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whos the top ozy climber

gooroo

10-Oct-2004
11:11:09 AM

hi all,
just wondering about your thoughts on who is the best sport climber we have
in oz out of these climbers...................
*Alan Price (boulder, and is champion for comp bouldering)
*Nathan Hoette (has climbed grade 33)
*Chris webb (has climbed grade 34 and is national champion for onsight comps for 2004)
*James Kassey (strong boulder)
*Ben Cossey (has climed grade 34)
*Lee Cossey (has climbed grade 33)
*zac vertres (has climed grade 33)
*vincent day (has climbed grade 32 but cliams two of these are 33 but zac and chris have climbed these climbs and have them down as 32 on www.8a.nu)

what you guys and girls think??????


maxots

10-Oct-2004
3:01:17 PM

um, seeing as you are only going on numbers just pick the one who has climbed the most 34's

seems stupid to make it subjective when all your nominations are based on numbers

do you care THAT much anyway >???

gooroo

10-Oct-2004
5:25:03 PM

you really dont know anything about climbing do you?
you see, all these boys are very strong climbers i was just wondering who the top one was and i am not going off numbers, if you have never heard of these guys then dont write anything

10-Oct-2004
6:24:35 PM

> if you have never heard of these guys then dont write anything

says he who left out our best onsight climber (and suspiciously shares a name with one of the nominees)


mousey

10-Oct-2004
7:47:36 PM

hey gooroo
few points id like to raise with ya mate....
1st- despite whatever claims you make, you are basing it on grade. otherwise please delete the captions of (has climbedgrade XX) aftereach name
2nd- "best sport climber we have in oz out of these climbers" - dont you thinks thats a tadon the restrictive side? what if we dont think the best sport climber s on that list?
3rd- if you are looking for the best sport climbers, why do include some in your list based on their strong bouldering or competition results?
4th- have you ever heard of a guy called garth?
5th- "you really dont know anything about climbing do you?"- not the most sociable approach is it?
6th- "if you have never heard of these guys then dont write anything"- im not sure whetherthis is a troll or not, but ill take a chance with NOT. people have been called dumbf---s for saying far more intelligent things than that dude.....
7th- if you are a gooroo, why are you asking a bunch of gym bunnies and losers like us such a philosophically demanding question as 'who is the bestsportclimber in australia?'
8th- since i dont know you i wont claim that you dont know any of these guys or the real deal of their climbing, and that you find outeverything you know about them through ROCK or on the internet. but you have got me wondering....
9th- have you considered that the 'best' might not mean the 'strongest' or the one with the most 30+ ticks? does experience, contributon to the climbing community/culture, attitudes/approaches to climbing, ethics, haircut, personality, lifestyle, or conistency count towards anything? and what about the penis-deprived members of our climbing communities? do their 30+ ascentsgeta mention, let alone those aforemoentioned qualities?
10th- please do a google on the following names; james scarborough, phil sage, giles, mikl, j smoothy, a penny, lloyd, grkovic, jarks, mark baker, saxon, matt adams (can we claim him?), fred yule (ok thats stretchinga bit), rod young, lebrenton, g&v hill, hell the list goes on for a while ill let othersfinish it
11th- [why would you want/why would you believe its doing justce to the great numbers of legends] to have only one 'best'? why cant wejust have an 'elite' group who are defined by what they have contributed ratherthan just by what grades they can pull? or why can we dispense of all formalities and simply say 's/he climbs good'? from the brief exposure ive had to you keyboard, you seem like the type would havealaughatmousey...the type that needs adollar figure to definethe worth ofsomeones existence
12th- doyou realise the reprocussions of naming a single 'best'? read po thinking by edward de bono. then go for aclimbing road trip with some goodmates. throw back some bundy'n cokes over a late night game of texas hold'em in your garage. sit on the roof of your car watching the suncome up. throw away yourwatch. write a fewpoems and learn to play some acoustic jack johnson. go for an early morning surf. shake all carea and business from our stockmarket age, conferring them on to strengths of the big smoke, whileyou, unburdened, crawl towards the pines/the animal park/the crag/the lavoratories and finally the tent....
then come back and we'll talk numbers....


tmarsh

10-Oct-2004
8:12:39 PM

On 10/10/2004 gooroo wrote:

>what you guys and girls think??????

I think that any list of Australia's top climbers that doesn't have Ross Taylor at number 1 is a pretty shit
list. Wake up dude - Roscoe is the new force in Oz climbing.

tim


shiltz

10-Oct-2004
9:43:44 PM

They're all good climbers. Who really cares which is the best?


Nick Kaz

10-Oct-2004
9:52:50 PM

I hear that Josh guy from Sydney cranks preaty hard.


Breezy

11-Oct-2004
8:03:30 AM

Funny how the person who started this thread never mentioned, Garth. Have you been sleeping under a large rock ?
Garth established many v12 and 13's in the blueys this year, still can climb 33 without much training, came third in a recent comp he entered (his first comp in around 5 years), not to mention 2 32 onsights and countless 31 onsights
and most of the other top aussie climbers still regard him as the best.
IMO Chris Webb will be the next "big time" aussie climber, but not quite yet.

Chester

11-Oct-2004
10:47:56 AM

Hey GooRoo

Who is the best Sport Climber in Oz? I think all those guys you mentioned are very strong, except Chris Webb. I've seen them all climb really hard but Chris, he seems to fluke his way up his climbs most of the time. I can't believe he would grade the extension of Attack mode at 34!!


