Margo Hayes - Biographie (15.a) full

https://www.climbing.com/videos/raw-video-margo-hayes-redpoints-biographie-realization-5-15-9a/

No ninja edits (besides one or two times when she shook out for a while), no product plugs, no annoying music.  I dig it.

Ted Pinson wrote:

https://www.climbing.com/videos/raw-video-margo-hayes-redpoints-biographie-realization-5-15-9a/

No ninja edits (besides one or two times when she shook out for a while), no product plugs, no annoying music.  I dig it.

Wow, really interesting! The down climbing to rests surprised me. 

Thanks, Ted! Best, OLH

How long had she worked on that?  She just glided up it.

Old lady H wrote:

The down climbing to rests surprised me.

Not uncommon after making a difficult clip. But her skipping two clips -- wow!

Skipping clips isn't allowed at the gym so why should it be allowed outside! Sad! Make climbing great again!

Old lady H wrote:

Wow, really interesting! The down climbing to rests surprised me. 

Thanks, Ted! Best, OLH

It’s a really good and important tactic!  Think about it...how relaxing would it have been to rest for that long WITHOUT the draw clipped? ;)

wendy weiss wrote:

Not uncommon after making a difficult clip. But her skipping two clips -- wow!

If you aren't at risk of decking it makes perfect sense.....clipping takes energy, sometimes quite a bit of it in a bad clipping stance.

I was a bit nervous when she skipped the third clip but (as you know if you saw the Reel Rock movie) she tried the climb a zillion times and had the sequences completely mapped out and memorized, so I'm sure she knew that she wasn't going to deck from there or felt so confident in the move that she knew she could get to the next clip without worry. 

I thought it was kind of mesmerizing! I'm not much of a sport climber or a "project" guy, but when I have repeatedly worked a climb I find that one of the interesting things about the process is how, when it all comes together, the final effort doesn't even feel that hard. Watching this video, I felt like I could see that process working itself to a conclusion with Hayes. She makes sequences that must be brutally hard look as though they were never in doubt. Watching her, I could almost imagine climbing the route, though I know it is an illusion. This climb is MANY grades harder than anything I'll ever do, but Hayes has it so put together it almost looks possible for mortals.

SethG wrote:

This climb is MANY grades harder than anything I'll ever do, but Hayes has it so put together it almost looks possible for mortals.

Plus one, here! There is a video of Chris Sharma climbing Biographie on u-tube, he talks about dead pointing into a shallow pocket, and he is a 6ft tall. I find it amazing that Margo made all the moves look "normal".

Cat-like!  Smooth and wonderful.....    But can she place trad gear?   j/k

amarius wrote:

Plus one, here! There is a video of Chris Sharma climbing Biographie on u-tube, he talks about dead pointing into a shallow pocket, and he is a 6ft tall. I find it amazing that Margo made all the moves look "normal".

Especially since she’s 5’3!

Briggs Lazalde wrote:

Hard climb no doubt but most frustrating climb video ive ever seen 

That's because it isn't a "climb video" - it's totally raw footage that only had 5 minutes edited out - it's still unedited.

Yeah, I actually found that more helpful than a normal climbing video.  Seeing some of Ondra’s uncut footage was cool as well...made me realize that I give up too soon when trying to recover on the rock.  It takes a lot of fortitude to shake out for 10 minutes.  When they cut those out, it makes rests look much shorter.

SethG wrote:

I thought it was kind of mesmerizing! I'm not much of a sport climber or a "project" guy, but when I have repeatedly worked a climb I find that one of the interesting things about the process is how, when it all comes together, the final effort doesn't even feel that hard. Watching this video, I felt like I could see that process working itself to a conclusion with Hayes. She makes sequences that must be brutally hard look as though they were never in doubt. Watching her, I could almost imagine climbing the route, though I know it is an illusion. This climb is MANY grades harder than anything I'll ever do, but Hayes has it so put together it almost looks possible for mortals.

Agreed. Nalle hukkataivel mentioned this on the enormocast. How when he finally did his V17, there's no easy or hard, no thought about the climb...just execution. Basically the send was easy, dialing the moves BEFORE the send was where all the difficulty took place. Truly in the zone.  

SethG wrote:

I thought it was kind of mesmerizing!... Watching her, I could almost imagine climbing the route, though I know it is an illusion. This climb is MANY grades harder than anything I'll ever do, but Hayes has it so put together it almost looks possible for mortals.

Agreed.  When she got to the last third, which is probably still, what, 5.13 climbing? She looked like she was hiking up a 5.9 gym route.  

Watching athletes so devoted to the process is pretty amazing, even if all you see is the final result.  

https://youtu.be/_eTxQLfIUNY

Here’s Chris’s original FA video.  What’s funny is that I didn’t even notice Margo do the deadpoint that stymied him, in fact she didn’t seem to make any terribly big moves.  I wonder if climbing shoe tech played a role?  I’m a long term Anasazi user, but Solutions definitely give an advantage at this angle.  Chris’s feet cut several times, whereas I don’t recall Margo’s ever doing this.  Would be interesting to see Chris get back on it.

Did you see the overhead heel hook she threw when she got to the hueco? Yeah that's legit. 

Ted Pinson wrote:

https://youtu.be/_eTxQLfIUNY

Here’s Chris’s original FA video.  What’s funny is that I didn’t even notice Margo do the deadpoint that stymied him, in fact she didn’t seem to make any terribly big moves.  I wonder if climbing shoe tech played a role?  I’m a long term Anasazi user, but Solutions definitely give an advantage at this angle.  Chris’s feet cut several times, whereas I don’t recall Margo’s ever doing this.  Would be interesting to see Chris get back on it.

Way overthinking it. The simple fact is that a dynamic six-foot tall male will do moves differently than a short, small-fingered woman. Ceuse has pockets galore, and Margo picked her own sequences that suited her. 

Kyle Elliott wrote:

Agreed. Nalle hukkataivel mentioned this on the enormocast. How when he finally did his V17, there's no easy or hard, no thought about the climb...just execution. Basically the send was easy, dialing the moves BEFORE the send was where all the difficulty took place. Truly in the zone.  

Sounds about how the 5.11 trad route i got on redpoint last Saturday felt like.  Tons of work dialing the feet especially but the send felt like i just floated up it.

ChrisHau wrote:

Way overthinking it. The simple fact is that a dynamic six-foot tall male will do moves differently than a short, small-fingered woman. Ceuse has pockets galore, and Margo picked her own sequences that suited her. 

Totally agree. Over the years I've come to realize that most of us climbers overly idolize a static / twisty style. If anyone climbs with a dynamic style or cut their feet once, they automatically have bad technique. What I realized is that "good technique" is a very individual quality, it's the ability to utilize our strength to climb effectively. And I don't just mean muscular strength, maybe advantage is a better word. Margo has crazy flexibility, that's her advantage. Sharma has crazy power, that's his advantage. As far as I know, Sharma has climbed more 5.15s than anyone else save Ondra (Alex Megos still has time to catch up), so obviously he's been able to utilize his advantages effectively. It doesn't make sense to admire one style and dismiss another just because one looks better to us. If Sharma tries to climb like Margo, he will most likely tear a ligament or something. Most of us will, unless you can do stuff like this just for fun.