I know, I know, I've been a horrible person. Sorry J & S, but if you were cooler people, I'd have come to Bishop. So really it's your fault. Or maybe I'm partly to blame - I've been working my ass off on a phil project, learning stuff. I have so many photos from Turkey that I've been overwhelmed. The next post must be about my trip, I've been thinking, but that involves so much photo editing that nothing has come of it. So I bypass.
Anyway, here is Amna Jaan on Breakfast of Campions (5.8+) at J-Tree, my area of choice the last few weeks (yes, those are hand jammies you see). I've been working Dihedron, a 14a dihedral that Randy Leavitt put up in the 90s. I've got a rubber glove for my left hand, it helps with the palming. And damn, palming is all that left hand does for 50 feet. Photos to come, I swear.
Honestly though, the blogging is back.
13 comments:
Please, lets have more "thought" on the use of rubber gloves. And I'm not talking about some bullshit response, let's have a discussion. Some out there will say that if you send the route with a rubber glove on, your style is shit. Obviously, this assumes that style is important. What say ye?
Rubbers are for losers or getting into trouble in Tijuana. There were no rubbers in Bishop.
"This is a whole new level of faggotry that im not used to" -Alan while working dihedron
As I began to read this post I was thinking to myself, "how does Alan let Amna wear handjammies, I couldn't live with myself." A little further into the post my stomach turned when I read the climbing partner I once respected so much was using a rubber glove himself.
I didn't want to be the bitch who called out the rubber gloves, but... duuuuuude, c'mon. And I don't want to hear any bullshit equating gloves with shoes or chalk.
Platinum Rob tried that thing for awhile. He rocked jammies too.
fuck. alright, more needs to be said on my sick-ass-tough-as-nails gloves. tomorrow...
If alan climbs dihedron it will have been the third ascent. It wasnt put up last week. Randy Leavitt put it up a while ago. it hasnt seen many repeats for a reason. with that being said,
Randy, being the first ascentionist, chose the name, the grade, and so on and so forth. These things stick. Just as If someone FA's a boulder problem: wherever they choose to start the climb will always be recognized as the proper start. EVEN if somebody else comes along and adds a harder or even more obvious start. This does not "trump" the original line in question (i.e. Stained Glass or Fall Guy in Bishop).
More relevantly, style/ethics. IF someone FA's a climb via natural pro, this is respected and it would be a disgrace to mar the rock with bolts later. And if someone FA's a climb via sport bolts, the bolts should stay. EVEN if someone comes along with bigger balls and better style and leads it on natural pro. There are rare exceptions to the ladder but that is a different discussion.....
All THIS TO SAY: The First Ascentionist's style and manner in which he choosed to climb the route freely: sets the standard for future ascents.
Randy Leavitt used one, if not two, rubber gloves when he climbed Dihedron.
Yes shannon I agree, the comparison between a rubber glove and rubber shoes and chalk is a stretch. But what about a rubber glove and a rubber knee pad????? How many people would be climbing 5.14 in rifle without one?
i agree, when I first saw the glove before i saw the route, i was very critical. all i thought was: lame. But given that this is not a "normal" route: A sustained Dihedral that is 5.14. And is led on very (especially in the beginning) sketchy pro. I figured that the "normal" code of style may be skewed, and then I considered the method of the FA, and realized it was pretty legit.
It's clear that this dude Dominic has an excellent grasp of our relationship with Alan...
I've been giving Alan shit since he was a 17 year old blue-haired punk, and if you think we're going to stop because he's going to get the oh-so-important third ascent of some route, well, you're wrong. Besides, I've seen him back off .10+ at Indian Creek...
3 further points:
1) Why does the grade of the route matter for style/ethics? You partially justify the use of rubber gloves because it's a 5.14 - would you say the same if it was 5.11? If there's someone who could climb the 5.11 without resorting to gloves (which I'm assuming there would be) wouldn't you expect that there would be someone who could climb the 5.14 without gloves at some point?
2)Kneepads... Yes, I've used them and will probably use them again at some point, and yes, they are ubiquitous at places like Rifle, but if someone climbs a route without them I still consider it better style. Just my personal opinion, I'm not condemning their use.
3) If I (or John or Justin) ever showed up to go crack climbing wearing hand jammies, Alan would be RELENTLESS, I can guarantee it.
3) agreed!
Thank you Shannon for speaking up. Folks in southern California must be brought up to speed on how to ridicule Alan. Sheesh.
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