Breezy

11-Oct-2004
11:01:16 AM

Here goes, i agree with Mighty Mouse on one thing that there is no real "best" maybe an elite group or best at a certain discippline, but with all the styles and crap available today the "one best climber" is too hard to narrow down.

My list :

Best indoor / comp climber : Al Price
Best boulderer : James Scarborough / Garth Miller
Best Sport Climber : Chris Webb / Garth
Best all round : Lee Cossey
Best woman climber (indoor / outdoor) : Sam Berry
Best of the rest : anyone else who ties in, boulders, hell.... even belays :P

Once again this list is my opinion feel free to dissect, whinge spray or just in general bitch about it :P

Chester

11-Oct-2004
11:08:41 AM

Best Australian Outdoor Female climber is Monique, there is absolutely no competition here!! Just look at her tick list, she's miles ahead of every other female


Breezy

11-Oct-2004
11:11:17 AM

correction accepted, im at work and completely forgot her :(
I suck, a thousand mites will infest my gonads :)

Best indoor / comp female : Sam

Best outdoor woman : Monique

:)

Chester

11-Oct-2004
1:31:47 PM

I think this is a fairly pointless thread, but I'll put the question out there anyway. Who are the top Trad climbers in Oz, they don't seem to get much of a mention. My definition of top, is putting up hard first ascents, consistent high grades, placing all gear on lead. I guess HB would have to be up there for someone who has done it all!!


Rich

11-Oct-2004
1:43:20 PM

pat turner would be up there as well..

Goodvibes

11-Oct-2004
1:48:39 PM

On 11/10/2004 Chester wrote:
>Best Australian Outdoor Female climber is Monique, there is absolutely
>no competition here!! Just look at her tick list, she's miles ahead of
>every other female

I got to see her finally send Staring at the Sea on Wave Wall at The Glen yesterday. That was a huge effort any really inspiring to watch. No doubt you will hear some more about this.

Who knows, maybe if sam put in the time on rock she could be up there but alas it seems that if you want to succeed on plastic you have to devote the vast majority of your time to climbing on it. The fact is, Monique has climbed way harder than any other.

11-Oct-2004
4:21:14 PM

But how many of these people have actaully climbed Ozy (aka Ozimandias)? After all the forum is entitled Who is the best ozy climber. Everbody seems to have accepted it as "Aussie" or "Ozzie", or is just me :-(

11-Oct-2004
5:02:46 PM

nice call BA :))
that would make it Steve Monks I suppose - don't think any of those other wusses have freed it? Or maybe HB for speed aiding?


IdratherbeclimbingM9

12-Oct-2004
11:58:52 AM

>whos the top ozy climber
... anyone (yep, anyone) ... who tops-out on Ozy!

(Its a magic feat for all concerned).

SteveH

12-Oct-2004
2:38:47 PM

Part 1

Its interesting how a lot of people in these forums are very quick to jump on their band-wagon when someone says something differently to how they would say it. Discussing whom the best at anything is general campfire talk, and most people would have done it about something, sometime. (Did you watch the Olympics or any Music/Movie Awards)?

Phillip, I do think your list was a little restrictive and you need to be more specific to your opinion of ‘sport climber’. Do you mean competition climber or sport-route climber?

Max and others, in my humble opinion, to define the best it comes down to numbers :O It may be controversial, but that is the way I see it. That being said, I would rate a climber consistent at a grade for a period of time, higher than someone who ticks one high number. In most sports it simply comes down to numbers; time, weight, score etc. In climbing it is the same, although thankfully that is not the be all and end all of climbing, and lots of people don’t care or chase grades. But people are interested in the top end of the sport. This is where some people get inspiration and conversation!

The best does not mean the most influential, respected, charismatic, controversial person. It is not the person who has equipped the most routes, has the most experience, or made the most contributions to the climbing community/culture. These people deserve respect and to be discussed in other topics. Numbers, numbers, numbers.

The question from Phillip appears to be a modern question, of current climbers doing hard things and not the best ever, or the best at a time or era. I will answer accordingly.

Although I agree with the sentiments of Josh, there are a few points that may need clarification, including;

James Scarborough – Doesn’t climb sports routes anymore
Phil Sage – Kiwi
Giles Bradbury – read above (done way to much scary stuff to be a sport climber)
Mikl – One of my personal favourites, but read above
J Smoothy – Read above
A Penny – Read above
Lloyd – Up there with Mikl
Steve Grkovic – Up there with Phil
Jark – Numbers, numbers, numbers (love your work though)
Mark Baker – Isn’t he retired?!?! Joking, has a place in climbing history but not as the best sport climber
Saxon – Does he climb routes any more?
Matt Adams (can we claim him?) – No, but its good he’s here
Fred Yule (ok that’s stretching it a bit) – Like Matt and Phil and Steve
Rod Young – Read Above
Rob Lebreton – Has been close
Graham & Veronica Hill – This isn’t a route-naming contest!

Down to the original list I agree with Cameron that Chris Webb has the potential to be the best sport and competition climber in Australia, but not yet. From the list provided, I would have to nominate Zac, he has climbed the most 30+’s out of anyone (correct me if I’m wrong), has been doing it for longer than most the others have been climbing and continues to. If you are talking competition climbing, it is Alan Price, unless you want to dissect and separate bouldering comps and difficulty comps. Marc Edwards probably has the most international comp experience now though.

There are 83 messages in this topic.