My son and I have been spending a lot of time in Climbing Gyms and on the mountains lately. He has excelled at climbing in very short space of time which has meant my small business has been on the back burner as I support him in his new adventures.
Last week we headed out to the Silvermine Reserve and specifically to the Main Crag where he has been working a few climbing routes. Our friend Alta, has been joining us and belaying Seth so that I can record his climbs and measure his progress.
The previous visit Seth had sent (topped) a 25 grade climb called “No Man’s Land” and this time he wanted to attempt to on-sight another 25 called “Mercury”. On-sight means that you haven’t attempted to Climb the route before and you haven’t seen anyone else climb it. So it’s purely based on your ability to read the route from the ground and then have a go at climbing to the top.
Seth has become quite good at route reading, physically mapping out each move while watching the wall of the crag. He has an ability to memorise each and every move of the beta, something I’m really bad at.
Here’s a video of him route reading…
Shortly after this exercise he tied in and started the climb.
He topped the route in just under 20 minutes with some really good rests along the way.
This young legend is climbing incredibly well for only 1 year of climbing under his belt. And 7 months climbing outdoors.
I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.
