Reel Rock 7

By Sender Films Producer, Nick Rosen

“DANIEW ROOOOODS,” the PA system echoes through the massive arched walls at Yuji Hirayama’s BASE CAMP, the largest climbing gym in Asia.

Daniel Woods is a long way from home. On the invitation of his childhood hero, Yuji Hirayama, Daniel grabbed the REEL ROCK crew and headed over to Japan to test himself against the local competition and explore the rock in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Like many of us, Daniel grew up with posters of Yuji on his wall – the 44-year old Japanese climber is one of the great living legends of rock climbing. So it was a rare treat to visit him in his home country, a place where seemingly everything –raw fish, vintage clothing, alien tentacles, dance machines, and, yes, rock climbing – are the subject of obsessive devotion.

Yuji Hirayama at the sea cliffs of Jyogasaki

This was easy to see at the 2013 North Face Cup in Japan, a series of comps that Yuji has organized which culminate in the big invitational championship at Yuji’s mega gym outside Tokyo. Normally, when an international climber of Daniel’s caliber is invited to a regional comp, he can feel confident about winning. But when Daniel walked into Yuji’s Base Camp for qualifiers, he immediately noted the stiff competition. Indeed, Japan has some of the most dedicated and talented climbers on the planet.  Yuji, and fellow Japanese stars Hidetaka Suzuki, Dai Koyamada, Akiyo Noguchi, and Sachi Amma, are names we know, but at this comp alone, there were dozens of other male and female elite crushers that we’ve never heard of. Shaking his head in awe, Daniel pounded a Red Bull and went into focus mode.

(Although the comp results are readily available, we won’t spoil the surprise – check it out on REEL ROCK 8!)

photo credit: Eddie Gianelloni http://www.eddiegianelloni.com/

After the comp, Yuji invited Daniel and the film crew for a tour of some amazing climbing areas within a few hours of Tokyo: The picturesque sea cliffs of Jyogasaki, the snowy limestone of Futugoyama (home of Yuji’s test-piece Flat Mountain (http://www.climbing.com/news/flat-mountain-2/) and the even more frigid riverside boulders of Shiobara, where Daniel had an epic, 0-degree wind chill showdown with the Koyamada test-piece Hydrangea (V15). Watching Daniel climb, Yuji’s eyes lit up; he was shaking his head in awe, trying the holds, spraying beta, and cheering, “Yes, Daniel-San, wait for the moment!”

Daniel Woods on Hydrangea - (V15) photo credit: Eddie Gianelloni http://www.eddiegianelloni.com/

At 46 years old, Yuji is at a pivot in his storied career, which includes multiple world cup titles, several early free ascents of El Capitan, and the Nose speed record at least twice. These days, Yuji has largely transitioned out of climbing at his limit (with the mind-blowing exception of his Borneo project, which you can also catch on REEL ROCK 8), and settled comfortably into the role of Dai Sensei, organizing comps and mentoring the promising new crop of young Japanese climbers.

22-year old Daniel Woods appears to be his new project. “He is so unbelievably strong, and so talented, and yet he has a lot of ways he can learn and improve,” Yuji said.

Anyone who has spent time with Daniel knows that, aside from being one of the strongest and most graceful climbers on the scene today, Daniel Woods is a tremendous goof. Blithe, forgetful, and grinning like your kid brother on Robitussin, he will invariably leave behind his shoes or harness, take a wrong turn, and be forced to send something astoundingly hard with borrowed gear, in the dark.

Daniel found a twin! 

 “What I see most of all in Daniel is potential. Like an unpolished gemstone.” Looks like Daniel-San has found his Mr. Miyagi.

Oh, and remember that Borneo project we mentioned earlier? Turns out Yuji needs a partner for it. To find out what happens when these two amazing talents team up to establish cutting edge grades in the high-altitude jungles of Mt. Kinabalu, tune in to REEL ROCK 8, coming this fall to a theater near you.

And many thanks to Yuji, TNF Japan, Jazzy Sport and Eddie Gianelloni for making our trip to Japan amazing. 

Reel Rock 7 introduced the world to a route in Spain called Dura Dura—literally, the hardest of the hard. Originally bolted some four years ago by Chris Sharma, Dura Dura was one of the last remaining projects at Oliana, a cliff where there are more 5.15’s and 5.14d’s than in all of North America combined. Oliana is to sport climbing what Mavericks is to surfing—not just a big fearsome wave that chews people up and spits them out, but the center stage for the sport’s biggest stars to test and prove themselves.

