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Onsight

5 April 2009 2,213 views 11 Comments
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Dave Birkett onsighting some scary Brit thing that would be like 13R across the pond.

You know it and I know it, onsighting is awesome! Any frat boy chode with a six-pack and shoulders can dumb down a 12a in 50 or 60 tries, however, the ability to onsight is a rare commodity. Whether your onsight level is 5.9 or 5.13, it’s always rewarding to clip the chains on a challenging onsight.  A friend of ours that has proved to be a really really good onsight climber once told us “No matter how bad you fuck up, just keep climbing.”  Good advice I say.  Sometimes

we surprise ourselves when faced with botched sequences, big throws, or run-out climbing.  Whatever the situation, onsighting is good.

Now, I’m not going dive into the nuances of what an official onsight is, I digress to other sites.  However, I want a list of the best onsights in climbing history.  Obviously, I am going to need some help on this one, sooooo, leave your comments below!  I’ll start:

1.  Okay, let’s get it out of the way, Chris Sharma, T-Rex and Divine Fury in Maple, both 14b!  I mean, geez…

2.  Yuji Hiryama, first person to onsight the grade of 14b, White Zombie, somewhere in Spain.

3.  Patxi Usobiagi, according to Patxi’s 8a scorecard he has onsighted 28 8b+ routes, that’s 14a folks!  Not only that, but he has onsighted 5 8c routes and 2 8c+ routes!  That’s just dumb!

4.  Alex Honnold, I know the kid has onsighted a ton, but I personally watched the dude onsight the Rincon crag from Climb of the Century to Camouflage.  That includes, Climb of the Century 11c, Wendago 12a, Surf’s Up 13a, Fraid Line 13a, Free line 13b, Evictor 12d, Climb of the Century 11a, Camouflage 12c (the only “sport route”).  Two day effort, it was silly.  Not to mention his ridiculous Desert onsight jubilation of 2008, that was silly as well.

5.  Josune Bereziartu, first 8c+ onsight by a woman!  Hidrofobia 8c+, Montsant, Spain!

Well, there’s a few, I know that there are better, bolder, taller, harder, cooler and more epic onsight tales out there, so let’s hear’em!

Tags: Honnold, Josune, , Patxi, sharma, Yuji

11 Comments »

  • Andy said:

    I onsighted my pancake breakfast yesterday morning.

    Couldn’t help it. Your stupid comments on my blog are clogging up my inbox…..

    Still love you though.

    # 5 April 2009 at 9:26 am
    • limit said:

      Im gonna onsight lauren lee…

      # 5 April 2009 at 9:48 am