Paranoia

Question: What use is a rock climber with no fingers?
Answer: No use whatsoever.

Pete the Radness may well come face to face with the reality of such questions if his fingers do not soon evolve into the steel talons thjat the radness seems to demand. You see, the Radness cannot be restrained for long, and with Pete's fingers stretched to the limit of cellular connectivity, it seems that somethings going to blow. Lets hope not. Surely Pete has not used up a lifetime of radness in just a few years, but then again...having seen him climb, maybe he has.

Quote of the day:
"I'm all out of Pete."

Growing the Radness into Madness and Badness with not a touch of Sadness

Today the Radness was pushed towards madness by the howling of the tempestuous winds, but the Radness was too strong and prevailed. In fact, apparently the Radness is "stronger than Death himself". Which is pretty darn strong. Amidst the wind, the Radness had the grace to touch the top of several blessed problems - Pete's SS (with the obligatory Bristol Heel) put up by a Pete with lesser Radness, Trifecta Left V8(done with more technique than you can poke a stick at) and Basilisk V8 (originally climbed by Derek but recently claimed by Seb as 'Porky') which, just in case you were wondering, he campused.

Quote of the day:

Paddles-That suspended boulder might even be radder than Pete.
Pete-Steady on.

All in all, it is clear that the Radness is pretty rad. Could he be any radder? Maybe just a fraction. Like if he could actually kill retards just by looking at them and thinking 'you are a retard I wish you'd die'.

How to get the Radness Tip #37

If you see a bunch of hippies doing some stupid seance in the middle of a bouldering area what do you do? If you seek the Radness then of course you run naked through the middle of their circle and frolic in the pond of course! Get out there and frolic people!

The Radness enters Interstellar Overdrive

Today the Radness was especially rad. Despite his pale and sickly appearance he was able to crush the bejesus out of any holds sent his way. His bulbous forearms certainly came to the party and then left abruptly once the party couldn't get any louder. Apparently they'll be away for a while.

Pete managed to send his long-term project (and everybody elses long term project for that matter) at Flock Hill, naming it Interstellar Overdrive (after the Floyd track). It clocks in at a whopping V11 and is sure to be wanting a repeat for a while. Pete sent it in fine Pete the Radness style, shaking all the while, pretending to be using his feet but actually not, forgetting his sequence at the crucial moment and then just campusing and not letting go. Quote of the moment "I am infinitely strong".

Pete then declared his retirement for a two week radness-gestation period. But how long can you hold the radness down? Estimates of how long his hiatus will last range from four minutes to six days. What poor unfortunate set of holds will Pete bring the Radness to bear on next? Only time will tell...

How Rad is the Radness?

Here's how rad... according to the completely infallible website of wisdom 8a.nu, in the calendar year of 2006 Peter 'climbed' 132 boulder problems 7A (V6) or harder, most of them harder...That's more than one every three days. That is pretty friggin rad. When asked about taking time to rest The Radness replied "I can't rest, when I sleep I try and climb Powerlines and that problem is quite hard".

Okay so its not quite as rad as Dani Andrada's 1000 8a/8As, but that wasn't in a year, and at least Pete still has his girlfriend (hard luck Dani).

Genesis and Evolution of the Radness

From whence came the radness? As soon ask from whence came the light when only darkness abound! Instead rest easy with the knowledge that the radness is emergent and fueled by fires so bright as to blot out the sun itself.
The radness bursts forth in the guise of Peterkin, humble cello-playing gnome of Belmont. Peterkin set forth from his home in Belmont with microscopic powers, but it was not long before his journey led him into the psychedelic process of forearm maximisation. Thus Micro Pete becomes Macro Pete, and then as his fame ensues and his back grows flesh: Pete 'Teen Star' Allison. Soon, Peterkin's powers become so vast that he transcends himself and after brief periods known as Pete 'former teen star' Allison, Pete is meat, and Pete Pucia the world bears witness to the birth of Pete the Radness. Behold! As this photo proves, he even has detachable arms which he can send up the rock while he snarls from below.

Be warned: if they catch you at the hill trying to be radder than Pete then they'll send you home to mother in a cardboard box.

Photo: Mark Watson