Our 30-minute segment “Dura Dura” told a familiar story: a monster route at the cutting-edge of difficulty; the intrepid climber battling doubt and weakness to prove that the impossible is possible after all. Only this segment had an interesting twist: Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra, the two best sport climbers in the world, were facing off against each other to be the first one to climb Dura Dura. 

Chris Sharma, 31, has been at the top of the climbing game for the last 15 years, consistently pushing standards to new levels. Of all the prior 5.15’s he has climbed, only one has been a repeat; all the others were first ascents. He established the grade 5.15a with Biographie, then 5.15b with Jumbo Love.

But in the last couple of years, things have been changing. It would be hard to argue that Adam Ondra, 20, isn’t the world’s next, best climber. Having flashed 5.14d and completed the first ascent of Change (5.15c) in Norway, Ondra has positioned himself to grab the torch and take climbing to new atmospheric levels.

But who would do Dura Dura first? The old guy or the young gun? Suddenly, Dura Dura had become an unprecedented arena for the sport’s most high-stakes competition. A lot was on the line—not just the glory and recognition of doing the first ascent of the most difficult rock climb, but also the title of being the world’s best sport climber.

 Originally, Sharma had written off Dura Dura as being too difficult; the holds too small. But then Ondra, looking for something to really sink his teeth into, began working Dura Dura with Sharma’s blessing. Ondra showed Sharma that the moves were, in fact, doable and soon Sharma got sucked in, too. Now, they were both working the route together.

 In climbing, there is no Super Bowl or World Series. Climbers prove themselves on the rock. Dura Dura was so exciting and unique because never before had two climbers of such high calibers joined forces to work on completing a rock climb together.

 Previously, no other route had given Ondra as much trouble as Dura Dura. Soon he was calling iteven harder than Change—that is it say, hard 5.15c. Ondra looked close to doing Dura Dura first, but then he had to leave Oliana. In December 2011, Sharma almost stuck the end of the crux 15-move sequence, and it actually seemed like he might be the one to get the coveted first ascent.

 By all accounts, it could’ve gone either way. Both climbers’ determination to do the route—first or second, it didn’t matter—soared.

 But ultimately, on February 8, two days after his 20th birthday, Ondra succeeded in doing the first ascent. It was a great moment not just for Ondra, but for sport climbing. The new generation is without a doubt here. And with Ondra at the helm, it will surely take the sport to new, incredible levels.

 With the pressure of doing the first ascent, of holding onto that torch, now lifted, Sharma suddenly found himself in a curious position. The so-called “competition” to be first to climb Dura Dura had never actually been a motivating force, he realized. Sharma was happy to discover that, even after Ondra had gotten the first ascent, he was actually more stoked than ever do Dura Dura. For himself. For all the reasons that most of us enjoy climbing. The passion just to go out and try hard and have fun grew for Sharma, and that was an affirmative thing for him to experience.

On March 23, Sharma clipped the chains for the second ascent. And so now that the saga of Dura Dura has come to a happy ending, we should take a moment to reflect on what this route has meant for climbing. We think it has revealed something core, something universal, about our sport. The strength of the climbing partnership. The genuine soulfulness we feel to get out and try a route at our personal limits. The simple pleasure of trying really hard. Hard hard. But above all, Dura Dura has been an amazing collaboration between the two best rock climbers of our time. And that was a motivating thing for the rest of us to watch. Thank you, Chris and Adam.

The last 13 days have involved a brief trip to Japan to compete at The North Face Cup, try Hydrangea (unrepeated), and film for Reel Rock Tour 8 with Brett Lowell (Big Up Productions) and Nick Rosen (Sender Films). I had taken a previous trip to Japan last year to compete in the TNF Cup and try Hydrangea. The outcome was first place at the comp and falling on the last move of Hydrangea. This failure staggered around in my head for the next year. Now I had my chance to return and finish it off.

The TNF Cup is the largest competition in Japan. It is organized by legendary climber, Yuji Hirayama. The set up involves multiple qualifying competitions throughout the fall/winter season, in various regions of Japan. The qualifying competitors then move to the final event at Yuji’s home gym, Base Camp, in Iruma. There were 50+ of Japan’s strongest male and female climbers, awaiting their chance at the final. 

Day 1 involved the qualifying round. There were 8 set boulders that we had to try and complete within an hour. I was able to send 6 out of the 8, putting me in 8th, and a spot in semi-finals (they take 20).

Day 2 was the semi-final round. There were 8 set problems that we had to complete within an hour. I was able to send all 8, tieing for first with Japanese climber Ray Sugimoto. The final was going to be difficult. Top Japanese climbers Ray Sugimoto (podium result at multiple World Cups), Tsukuru Hori (1st place at World Cup in Canmore, Canada), and Keita Mogaki were in. I felt strong from semis’ and ready for the final round.

