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Climb to Paris
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9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
meters to Paris
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End of Year: Sport Climbing 2008

Kevin Avery, Assistant Editor at UKClimbing.com gives his round up of sport climbing in 2008. http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1487 During 2008 the sport-climbing genre has seen some top-notch performances from its dedicated band of elite athletes. So who was the most impressive, which was the most important ascent and who is the best? Well, quantifying the latter may be possible in a competition but in the real world of extreme rock it's an inexact science. Yeah, you've got 8a.nu who rank climbers by their ascents but what about the Sharma's, Chabot's and McClure's of this world who don't take part in such schemes? For me, much of it comes down to personal choice and opinion because we all have our own notions of what is impressive and what is inspiring. Pondering questions such as, who has climbed the most F9b's, who's climbed the most F8c's and above or who's on-sighted the hardest begins to narrow things down a little. Although skimming it down to just five mutants is still a tricky one. Who do I leave out when we live in a world full of super-heroes who eat F8c's for breakfast and red-point F9a after lunch? And does it necessarily have to be the ones who are climbing the hardest routes? Getting one hardcore ascent a year is most definitely admirable but there are many people out there who can climb one hard route after months of effort. However the true top performers, go to the crag and warm up on an F7c, then proceed to on-sight an F8a+ and F8b, try to on-sight an F8b+/F8c (and if they fail they red-point it next go) then they finish with a burn on their F9a+ project. The next day they're out again for more of the same! Golden weeks or months of crushing crimps, tearing up tufas and pulverising pockets. For me this is the motivator- the climbing machines that can keep on doing it day in day out, stay psyched and lay the routes to rest- regularly. Hard training, full dedication and BIG results. Oh and a large lump of talent. All of the climbers I have chosen are ones who have particularly impressed and inspired me over the last twelve months but many more could be added to the list. So, in no particular order, here goes! Have a good one, Mick Ryan UKClimbing.com