Who is/was the purest climber?

MattH: The person you are referring to is Paul Preuss. Though, as 'pure' as he was in philosophy and, mostly, in practice, he did use a rope to descend on occasion and even used pitons once or twice--so maybe no one is fully pure!!! In addition to the biography of Preuss in German referenced earlier in this thread, there is now a good one in English as well, Paul Preuss, Lord of the Abyss by David Smart---well worth reading.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Preuss's German biographer as one of the best examples of 'purism'--Reinhold Messner himself. He pursued very pure ethics in the Dolomites, Mt. Blanc and the Himalaya, so was multi-dimensional in that respect.

The purest climber might be Jesus.  
I mean, he probably got the first ascent of heaven. Probably the first free ascent too. Everyone else seems to use aid to get up that climb. I hear that he could also walk on water, so he was probably a pretty good water sports guy.

I never met him, so I can’t confirm these things, but have been told it’s all in a book.  
The book could be a fictional story though..

Corwrote:

The purest climber might be Jesus…. I hear that he could also walk on water, so he was probably a pretty good water sports guy.

I never met him, so I can’t confirm these things, but have been told it’s all in a book.  
The book could be a fictional story though..

I met him once.  In a class IV hole.  Good guy.

My vote goes to Rocrates for his 1 cam lead.

Cory Nwrote:

My vote goes to Rocrates for his 1 cam lead.

I think it was a tri-cam too!

Corwrote:

The purest climber might be Jesus.  
I mean, he probably got the first ascent of heaven. Probably the first free ascent too. Everyone else seems to use aid to get up that climb. I hear that he could also walk on water, so he was probably a pretty good water sports guy.

I never met him, so I can’t confirm these things, but have been told it’s all in a book.  
The book could be a fictional story though..

Mid Eastern fable! Jesus was definitely not a white boy! 

I'd like to have him around to turn water into wine though.

Mark Pilatewrote:

The purest climber is the one having the least fun

I know  some old school climbers who immediatly lower off and pull the rope when they fall, they consider it unethical to scope out  the route.  Maybe its the belayer who is having the least fun. As they spend hours on the same route  not making progress.

Apparently Google struggles with purity! 

Pierre de St Croixwrote:

Mid Eastern fable! Jesus was definitely not a white boy! 

I'd like to have him around to turn water into wine though.

I hesitate to ask but what does Jesus not being white have anything to do with the post you were quoting? 

Big problem in the design of this thread, trying to determine objective rankings based on a subjective, vaguely/barely defined term “purity”.

anyways, the foolishness of the OP in this thread contrarywise reminds me of the genius of this article:

“There’s no cheating in [adventure] climbing, only lying.”

Purest climber is probably some middle aged father/mother out there somewhere who used to climb a ton before settling into a life of meaningful adult responsibilities to their community, but they still dream of big 5.11 alpine adventures and get out to enjoy low-risk 5.8 mini-adventures at the crag, and enjoy it 1000% for the 1000% of the adventure, and will spray about it endlessly but only when requested.

Sam Dwrote:

The purest style is always, naked, chalkless, shoeless, on-sight, first ascent, free solo.  Anything else is cheating.

It always comes back to this of course, the above is the ideal, but there are certainly compromises most of the "pure" crowd engages in, I wouldn't call it "cheating" per se, just "compromises".

I think it's worth exploring pure climbing cerebrally at least but it is much more rewarding in real life.

I enjoyed hearing about the "no rappelling" rule! Very "pure" indeed.

MattHwrote:

I recall hearing of some early climber whose name escapes me that considered any climb that relied on mechanical descent (rappelling as opposed to a walkoff or downclimb) to be invalid by the rules of free climbing. 

Siegfried Herford (1891-1916), a superb British climber of German descent, was a staunch advocate of downclimbing; he wrote a treatise on "The Doctrine of Descent" in 1913. He graduated with one of the first degrees in aeronautical engineering.

I knew Jan and Herb Conn, and they were downclimbing enthusiasts who, at least early on, used a sixty foot rope.

A V wrote:

If you hung on a hanging belay at any point of the route, the route is immediately 5.XX A0. If there is no ledge to belay from, you must simul climb.

I vaguely remember Dean Potter having followed this style with Steph Davis at some point. 

Parachute Adamswrote:

It is supported unless he has no contact with them. No conversations, no words of encouragement. You get the gist.

The fact that they are there is support. If something bad happens they will be there for you. And you, the "unsupported," will be quite grateful.

Do you want to talk un-supported? Ed Viesturs Solo, no 02 ascents of 8K peaks. Or read Tasker and Boardman's accounts of their Changabang adventure. Or how about a Gato class submarine operating alone in the China Straight and Sea of Japan in WWII? That was like being on the far side of the moon back then. 

Kristian Solemwrote:

The fact that they are there is support. If something bad happens they will be there for you. And you, the "unsupported," will be quite grateful.

Do you want to talk un-supported? Ed Viesturs Solo, no 02 ascents of 8K peaks. Or read Tasker and Boardman's accounts of their Changabang adventure. Or how about a Gato class submarine operating alone in the China Straight and Sea of Japan in WWII? That was like being on the far side of the moon back then. 

“In a career full of superhuman stories, Charlie Porter’s 1975 climb on Baffin Island’s Mt. Asgard stands out.“

Yeah but Charlie quit climbing, which now that I think about it, isn't necessarily a disqualifier. The Porter legend is pretty cool.

The purest climber would be climbing even if she were the only climber on the earth? So that eliminates 99.999999999999% of us all.

Preuss is a good one!

I think John Gill might be right there with Preuss.

Cherokee Nuneswrote:

Yeah but Charlie quit climbing, which now that I think about it, isn't necessarily a disqualifier. The Porter legend is pretty cool.

The purest climber would be climbing even if she were the only climber on the earth? So that eliminates 99.999999999999% of us all.

Preuss is a good one!

I think John Gill might be right there with Preuss.

Gill rehearsed on TR and used chalk. He also trained at a time when training wasn’t cool or sporting. 

Cherokee Nuneswrote:

Yeah but Charlie quit climbing, which now that I think about it, isn't necessarily a disqualifier. The Porter legend is pretty cool.

The purest climber would be climbing even if she were the only climber on the earth? So that eliminates 99.999999999999% of us all.

Preuss is a good one!

I think John Gill might be right there with 

How would you know he quit before he passed in 2014? Think he told anyone?

I seem to remember James Pearson refusing to use crash pads on an x-rated route because he thought it diminished the send. 

Tradibanwrote:

I seem to remember James Pearson refusing to use crash pads on an x-rated route because he thought it diminished the send. 

Can people who headpoint be considered "pure climbers"?