The Final round was a couple hours after semi-finals. The format was 3 problems, 2 minutes, and point per hold scoring. It was process of elimination meaning that we started with six climbers on problem one, four went to two, and the final two battled it out on the last problem. I managed the only ascent of problem one. Problem two was different. There was a heinous first move intro dyno, leading to a tenuous traverse and into a finishing dyno. I knew the first two climbers did not stick the dyno, based off of crowd reaction (it went quiet for a while). I knew all that I had to do was stick the dyno and I was in for the last problem. The dyno ended up being very difficult. After a few tries, I stuck it and then fell on the traverse. Ray flashed the dyno and made it a couple moves further than me on the traverse. We advanced to the last problem. This one was powerful down low on pinches and finished with delicate tension moves on giant sloping volumes. I was able to keep it together and flash the problem. If Ray were to send it, we would go into a super final. He got far on the problem, but was unable to complete it. It was a good battle. Ray is a very talented climber. Podium: 1st Daniel Woods, 2nd Ray Sugimoto, 3rd Tsukuru Hori

One objective was out of the way, but I still had Hydrangea on my mind. This boulder was established by Japanese climber Dai Koyomada. It went unrepeated for 8 years. The climbing style is viscious, ascending a 40 foot, near horizontal ceiling on two finger pockets and small incut crimps. In total, there are 17 moves. The beginning is 6 moves of v12 on two finger micro pockets. The remaining 11 moves are v13 with powerful spans between small crimps. The finish involves a strenuous double toe hook position, which allows you to compress these two, non positive flat edges together. After, you keep the tension, go to a left hand quarter pad edge, and cross through right hand to a jug hueco. I fell on this end section 7+ times from the beginning. This trip I felt stronger than last year, but the conditions were miserable. Horizontal snow blew the 25 degree F air around us, turning everything numb. This was the first time I felt hindered by the cold. My hands were numb and not working. I would start cramping half way through the climb, before everything shut down, and I became frozen in place. I spent tons of time just getting warm enough to try, and then it became a race of defeating paralyzation. 

I only had two days to try Hydrangea. Beside the competition and Hydrangea, the main objective of the trip was to film Yuji Hirayama and I’s segment in Reel Rock Tour 8. This limited our time in Shiobara. I felt so much pressure to complete this line. After thinking about something for a year, you really want to return back and do it. Impossible conditions or not, I wanted to do this rock climb. 

On day 1, I got close, but fell on the last move a few times. The conditions were just too bad to function. My muscles failed, skin failed, and energy diminished. I knew tomorrow was my last day. If I really wanted it, I would have to overcome this situation. Day 2 began with perfect conditions. Things were already looking good. I arrived to the boulder, warmed up, and began trying. My skin was wrecked from the previous day. I rapid fired out tries, but was unable to get through the beginning. Fatique started to set in. I decided to rest for an hour and wait for the moment. The sun went down and a breeze started blowing through the valley. I felt the adrenaline enter my system and got psyched. I knew that this was my window to do the climb. I went back into the cave and climbed the moves as I had rehearsed in my head during my rest period. It felt cold and sticky. I got to the final toe hook section and felt good. I was able to maintain tension and climb through to the jug. I just completed the 2nd ascent of Hydrangea (v15). Relief settled in, my purple hands soon turned red, and now I could mentally relax. I love getting this feeling in climbing. How everything adds up to one moment, then the process starts all over again. The feeling is addictive, which makes climbing so exhilarating. Rollfilm captured the ascent on video and same with the Reel Rock crew.

The rest of the trip involved hanging out with one of my icons, Yuji Hirayama. This guy does it all and at a very high level. He has positive energy and is always psyched. We completed the filming, then headed home. I learned a lot this trip in Japan. The culture is very organized, respectful, and motivated. 

To encompass failure, accept it, and learn from it, will open your world to what is possible.

Thanks to The North Face, Sanuk, La Sportiva, Petzl, Organic Bouldering Mats, and The REEL ROCK Tour.

 -Daniel Woods

Photo credit: eddiegianelloniuncut.com

We’ve had many inquiries regarding the songs featured in this year’s REEL ROCK Film Tour. As requested, here is the line up of talented artists we’ve worked with on the RR7 films.

