The "best" climber in the world

No one has mentioned the Huber brothers yet? They should at least get an honourable mention.

EDIT: for some odd reason the whole thread wasn't loading when I posted. superkick got it. Plus they freed Eternal Flame, no small feat.

Fred Beckey?

He has more FAs than prob anyone alive.. (or dead?)

Hayden Kennedy is my favorite at the moment.

followed by some climbers that I havent noticed on the list so far:

Mason Earle (climbs 13+ trad and has climbed virtually every alpine route in the North Cascades).

Jimmy Chin

UMMM....How has Tommy Caldwell not been mentioned yet?! I think people forget that Tommy does do a bit of alpine when he's not trying to hardest big wall route (possibly) ever, including a first ascent in remote alaska with Hayden Kennedy and Corey Rich this past year.

Tommy Caldwell? I don't know if he does much alpine, but I'm WAY more impressed at someone climbing 7 5.14 trad pitches on the Dawn Wall than any of the 5.15s that the hard sport climbers have done.

a 5.14a trad is more impressive than a 5.15c sport imo.

superkick wrote:Fred Beckey? He has more FAs than prob anyone alive.. (or dead?)

agreed and also would like to mention Herb and Jan Conn, just for the sheer amount of badassery they had up until january of this year when Herb Passed away.

superkick wrote:a 5.14a trad is more impressive than a 5.15c sport imo.

Single pitch? That seems sort of silly.

Austin Baird wrote:Tommy Caldwell? I don't know if he does much alpine, but I'm WAY more impressed at someone climbing 7 5.14 trad pitches on the Dawn Wall than any of the 5.15s that the hard sport climbers have done.

He does but it tends to go unnoticed because it is not as "impressive" as Cerro Torre or Speed ascents of the Eiger or the Sharks Fin....But he does in fact have multiple Alpine FA's including one in the Brooks Range of Alaska that he accomplished with Hayden Kennedy and Corey Rich earlier this year that was featured on "Flying Wild in Alaska".

EDIT: to add a FFA of Linea di Eleganza on Fitz Roy and being kidnapped in kyrgzistan

Based on our nonsensically retarded discussion of the term "best" as it applies to "climbing", it is no wonder why we like to beat each other in the head with opinions dressed up as ethics and facts.

I think my dog is the best climber. He never cheats, uses aid, or is in any way ethically dubious. He is always having a good time, is never scared, always brave, always solos only for himself and never for his sponsors. He doesn't hang on fixed gear ever, never sprays, never sandbags or over grades, he always offers his own humble opinion. Who gives a shit if he only scrambles 5.2 and is basically incompetent at difficult climbing?

superkick wrote:a 5.14a trad is more impressive than a 5.15c sport imo.

I agree. The last 14a trad route I sent was way harder than the last 5.15 sport route I sent. 5.15 sport isn't all that hard. You just have to build up your fitness level and work the route into submission.

does it matter? ...

worry about how hard YOU can climb an be the best that YOU can be ...

rather than MPing about 5.14 trad or 5.15 sport or V16 boulders that youll never be able to do

;)

I see lots of mention of Fred Beckey having the most First Ascents of any other climber .Does anyone really know how many?.If they were recorded it should not be a problem to figure out> I have seen other climbers claim over 2000..maybe sport climbs? .. but thats a lot to beat ....At the moment I would go for Ueli Steck

Scott M. McNamara wrote:I think Jeff Lowe said it best: "The best climber in the world is the one having the most fun." Edit: I wrongly attributed this guote to Jeff Lowe. It was Alex Lowe who said: The best climber in the world is the one that has the most fun. Alex Lowe

That quote makes me throw up in my mouth a little every time I hear it...and I think that Alex Lowe probably would too if he knew how often it is used and misused.

superkick wrote:Fred Beckey? He has more FAs than prob anyone alive.. (or dead?)

I think you are thinking of Harvey Carter, but Fred is no Slouch.

chufftard wrote:Ken Nichols is the best climber in the world BC of his ethics.

amen.

Jonhy Q wrote:Based on our nonsensically retarded discussion of the term "best" as it applies to "climbing", it is no wonder why we like to beat each other in the head with opinions dressed up as ethics and facts.

Perhaps the question is: "What climber would you most want to be?" But then I'd have to know more about the climber than what he is climbing.

Jonhy Q wrote:I think my dog is the best climber. He never cheats, uses aid, or is in any way ethically dubious. He is always having a good time, is never scared, always brave, always solos only for himself and never for his sponsors. He doesn't hang on fixed gear ever, never sprays, never sandbags or over grades, he always offers his own humble opinion. Who gives a shit if he only scrambles 5.2 and is basically incompetent at difficult climbing?

He eats other dogs' poop, and 'kitty crunchies' are a special treat.
Wouldn't want to be him. He's out of the running.

1- lame hero worship thread
2- honnold. He's my hero

I'm not sure anyone could touch Steve House's game in recent years.

csproul wrote: That quote makes me throw up in my mouth a little every time I hear it...and I think that Alex Lowe probably would too if he knew how often it is used and misused.

What is the context behind it?

Jared Ogden is a pretty damn good all around climber. 5.13 big walls, hard hard aid, and some gnarly ice and mixed climbing.

I would agree with several of you about Dave Macleod topping the list for best all arounder though. Not many people who climb hard trad, ice and mixed can boulder v15.

I hope Adam Ondra branches out a bit in the future. It would be awesome to see what he could do on climbs like the Dawn Wall