Successful Climbers

“5.9 isn’t just the grade that sits between 5.8 and 5.10a, it is the playground of climbing history.”

Boving, for example, I know that route is going to be bold. As a brief aside, if ever you find yourself on a Paul Boving route fiddling in a piece of gear, try to imagine doing that route without cams, which had not yet been invented when Boving established those limit-pushing routes.

That brings us back to where we began. There is a reason that I found myself whipping off of that classic route at Index, and why 5.9 seems to be a mental barrier for a number of climbers aspiring to higher grades. 5.9 is a messy grade. In fact, it may be the messiest grade. It encompasses a range of difficulty that does not necessarily match up with our present-day idea of 5.9. I am hoping that this perspective helps someone looking to break into the 5.9 or 5.10 grades to reframe their idea of what that means. 5.9 isn’t just the grade that sits between 5.8 and 5.10a, it is the playground of climbing history. It encompasses some of the best climbing efforts of visionaries from yesteryear defying the expectations of the time. If you have climbed a substantial volume of 5.9 climbs, there is the distinct possibility that you have already overlapped with the 5.10 grade. Fellow Mazama Sarah Lydecker put it eloquently when she said, “5.9 used to be the limit of what certain people thought was climbable. Now it’s the welcome mat, inviting you to grow your ambitions.”

There are now 24 grades between what used to be the limit of the Yosemite Decimal System and where that limit now stands, at 5.15d. There is a valuable lesson in this. We often underestimate what we are capable of. The next time you take a look at a 5.9 and think that it doesn’t look possible, maybe that’s just the story that you are telling yourself. Give it a go. You might just surprise yourself. And, hey, if you fall, come find me by a campfire and we’ll compare stories. Either way, I’m willing to bet the experience will be worth it.

June 27, 2021—Castle/Pinnacle,

Standard/East Ridge. Lynne Pedersen, Leader. Carol Bryan, Assistant. Lizeth AguilarAmaro, Emily Carpenter, Jonathan Doman, Sohaib Haider, Priyanka Kedalagudde, Nicholas Krohe, Grant Schoepper

July 18, 2021—Mt. Adams, South Side.

Lynne Pedersen, Leader. David M Roche, Assistant. Amit Abraham, Elisabeth Clyne Sohaib Haider, Kirsten Jacobson, Brendan Scanlan, Kristofel Simbajon, Richard Smith, Claire Vandevoorde.

January 29—Mount St. Helens, Swift

Creek-Worm Flows (No Permit). Brenda Ganesh, Leader. Jeffry Welter, Assistant. Mikhail Hakim, Mahesh Padaru, Kyla Skerry.

January 29—Mt. Hood, South Side.

Pushkar Dixit, Leader. Milton Diaz, Assistant. Alex Aquilar, Mandi Reichmuth.

February 12—Mount St. Helens, Swift

Creek-Worm Flows. Pushkar Dixit, Leader. Elizabeth Cole, Assistant. Tara Benavente, Chris McDowell, Riley Thomas.

REQUEST FOR BULLETIN SUBMISSIONS

Alex Honnold may be able to do it solo, but we can’t!

You are the Mazamas. Your stories, your adventures, and your knowledge define the organization. The Bulletin should represent that. With your help, we can produce a better product for you. The Publications team is a talented group of writers, editors, and you-can-do-it! cheerleaders willing to help you transform your knowledge and narratives into feature content to be shared with your fellow Mazamas. What will we publish? Just about anything of interest to the organization: tips and tricks, stories of trips taken, reporting on Mazama events, profiles of people, poetry, news from the climbing world, and on and on.

There are two ways that you can get your ideas into print. The first is to tip off our crack team of writers about your idea and let us do all the heavy lifting. The second is to share with us a draft of your contribution, and we can help polish it up. Our staff includes experienced editors capable of working with you to craft topnotch writing.

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