Dave Graham
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David Ethan Graham (born November 10, 1981 in Maine) is a professional rock climber. Professing to enjoy bouldering the most, he is one of the elite sport climbers and boulderers of his generation. Graham repeats classic routes/problems as well as puts up cutting-edge first ascents. Graham is known for his stance against grade-inflation and for his strong anti-chipping ethic.
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[edit] Rumney
- On 2000-04-01, Graham had the first ascent (FA) of The Fly (9a/5.14d or 8B/+) in Rumney, New Hampshire. Rumney is where Graham initially trained and established himself as an elite rock climber with his two friends Luke Parady and Joe Kinder. The three youths were instrumental in each others development as climbers. Graham also established some of the other hard testpieces at Rumney, such as China Beach (5.14b), Jaws (5.14b/c), and Livin' Astro (5.14c) at the Waimea crag.
- Known for his finger strength, Graham (and Parady) initially would be able to rely a lot on this strength to do routes, while they developed their other skills. (Malcolm Smith has stated that "no world class climber has weak fingers but many get away with weaker bodies.") Graham has since continued to refine his technique and has a rather distinctive climbing style. For example, in the article about Daniel Woods in the September 2006 issue of Climbing, Kinder remarks that Woods is a very powerful climber and climbs squarely with the rock, and one does not see any of those "sassy Dave Graham drop-knees." In a 2005 interivew, Charlotte Durif stated "Le style désarticulé de Dave Graham est un spectacle fou. Il y est tellement généreux et sincère." This translates roughly as "the contortional style/method of Dave Graham is a crazy (in an amazing and fantastic way) spectacle/vision. It is so/really rich and sincere/well thought out."
[edit] Off to Europe
After high school, Graham left for Europe in 2000. He would subsequently spend much of his time climbing at different locales in Europe, with brief return visits to US climbing sites.
- On 2001 May 21, Graham repeated the route Action Directe in the Frankenjura, Germany. Action Directe (FA by Wolfgang Güllich in September 1991) was the world's first 9a, and considered by some to be the benchmark for the grade.
- On 2002-01-30, Graham repeated Dreamtime (8B+/V14, FA by Fred Nicole) in Cresciano, Switzerland. It had once been considered the benchmark 8C/V15.
- On 2002 July 12, Graham had the FA of the sport route Ba, ba black sheep (8c+) in Céüse, France. This line is near Realization.
- On 2003 Apr 26, Graham repeated New Base Line (8B+, FA by Bernd Zangerl on 2002 Dec 12) in Magic Wood, Switzerland.
- On 2005 January 9, Graham made the first ascent of The Story of 2 Worlds (8C/V15) in Cresciano, Switzerland by adding a sit-start to the 2003 boulder problem The Dagger (8B+/V14) by Toni Lamprecht. The second ascent of The Dagger part 1 was by Graham in December 2004 (041219). Later on 050301, Lamprecht also added a different sit-start to The Dagger. Lamprecht's sit-start begins on the right of the boulder while Graham's sit-start begins on the left. Lamprecht feels that Graham's Story is harder than his new The Dagger SD. Upon completion of Story, Graham proclaimed it may be the new standard for 8C/V15. (See Dreamtime. The Dagger is actually on the backside of the same boulder that holds Dreamtime.) Graham believed that bouldering was suffering from grade inflation. Subsequently, on his 8a.nu scorecard, he downgraded many of the boulders which he had climbed. He further explained that these are "[his] grades, not the real grades, not the world grades," stressing the subjective and relative nature of grading.
- Then, on 2005 Mar 07, Graham made the first ascent of From Dirt Grows The Flowers in Chironico, Switzerland, another possible 8C/V15. After completing this problem, he stated that he is as confused as ever about grading, despite his earlier proclamations.
- On 2005 April 13, Graham repeated Bain de Sang (9a in St Loup, Switzerland, FA by Fred Nicole in 1993). Bain de Sang was the world's second 9a. The route took Graham only three tries so despite not downgrading it, he asks whether it may actually be 8c+.
- For about 6 years, Dave Graham lived the expatriate life and climbed in Europe, putting up many other hard boulders, such as Kings of Sonlerto (8B+ in Ticino, Switzerland, FA on 2005 Nov 11). On 051108, this culminated in the first ascent of Coup de Grace in Ticino. He proposed a grade of 9a+/5.15a for this 80-foot sport route (see Realization).
- On 051207, Graham repeated The Mandala sit-start (aka Mandalion, 8B FA by Tony Lamiche) in Bishop, CA.
[edit] Hueco
- In the winter of 2006, Graham visited the bouldering mecca of the Hueco Tanks, TX and proceeded to repeat many of its hard problems as well as established many new lines. Descriptions of some of this trip can be found on Ben Moon's blog.
- On 2006 Jan 20, Graham repeated Esperanza (8B+/V14, FA by Fred Nicole). On 2006 Feb 1, he then repeated Terre de Sienne (8B+/V14, FA by Fred Nicole). Next, on 2006 Feb 06, he repeated El Techo de los tres B (8B+/V14, FA by Fred Nicole) and grabbed the second ascent of Diabolique (8B/V13, FA by Chris Sharma). He also fell at the top of the problem on his flash attempt of Slashface (FA by Fred Nicole) which Graham graded as 8B/V13, and subsequently did it on his second try on 2006 Feb 11. And on 2006 March 11, he had the FA of The Evangalion (8B), which is up the Slashface boulder. Sharma and Graham also worked on a new project together called The Land Before Time (8B), which saw its first ascent on 2006/02/17 by Graham. He was also trying the Nicole problem Terremer (V15), which is a logical link-up of Diaphanous Sea (V12) and Terre de Sienne, when he tore a flapper on his finger and so could no longer continue working the problem.
- Graham took a few months off in the summer of 2006 to nurse a climbing injury.
- On 2006/09/13, hopefully indicative that his injury has healed with some osteopathy, Graham had the FA of Scarred for Life in Fionnay, Switzerland. It is a 30-move roof boulder problem, which he graded 8B+.
[edit] Spain
- On 2006/12/07, Graham had the third ascent of A Muerte (8c+\9a in Siurana, Spain, FA by Rich Simpson on 2006/03/01 [1], second ascent by Edu Marin). This occurred during a trip to Spain, where many elite climbers, including Chris Sharma, Dani Andrada, Yuji Hirayama, and Edu Marin were working on routes. This trip was most notable for Marin's and Sharma's repeats of La Rambla Original (FA by Ramón Julián Puigblanque and see Realization).
[edit] Trivia
- Dave Graham is 179 cm and about 63 kg.
- Born 10 November 1981, Dave is a Scorpio Rooster.
- Has one younger brother, Isaac, and one much younger half-sister, Eleanor.
- Likes to ski, but does not often get the chance to do so.
- Introduced to gym climbing in 1997 by a friend from his track team, he was sending 5.14a after a year.
- In the spring of 1998, Graham climbed his first 5.14a, The Present (FA by Boone Speed).
