fynnished is harder now

[ben smith]

hey I was at fynnished and pulledoff one of the starting holds-a little two or three finger crimp leaving an unpleasant sloping pocket in its place. Its harder to pull the start now as you have to start lower and lock off for longer on that right hand jam. Sorry bout that.

[martha]

damn you ben.

what are you? getting fat or something?

[Nate]

Though I'm sure ben would never be one to admit it unless you asked, I think he deserves some amazing props for doing the second ascent of The Long Hard One yesterday, thats sick man.
Nate

[johnthegreat]

Holy flowers man whats in your water? Just kiddng thats sick man! Great job will we see you climbing with the likes of chris sharma in the futur?
John

[dquinn]

Teach me.

[mike walsh]

stupid ben, you're so freakin good!
good job man, it's pretty obvious that I'm not gonna outdo you in climbing....
so I'm gonna study more so i can beat ya at Dal!
now that you're ridiculously good start putting up new crazy routes:)

[mitchleblanc]

Though I'm sure ben would never be one to admit it unless you asked, I think he deserves some amazing props for doing the second ascent of The Long Hard One yesterday, thats sick man.
Nate

Grade?

Second ascents kick ass. They are my fave. Nice work, though I have no idea how hard it was or how hard you climb. I assume the former is high relative to the latter.

[johnthegreat]

Yeah the grade is V11 pretty sick eh?

[chameleon]

Hey Sendin' Ben....

You should jump on Chameleon out at Sorrow's End. As far as I know it hasn't been repeated (??) - it'd be a good second ascent for ya.

I know, I know it's not bouldering !! .... but it's really just 3 stacked boulder problems. The trick, I think, is sending the 3 problems one after the other....

Sean C.

[ben smith]

hey sean I've been on it a couple times now-Damn that first move is vicious (unless im doing it wrong), Id like to try it some more this fall when its less greasy. Nice first ascent though, its a sweet problem

[chameleon]

yeah, the first move is vicious! I think Ben B. and Zig figure out some tall man beta for someone your size. How did you make out with the other sections of the route?

[mike]

So this thing you speak of Sean.... does it get a V... grade or a 5....?

Assuming that you continue with your once a year outing on ice, you'd get my vote for best all around climber here in NS.

Mike

[Fred]

is it 5.13c?

i forget

[mike]

So that would make it a V8 with a few clips and the additional weight of a harness and rope. Seems like it might be fun, all I've gotta do is get past those pesky V4's.

Mike

[chameleon]

i don't really know
i guessed the cruxes to be about V7/8,V5, and V3

[kate]

routes, people!!! we are talking about routes, not problems. can we discuss routes in route terms, instead of in bouldering terms? look up...waaaaay up!

[Fred]

[chameleon]

Sorry Kate. Sheesh you're teste!

I guess I was just trying to generate a little interest by talking in a language that the masses understand. But more than that, the route to me always felt like a stack of boulder problems.

My bad. So how would you grade the route?

[Fred]

have you climbed 13's elsewhere? I would grade it relative to other stuff you have climbed. Or get someone like Nick who has climbed 13's to get a grade consensus.

[chameleon]

Is your name Kate, Punk-Ass!!???



(Just kiddin' Fred)

[Fred]

no I'm serious.

I'm curious to know what the grade is. I was wondering if you have climbed other 13's elsewhere. Wasn't making jokes or anything. I'm certain it's 5.13 or harder I'm just curious to know more.

cheers!

[ben smith]

hey sean I tried the variation that traverses in from the side and got into that second crux bit-I think I can pull it but it was quite greasy in august I'd like to get on it soon-maybe this weekend for some sweet sending temps. I think the first bit is just goin to be a straight throw for the rail... how did you do it?

[chameleon]

Fred: I have no experience on 5.13 and very little on 5.12. Chameleon was quite an abherration compared to my natural ability - as my many belayers can attest to (curiously, two of them are on the "chameleon" thread talking about big swinging nuts!!).

I floated a 5.13 grade at the time cuz all I knew was that is was fxxxx'kn hard. But at the same time the 5.13 bit is only this insane, short bouldery (wow, sorry Kate!) start and the rest settles down to something more manageable.

I've done lots of old-school routes that are graded something like "5.9 with a bouldery start" - the start might be 5.11+, but since the beginning is so close to the ground and insignificant (subtle jab at bouldering ha!ha!) the grade would just reflect the bulk of the route up high. Consequently I felt (and still do) kind of weird about calling Chameleon a 5.13 (which, as a historical note was the top grade when I started climbing and was generally considered unattainable by mortals).

I've made some attempts to get others interested and on the route, but I don't think there hasn't really been any takers. That is until Ben came along...who will send later this fall!!!!..........


Ben: This is my short man beta so it's probably useless...Start with right and left wide crimps; work left foot high (~2 ft. below your left hand) and rock onto it; lock the right crimp and press with right foot into the featureless rock; reach above your head with LH to gain a nickel sized edge with the very tips of 1.5 fingers (2 ft. below the ledge); step right foot onto very small square nubbin and fire to the ledge. [My fingers are sweating just remembering the beta!!]

Kate: Now does that sound like a route?

Ben: Another sequence that works is to stand on the shoulders of your belayer - which is what I did during the red point send. ha! ha!

[Fred]

I'm sure it's 5.13. The grade should not be a function of the height off the ground. YDS is hardest technical move anywhere on the route.

[kate]

thanks chameleon.
all this talk of routes makes me want to move back to France and clip shiny bolts all day long...mmmmm.