25 March 2012

Paul Robinson Interview

Paul Robinson is one of the most tallented boulderers who has repeated many of the hardest ones as well as establishing new cutting edge ones. His latest project was Welcome to the Hood which was not a normal 8C FA but instead a movie where we follow him bouldering in Font and Swizz together with Woods, Gullsten and Jörg.

How did you start doing climbing movies and how long time have you been working with Welcome to the the Hood? 
      I started filming a long time ago when iI was really young. I gave itup though for a couple of years but after finishing university, I felt like there was something missing in my life. Climbing all the time was awesome but I felt liked I needed to add something artistic to my life since I was not in school painting all the time anymore. I picked up a camera again and got really psyched doing a lot of photography and videography. After making the schengen files last year, I wanted to make another and this winter was my chance with Welcome to the hood.  We filmed the movie in November and December and then the editing began. Alex and I were not finished editing the film until a few weeks ago! I am really psyched to be done the project and looking forward for the next one!


Tell us something about your next film - Chasing Winter?
      The filming for the next film is going to begin in South Africa this Summer! We have a really great cast coming down with us and I think that this summer is going to be a huge one in the development of areas outside of Rocklands in South Africa! The goal is to get some amazing footage, get much more into the lives of the climbers and the cultures that they climb in. South Africa has a really rich culture and the goal is to really pull this out in the film, to show people what it is really like to live there and climb there for a season!



How do you see the boulder scene in 10 years?
        I see it growing a lot. I think that bouldering has been growing like crazy of the past few years and will continue to grow just like it is now. It is really cool to see it growing at the pace that it is but we also have to make sure to teach those getting into climbing the ethics that are necessary to keep our climbing areas clean and open for future generations. 
        
Any plans for also do some climbing with a rope? 
        For now i think that i am going to just stick with bouldering.  I have found my niche in bouldering and really am psyched to continue pushing my limits with in the sport!

When and How did you first realize that you were talented?
        When I first moved to Colorado, I began training with some stronger people and my climbing ability went up a lot! I think that moving out there was a huge step for me.  I began to do much harder boulders and quickly at that. It was a really good feeling and gave me a lot of confidence to continue pushing myself really hard.

How have you been training and how has that changed over the years  
and what is your plan to get even stronger?
        I just started training the other day actually! It has been 2 years since I have really climbed inside.  I really want to be in the best shape of my life for my trip to africa this summer so I plan to train really hard for the next 2 months! I am looking forward to training! I have gained a lot of finger strength and technique over the past few years of climbing outside and now I hope to add some more power with climbing inside to get to the next level in my ability!

What are your thoughts about grading, personal grading, slash  
grades and inflated grades? 
        Well I try to give my best estimate on a grade when I repeat a boulder or put up a first ascent. Sometimes it is tough when you are out trying something by yourself and stuck trying one beta. Sometimes you do something and it is a lot harder than the actual beta that someone will figure out in the future.  But alas, you just have to give your honest opinion and see what the future holds for the boulder/route. Slash grades are fine. Sometimes a boulder is not a full  
grade and needs to be in between two. Inflated grades are pretty common these days and I think that it is really sad to see when people
inflate grades to gain popularity, etc.

Bouldering ethics; onsight? touching holds prior to a flash? Dabbing? Double pad starts etc. 
        Onisght- walk up to a climb no beta, and just send it. I think that touching a hold before flashing is fine.  Bringing a ladder out to a boulder is a little bit of a stretch but if you can reach it from the ground or a pad stack I see no harm in touching the holds before giving a flash try. But once you pull off of the ground that is your flash go. No trying stand starts and then claiming a flash of the low start.  Dabbing is whenever you touch anything that is not the rock  
while climbing.  Dabbing can be a heart break (me on tsotw before i  
did it) but you have to do it clean so that afterwards you are 100  
percent proud of your ascent and have no thoughts about it. I guess  
with starts it all depends on the boulder and how the first  
ascentionist did it. I try to make sure that when I do a repetition I  
try my best to start the same way that the first ascentionist did.


What are your experience from injuries and do you think it is a  
risk pushing to hard being a child?
 
        After breaking my ankle in switzerland in 2008, I definitely took a  
big step back and realized how important climbing is in my life.    
Since then I feel i have been much more consciences of the way I climb  
and the boulders that I will try because an injury like that was truly  
detrimental and I do not want to have something like that happen  
again!  I think that it is a tough place to be in as a child who is  
training and trying to become the best.  When I was a kid there was  
far less competition and it was more about fun.  When I was young I  
climbed for fun and made it more of a hobby than a job.  Think kids  
need to realize that climbing is fun and that getting better should be  
an enjoyable process not a painful one that puts you into tears.

When will we see the first 9A? 
        Good question!  I think that we could possibly see it in the next 5  
years!  The idea is definitely perceivable these days it is just going  
to take someone actually finding something of this difficulty and  
putting in the time necessary to send it!  I can think of one climb  
that may be around this hard!


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