Author: Alexander Ledovskikh, a.k.a. Medun, Netherlands

Eugeny Krivosheitsev

As I promised, I continue publication of photos from my Crimean trip. Today I want to show you 7 new photos of Eugeny Krivosheitsev. Who is he? What is his place in tables of ranks of modern rock-climbing? It is difficult to give you precise definition...

It seems he has always taken a niche in the rock-climbing temple of fame. When I came, he had already been there and now he is there. And I am sure that he will be. When I look at him I recollect young Bob Marley or sometimes even Jah Rastafari came to earth.

No, of course not! Eugeny just looks like them. And I can speak long about his sports successes: Numerous Champion of Ukraine in all kinds of rock-climbing, prize-winner of World Cup stages (also in all kinds), twice World champion on ice-climbing...

He has been always attracted to climbing on natural relief, he seems less interested in climbing in gyms. He started on natural rocks and till now he spends on them the most part of training time. Among his achievements there are some routes of 8b +.

For example, on-sight and red point of such lines as Reini's Vibes (8c / +), a bouldering problem 8b + in La Roche de Rame (I could see that with my own eyes) and others. For sending of such lines, as Reini's (it's very long), a climber have to be of a very good climbing technique: that helps to have a rest in such places where a person of middle level does not think to do even though he has tried it 20 times. But it seems to me that even good technique does not play a part here but more likely feeling of a rock, the ability to foresee.

However Eugeny shows successful strong results climbing in gyms too. When I was spending a lot of time training in Odessa, he showed me the lines in a bouldering gym materialized through his enterprise (this bouldering gym of "Odessa" mountaineering club till now is considered as the best in Ukraine).

The extraordinary staying power was an attribute of Eugeny. He does not consider the line containing less than 120 moves as a worth one. One fine day we were on a visit to Alexander Paukaev in Nikopol and laid a bet to hang on sloppers as longer as each of us could.

Eugeny hung about 3 minutes whereas other participants of this "funny starts" among which there were some masters of sports did not hung 2 minutes. "Passive is more physiologic!" - he always affirms. He is very sociable and communicative: always tells stories, gags. For example, in 1999 he organized a visit of French correspondents of "Roc'n'Wall" to Crimea, and then they wrote a lot about Ukrainian and Russian rock-climbers.

I am deeply convinced that all of this in aggregate makes him a real guru of present rock-climbing!
Not more and not less!