How many 5.15b climbers are there?

Does anybody know exactly how many 5.15b climbers there are now? I can think of 5, Adam Ondra, Chris Sharma, Dani Andrada, Fred Rouhling, and Bernabé Fernandez (unconfirmed). Any others?

try "8a.nu"?, never been on that site but I think they have that type of info there.

I bet there are dozens, not everyone wants to live in front of a camera and check in at 8a.nu daily.

Agreed MJM. I'm sure being a badass is badass, but some cats climb to get away from that too .

8a.nu

First time I've heard of that. I checked it out, and it seems to be a site that compares penis length with those around the world, as well as an eyesore of a website. Am I right?

Fred Nicole? The route featured in the end of Core. He never graded it, but it's speculated at well, really hard, and kinda a sport climb. I'd throw him in for good measure :)

You forgot clay Meier. That dude crushes.

Eliot Augusto wrote:8a.nu First time I've heard of that. I checked it out, and it seems to be a site that compares penis length with those around the world, as well as an eyesore of a website. Am I right?

The website could look better, sure. I'm not sure I get why it's so offensive that people want to be competitive about climbing though?

It doesn't really interest me since I don't really care about that side of climbing but it's not like it harms me either...

I mean should we be giving people on the PGA tour shit for being too competitive about golf?

Perhaps you misunderstand me. I love the competitive nature of climbing, just not as much as a nice sunny day up a moderate multi-pitch.

That being said, 8a.nu appears to be a pissing contest.

any competitive sport ranking list could be called a pissing contest.

Eliot Augusto wrote:8a.nu First time I've heard of that. I checked it out, and it seems to be a site that compares penis length with those around the world, as well as an eyesore of a website. Am I right?

spend some more time there and you'll find that it's even better than that: it's a personal forum for the grand pontifications, unfounded generalizations and general wankery important world records from Jens, the founder.

it's interesting that being 'the first' ranking website has carried 8a this whole time, despite its obvious flaws, and now it's the de facto standard for high-end sport and bouldering tick lists. I personally think that MP should look carefully at everything on 8a and do the exact opposite.

J Meagher wrote:Does anybody know exactly how many 5.15b climbers there are now? I can think of 5, Adam Ondra, Chris Sharma, Dani Andrada, Fred Rouhling, and Bernabé Fernandez (unconfirmed). Any others?

Magnus Midtboe - repeated Andrada's Ali-Hulk sit+extension

No one else shows up on 8a at least.

As for 5.15b routes (mostly from memory with a bit of 8a.nu digging):

1995 - Akira (F. Rouhling)
2003 - Chilam Balam (B. Fernandez) - confirmed: Ondra
2007 - Es Pontas (Sharma)
2007 - Ali Hulk Sitstart+Extension (Andrada) - confirmed: Midtboe
2008 - Jumbo Love (Sharma)
2008 - Delincuente Natural (Andrada)
2008 - Golpe de Estado (Sharma) - confirmed: Ondra
2009 - Neanderthal (Sharma)
2011 - La Capella (Ondra)
2011 - Chaxi Raxi (Ondra)
2011 - Fight or Flight (Sharma) - confirmed: Ondra
2011 - La Planta de Shiva (Ondra)
2011 - First Round First Minute (Sharma) - confirmed: Ondra
2013 - Iron Curtain (Ondra)
2013 - Move (Ondra)
2013 - Stoking the First (Sharma)

Did I miss any?

I'm giving myself about 6 months to attain that level, but first gotta get past.... 5.13,.. and 5.14,.. and,, oh well, I doubt if I'm gonna join the club this season.;-(

In my mind, there is a difference between being ABLE to climb a grade and being that grade climber (example there are plenty of people who have climbed one or two 5.13's but are not 5.13 climbers in my mind)

To be a 5.15b climber you have to be able to consistently climb that grade. So with that said, probably only a handful (sharma, ondra, Magnus and maybe patxi are a few that come to my mind)

Eliot Augusto wrote:8a.nu First time I've heard of that. I checked it out, and it seems to be a site that compares penis length with those around the world, as well as an eyesore of a website. Am I right?

I find it somewhat hard to believe that someone from Boulder who's a mp.com contributor is unaware of 8a. Anyhow, that's pretty tired joke. About as old and lame as a yo-mama joke. The site (iframes) gross! And I agree the ranking game is pretty dumb. None of the guys at the top of the ranking take it seriously, most think it's a joke & know that there are a few out there who are much better. It's the people at 50-100 that usually take it too far. Jens. Come on. No one takes that guy seriously. Almost every post of his gets ripped to shreds and makes for a great read.

I will say that the db is a pretty amazing research tool. I know a lot of people on there & their style. It makes it really easy for me to go to a new area and find the best routes, routes where I have the best chance of an onsight, or get beta - i can contact a few of the people listed. It's a lot more helpful than the route descriptions I read on here. Ive been to a lot of new areas just because i noticed someone i met along the way registering FAs/sends on there. I also use it to see what my friends are up to. Nice to reach out and say congrats.

I seriously doubt there are a ton of 15b climbers out there that we're unaware of. Maybe one or two. These guys all got fit climbing other world class routes. The type of routes that dont go unnoticed.

To the OP: I think that's the list.

I wonder why climbing is the one sport where people who totally suck feel compelled to judge people who excel.

J Q wrote:I wonder why climbing is the one sport where people who totally suck feel compelled to judge people who excel.

it happens in every single sport and occupation, really its human nature.

Everyone who's climbed wheel of life has climbed 15b

WOL is either 14d or 15a depending what the athlete needed to sell their sponsor that year.

Alex Megos.

mozeman wrote:In my mind, there is a difference between being ABLE to climb a grade and being that grade climber

Finally! Someone remembered to trot out this old dead horse. I agree - you aren't a 5.15b climber unless you can onsight 15b with >99.99999% success rate, and you've onsighted at least 100 of them.

mozeman wrote:To be a 5.15b climber you have to be able to consistently climb that grade. So with that said, probably only a handful (sharma, ondra, Magnus and maybe patxi are a few that come to my mind)

Let me see if I understand your point: Magnus climbing one 15b qualifies as "consistently climbing that grade"? Also, Patxi apparently doesn't even need to climb a single 15b route to be "a 15b climber"? (his max was 15a).

Sure grades are weird, subjective, and finicky, but while we're talking grades, let's at least be sensible. "Consistently" is hard to define, and silly to apply to limit redpointing. What's consistently? More than one? Able to do it with less than a couple years of work? Less than 50 days on rock? Onsight?

The original question was a good one, and the resulting list of people was surprisingly (to me) small. I would have thought some of the strong comp Euros like Jakob Schubert, Sachi Amma, Ramonet or Patxi had climbed at least one 9b during their breaks from plastic. Maybe the lesson is that although there are many people who have (or had) the ability to climb 15b, few of them have put in the time to do so, though this may happen in the near future (cough, Megos, cough).