Cory French, Mandala Sit

Cory French climbed The Mandala Sit Start (v13/14) today, using a method probably devised by Ethan Pringle (who came close to doing it before injuring his ankle/foot in a fall from high on the problem last year). The new method uses very different moves from the original sit start, starting by reaching up with the left hand to a small sharp sidepull and then spanning all the way across right to gain the undercling of the regular Mandala with the right hand. The third, and crux move of the sit involves controlling the swing while coming in with the left hand to the good crimp at the start of The Mandala. From there, the regular Mandala is climbed by keeping the undercling with the right and going up directly with the left hand to the flat edge high above. It's a method that will only work for those over a certain height, and Cory, being 6' 3" as well as very strong, found it not too bad and was close to linking these new moves of the sit into the normal start the same day he completed the latter, just last week!