Bayes Wilder’s story sending LOV (9a)

Bayes Wilder made his first headlines sending an 8c+ as well as four 8A+’ at age 10. Working on the grade pyramid, he waited until he turned 13 to match his father’s [Matt] PB by sending, Life of Villains (9a).

How have you as a father tried to give him a good start of his climbing lifestyle?
My goal has always been to make sure he's enjoying himself when climbing. In addition to that, I tried to foster enjoyment through challenging and pushing yourself. Now he's pretty psyched on it so I don't have to do much to make him like it, but I do try to help him keep a good frame of reference and to realize that climbing hard is not everything.

How does a normal climbing week look like for Bayes?
During the week, he usually does 2-3 indoor training sessions and workouts with his coach. Then depending on the weather and other things scheduled, we'll do one outdoor day on the weekend and perhaps also an indoor training day. Most of the outdoor climbing he does is while on vacation from school.

What do you like most about climbing?
Bayes: I like how unique it is compared to other sports and how no two climbs are the same. There are so many sick, intricate moves out there and crazy holds. It always keeps me entertained to do climbs. Also I like the climbing community. There's so much psych and good energy out there.

”I’ve finally completed my long term goal of sending a 9a/14d by doing Life of Villains in the Hurricave! LoV is a beautifully choreographed climb. In order to have enough gas left in your tank to fight your way up the final boulder on the climb, you have to execute each and every move with precision and technique, flow through the twists and turns of your body, mold your fingers into the unique shapes of the holds, and efficiently stab your feet their exact locations. It is uncharacteristic to other climbs in the Hurricave being super steep but not climbing too much like it, having a more approachable aspect with relatively straightforward moves, and having different holds. This climb is none like any other I’ve seen, probably one of my favorites. All of the these aspects give Life of Villains a super fun, interesting complexity. A MASTERPIECE.

I met the First Ascentionist of LoV and developer of most of the Hurricave, Joe Kinder. He’s such a fun, cool guy with so much insight for sick, hard routes. He has so much psych and he gave me the motivation to keeping fighting while still having fun and having a positive outlook. Ben Hanna har just got back from Spain and on his first day back on LoV for a long time, he sent! It was so cool to watch him on it because the route meant a lot to him after having projected it for 30+ days. Also huge thanks to Tyler Thompson for beta and psych on my first day of trying Life of Villains.

Not only did I project LoV on this trip but me and my parents went roadtripping around a couple places in the Southwest area. We went to the greater LA area and then Joshua Tree. After Joshua tree, we went to Sedona to climb on the beautiful sheer faces and cracks. All in all, this Winter Break trip was super fun with climbing in all sorts of new and beautiful places. I’m so glad that my parents give me the opportunity to climb in such magical places and be with such amazing climbing community, meeting new people every day.”