanging face
{70 degrees or so) which Extradition takes. When I first looked at it I didn't know if it was climbable. At first there seems to be no holds except a few sloping crimps near the base {terrible finger tip edges}. Then I managed a bottom 8B section as a bloc but still believed I could take it further. At this point Extradition was solid Font 8B. The 8B moves at the base section leads directly into a few 8B+ moves above and a micro horizontal break, almost to small for the fingertips. Here you are swinging wildly, trying to stay on (and often not!!} dynamically fighting into the 8A finishing section above. It is like 3 seperate problems on top of eachother with no rest from crux sequences. I missed the last moves on the top section, the last 2 or 3 moves, but this aside, I still believe it is harder than 8B+ without these. It's probably my own obsessive 'get to the top' mentality that makes me feel it's incomplete, but then, not everything has to finish at the top, and not all bloc problems do. I will go back when I repair my shoulder and wrist and I am positive I will latch the last moves, just for my own mind.
For now Extradition stands at Font 8C, and I think even with topping out will not be any harder or easier and will not change in grade. The effort and contortion involved in Extradition is immense, but it is all natural. I was nearly tempted to chip a tiny edge to link one section into a far away monotip but resisted!(Chipping is something I never do) The bloc of Extradition itself is 8mtrs high, and situated at 1800ft in the snowline of the Cullin mountains.
It stands amongst a heap of terrifying crevassed talus surrounded by soaring dark walls. I think bouldering will be taken into the mountains soon, it seems like a natural progression from crowded over used circuits and the potential is astounding! As for my feelings about Extradition?...3 stars for many reasons." Taken from Si O`Connor - 8a.nu
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Fook...makes me tired and pumped just reading that :shock: lol last time we saw Si was near the Coire, injured and doing an arete with his left arm. I tried it and failed, even with the use of aid, wall suckers and a pogo stick :oops:
Interesting comment at the end of that 8a.nu interview though. What do you all think, is Si doing that 'ahead of his time' thing again that DaveMacLeod mentioned, by taking pure bouldering into the mountains? away from the overcrowded cicuits?
James Sutton was with him a lot bouldering in the Coire this year along with a few other locals. Si wouldnt climb much below a Font 7a and kept blethering on about the 'blocs up high', so we went. omg! most of his project lines are like 40ft and/or overhanging crimpy desperations from hell with terrifying deckouts into 10ft deep crevasses :shock: and Si doesnt even bother with a mat most the time :lol:
Theres some truly mental boulders there lads :wink: and the lower circuits are well known locally. Guess Si is like Cubby in many respectsand likes to boulder in peace. This year it was like 'hunt the madman', seeking out chalk trails all over the Coire, sometimes catching up with him, sometimes not. Twas great fun, and good to see a skilled artist makin us look like floundering fish :lol:
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IN FACT! one of the lads commented in the Tallisker bar that Si should be handicapped in bouldering meets and made to wear greased wellies when bouldering. At least when the girls go by :lol:
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Don't think he's being "ahead of his time", it sounds like as you say, he just likes to boulder in peace and presumably, find quality unclimbed lines, which these days are mainly off the beaten track.
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Aye Bubba :wink: ...not so many road-side boulders here. Bet thats why the Peak boys wont get to repeat Extradition, being unable to sit-start it from the boot of the car :lol:
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Hey, hang on, I've walked up to Derwent Edge - 5 miles in the wind with a bouldering mat :D
Not keen to repeat it mind....
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LOL that comes under extreme kiting surely :lol: :lol:
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Yeah, it was a bit like powerkiting :)
Not as bad as the seamingly ceasless tide of ramblers asking me about my bouldering mat :evil:
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Aye Bubba :wink: ...not so many road-side boulders here. Bet thats why the Peak boys wont get to repeat Extradition, being unable to sit-start it from the boot of the car :lol:
I thoroughly refute the assertion that we Peak climbers are lazy and can drive to the bottom of the crag, at Rubicon the climber must walk a taxing 200 metres along a flat path, and at Stoney middleton one must ascend a triffid strewn bank before reaching the rocks perched atop. And some of our crags are at least TWO whole miles away from the nearest tea shop.
So you think about us the next time you're strolling up a mountain in a gale, suffering under the weight of our mats, feet supported only by flimsy nikes.
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...
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just a fuckin nice room, kicks da shit ootta that Ukclimbingdicks.com place anyhoos
:D
If u knew where Kilda was u'd be laffin ur cocks off
Looks down at ex-cock, on floor.....jesus, that's somewhere I'd like to visit - didn't the locals used to all be expert climbers for gathering birds-eggs or something? Sounds mad.
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...
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Kinn' ell good effort! It's a travesty this place is banned, it just looks, well, properly like something from Jason and the Argonauts. But really, words fail me.
(http://web.ukonline.co.uk/mountains/kilda32.jpg)
(http://www.kilda.org.uk/tours/extended/images/tourstacs9.jpg)
What the hell harm's a few climbers going to do? Hopefully it'll lead the way to a more enlightened access agreement (and the MOD won't shoot or imprison you). Have a good trip.
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hes finished his extradition according to 8a.nu
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Looks like he's taken it even further still!
http://www.planetfear.com/climbing/forum/t.html?t=2428
Apparently his dog is claiming the second ascent.