RuMR Posted June 15, 2004 Posted June 15, 2004 article in the new mag? Pretty compelling...the guy's a quiet bad ass, in my book...i think he's legit too... Quote
Distel32 Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 yeah, it was a good read. my favorite part: "yeah its natural.....naturally drilled." Quote
thelawgoddess Posted June 19, 2004 Posted June 19, 2004 i didn't read it too closely but i liked the part about how his attitude about chipped holds changed. Quote
EWolfe Posted June 20, 2004 Posted June 20, 2004 An excellent article! It certainly influenced my views on him, as well as making a giant into a normal sized person! Be interesting to see what the second ascentionist of Akira thinks.... Quote
Greg_W Posted June 21, 2004 Posted June 21, 2004 Wow, Fred Beckey got written up in Climbing? Cool!!! Way to go NW Climbing god!! Quote
EWolfe Posted June 21, 2004 Posted June 21, 2004 Wow, Fred Beckey got written up in Climbing? Cool!!! Way to go NW Climbing god!! Wrong Fred. Quote
Greg_W Posted June 21, 2004 Posted June 21, 2004 Wow, Fred Beckey got written up in Climbing? Cool!!! Way to go NW Climbing god!! Wrong Fred. Flintstone? Tough interviewing a cartoon. Quote
EWolfe Posted June 21, 2004 Posted June 21, 2004 Speaking of which: I can't believe the Stones are still together after all these years! Fred and Wilma? Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted June 22, 2004 Posted June 22, 2004 article in the new mag? Pretty compelling...the guy's a quiet bad ass, in my book...i think he's legit too... Hell yeah, that was a great article. It's nice to read that kind of thing. It was hilarious when they talked about Rouhling's allegedly great height and mutant wingspan, and then the first thing they discover is that he's like 5'9" with a plus 1.5" ape. A very humanizing look at the guy, especially after all the slagging he's taken. Makes you wonder if all the shit about Joe Brooks is true. Quote
Dru Posted June 22, 2004 Posted June 22, 2004 7 cm = 2.5 inches more or less it did say in an old feature in On The Edge mag that his ape index was +7... +7 cm. Maybe he shrunk!!! Quote
LUCKY Posted June 22, 2004 Posted June 22, 2004 I liked the statement in the article. The route is more important than the individual that climbed it Do away with the ego and money behind routes and there will not be so many squeeze jobs or dimestore trash routes out there. quality not quantity I think obviously manufactured holds are out, but that is my opinion and I would not try to force my views, every climber that has climbed or put up routes for a long time has some things out there that they are not that proud of and I am no exception. Quote
RuMR Posted June 30, 2004 Author Posted June 30, 2004 Discuss this article in the Forum Akira, 9b: Source - www.chez.com/charentescalade/ Akira, 9b - The World's Hardest Route!? When Chris Sharma after years (well…) of work, sent "Realization", 9a+, this past summer, American media instantly said what we expected them to say; "Sharma climbs the hardest route in the world!", but even though it’s quite possible that this is the truth, they seem to have forgotten about "Akira". Many of you, especially if you’re living in the US, might never have heard of this route, or of the man who opened it back in 1995. Akira, 9b, opened by Fred Rouhling, a 31 year-old sports teacher, can be found in a cave at Le Périgord, France. The route really consists of two parts, the first being a horizontal roof and the second slightly less steep. You don’t tie (that’d be clip in) in until you’ve past the first part of the route. It has been described as "an 8b+ (.14a) to an OK rest, followed by two 8A/B (V12/13) boulder problems, without rest between them, directly followed by an 8a (.13b)", or as "an 8c+ followed by an 8c". Fred worked it for three months before he could finally link it. Since it’s never been repeated, some of you might immediately dismiss it as over graded. In fact that’s exactly what happened as soon as Fred declared the 9b grade. People left and right said he was full of shit and semi-famous climbers from all over France tried the route, looking for a spectacular second ascent, trying to make a name for themselves. After the initial debate, things went quiet. Nobody was able to send, nobody was even remotely close… Before you dismiss the 9b/5.15b grade, there are a few things to take into consideration: There are at least two