Kevin has been killing it over in England these past couple months.  He has redefined what it means to trad climb in good style.  Pete sat down with him to get some things straight, and here’s what he had to say:

Pete: From an outsiders perspective, it seems that the recent trip of Team America to English Grit has really given folks over there a reason to re-examine some of the fundamentals of their approach to rock climbing down to the point that they could foreseeably even abandon their grading system and vote some of the best climbers there off the island.  This begs the obvious question in my mind: What’s your favorite kind of pizza?

Kevin: Veggie Supreme

Pete: Ever tried putting on hot sauce on a slice with the grated cheese? That shit is the bomb.

Kevin: Can’t say that I have, but now I may just try……

Pete: So talk to me about Gaia. What’s the story there?  40ft in the air is long enough to have a thought or two… please share?

Kevin: Gaia is one route that I absolutely wanted to do before I left England. Thanks to the video Hard Grit, the route has been elevated to a legendary status. On constant loop in my head was the possibility of taking THE whipper. The whipper of all whippers. The one that slams you right into the arete at the base of the climb. Earlier in the trip, Alex had made the first flash of Gaia and had all the beta. I decided also to try for a flash. Well, everything did not go as planned…

I remember thinking, “Are you serious! This CAN NOT BE HAPPENING!” I remember falling for a very long time before the rope caught and I began the pendulum that I knew would end in me meeting the arete at a very high velocity. Luckily, there was a pad at the base that probably saved the rest of my trip from being a total wash. Instead, my left heel is bruised and I can still climb.

Once I figured out a proper sequence for the top of Gaia, I went from feeling very shaken to very confident. It’s amazing what knowing what to do does for your confidence. When I tied in for the second time to lead it, I was nervous, but calm and excited to do it. Everything felt just as I wanted it to. No wobbles. No hard breathing. Just smooth, controlled climbing on some of the best moves and stone I have EVER encountered. A memory for life.

Pete: Meshuga seems to me to be, aesthetically one of the most amazing routes I’ve ever seen. What about it? What made you walk over there and solo it after cratering on Gaia.

Kevin: Riding the high after climbing Gaia (after cratering), I wanted to have another go on rope to familiarize the moves, with the intention of at some time, soloing it. The wind was blowing hard, the friction was the best I had ever felt, and it felt like there was NO WAY to fall off the holds. It was like wrestling with fly paper. I was all alone, without the pressure of friends, photographers, or anyone. Just me and the wind. So, I decided to simply start climbing and let the moves commit me fully. Once committed, I was just reacting as I had practiced, to each of the moves, until the crux was over. Then, I enjoyed pulling the 5 jelly-roll type roofs to the top!

Pete: Climbing Meshuga was…

Kevin: surreal.

Pete: You did the first ever ground up ascent of Parthian Shot, the legendary classic E9 at Burbage South. Tell me about that experience and why you choose that approach.

Kevin: I had a very strong influence from Adam Long and Ben Bransby to go “Ground up” on Parthian Shot. Watching Ben take the whipper, I knew I could fall from the crux and be OK. It was the slab above the crux, which is still quite hard, that would be bad to fall from. I call going “ground up” as “questing.” When you are up there, committed, you are on your own, with no choice but to use your skills to keep you safe. I usually shy away from this style, but Parthian suited this approach well. The physical crux was safe, but the mental crux was not. Either way, these routes are getting repeated more and more and always in headpoint style. It was nice to be part of a new movement toward climbing these routes in “better” style. I don’t like the word “better,” but you can’t argue that onsighting is not better style than top roping. Ground up is the next step beyond headpointing and I believe we will be seeing this style become prevalent on the Grit in the future.

Pete: John Dunne. Discuss.

Kevin: Believe him or not (I do), John is responsible for the majority of the hard grit routes in England. Period.

Pete: You guys were over there for two months, spent half the time cooped up to stay out of the rain and, according to your blog, watched the most lunatic shitpile of movies I’ve ever heard of. I have two questions:

a.       If Marmot sponsors you for climbing, shouldn’t Paramount sponsor you for movie watching?

Kevin: Absolutely. I have raised my viewing tolerance more than 400% in seven months. Now that is progression.

b.     Did anyone ever tell you the proper way to drink a Guinness or did you already know? (for the record… Once it’s poured correctly, which almost no one stateside knows how to do cause the proper double pour takes forever and having the keg close enough to the tap usually isn’t possible…. Then you must wait for the pour to settle. There must be a clear line between  the white head and the actual beverage. Thus the old ad campaign “good things come to those who wait!”)

Kevin: Nope. Now I know! However, now I feel cheated for not hearing it while over here.

Pete: Out of all the routes you saw, which was the most impressive Grit route you laid eyes on? Which one keeps you up at night?

Kevin: Meshuga and Gaia both occupied my mind for quite some time before doing them. Stunning lines. Dangerous. Nearly mythical.

Pete: England’s a pretty small country right? Have you met any famous British people like Austin Powers, James Bond or that spice girl that married David Beckham?

Kevin: I wish. But then again, we have been in the bubble of Sheffield for quite some time…..

Pete: Do you think English accents are hot or pretentious?

Kevin: Depends who’s speaking……I have thought both at one time or another on this trip.

Pete: What’s the story with Alex Honold?

Kevin: He just doesn’t get scared. Period.

Pete: If it’s safe, and there aren’t any marauding keyboard warriors nearby who will take everything you say out of context and use it to trash other climbers and spray endlessly about something that doesn’t really matter anyways… Tell me what you reeeeally think about E grades. Don’t worry, I totally won’t tell anyone. Nobody reads this blog, it’s totally safe.

Kevin: That discussion deserves its own essay, or if you rather, symposium. In short, I think they work well, as long as you give them some latitude.

Pete: What impresses you?

Kevin: Voluntary control of the sympathetic nervous system.

Pete: Seems to me like the pressure of publicity could really fuck with someone who chooses to climb like you do. Does that pressure ever get to you? And how do you deal with it?

Kevin: Sure, there is pressure to “get shit done,” but I do my best to not let that enter my decision making process. It always comes down to a dice I roll that has too few sides to accommodate things like pressure, ego, and grades. I consider my fitness, both mental and physical, and the conditions. That’s it. If something else is coming into my head, forget about it.

Pete: I think grading rock climbs is as stupid as surfers trying to grade waves and am starting to get frustrated with myself for caring at all. Why should we even bother? Does it honestly serve any purpose beyond stroking ones ego and getting sponsors?

Kevin: I agree. Grades are dumb.

Pete: I just spent 5m chatting with Tim Kemple about what you guys are up to, and he was typically (and comically) unimpressed. “Well what did you expect? These guys are strong”.  But he did say that “There are four guys I see out there advancing the sport and really pushing themselves: Chris, Tommy, Alex and Kevin. Everyone else is either climbing out of holes in boulderfields or going bolt to bolt on routes that are as hard as stuff done in the late 80’s.” What does “Advancing the sport” mean to you?

Kevin: I don’t know. I don’t think of climbing in those terms…..but flattering TK, thanks.

Pete: What’s next?

Kevin: Back to Bishop to finish some unfinished business….

Here are Mike Call’s video stills from the fall off of Gaia:

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