Alex Biale, Rastaman Vibration

This news has been covered elsewhere I know, but I want to give props to Alex Biale for his ascent of Rastaman Vibration (v12) on the Grandpa Peabody on December 15. It is interesting to note that, although this line was first climbed by Jared Roth back in 2002, it had never before been repeated!

Indeed, Rastaman Vibration begins with one of the hardest moves at the 'Milks, a big move from a miserable pinch to gain a tiny right-hand crimp, feet swinging. Most people now know this move from images or video of Paul Robinson's sit-start to the line, Lucid Dreaming (v15/16?). However, not even Paul climbed Rastaman Vibration before completing the sit. After sticking that super-low percentage start, the upper section heads up the wall and super-highball slab (vibration territory) with dicey low-angle smearing and sloping grainy palm-moves twenty feet up. If you were aiming for the sit, would you really want to do that part twice?

There were probably less than half a dozen people who ever seriously considered a repeat, as the opening crux was so hard that almost no-one could do it and the handful of elite that did stick the move didn't feel like completing the line! Even so, we must thank Jared for his Rasta vision: Though proving one of the least popular lines in the Buttermilks, Rastaman Vibration nevertheless pushed bouldering to a new level and was a significant step toward the ultimate challenge that followed.