kevbone Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Who is the best rock climber out there? Sharma? Graham? That 15 year old kid from Spain? Potter? Kauk? Who? I would say Tommy Caldwell has set the bar so high with his achievements in Oct of 06, which will be hard to top. PS….lets see how fast it takes for someone to say “the best climbers are the ones that have the most fun”. My vote…..Caldwell, then Sharma. Note. To my knowledge, Chris Sharma has climbed everything he has tried except one accent of a boulder in Asia. Quote
hawkeye69 Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 sharma fails too. http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=392855&msg=393155#msg393155 Dog Eat Dog is a measly 13+ put up by a scrawny ex brit on the choss of BCC....should be no big deal for a uberkinder Quote
chester Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Your mom True. She does have some great free climbing skills. In fact I don't think she has ever used protection. Quote
hawkeye69 Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 but you are right, caldwell has set the bar high. problem these days is that there are many types of climbing so you almost need to specify (walls, free walls, tard, sport). note i use tard cuz i hate that word. yeah i know it ages me but i still hate it. those bavarian brothers that send on el cap are pretty freakin amazing as well. Quote
hawkeye69 Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Your mom True. She does have some great free climbing skills. In fact I don't think she has ever used protection. look at the end result. you know she was frickin bold for that now dont ya? Quote
Bill_Simpkins Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Sharma is pretty impressive. His ascent of Dreamcatcher 14d (on youtube) is cool. Don't know if that makes him the best, but more than likely alot better than us. Quote
kevbone Posted June 7, 2007 Author Posted June 7, 2007 sharma fails too. http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=392855&msg=393155#msg393155 Dog Eat Dog is a measly 13+ put up by a scrawny ex brit on the choss of BCC....should be no big deal for a uberkinder Interesting. Quote
sprocket Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Caldwell is the total package, hard trad, big walls and 5.15 sport. For pure hard trad you have to throw in Trotter, Berthaud, Segal and Decaria plus the guy from Scotland that put up that crazy route. For sport probably nobody sends more hard routes than Graham. Bouldering maybe Grahma again, Sharma and Nicole is still near the top. Lisa Rands is as bold as they come. Quote
hawkeye69 Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Sharma is pretty impressive. His ascent of Dreamcatcher 14d (on youtube) is cool. Don't know if that makes him the best, but more than likely alot better than us. no doubt. Quote
kevbone Posted June 7, 2007 Author Posted June 7, 2007 Sharma is pretty impressive. His ascent of Dreamcatcher 14d (on youtube) is cool. Don't know if that makes him the best, but more than likely alot better than us. I always thought Lynn Hills accent of the nose was the most impressive accent ever.....until Beth and Tommy stepped up in Oct. Then Tommy stepped up even higher and led over 60 pitches in 24 hours. The nose free and the one next to it. (cant remember the name). That was the most impressive rocking ever done. Quote
kevbone Posted June 7, 2007 Author Posted June 7, 2007 Sharma is pretty impressive. His ascent of Dreamcatcher 14d (on youtube) is cool. I own the video. But it appears to be a bolted crack. At least some of it. WTF? Quote
fenderfour Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Your mom This is not spray. You are not a mod. But really, with a kid like you, I bet your mom is pretty good. Quote
Off_White Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Thanks Dru, I knew I could count on you to deliver. Quote
kevbone Posted June 7, 2007 Author Posted June 7, 2007 You are not a mod. Really....I had no idea.....I keep spray in spray....you should too! Quote
fenderfour Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 You are not a mod. Really....I had no idea.....I keep spray in spray....you should too! Spray now follows you. Quote
kevbone Posted June 7, 2007 Author Posted June 7, 2007 You are not a mod. Really....I had no idea.....I keep spray in spray....you should too! Spray now follows you. So who do you think the "best climber" is? Quote
Peter_Puget Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Must be me then because I had a blast Sunday. Although everytime something touches my knees I cringe. Quote
tradclimbguy Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Sharma is pretty impressive. His ascent of Dreamcatcher 14d (on youtube) is cool. Don't know if that makes him the best, but more than likely alot better than us. I always thought Lynn Hills accent of the nose was the most impressive accent ever.....until Beth and Tommy stepped up in Oct. Then Tommy stepped up even higher and led over 60 pitches in 24 hours. The nose free and the one next to it. (cant remember the name). That was the most impressive rocking ever done. I don't think anyone can top Lynn Hills ascent of The Nose. What Tommy and Beth did is amazing as well but the route isn't what it used to be and never will be. You can continue to pile on more Free ascents of equal quality but there is something always attached to the FFA or FA. Anyway that is a different question entirely from what you posted which I think is vague at best (best being highly subjective). Who is to say Royal Robbins was not the best or that Bachar was not the most bold and best climber of his time. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to any of them though and as somebody mentioned there are so many types of climbing and special focuses it's too hard to say who is THE best. I mean take the Hubers. They sport climbed at the top of the game back when they were big into sport. They've done some of the hardest extreme alpine routes around the world, free climbed some of the biggest walls and speed climbed some of them the fastest. They've also done some of the craziest free soloing and been at the fore front for years. Then again so has Croft, Timmy O'neil and a bunch of other amazing climbers. Sharma is an amazing sport climber and could possibly be the best in his field but Dave Graham seems to tick more climbs than anyone but there are always new guys trying to tick the hardest routes or setting up new 5.Imaginaries. Tommy Caldwell is pushing the Big Wall Free climbing and has an amazing resume but again how do you choose the "best". Does climbing 60+ pitches in a day give you that, does spending 3 months hanging off the side of a Grade VII give you that? Should Trotter get it because of his high grade trad sends? Quote
billcoe Posted June 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 I've always thought that the "Best Rockclimber" talk is a bit like discussing the best sh*t I ever had..... One day it's ultra smooth, the next day it is loose and flows out easily, while the day after that there are chunks of corn, cashews and tomato seeds mixed into the consistancy of chunky peanut butter coils. Mmmmmmmmm....Peanut Butter.....mmmmmnnnn I'm serious. Very similar, it depends. So as long as we're talkin shit about great climbers, how'd we make it this far without anyone mentioning Dean Potter. Has Sharma even ever climbed the Nose in a day? Nose and 1/2 dome together? Potters's done tons of crazy assed amazing shit. Hell, I even understand he's got an ascent of an arch that hasn't been repeated by anybody in the world. Quote
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