| You may not be interested in a rock climbing history | | | | worked. Pete had been a national level athlete, |
| lesson; you may simply think, "I just want to get | | | | running a mile in 4 minutes 1 second - tantalizingly just |
| better!" But the great thing about history is this: | | | | outside the magical barrier. He'd been an elite white |
| every mistake has been made before, not just once, | | | | water canoeist and a top caver. But he'd always |
| but again and again. So it makes sense to learn from | | | | been stopped from being the best by lack of natural |
| what didn't work - and what has worked for other | | | | ability. With rock climbing, he realized that the athletic |
| climbers. | | | | curve wasn't that high; training (even without natural |
| Rock climbers have always wanted to get better. In | | | | ability) could push it much higher. |
| the late 1950s/early 1960s, John Gill was light years | | | | Pete pushed hard - from E3 to E5, i.e. 5.11 to 5.12. |
| better than his contemporaries. However Gill was a | | | | Doesn't sound impressive? Well consider this: Pete |
| lonely visionary. This is not to imply any disrespect; | | | | could climb British 6b with or without protection. To |
| far from it. But his methods didn't reach a wider | | | | him, 5.12, 5.12 R and 5.12X were all pretty much the |
| audience. He felt that gymnastic prowess could | | | | same. Gulp! |
| translate into dramatically improved rock climbing | | | | After Pete came his protegee, Ron Fawcett, and, |
| performance. Back in 1967, in Ireland, a 14 year old | | | | after him, Jerry Moffatt and Ben Moon. Jerry got into |
| boy (me!) pondered the same argument. Of course, | | | | training big time and got seriously injured by over |
| I'd never heard of Gill. People thought he was mad; | | | | training/ inappropriate training (a lesson to us all.) So |
| people thought I was mad. (Perhaps we both were!) | | | | did his mate, Andy Pollitt, who did the then hardest |
| He trained on specific problems and traverses. I | | | | climb in Australia, 'Punks in the Gym', 5.14a, after |
| trained on specific problems and traverses on, of all | | | | many (20?) days. |
| places, the walls of a disused country cottage. It was | | | | Probably the next big advance was made by the |
| out of bounds but within sight of my boarding school. | | | | underrated Mark Leach, with his 46 day siege of 'Cry |
| If I'd been seen, I'd have been expelled. It added | | | | Freedom', one of the first routes of F8b+/5.14a in |
| spice! | | | | the UK. (It's now thought to be F8c/5.14b.) Leach |
| By the late 1960s/early 1970s, the rock climbing | | | | trained for his projects on them, much as Chris |
| standard had gone up to 5.11 in the US and the then | | | | Sharma seems to do today. Interestingly, towards |
| HXS (about E3) in the UK. Although climbers did a bit | | | | the end of his career, Leach came to the conclusion |
| of bouldering, they didn't really train in the modern | | | | that it might be better (and more time-effective) to |
| sense. But then came a breakthrough. In the UK, the | | | | train for projects well away from the projects - |
| charismatic John Syrett went from beginner status | | | | typically on climbing walls/cellars/boards. People began |
| to frighteningly good in about a year - climbing almost | | | | to create simulations of specific routes/cruxes and |
| exclusively at a 4 metre high wall at Leeds University | | | | found that it was motivating to go on routes |
| - primeval by modern standards. Brick edges, polished | | | | knowing that you'd cranked much harder (but similar) |
| holds, no mats, and an unforgiving landing. At the | | | | moves in training. This 'climb hard, train even harder' |
| Leeds wall, there was always the disturbing feeling | | | | approach was taken to its logical extension by the |
| that you could split your head open. It was rumored | | | | late Wulfgang Gullich on the campus board moves he |
| that people had. | | | | developed specifically for the first ascent of 'Action |
| But it worked. John did the second ascent of the | | | | Direte', the world's first F9a, 5.14d. |
| infamous 'Wall of Horrors' at Almscliffe. E3/5.11 | | | | That's a brief (as brief as it gets!) history of climbing |
| sounds pretty tame, doesn't it? Well John did it with | | | | improvement. You may not want to climb 5.14 - or |
| protection that we would now find laughable and, | | | | 5.13 - or even 5.12. But the lessons are clear to all of |
| believe you me, that wall was shrouded in reputation. | | | | us. Climbing training has pushed the limits from 5.10 to |
| It had waited 10 years for a repeat - and not for | | | | 5.15. Climbing training can be on projects or off them, |
| want of suitors. | | | | or - probably best - a combination. And, perhaps |
| John was a climbing genius - sporadic but, at his best, | | | | most importantly, it's essential not to get injured by |
| a genius. His amazing breakthrough was noted by a | | | | inappropriate training or overtraining. As Gullich said, " |
| guy called Pete Livesey, who wasn't a climbing genius | | | | Anybody can get strong. The trick is to get strong |
| but probably was a genius at nabbing anything that | | | | and not become injured! |