Rad Posted December 8 Posted December 8 Generational talent candidates. Could be in the running for GOAT and clearly the best in the decade of their prime in their climbing discipline. Rheinhold Messner Jerzy Kukuczka Will Gadd Wolfgang Gullich (but he was so young when we lost him) Chris Sharma Adam Ondra Janja Garnbret Who is missing? Who should be cut? Discuss Quote
JasonG Posted December 8 Posted December 8 Royal Robbins Fritz Weissner Fred? Marc-André Leclerc 1 Quote
Rad Posted December 9 Author Posted December 9 I thought about listing Fred. He certainly had a huge number of FAs, but I don't think there is a case that his climbing abilities were head and shoulders over peers in any era. Bachar might make sense if you consider free soloing as its own category, in which case you should also list Honnold. If you're just talking about ability, I would say neither of those guys is high enough over peers. I thought about Leclerc. He feels to me a bit like Gullich: cut down too soon for us to really know if he could have been high enough to be considered a generational talent. I would add Robbins, a pioneer in several ways. Quote
olyclimber Posted December 9 Posted December 9 Probably comes down to how much you value quantity over quality or vice versa. Quote
Fairweather Posted December 10 Posted December 10 Klenke. Seriously. Going tough places that nobody's ever heard of, where almost nobody goes, and coming back humble. Quote
genepires Posted December 11 Posted December 11 this depends of what the values of climbing are. if the value is one of pure athleticism then your list makes sense. But if the value is of pure adventure and/or being at one with the rock/ice with confidence, then Fred (lifetime dedication), Honnold and LeClerc are high in that list. I would add that DArin Berdinka get added to my personal GOAT list though. 1 Quote
genepires Posted December 12 Posted December 12 not a single Lowe in the list? for their generation, they are da shit man. but these older generations were more of superb all-arounders which may exclude them from your list. 1 Quote
Phil K Posted December 13 Posted December 13 How about some of the real old timers? Noel Odell comes to mind; honorable mention to Conrad Kain. Quote
rat Posted Monday at 09:26 PM Posted Monday at 09:26 PM (edited) Not necessarily best-of but still damn fine all-arounders: Wojciech Kurtyka ('70's). Silvo Karo ('80's-'90's). Mick Fowler (arguably still in his prime, even w/ a colostomy bag). Edited Monday at 09:27 PM by rat 1 Quote
genepires Posted Tuesday at 02:11 PM Posted Tuesday at 02:11 PM another very inspirational list (at least for me) would be a collection of excellent climbers in three categories 1.those dealing with old age, Beckey comes to mind 2.gimpy like above mentioned Fowler 3. or just sending hard in retirement ages. mr Swenson stands tall here. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.