With a total of 8 days over a 2 year period, Paul Robinson was finally able to send one of his hardest lines to date, Meadowlark Lemon in Gateway Canyon, Nevada (a subsector of Red Rocks).
This is Paul’s hardest FA to date, besides Lucid Dreaming. The send was caught on film by Chuck Fryberger’s film crew and will be featured in their upcoming moving “The Network.”
Of today’s (11/1/2012) ascent, Paul comments, “I considered it one of the best lines I have ever climbed on in the entire world. The boulder is super physical, yet really technical. The crux revolves around some really crazy heel hooks on the left arete.”
2 years ago, Paul put up Meadowlark Lemon stand and graded it 8B/V13. He considers the moves between the sit and the stand start to be an additional 8B, making the entire line two 8B’s linked together without a rest.
When asked about the name of the boulder problem, Paul said, “Meadowlark Lemon was an American basketball player that played for the Harlem Globetrotters. He was considered to be one of the best players ever and has a sweet name. The last move of my climb is similar to a slam dunk in basketball.”
We spent a few weeks in Colorado back in October for the occasion of a prAna meeting in Boulder. It was a short vacation but an inspiring one. We stayed with Chuck Fryberger and his girlfriend Sarah Marvez very good friends as well as both excellent climbers; they showed us many places, most of them new for us. It is always fascinating to spend time in a place with so much background and climbing history as Colorado. It is kind of the birth place of bouldering in the new world. Big personalities like John Gill first, Pat Ament, Bob Williams (and many more)…Followed by Jim Holloway, Jim Michael, Steve Mammen, Jim Karn, Christian Griffith to the actual stars like Dave Graham, Daniel Woods, Paul Robinson, Angie Payne, Carlo Traversi, etc. This is one of the most active scenes around the world and there is a big range of boulder illustrating each period.
One of the nicest climbing moments of this trip was the ascent of one of the famous Holloway problems from 1975: “Trice”. It waited more than 30 years for the first repeat by Carlo Traversi. Since then Chuck told me it got maybe ten ascents. This way the consensus grade was 8a+ or v12. It was still some discussions going on because every repeater used a left foothole (not used by Holloway) that some considered off line and changing the original character and difficulty.
The prAna meeting was very close to Flagstaff, so we spent a few days there and eventually I took the opportunity to try this famous “Trice”. The upper left foot felt really crunchy to me and so I tried what could have been the original way. This means: feet straight below the bulge, the left foot kind of smearing and the right foot low on a small vertical edge, lock your fingers on a shallow pocket and go controlled to a small sloppy edge then jump to the top. The last climbing day just before a snow storm, conditions were perfect and after some warm ups and a few tries, a cold wind came and finally friction was good enough to complete the problem. It felt really satisfying to stick this last move. Retrospectively I would like to tell all my respect to Jim Holloway for his performances in bouldering, which are still great inspiration for all of us.
We can’t wait to see prAna ambassadors Chris Sharma, Steph Davis, Alex Puccio and a host of other great climbers in Chuck’s latest film!
THE SCENE
From the director of PURE and CORE, get ready to infiltrate four of the biggest scenes in the world of climbing.
Moab, Utah: a mellow desert town surrounded by massive sandstone towers, where climbers test the limits of danger while still maintaining a strict traditional ethic. Boulder, Colorado: the undisputed social hub of US climbing, with sponsored athletes of every discipline living in a city packed-full of talent, competition, and progressive ideas. Innsbruck, Austria: with possibly the highest concentration of talent in the world, the competition climbers here fight not only for the tops of podiums, but also corporate sponsorships and mainstream success. Catalunya, Spain: with near-limitless potential, Northern Spain has claimed the title of sport climbing capital of the world, and is now home to climbing’s largest population of elite sport climbers.
Filmed in stunning 4K Ultra High Definition, get ready for a fast-paced ride through the centers of the climbing universe.
We are looking forward to seeing the soon to be released CORE. Chuck talked about how busy he was a couple of months ago and now we know why. The quality of Chuck’s work is amazing as seem in the prAna athlete profile videos he put together for Fred Nicole and Paul Robinson. Check out the HD trailer for CORE…
From the director of PURE…
CORE goes to the heart of climbing. Join an international cast of the sport’s most dedicated athletes as they stick it when it matters most. Shot in 35mm Ultra High Definition, get ready to see every detail of some of the nastiest pieces of rock ever climbed.
A close examination of each character offers perspective beyond just their achievements on the stone. From Helsinki to Hueco, Africa to Italy, the enclosed forests of Tuscany to the vast open space of the American West, this film is a study in the landscapes and lifestyles that define our sport.
Be there, in the moment, as a 5.14 traditional route gets its first ascent. See the mind-bending footage from Livin Large, Nalle Hukkataival’s monster 8C. Watch as Fred Nicole polishes off his multi-year project in Switzerland – his hardest ever. All these achievements and more are brought to you here in Chuck Fryberger’s followup to the hit bouldering flick PURE. These are the moments and the athletes that define our sport, documented here with a unique style that invites the viewer to be part of the experience.
Featured Athletes: Nalle Hukkataival, Matt Wilder, Fred Nicole, Kilian Fischhuber, Kevin Jorgeson, BJ Tilden, Lucas Preti, Cody Roth, Michele Caminati, Jamie Emerson, Sarah and Steph Marvez, Berni Fiedler, And Many More.
prAna - “Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.” These qualities infuse not only our name, but also our aspirations, the things we make and how we make them. Welcome to mindfully designed, built to last products – born from the experience.
