From ROCK & ICE'S ONLINE MAGAZINE....
SHARMA CRANKS YET ANOTHER 5.15
Yes, again. On February 20, Chris Sharma finished the first ascent of Demencia Senil (5.15a) in Margalef, Spain. Sharma has tucked another 5.15a and two 5.15b redpoints under his belt in the last year alone
Sharma has been climbing for 14 years, and that’s a very long time to be at the top of a brutal game. Shredded shoulders, rolled ankles, and snapped tendons have ended many a season. In a sport where mental tenacity is as important as muscle, the added pressure of sponsors, competition, and the climbing limelight have driven still more climbers off the radar. Sharma has been pushing himself for a dozen years and shows no signs of letting up.
His first route at his local gym, Pacific Edge, was a 5.10b. Not bad for a 12-year-old kid, but not hugely impressive. Two years later, he won Nationals in bouldering, and a year after that, he established the country’s first 5.14c, Necessary Evil in the Virgin River Gorge. His ticks since then are essentially a list of the hardest and most famous routes and problems in the world. The Mandala (V12), Realization (5.15a), Witness the Fitness (V15), Dreamcatcher (5.14d), Three Degrees of Separation (5.14d), La Rambla Direct (5.15a), Es Pontas (5.15a/b), Papichulo (5.15a), Jumbo Love (5.15b), Golpe de Estado (5.15b), and now Demencia Senil.
Currently living in Spain, putting up one hard sport route after another, Sharma’s newest line may be named after senile dementia, but judging from his performances in the last 12 months, old age is a very, very long way off.
Photo credit: Pete O'Donovan, from Daila Ojeda's blog
PS Hindi din mabigat yung angle ng wall, no??
ReplyDeletewhew, may 12 years pa pala ako para mahabol ang achievements ni sharma
ReplyDeletehehe
kala ko naman mahirap, may 5.15b pa pala eh hehe :D la bang video ?:D
ReplyDeleteInspiring! ;)
ReplyDeleteIn 12 years.. ganyan na kaya kami kalakas? Haha :P
ReplyDeleteenough climbing indoors.....
ReplyDeletekeep climbing and i think you can be stronger! :0
ReplyDeleteread this a day before your post ! :) looks like i'm not the only one doing homework :)
ReplyDeleteThe Sharma Effect . . . I've climbed with Chris in Thailand. We bouldered on the beach at sunset. It was way back 2000 or 1999, I don't entirely remember. It was a time when he was on the verge of stopping climbing and entering into monkhood. The following months he redpointed "Realization." He almost gave up climbing but in the end, climbing just won't let him.
ReplyDeleteHe's a soft spoken guy and sometimes with a humorous sense of seriousness. This character, being all business at the same time unattached approach which makes him centered on all his projects. It's not hard to have this rub itself on you.
Sometimes I wish I have started climbing earlier. Chris is setting the bar so high up and I think it's not coming from trying to be the best but rather I think it comes from an inner realization that with a great gift it has become a personal, self driven responsibility to push the levels higher and higher.
wala eh kuya! sobrang limited ng info....lahat ng articles ng nakita ko ang source din lang ay ang blog ni daila....
ReplyDeletesulat mo ba 'to daddyo? :)
ReplyDelete"I think it comes from an inner realization that with a great gift it has become a personal, self driven responsibility to push the levels higher and higher." --> oo nga, parang ganyan nga yung closing message niya sa dosage, diba? nakaka-curious lang what kind of childhood and setting and influences you need to have to be able to create a person with a similar kind of drive as he does....ibang klase kasi eh....ang sarap niyang pagaralan as a psyche subject!
iba 'noh ? don't you feel that sometimes? Oo nga, I think I've read or heard somewhere that a person's past determines his future. Sometimes I don't want to explore the notion too much, it's sometimes a scary thought :)
ReplyDeletewe may not be climbing as hard as he does and we may not have the gift that he has. but if we try our hardest, climb with all our heart and spirit and at our personal limit. i know we we can have the same experience as he does. ok, maybe not at his level but still it feels the same. because along the process of climbing we experience new things and realize a lot of things that will make as into a different and much more, as a person and as a climber. just be yourself, and climb hard.!!!
ReplyDeletekeep climbing everyone..
well said :) the physical strength may be incomparable, but having the passion will make the experience just as memorable and life-changing....
ReplyDelete