4 March 2014

The Prerequisites for the first 9A?

Francis Sanzaro, who has published A Philosophy for Bouldering (Stone Country Press, 2013), shares his thoughts on what kind of boulders will be the first graded 9A. What do you think? "Are the hardest boulders the ones not with a specific style, but with many styles "within" a problem? I wager that those who are able to climb at the limit of their style and also work on their practice until they can climb at the limit in their non-style, will send the first 9A. It is this type of problem that will see fewer repeats than the problem which gets worked on for years by someone, since being able to have no style is more difficult than working your style to the limit.
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