Peter Kamitses, 32 of Burlington,Vermont is one climber who has earned a sincere respect from the local climbers of Rumney, the Adirondaks, and the entire east-coast as a whole. With the upcoming Nor’Easter event put on by Eastern Mountain Sports, there seems to be a lot of hype surrounding the hard routes of Rumney, New Hampshire. I recently caught up with Pete after his hardest send China Glide 5.14d/9a.
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You climb a lot at Rumney, what is the attraction there?
I always love coming back to Rumney, the quality of the stone, excellent blend of power and technical wizardry required ...there are so many classic routes of all grades there as well as hard enough routes for just about any one to have a legit challenge. Plus the crews of locals whom I continue to climb with there are among the most real people I know.
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What are your thoughts on the 9a grade in the USA?
It seems a little strange to me that in a country this big, that has produced some of the best climbers in the world, that there are only a few routes graded 9a. Why are so many people scared to throw that grade on something that could reasonably be that hard?
People are worried what others will think if someone repeats their route and then downgrades it. Some climbers love to downgrade things just to boost their own ego by saying, "what? You thought that was hard? Nah...I just did it faster than anyone else so it couldn't be that hard." I think it is a pretty common thing for grades to get a bit bunched up at certain levels like how in Rifle everyone was scared to have their routes downgraded so there are a huge number of 5.13d's that cover a range of difficulty with some of them being regarded as pretty solid 5.14a. Decades ago everything got 5.9+ because people didn't think they could be climbing 5.10. America has always been a more conservative place than countries in Europe; it was founded by a bunch of Puritans no less.... so there you go. I think its interesting how some of the best American sport climbers who are also among the best in the world, are in top shape and do new routes at the top of their ability and then grade them no harder than the hardest routes from 15 years ago. What’s up with that? Where is the progression? I think giving a climb a sandbag grade can be just as much, (or more) of an ego-based thing than over grading.
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Is China glide 9a?
I don't have much experience on routes at the upper end of 5.14 so I'm not the best person to ask. It was definitely more than one notch above China Beach, which is considered benchmark 5.14b, so I felt like breaking the mold a bit, and giving it the 9th grade. Do I care if someone comes along does the second ascent and says its only 5.14c? Not at all. The personal challenge this route represented for me is the only thing I care about. It is an incredibly beautiful line and a pleasure to climb on. Tell me about the process of this route.
The process of this route goes back four years to June 2004 when I made the fourth ascent of China Beach. Originally I had to put over twenty days in just to climb the Beach and then a similar amount to do Livin' Astro. The last boulder problem of LA with the mono finger stack is one of the hardest moves at Rumney for me. So then I started trying the China Glide linkup last year and after a day or two had repeated China Beach but couldn't manage to send despite over a dozen days trying it through out the season. This spring after 5 more days I finally stuck that mono move to the arête and hung in there to finish it off. Basically I had the whole thing beyond wired and had to pretty much have China Beach feeling like 5.12a in order to send it.
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Have you tried JawsII?
I haven't tried Jaws II yet, I don't see much point until the humidity goes down a bit. Even though it’s totally not my style I am psyched to give it a whirl and see what it feels like.
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Who will repeat these route?
As far as climbers in this region I'm sure Vasya could do China Glide if he got psyched. Also Zeb Englberg could do it or Jaws if there was some kind of theorem proof waiting at the top. I don't know if either of them will want to however so my best hope is visiting climbers, and the Eastern Mountain Sports Nor’easter Event this September should provide just that.
See you at the Nor'Easter Pete!
Photos: David Vuono