La Dura Dura

1. Places by Bedrockk 

2. Timelapse Tower by Abel Okugawa

3. Then Up and Shore by Causeyoufair

4. Into the Sunlight by Cinematique

5. Into the Sun by Powerlust is Everything

6. Step Lively by Okai Musik

7. Illusion of Choice by Gramatik

8. Cross Country by Abel Okugawa

9. Ringtone #3 by Emil Hewitt

10. Symphony by Alexandre Gardic

11. Temana by Uncle Rafa

12. Shanti by Break Science

13. Japanese Parisian by Aria Rostami

14. Believe in Yourself by Brown Rice Family

15. Choices by Abel Okugawa

16. Winds by Abel Okugawa

17. Rhodes Repeat by Andreas Beats

18 Burn Down by Powerlust is Everything

19. A Rural Place by Talvihorros

20. Greatest by The Truthseekers

21 Runnaway by Abel Okugawa

Honnold 3.0

1. Crime Pays by Bear Hands

2. I Turn On by Slam Donahue

3. L&R by Alexandre Gardic

4. How to be Cool by Slam Donahue

5. Marzo by The OO-Ray

6. Body Without Organs by Swimming

7. Menenlik by Maximilian DeArmon

8. Tall Trees by Bear Hands

9. Son by Ludwig Persik

10. Milk by Abel Okugawa

11. Nylon by Wil Bolton

12. Deepr by M. Ostermeier 

13. This is All by Slam Donahue

14. Palimpsests by The OO-Ray

15. High Definition by Fort Lean

16. Approaching Sumeru by Abel Okugawa

17. Pretending to Have a Heart Attack by Swimming 

18. Con Song by Slam Donahu

The Shark’s Fin

1. This Way Comes by Ki: Theory

2. Ares by Emancipator

3. Broken Mirrors by Chromatics

4. Pulse Again by Philip Sheppard

5. Moon by Little People

6. Mission by Beats Antique

7. The Daydream by Tycho

8. Every Single Prayer by UNKLE

9. Make it Good by Fink

10. Heikki by Tor

11. Conversations At The End of The World by Kishi Bashi

12. Iceland by Philip Sheppard

Wide Boyz

1. Bad Boys by Luke Reynolds

2. Slow Grind by Jett Craze

3. Little Yiddish by Being Hero

4. Offwidth by O-Dub

5. Jerusalem by Donnie Mortimer

6. Under the Sun by The Paper Stars

7. Super Long Smash by Chris Hall

 8. Cliff Love by Jett Craze

9. Just Another Love Song by Jett Craze

10. Being Hero by Being Hero

As a creaky 38-year old, I daydream of reincarnation in the form of Lebron on a 50-point playoff night, or Messi scoring 5 goals in a Champions league battle.  But no vision comes close to Alex Honnold soloing 7,000 vertical feet of the sheerest, most exposed rock on earth in an 18-hour period, knocking over the Lower-48’s three biggest rock faces in less time than it takes most parties to get to the ¼ mark of El Capitan.

In scaling El Cap, Watkins and Half Dome in perfect style, Alex incorporated 50 years of the greatest advancements in Yosemite climbing, bringing together big wall techniques, hard free climbing, bold free soloing, and speedy link-ups into one grand event that, in my opinion, is the greatest climbing achievement in the history of the universe. And given what we know about Alex, it all seemed so… predictable.

Over the past year we’ve been filming with climbing’s newest celebrity, documenting his journey — from the awkward savant who spent his non-climbing hours alone reading Dostoyevsky in his van, to the guy from 60 Minutes with billions of facebook fans who still reads Russian classics in his van, but now usually with a lady at his side.

We set out this filming project (provisionally titled “Honnold 3.0”) asking one big question:  how would fame and celebrity affect Alex in his pursuit of the world’s boldest free solos?  Because let’s face it, he is famous not for his ability to dunk over 7 foot giants, or for his golden left foot, but rather for his ability to scale the world’s steepest walls without a rope, facing certain death should he slip at any point, for hours on end, and all with a boyish charm that has us truly convinced he believes that what he does is “no big deal.”  Its one thing to shoot hoops for the wrong reason. It’s quite another to free solo.  

We’ve seen Alex go through some ups and downs over the year, at times feeling hostage to the on-line chatter and digital philosophers pontificating in 4th grade English about how, when and where he is going to die.  We watched him disappear for months in the boulders of the Sierra to “get stronger,” dragging his butt on ridiculous sit-down cave boulder problems in an effort to build up his core.  We saw him journey with friends to far away countries in pursuit of potential big walls to rival Yosemite.  He climbed crystalline granite in Mexico, alpine walls in Peru, limestone in Morocco and China, and cliffs all across Europe.  

