Murxli

Wednesday last week I had a nice, but also wasting evening session with Aldo at Murgtal. Firstly we went to Gu's creations "M'raut, 7C+" and "Humorist, 7C+". Aldo was never there and wanted to have a look to them. For me it was o.k... I still had open business up there. But after some short work I was able to top out "Humorist", my last (not FA-) project at the lower sectors. Unfortunately I have to wait now, until the barrier will open and the upper sectors will be accessible.

Afterwards we went to the 8A-shield from Fed Nicole, which I climbed some days ago. Because of the beauty of this line, Aldo was very interested in an ascent too. I just went there with him to give him a spot and because of the fact, that I have still an idea for an FA-project close to this shield.

In the end I just climbed with him on that 8A-shield. I tried to add a real sitstart (the "official" start is two moves higher up). After my fast ascent of this line I was a bit confused about the grading. It didn't felt like 8A... but on "magic days" something hard can suddenly feel easy. ;) 

I was also a bit confused about the "official" start. For me it doen't make sense to make an standing start, if there is such a logical sitstart with two really nice additional moves. But this is a matter of opinion! 


the 8A-shield at Murgtal...

So I tried it as a low version. I thought, that the line will probably feel more like 8A if I start it from the lower holds. And it was like that...! The two additional moves are not very hard... but it makes a quite big difference for the following crux-move and also for the whole line (endurance). In the end I was not able to complete it that evening... but I almost topped it out one try. The good thing is, that I have some more work now to do until the barrier opens. ;) 

here you can see the two little crimps below my feets, where Fred's original version starts...
a bit below you can see a quite big hold, where the lower version starts...!

But what's the conclusion now?

I still don't know if the original start is 8A... but no matter... it's definitely already hard. ;)

With the lower start I think it could be either a hard 8A then, or an appropriate one. No idea... and never mind.

In the end it's not about the grade... it's about the fun you had while trying, struggling and sending!!! And this one is really worth it. ;)

cheers