Climbing Styles: The Artist

Breaking down how Tommy Caldwell — a skinny Colorado kid with only 9 fingers — cemented his legacy as one of the greatest climbers of all time.

Ps @ReelRock let me use your footage I promise it's fair use

[biblibop]

Do a video on Dave Macleod, another underappreciated all-rounder who should be considered among the greatest ever.

[stevensheets]

Comparing 40 year old TC to Honnold isn't quite fair; TC was quite jacked when he was younger. Anyway, I think TC's mental tenacity & capacity for hard work are also important elements of his success that weren't hit upon in the video.

[CLANK...]

He's a good all rounder, but its his tenacity and mental endurance that make him exceptional. Hours upon hours of swinging around on big walls, cleaning, figuring beta etc. He pushed a hostage taker off a cliff for pete sake, the dudes a mental warrior

[casey_________]

Would love to see a video on the big boys of the sport. 170-200lbs+ climbers are incredibly overpowered just to stay on the rock. Examples: Jimmy webb (180lbs in his first south Africa trips onsighting v11), Klein Loskott (170's), Tony Lamprech (5.14s and V14 at 200lbs!), or even John Dunn (Weigh a tonne Dunn).

[monicasharman]

Thanks for this description and analysis. I especially appreciated the words "artist, " "beautiful, " "creative, " and "subtle" to describe his climbing.

[Xpsdjjv]

Great video ! I‘d love to see something about Stefano Ghisolfi.

[JJTVcentral]

Interesting analysis, you make some good points about Tommy's creativity in his climbing. I think you really missed the key components to his climbing though. He climbs extremely intuitively; probably due to his 30+ years of experience climbing. Those little adjustments you are referring to are in my opinion representative of this intuitive style: he is looking for the best body positioning to make a certain move more efficient. But, in my opinion (and his as well), Tommy's greatest quality in climbing is his mental fortitude- he mentions in The Push throwing himself at the wall so many times that he eventually just gets up the thing. Same goes for training. The dude just doesn't stop. Also you mention height and Ape index as being some sort of factor that would make him and outstanding climber?? In fact most pro climbers are on the shorter side and ape index doesn't seem to give any sort of advantage but instead seems to direct a climber towards a specific style.

[bsheelflip]

Thats crazy about Flex Luthor- I didn’t know it hasn’t been repeated. It would be interesting to see Ondra or Megos try it. What a Working class hero.

[elmoblatch]

Interesting. His BRAIN was molded by his dad challenging him at young ages and his BRAIN was molded by his kidnapping, divorce, and losing a finger. If he was not kidnapped by rebels, left by his wife, and the victim of the finger accident -- there is no way he would have had the desire and persistence to focus on the Dawn Wall. He essentially needed something to focus his life pursuit during that awful period. Strong, agile, determined, and a hell of a natural talent.

[pirminborer]

Caldwell is certainly my favorite with ondra. Both so smooth climbers, not just powerhouses.

[donovanhaase]

Love this format of video, looking forward to channel growth!

[laurentdavou]

Very nice video. I like the way you did it and the the simple explanations you gave. Thanks.

[hollow]

Haven't watched the video yet, but going into it the thing that sets Tommy apart is that he is such a fucking baller.

[michaelp.]

Maybe you can make a video of Alexander Huber. He was the first one climbing a 9a and even in his mid 50's he and his brother are climbing 8b's.

[oldibtmtd]

Could you analyze Ashima Shiraishi? I'm fascinated by her ability to float climbs that buff dudes can't do.

[paulmitchell]

The early Dolomite climbers in the 1920's and 1930's were also fantastic great wall climbers. Hemp ropes and no portaledges.

[kaceyjones]

“It’s not easy to pin down why” A missed opportunity at a missing finger pun

[oldibtmtd]

It's crazy how much publicity the dawn wall got outside of the climbing community!

[Kabanginator]

I'd love to see Margo Hayes or Brooke Raboutou. They have very unique styles which allow them to succeed at a world class level.

[thesystem]

I think Jordan Cannon would be a good video, he’s not exceptionally strong and has only bouldered one v9 ever, but has climbed both freerider and golden gate in a day