Megos

Back in 2008(?) Liam 'Leeroy' Desroy almost completed a riduclously hard piece of climbing in the UK's temple of link ups Parisella's Cave. The Cave has obvious potentially for such ridiculously sustained bits of climbing but most the beasts of the UK probably aren't good enough and they definitely don't care enough to put the time into doing any of them. Leeroy fell off the last moves of the In Hell/Clyde link up before he became perennially injured and lost interest. This would have been the hardest problem of it's type in the UK linking a tough endurance 8A+ into a short stopper 8A+. Leeroy was definitely ahead of his time there and it's a terrible shame he didn't finish it. Fast forward to 2016 and a fortunate bit of bad weather forced the blonde German global wad that is Alex Megos into Parisella's for two days in a row. Alex's performances have appeared to suggest he is right at the top of the tree certainly in sport climbing. First guy to onsight 9a, Biographie in 3 goes (!!!) and Action Directe in 2 hours. I had to see him in the Cave so i headed over Friday evening. By the time i got there he'd already done Malc's Start in the Pass and Directors Cut in the Cave. He then did the second ascent of East Coker in a few goes before finishing with Louis Armstrong (in a few goes). This was different to other wads I'd seen in there over the years. Usually even proper beasts haven't totally destroyed the place on their first session as there is a lot to learn and a lot of tricky beta. The difference with Alex was that these were not hard problems for him, it didn't matter if he hadn't found the tricks or the most efficient beta as he was well within his comfort zone on these tricky 8Bs. I did a little rain dance that night and luckily he was forced back into there the next day. What could a man with that much strength and fitness do to a place like that. He racked his brain and decided linking Louis Armstrong into Halfway House would be suitable challenge for the day and of course he did it with minimal drama. This is what the top level looks like now folks, all the strong people (some of them world class) I'd seen climb over the years seemed somewhat behind the pace compared to the level Alex was demonstrating. Anyway if he makes it back one day Louis Cut could do with a sit start. The hardest option being the start to In Hell (hard 7C+). There's certainly plenty of potential 8B+ and 8Cs in there but they will probably never get done. What about In Hell/Louis A/Bonnie Extension, 8C+ anybody?. And Alex you are forgiven for jibing LPT, we'll put that down to youthful blip (and going down on a gop freezing day). You're welcome to marry my sister anyday.

Here he is on Louis Cut: