ADVENTURE MAG EDITION 1 - OE EDITION 56 67THE SEND
climbing edge was being targeted.
How far can we push, how hard
can we climb? For many years this
push was more about the aesthetics
of climbing not the hardness of
the grade. Clean climbing aspired
to eliminate points of aid, to use
natural gear instead of pins, the
goal was to free up the routes.
Instead of drilling into the rock, we
drilled down on ourselves to be
stronger, braver, smarter and also
cleaner than previous generations.Then, the 80’s happened, and the
world was about excess. Like all
evolutions, something happened in
climbing. People focused on The
Gill, the gymnastic movement on
the rock. To push the envelope, all
effort had to be focused on moves.
This style became the updated and
rebranded free climbing but chalk
and bolts became the news to get
them there.By the 1990’s rock climbing had lost
a bit of its soul, it became a sport.
climbing became more accessible
and gyms made climbers stronger
meant that climbers multiplied and
crags have born the brunt.Like the towns in Northern China
the industry of chalk has left a mark
on our crags causing conflict with
land users, Parks and the wider
community. We are on the news
now for the wrong reasons.Images Credit: Jules Truo - Adam Hedgecoe Photography
I want to put forward an alternative.
Stay with me.Maybe it’s time to raise the bar
again as the clean climbers did
in the 70’s? We can introduce a
modern standard of free climbing.
We can clean up those sport routes
and the modern climber can climb
them in a higher style and standard.
Maybe we can redefine greatness
not just by exacting hard pulls and
wicked cross overs but by exacting
hard moves, wicked cross overs and
chalk-less ascents? Or by exacting
hard moves, wicked cross overs, no
chalk ascents and by clipping fewer
bolts?Who’s got the chops to raise the
bar?Climbing has not been seeking to
build integrity it’s been seeking
sponsors. In this article I have
identified that we have been
missing the challenges right
under our noses. Just like when
Hot Henry freed Kachoong (21) at
Arapiles and breathed wow back
into our vocabulary and Mike Law
freed Janicepts in 1976 at Mount
Piddington in that same era, maybe
THE dude to redefine climbing in
Australia for the 21st will be you?
Maybe you could aim to do a chalk-
less ascent of a test piece or clip
fewer bolts on Retired Extremely
Dangerous in the Bluey’s or GrooveTrain in the Grampians (Both routes
5.14d - 35)?“No way, impossible.” I hear you say.“We’ve heard this all before.”Walls on land or in the mind are
meant to be climbed. It’s the human
condition, it’s the drive behind every
climber to keep cutting through, to
push the limits and that’s good.I don’t know much but what I
do know is that as I age the next
generation keeps coming. Young
climbers are always hungry to leave
their mark.I wonder if they will be steely
enough to pick the higher road and
tie into the next climbing era with
less bolts and no chalk and in the
process eliminate the oversights of
those of us who preceded them.This type of clean climbing presents
a tremendous challenge to raise the
bar to a whole other level. Safety is
still the priority and you don’t need
to be an Alex but temporing your
fire to achieve a stronger send well,
that would be worth texting mum
about and that will bring a whole
new generation of free climbing to
the for.The edge is never far away if you
look hard enough.