Hardest climb/climber in the world?

So now that Ondra has climbed the hardest multi-ptich trad, boulder, and sport climb, has the issue finally been decided? Does this prove that Adam Ondra is currently the best rock climber in the world?  Does anyone else find it entertaining Ondra claims his sport climb is much harder than the dawn wall? Does this indefinitely prove that sport climbing is pushing a difficulty level that is not found on the trad-like big walls? Would anyone who has never climbed anything near this level wish to explain how he doesn't know anything and is just a kid? Can I get an a-men, some fish head stew, and the motivation to continue on projecting mediocre climbs with maximum effort? 

The hardest line in the world is the one in front of you. The best climber in the world is you, decided the moment you send a route. Kudos to Adam and Nalle for what they do. I feel inspired when I read or hear about their achievements but the feeling of elation on a good send is indescribable. The trophy doesn't compare, it never will. I have seen new climbers on 5.5 and experienced climbers on 5.14 with a similar look of bliss as they finish a route. That is the battle, intrinsic vs extrinsic.

Happy day to all.

If you think about it bouldering > sport > trad. (excluding deep water soloing which could maybe be harder than bouldering because you are basically bouldering up a higher wall aka free soloing a real long boulder problem) Given bouldering tends to be shorter routes so we are going to ignore endurance and go purely by rating repeated hard moves.

Trad requires gear placements which means the holds will always be better than boulder or sport.

Sport requires clipping as you are climbing which means you have to be able to take a hand off the wall and clip in.

Bouldering on the other hand requires only climbing which means you can have moves that would be impossible to place gear or clip from the entire way up.

ViperScale wrote:

If you think about it bouldering > sport > trad. (excluding deep water soloing which could maybe be harder than bouldering because you are basically bouldering up a higher wall aka free soloing a real long boulder problem) Given bouldering tends to be shorter routes so we are going to ignore endurance and go purely by rating repeated hard moves.

Trad requires gear placements which means the holds will always be better than boulder or sport.

Sport requires clipping as you are climbing which means you have to be able to take a hand off the wall and clip in.

Bouldering on the other hand requires only climbing which means you can have moves that would be impossible to place gear or clip from the entire way up.

I am not convinced that your logic is sound.

apoet wrote:

I am not convinced that your logic is sound.

So yours saying if you climbed a route with a crack big enough to place the smallest gear it will be harder than a sport crack that is not big enough to hold gear so requires bolts?

ViperScale wrote:

So yours saying if you climbed a route with a crack big enough to place the smallest gear it will be harder than a sport crack that is not big enough to hold gear so requires bolts?

I don't think you can simply equate availability of protection to physical difficulty.

apoet wrote:

I am not convinced that your logic is sound.

I'll buy the logic that the less gear there is to contend with the harder the moves can be. Taken to its logical conclusion (which was done 20+ years ago) "The hardest moves ever done were on a woodie in Sheffield"

ViperScale wrote:

So yours saying if you climbed a route with a crack big enough to place the smallest gear it will be harder than a sport crack that is not big enough to hold gear so requires bolts?

If you could climb a splitter 000 crack at all I'll be mightily impressed

apoet wrote:

I don't think you can simply equate availability of protection to physical difficulty.

Certainly there are easy climbs that have no gear and there are really hard moves with gear between them... but if you were to remove the gear from the really hard moves with gear between them you are going to have a harder route that requires bolts.

ViperScale wrote:

So yours saying if you climbed a route with a crack big enough to place the smallest gear it will be harder than a sport crack that is not big enough to hold gear so requires bolts?

I agree with your logic but a factor may be that everyone approaches climbs differently. I tend to go for the crack rather than the crimp where my friend will almost always avoid crack. 

I believe Ethan Pringle needs a nod in this thread.  That guy has sent Jumbo Love (15B) and got the FFA of  Blackbeard's Tears (14C Trad).  He flies mostly under the radar but compared to other pro climbers, his tick list is one of the more impressive.

"The best climber is the one having the most fun."

-Alex Lowe 

So we got a mention of Pringle and Nalle, and then a bunch of whiners claiming that they are the best because their mom told them they were special. 

I would say no to Pringle because neither one of his ascents are at the top of their game, but he is a bad ass no denying that. Vipers logic makes a stong case for Nalle.  Is there any other climbers who stack up to this?

why did i just read this thread. 

ViperScale wrote:

So yours saying if you climbed a route with a crack big enough to place the smallest gear it will be harder than a sport crack that is not big enough to hold gear so requires bolts?

https://www.mountainproject.com/v/meltdown/107161194

Have fun.

Climbing out of bed due to illness for some is harder than any thing we do for fun.

By far.

Climbing is personal. The only people that really care about this sort of hype are the marketing directors at some gear company, or the star struck and confused as to what climbing is really about: The Personal Journey and made better when shared with those close to you.

I thought this title belonged to climbing friend Aleks!?!?

ViperScale wrote:

If you think about it bouldering > sport > trad. (excluding deep water soloing which could maybe be harder than bouldering because you are basically bouldering up a higher wall aka free soloing a real long boulder problem) Given bouldering tends to be shorter routes so we are going to ignore endurance and go purely by rating repeated hard moves.

Trad requires gear placements which means the holds will always be better than boulder or sport.

Sport requires clipping as you are climbing which means you have to be able to take a hand off the wall and clip in.

Bouldering on the other hand requires only climbing which means you can have moves that would be impossible to place gear or clip from the entire way up.

Top rope. Top roping is the future of hard route climbing. No clipping. No placing gear. Just you and the movement.

Mason Stone wrote:

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your commentary, I addressed my last comments to Jack but as you made a suggestion I will respond to you. Do you have more detail or can you elaborate your commentary beyond a few quips? If the Special Olympics asked, I would be happy to write press releases for them, in fact I fully support and commend their efforts, do you? 

Thanks for the definition of best, and for supporting my argument. How we apply the term as mentioned in my post and others is personal, see the ideas mentioned by Tut. And thanks for the reminder of a great President and his staff, we need more like him and reminders we can promote change for all.

Cheers and happy climbing,

Mason

Honestly, Climbing is a sort of "Special Olympics" for a certain sort of odd ball round peg that doesn't fit into square holes.

And I have more respect for a Special Olympian, or Para-Olympics what have you that are competing against greater challenges than the ones we invent.

I promise you, our climbing heroes have feet made of clay. Take their accomplishments for what you will, overcoming your own challenges is what it really is about and what makes Climbing the perfect sport, imo. Every day is you vs. what you brought that day.

The olympics will be interesting and most non-climbers will see the gold medalist as the best climber in the world. Who that might be isn't known yet, but I suspect Ondra is going to start training for speed soon.

But in the pre-olympics days I would say Ondra without a doubt as the best/hardest climber in the world.