Jimmy Webb

Hometown: Maryville, Tennessee
In it: 6 years
Age: 22
Proudest sends: Jade (V14/15), Rocky Mountain National Park; Genetic (V11), Horse Pens 40
Sponsors: La Sportiva, Verve Clothing, Organic, Metolius Chalk, World Cup Climbing Holds

For those that think the best climbers live in Colorado or California, meet Jimmy Webb. At 22, this good ol’ Tennessee boy is crushing in Colorado country, leaving no boulder unclimbed. His most recent ascent of Jade (only its seventh) and suggestion for downgrading the problem has Webb making waves in the climbing community. Not to mention his guerrilla sending tour of the West’s best problems, including The Automator (V13) and Top Notch (V13), both of Rocky Mountain National Park. This western trip gives Webb the chance to get on some new rock, which he says is an inspiration for him to climb even harder. As comp season kicks in, Webb’s busy bringing climbing back to its roots with just a guy and a rock. For all you Southern haters who say West is best, Webb only encourages that line of thinking. All he can say is, “More for us!”

How does rock out West compare to Southern sandstone? I would say the rock out West is much more aggressive. Southern sandstone is soft, comfortable, and mostly blank. Out West, you tend to have all sorts of holds to get up the wall, so if you have the tendon strength, you got it. This is normally not the case in the South. You have to understand the subtleties of how to climb on the stone.

What did your pre-Colorado training plan consist of? Basically just a lot of climbing. Brion [Voges] and I spent many, many days in the gym climbing on the hardest problems we could set. I had also purchased a Moon Board, so I spent a few days on that, along with some intensive ab work.

You recently said that James Litz’s Genetic (V11) at Horse Pens 40 was your most difficult problem. How would you describe your personal climbing style? Yeah, Genetic was really hard for me. It’s a bunchy one-mover of two poor holds, with a bad smear, to a decent edge. Most definitely one of the more frustrating problems I’ve touched. As for my style of climbing, I tend to enjoy more powerful problems. Good holds far apart, or compression boulders on bad holds. Love that stuff!

Once you crush Colorado, where to next? Well, as of recently I’ve decided to cut my trip here a bit short. I’m psyched to get home and hang out with friends. I’d say a mid-summer trip to the Red River Gorge is in order!

What are your thoughts about Jade and downgrading it? Jade is a very specific boulder, and I believe that it fit me really well. As for the grade, I called it v14 mainly because I felt it was V14. I have done a few harder lines at V13 this trip such as The Automator and Top Notch, and Jade did not feel much harder to me. It did not represent what I would think V15 should be. Either way, it’s an amazing boulder, and I’m really psyched to have climbed it.

What do you do when you’re not climbing? Skateboard, help out at our local climbing gym, The Tennessee Bouldering Authority, and just chill out with friends.