After making the first repeat of Shawn Raboutou’s ‘Megatron,’ American upstart D.B. Vernon is recommending a double downgrade to V15.
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Hotshot American D.B. (“Diamond Boy”) Vernon has been on a tear lately. He spent last fall ticking off a long list of V15 and V16 problems across North America and Europe, and now has scored his first proposed V17, tackling the previously unrepeated Shawn Raboutou line Megatron last week. “It was really sick,” the 21-year-old told Climbing. “I tried really hard, and then I did it.”
Located in Colorado’s Eldorado Canyon, Megatron was only the second proposed V17 in the United States, after Daniel Woods’s Return of the Sleepwalker. It is one of five currently proposed worldwide, the other three being Alphane, Burden of Dreams, and L’Ombre du Voyageur.
Vernon’s savage V15 recommendation is surprising considering the hefty amount of work other top shelf Americans like Drew Ruana and Daniel Woods have put into the rig. “Nothing against those guys,” said Vernon, who reportedly spent only a couple of weekends working the climb before sending. “Like, I’m not going to say it wasn’t hard. It took a lot out of me. I was pumped. It’s steep. The holds are small, too!”
Still, Vernon said he doesn’t believe Raboutou’s line stacks up to V17. “So there’s some V15 leading into an old V14? So what?” he said, chuckling. “Dude, that just makes it a long V15.”
Vernon continued, “In all seriousness, I have to be honest about my feelings here. That’s constructive, you know? That’s how grades evolve. And like, sure, people may not know who I am yet. I’m not exactly posting shirtless training videos on Instagram every night or doing advertisements for Five Ten or whatever. But I climb a lot. I eat healthy. I’m a strong guy. This one wasn’t so hard.”
While he doesn’t have another proposed V17 under his belt yet, Vernon said he feels certain about his appraisal of Megatron, noting that it wasn’t on par even with other V16s he’s completed, such as Ondra’s Brutal Rider, Ruana’s Insomniac, and Taylor McNeil’s Moonlight Sonata. “Those ones are pretty hard. A bit harder though,” he said. “[Megatron] is hard too. But man, it’s just not that hard.”
In the days leading up to his send, Vernon said he kept to his typical training regime, which is reportedly inspired by the popular manga and anime One-Punch Man. “[One-Punch Man] taught me it’s all about pushing yourself,” Vernon said. “Doesn’t matter what you’re doing in life—painting, hanging out with your mom, going on a hike, whatever. So everyday I do, like, 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run. Even if I’m sick or tired. And I climb, too. A lot. Sometimes I’ll even do 100 pull-ups in one day or whatever.”
Vernon said he believes many professional climbers are “taking training too seriously,” and if they adopted a similar routine, “it would probably be more chill for them and stuff.”
Following Megatron, Vernon has set his sights on Return of the Sleepwalker, outside of Las Vegas, simply for financial reasons. “There’s not really anything else that’s supposed to be super hard over here [in North America], and I can’t afford another flight to Europe,” he explained.
Return of the Sleepwalker recently saw its first repeat, by Scottsman Will Bosi, who confirmed the V17 grade. Vernon said the Daniel Woods line “could be harder,” than Megatron, but seems to have done little research. “I don’t really know [about the grade],” he said. “I haven’t watched any videos of the dudes on it yet, but I looked at a picture on Instagram and it doesn’t look too bad.”
Despite his recent successes and the widespread acclaim he’ll no doubt garner if his downgrade of Megatron holds, Vernon is adamant that he has no real desire to become known in the climbing world. “I don’t care about money, sponsorships, Instagram followers, or having friends,” he said. “I don’t even care about what people on Reddit think. I just like climbing, usually by myself, without spotters, photographers, or anyone else watching.”
Happy April 1st!
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