And though he seemed to lose his way a few times, when he came back to Yosemite for the prime May season, it was clear that everything was going as planned.  Back together with his girlfriend after a 5-month separation, Alex was bounding through El Cap meadow with the boyish step of a kid in a candy store – specifically the kid who gets to eat whatever the hell he wants in that candy store, everyday. His core training on the small boulders, his time spent on foreign rock learning how to climb in different conditions, his obsessive day-in, day-out rock crushing everywhere he went this past year, not to mention the years of his young life logged on the Yosemite granite, was all in preparation for this. 

Alex immediately teamed up with Yosemite’s other demi-god, Tommy Caldwell, to free climb the Big Three in a day — an historic achievement in itself.  He then went on to speed solo the 2,200 foot Half Dome in 1 hour 22 minutes. Another day, he casually free soloed the West Face of El Capitan, making it clear that he is able to treat Yosemite’s massive walls the way many of us treat our local boulders — a place to play around, get stronger, run laps and have fun.

And then came the main event.

Walking through plans with Alex, it quickly became clear that he had been strategizing for the triple solo for a long time, and his calculations were precise. In order to avoid the summer heat while maximizing the long days, he would start Watkins at 4 pm in the shade, top out at sunset, hike to Tioga pass, drive the hour to El Cap meadow, jump on The Nose just after dark, solo through the night and top out pre-sunrise, run down the East Ledges, drive to the stables, hike the Death Slabs at sunrise and climb Half Dome in the morning before the shade would hit him.  Sitting in the meadow, listening to him talk through the details, it starts to sound pretty damn logical.  Until you look up.  El Cap through the night solo?  Start Watkins at 4 and top out by sunset?!  Solo Half Dome after climbing 5000 feet through the night?!!   Is this guy crazy?!!!

In order to film the climb, we began calling the Monkeys, who, it must be said, all have that same locals-view of Yosemite where preposterous things can be done in exceedingly short times.  Sean “Stanley” Leary, who has starred in more than one Reel Rock show and is now honing his wall shooting skills, would go to the top of El Cap, rap in to the great roof to meet Alex at 1 am, jug out with him shooting the last 600 feet of the wall, hike down the ledges and up to the base of Half Dome, filming the whole way (he stuck it).  Cheyne Lempe would aid solo up to the boot flake and shoot from 12 - 1 in the morning as Alex chimney-ed Texas flake, traversed the bolt ladder, soloed the boot flake and disappeared into darkness off the King Swing (Cheyne stuck it).  Colin Delehaney, Kyle Berkompas and Alik Berg were positioned around the valley with a RED, 5Ds and 7Ds to capture long shots and time-lapses of Alex on each formation  (Stuck it, stuck it, stuck it). The uber-fit Ben Ditto and I would rap in on Watkins, hike out with Alex, drive him to the meadow with his girlfriend Stacey, see him off on El Cap then meet him at top of Half Dome for the zig-zags and final summit shots. (We stuck it, but I am a bit sore).  Throw in footage from Mikey Schaeffer who’d filmed a practice run with Alex on Watkins and helped with logistics, and we would have an impressive document of a historic event.  

When the climb began, things went predictably smooth.  The thing with Alex is — and this sounds cliché, but its true – when his mind is set on something, nothing stops him.

Example #1: It rained hard for seven hours till 9 pm the night before he went up on the triple.  We’d all decided his climb wouldn’t be happening. But Alex just calmly said, “Lets wait and see, things dry up here surprisingly quickly.”  The next morning by 8 AM he was out at the Manure Pile feeling the rock, and he decided that, while a bit damp, it would be good enough for climbing later that day.  And so he stayed on task.  As it turned out, there were some wet spots on all three routes, but apparently they didn’t bother him much.

Example #2: In the middle of his link-up, at 9:30 PM, after scrambling up the first pitch of El Cap in the dark, he realized that he left his chalk bag in the car.  Instead of wasting an hour sprinting down to the meadow, he yelled “FUUUUUUCCCK” at the top of his lungs, then calmly began soloing the damp Nose by headlamp.  Eight pitches up he passed some aid climbers who were on a multi-day assault of the Nose.  They happily gave Alex a chalk bag to continue his journey.  

Arriving at the finish line atop Half Dome at almost 11 AM the following day, Alex was as exhausted as I’d ever seen him.  He admitted that this climb required everything he had and then some, and that “No Big Deal” Honnold had finally found something that was indeed a big deal.

No less than 50 tourists on the summit recognized the 60 Minutes guy and lined up one after the other to shake his hand and pose for photos.  It was a perfect finish for a guy who has become world-famous for doing the thing that he is most driven to do.  He made climbing history in Yosemite, but the first to congratulate him were people who really had no idea what he was up to. They did understand one thing though:  Alex Honnold is someone special.

- Pete Mortimer