Fourteen year old Rhys Langlands posts his intent with redpoint of The Force (F8b)
- Thursday 15th October 2015
Oct 15th; 2015
Rising Scottish climber, Rhys Langlands, has just posted his intent on his future climbing plans by redpointing The Force (F8b) at Brin Rock, Inverness-shire.
Rhys Langlands’s fifth ascent of The Force is remarkable not only because Rhys is just fourteen but his previous hardest route was F7b+!
Rhys Langlands on The Force (F8b). Photo Mike Webster of Spiral Out Pictures
Brin Rock, a south-facing crag above the B851 south of Inverness, has a mixture of sport and trad climbs as well as a number of boulders. More info can be found in the SMC Highland Outcrops Guide. Also, click through here for more on the bouldering.
Keen for a bit more info on the climbing at Brin Rock, The Force and Rhys’s future plans CLIMBER have been in touch with Rhys with a short Q&A:
Congrats on doing The Force – the fifth ascent (we understand) - how does that feel?
Climbing The Force has been an awesome experience! Working it and putting time and effort into has paid off and it feels very, very satisfying.
Firstly, can you tell us a bit about the crag, what it’s like to climb there and is there a predominant style of climbing?
The crag is a bit shorter than many and has quite a powerful bouldery style which I quite like.
Next, let’s talk specifically about the route; what is The Force like and how long did it take you to do it?
The Force has been my longest standing project but I first got on it in late August so not really that long ago! I had 5 work sessions on the route before I actually sent it.
Your hardest previous send was an F7b+ so that’s an astonishing big jump. How did that come about?
Well it wasn't really planned to skip so many grades but it just came about. I first started making a habit of sport climbing outdoors in July this year so that’s when I climbed my first 7b+ route. After that I decided to start projecting The Force and since then I have climbed it.
The Scottish scene seems pretty vibrant at the moment. Does that inspire you and perhaps you could share with us some of the Scottish climbers that have inspired you the most?
I have been inspired by a lot of climbers. Robbie Phillips has done a lot of hard outdoor climbing this year with some hard ascents in the Alps such as the Eiger. I also look up to climbers like Malcolm Smith and Dave MacLeod as they have pushed the boundaries of Scottish climbing and made hard first ascents such as Echo wall (Dave) and Gutbuster (Malcolm) and I find that inspiring.
What do you think you’ll concentrate on next?
I will always concentrate on climbing hard projects outside on boulders and on sport but I also, enjoy the competition scene very much so I will strive to achieve the best results I can and the goals I have set myself.
To watch a short video featuring Rhys on The Force click through below…
Finally, thanks to Mike Webster at Spiral Out Pictures for the use of the photos and the video.