moves on this route that nobody has been able to repeat. Fred has opened two 9a’s as well. The first one, "Hugh", opened in 1993, got it’s first repeat as late as in November this year (2001). Alessandro "Jolly" Lamberti confirmed the grade. The other one, "L'autre côté du ciel", opened in 1997, has yet to see a second ascent. Yuji Hirayama and Dai Koyamada tried it last year and they both confirmed the grade. Akira is completely natural, a thing that’s hardly true for his other creations. This means he hasn’t created a route suiting his own specific strengths. Fred Rouhling probably cruising Ebola 8A: Source So, how come Rouhling hasn’t received the attention he deserves? Well, there are, of course, many reasons, the main ones being: He’s French, but not from Paris or Provence, the two "climbing capitals" in France, playing a similar role to Sheffield in the UK. If you’re not part of the climbing in-crowd, you’re nothing and therefor not worth taking seriously. In fact Fred is something of a French equivalent to John Dunne, but then again, I guess he’s not that famous across the pond either… He’s a discrete guy, someone doing his own thing and not interested in being famous. When he gave Akira "9b", he didn’t do that in order to become a star, but because he genuinely believed the route to warrant that grade. In retrospect, it seems he was right… Next time, before you blow things out of proportion: check the facts. Sure, sending "Realization" was a great, even fantastic, achievement, but looks and charisma don’t change facts, remember that. Just cause Chris Sharma is a great climber, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other climbers, perhaps even greater than him… Quote
EWolfe Posted June 30, 2004 Posted June 30, 2004 It's funny, because it is similar to Action Directe in that Akira is a very specific style of climbing, honed by already-masters to a higher degree. (Also, regionally specific) Both Fred and Wolfgang created climbs suited to their style, and incredibly hard at that. Fortunately, since he isn't seeking fame, the derision seems to have little effect on Fred. Thanks for the article post, Rudy. Quote
RuMR Posted June 30, 2004 Author Posted June 30, 2004 i love his quote when asked why he hasn't been able to do another route of that difficulty...something to the effect of needing three things 1. Time and convenience to work the route 2. A particular style that suits you 3. I don't remember the third thing, but it was something about motivation/inclination Quote
Dru Posted July 1, 2004 Posted July 1, 2004 Both Fred and Wolfgang created climbs suited to their style, and incredibly hard at that. wolfgang "found" a climb suited to his style. fred was the one to "create" climbs suited to his style with those two finger drill holes an arm span apart out a blank roof. l'autre chip du ciel Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted July 1, 2004 Posted July 1, 2004 Both Fred and Wolfgang created climbs suited to their style, and incredibly hard at that. wolfgang "found" a climb suited to his style. fred was the one to "create" climbs suited to his style with those two finger drill holes an arm span apart out a blank roof. l'autre chip du ciel Yeah, but an admittedly pretty average wingspan, i.e. ~5'10", which is less than DFA's and a lot of other climbers' ape index (apologies to the RuMR'd to be short RuMR). Quote
Dru Posted July 1, 2004 Posted July 1, 2004 the fool! if only he'd made the pockets further apart it'd be 15c!!! Quote
matt_m Posted July 2, 2004 Posted July 2, 2004 article in the new mag? Pretty compelling...the guy's a quiet bad ass, in my book...i think he's legit too... the article is online now at climbing.com great read - a good article in a mag! something I haven't scene to often recently. Anyway - it did raise a lot of questions for me related to how the climbing world reports stuff. I'd read all those rumors PUBLISHED in both climbing and Rock and Ice - one in particular in R&I by the "master beta" saying Fred had a huge ape index. Climbers are a petty lot sometimes - Fred seems to be a bad ass guy that doesn't hide stuff - he's straight forward about it and if it's controversial - so be it. good article - makes the US hero worship look even more lame... Quote
cracked Posted July 2, 2004 Posted July 2, 2004 Climbers are a petty lot sometimes Ya, no shit. Quote
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