TAGS

Josh Lowell Speaks Out and DPM Steps Up

posted by dpm on 04/02/2010

There are topics that blaze the internet forums from time to time that invoke our curiosity or cause us to wage an opinion one way or the next. That is exactly how everyone reacted to the Nalle and Chris Sharma debacle that has graced every climbing related forum in a multitude of languages across the globe.
 
DPM was no different. As inflammatory remarks were being made about both parties, DPM formulated an opinion, and while this topic was being  played out through reader’s comments, misconceptions were formed. As a responsible news medium, DPM must take responsibility for the direction of some of those misconceptions.
 
DPM had the opportunity to speak with Josh Lowell, the visionary behind Big Up, who has been busy shooting all week. Josh, who is a friend to Chris and who works with him first hand on a daily basis, cleared up some of the more murky details of First Round, First Minute, Jumbo Love and Chris’s future projects. After hearing his candid comments and gaining a better understanding of the situation,  DPM, and me specifically, would like to apologize for drawing the wrong conclusions about certain things pertaining the recent storm surrounding First Round, First Minute.
 
Firstly, according to Josh, Big Up had nothing to do with Chris approaching DPM about the bounty on Jumbo Love. According to Josh, our interpretation of the events was perceived wrong. After some email correspondence and a lengthy phone call, I am inclined to believe him.  As he explained it, Chris had put the better part of two years projecting the line, and his request for Ethan to stay off it, was between gentlemen. His request for us to remove the bounty was more to thwart any additional mental pressure than to dissuade attempts from other individuals.
 
Clearly, I was wrong about assuming that Jumbo Love was red tagged. Further, along in the post I said,

“He has a multitude of projects from China to Kentucky. Some he bolted, other were bolted at the hands of others. So why are all of these projects being red-tagged? Could it be that pressure from certain media groups is protecting some of the most spectacular routes in the world for Chris Sharma?"
 
My question, which was meant to create a healthy topic of discussion, struck a sour note with Josh who responded on his blog with this:
 
“No Matt, it could not be. First of all, there is no evil global media syndicate. It's me and my brother filming Chris on a few special lines. Secondly, "all these projects" are not being red-tagged, that is completely made up. “
 
As for the red-tags ?
 
 “Chris has never declared a project "closed," has never placed an actual red tag (a red sling tied to the first bolt to signify that the equipper doesn't want anyone else to try it), and has frequently gone out of his way to point other climbers to projects that he's left undone.” Josh continued.
 
Apparently, I was wrong to use the word "red-tag". None of Sharma’s, not even First Round, First Minute have a red-tag. The red –tag is a complete misnomer, and I was wrong to suggest that any of Chris’s routes were red-tagged. Chris’s request to keep Nalle off FRFM was nothing more than. . . uh, I’ll actually let Josh explain that.
 
“Chris invested two full climbing seasons into equipping and trying the line, living, breathing and dreaming it on and off for a year and a half. Again, we filmed him trying it and used footage of his attempts in our movie Progression. Again, people seemed to really enjoy getting a quick peak into the future. It was never "officially open" or "officially closed." Chris swapped belays and attempts with his regular climbing partners, Dani Andrada and Dave Graham, and they were excited for him to succeed on it, and to try the moves and help him refine beta. After months of effort, Chris got to the point where he was falling at the last hard move. He fell there over 20 times, thinking every attempt would be the one. When he realized that Nalle had flown in from Finland on a mission to try the route, he asked Nalle to give him some time to complete it first, and pointed Nalle to other short, hard projects he'd bolted. Nalle agreed. “
 
I apologize for the assumption that Chris’s projects were in fact red-tagged. Clearly asking Nalle to stay off his project was an isolated incident. As for drawing the conclusion that Big Up had anything to do with Chris’s decision, I will have to accept Josh’s word that he indeed is not the head of an” evil global media syndicate.”  One thing is for sure, when all the dust settles, the ascent of First Round, First Minute will be the most heavily anticipated footage ever recorded in climbing history.
 
I would like to thank the DPM readers. Most of you provided insightful remarks and continued a positive discussion around the topic of red-tagging. Particularly red-tagging projects that were at or near climbing’s imaginary glass ceiling of difficulty. Most of you did not see this post as an attack on Big Up, which it was not meant to be. However in retrospect, I see how it was misconstrued as such some. I believe that I speak for Nalle, Chris, and Big Up when I say that we hope that further discussions will revolve remain positive admirable side of climbing and less on the squabbles that sometimes taint our experience.