Wednesday 12 March 2008

Training climbs for Ben Nevis – 8c solo

Free-soloing Darwin Dixit 8c, Margalef

I just got back from two weeks in Spain climbing at Margalef. Sorry I wasn’t able to blog from there this time. I got some interesting climbs done.

I like to keep my level as high as possible in lots of climbing disciplines, and this means doing each of them as often as I can manage. But one I only do very rarely is free-soloing. In fact, I’ve only soloed two routes in the past nine years. I explained why here.

Right now I am preparing for a very special project I am trying on Ben Nevis and I already completed one or two of my training climbs which I saw as benchmarks for a prerequisite physical level. But it’s obviously just as important to spend time doing some psychological skills training for a climb where the seriousness of a fall could not be higher. For this climb I need to be able to climb 8c+/9a in an unprotected position. So I must have great confidence in my ability to make good decisions in a situation close to my physical limit but under a lot of psychological pressure.

So I decided to try to make a small increase in my free soloing top level; from 8b to 8c. 8c solo seemed like the right level to test and develop my control. The necessary ingredients were a climb at a high enough level that the moves would be totally committing, and one where the random objective danger of loose rock would not enter the risk equation.

Last spring I did the third ascent of an 8c in Margalef called Darwin Dixit. I remember having one of those amazing days when you just seem to climb a grade harder than normal and everything feels easy. I remember locking off on the crux mono and chalking up on a move that was previously a slap and thinking to myself in the moment – ‘I would be ok soloing here’. That feeling planted a seed that rumbled in my mind throughout 2007 and grew into something significant when I was searching for good training climbs for my Nevis project.

Claire enjoying hanging out in a chilly Spanish morning

Claire filming me soloing Darwin Dixit

On March 4th I soloed the route at 9am. I wrote a diary of my feelings about the preparation and ascent of the climb, which is a bit long for this blog so I’ll probably publish these elsewhere. But I can say that it was a very relaxed and positive few minutes at the crag. Claire filmed the ascent for the film we are making this year and she seemed very relaxed too. I felt utterly focused, and in the classic performance paradox of extreme effort but feeling effortless at the same time. I also felt the large margin of reserve I was looking for.

I guess it’s cool that it might be the first 8c free solo (i.e. not highball bouldering and climbed without any mats or spotters). I just did a bit of googling on soloing and came up with two articles criticising the glamorisation of some other free-solo ascents in the media. What I have to say about this is as follows:

I feel that everyone should be encouraged to find and extend their limits. I agreed and was inspired by Alex Huber when he talked about finding his limits in soloing after his free solo of Kommunist 8b+ a couple of years ago. But anyone should think carefully about why they do something as potentially dangerous as soloing a hard rock climb. Your motivation should always be to extend your own limits in this arena, never to compare against anyone else’s. And you should use your mind to extend this limit by knowing yourself and your ability before you leave the ground, never by letting your ego get you into a situation where you must fight for your life! Free soloing must be done perfectly or not at all – you owe this to the people who care about you. But this area of great understanding of one’s own mind and body forms the attraction of soloing. And if you know you have that understanding, then soloing can be rewarding on a deep level. If you ever find yourself at the foot of a solo climb, wondering if you do have that understanding, you almost certainly don’t. Solo climbing is about really knowing, and when you have this feeling it will stand out in your mind so much that you will not have to wonder whether it’s real or not.

Can soloing be safe? Yes. Is it always safe? No! Even for the few who can be in complete control of their body and mind on a solo, they cannot be in control of the rock or the weather. That said, soloists awareness and anticipation of these is exceptional because of their experience and huge dedication to their chosen task. Is soloing worth the risk? Sometimes. As I’ve said before, the risks of doing things in life have to weighed up against the risks of not doing things. Balance of risk and reward is for everyone to think hard upon and then take the right path for them.

Claire’s pictures of the solo of Darwin Dixit and her thoughts on filming the route are on her blog.

Redpointing Double Iluna 8b+, Margalef

PS: After the solo was completed I had a great few days on the cliffs of Margalef and felt reasonably fit with some 8a onsights, my first 8a+ onsight (and almost an 8b arrgh!) and I could consistently climb 8b+ and 8c in a day. So I have made some progress in my training although my body is still a little heavy. Some pics of these below and more on Claire’s blog. Dave Redpath blogged about the trip here.

Los Ultimo Vampiros Hippies 8c, Margalef

Los Ultimo Vampiros Hippies 8c, Margalef

The crux move of a long 8b at Margalef. Is that pocket reachable?

Of course! But unfortunately not on my onsight attempt!

The Margalef crag crocodile munches Michael Tweedley

16 comments:

  1. impressive dave, well done
    NM

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  2. Increddibly impressive achivement and nice blogging-skills aswell :D

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  3. Wow .. this Ben Nevis project must be something else if this blog is anything to go by.

    Your so relaxed about your whole Spanish trip that it really does come across as _just_ a training exercise .. from your descriptions it's obvious that your focus is so on this Ben Nevis route.

    Can't wait to hear more about it - Good luck :-)

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  4. Kudos for the confidence and dedication. Two thumbs up for this achievement!

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  5. Good work Dave once again! Was just wondering how high is the climb? from the picture it seems that the crux? is quite low down but i haven't been there myself.

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  6. Thanks.

    Anonymous - the route isn't that long really, maybe about 50 feet, but unfortunately the climb overhangs a road so a fall from the technical or redpoint crux means the worst consequences. At least the route finishes at the top of the crag, so you can top out like a normal trad climb.

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  7. Amazing achievement Dave! Your climbing is extremely inspiring and I appreciate the training/injury treatment tips on your site very much. Well done.

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  8. I' m very much impressed with the way that you manage to describe your " inner truth".
    I'm therefore very interested in reading your diary containing your thoughts and feelings before this incredible ascent. Will you publish it soon? Where ?

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  9. F Sake Dave 8c solo?! Truly awesome.

    I'm increasingly interested in the whole area of 'mental training', partly because when you're genetic potential is so paultry like me (I train a lot physically, honest!) it's your brain that usually demarcates between success and failure. What I'm intrigued by is the idea that by doing increasingly hard / serious leads / solos etc, one can actually build mental capacity. For me, I sometimes wonder if every time I do something a little bit more committed than previously, I'm actually using up a finite mental resource, rathern than building new skills / strengths. Howevr I guess I prob train exponentially less than yourself as a full time climber, therefore a lot of my progression actually happens on route, kinda by default, rather than in any structured, deliberate way.

    Thoughts?

    Sorry dude I just necked a half bottle of vino after becoming a dad again earlier today so rambling somewhat!!

    Cheers, Guy

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  10. so is there another spain/kalymnos etc trip on the horizon to try some more 9a/9a+ for some practice before your c.E12 you mention in Committed. Or is it back to the project as soon as the snow and ice dissapear??

    Good luck!

    Angus (Aberdeen)

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  11. dear Dave
    it was badly impressive and realy staggering.
    Congratulation to you and Claire
    I will translate this into my language Persian and publish on our site: www.hamtanab.com
    Hamtanab means Climbing Partner
    wish you more breathtaking climbs
    Saeed Hasheminezhad from Iran

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  12. Fuuuck dude!
    If you like to live.., i mean, you dont have to solo 8c routes ever..
    Did you been in La Pedriza, in Madrid? Slabsland!
    Check my blogsite or Wild Country/Red Chili web to watch more pics, and tell me
    Cheers, Talo

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  13. Amazing Dave, its really inspiring to see you do these climbs. Your physcological side of the blog is also really good. Keep up the hard climbing and interesting articles.

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  14. My father always told me, 'Impress the press' or go big only for the camera.. It made a lot of sense and now that Im looking at these pictures and I can see a little bit of what he meant by it.
    These pictures really entice an individual to get up out of the house and go for an adventure! Which is what 80% of the American population has to do!!!! :)

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  15. Anonymous14 May, 2009

    You're an awesome climber but not as impressive as Dan Osman who when it comes to free soloing was the best, he had balls of steel.

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  16. not 8c, nowhere near. Still impressive

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