Ronsight News: July 2012

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Finalization

Sometimes it's crazy. You are working on one move for several days... getting closer day by day... but in the end you just tried something in a wrong way. It's not the first time that something happens, sure. But it's impressive again and again!

"My Axis, 8A+" is a quite homogeneous line... but the first move in is definitely the crux. Altogether I needed four days to finish it. Already on the third day I was able to do every move expect the first one. I was already extremely close, but was not able to finish it that evening. Yesterday now I found a new position for the right starting hold AND... the first move felt way easier!!
In the past days I tried that move time and again, surely for about two douzen tries, but was simply not able to do it. Now - with this little change - it worked every try!! After three or four tries I finally topped out the line.
Funny... little change, huge effect!!! ;)

Afterwards I tried "Kill your idols, 8A" on the same bloc, which was firstly climbed by Markus Bock in the year 2000. As I know, this line never got a repetition.
I was really close and have almost climbed that one too. But in the end I was not fresh enough to do so.
Well... I will be back soon...!

red one: "Kill your idols, 8A"...
yellow one: "My Axis, 8A+"...

Finally I started to work on a new line on the same bloc too (new project). I've no idea how hard it will be in the end. For sure somewhere around 8A. Probably harder... probably a bit softer. We willl see... let's surprise. ;)

The snow:
I've already written how fast the snow is melting up there... incredible! The Marrakesch-bloc for example was more or less completely sepulchred two weeks ago... and now you can almost start to climb on it. At the latest in two or three days you can climb every line there.
Have a look to these pictures I've taken in the last days...

18. July 2012

five days later... 23. July 2012

another three days... 26. July 2012

and yesterday... 30. July 2012

EDITED: a bit blurred... 02. August 2012

cheers

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

My Axis

Yesterday I went up to Sustenpass to gave "My Axis, 8A+" some more tries. To my own suprise it worked much better than a few days ago.

The second move worked well now... no more problems with this one. But the first move is still undone so far. I grabbed the roof-edge several times... but was not able to hold on. Either I loosed my feets and couldn't hold the swing (it's all about the hook) or I just slipped from the right hand pinch (really bad one!). The good thing is that i'm quite close now and that it worked way better than last Wednesday. :)

starting position before the crux-move...

If I start after the first move, then I was able to climb the whole rest in one go... but without the final few moves at the top. Without any spotter I will definitely not try that topout!! The highest point is at about 7 meters hight with a quite bad (steep) dropzone. ;) I did already a few high topouts up there... even alone. But this one is too scary! Either I firstly check the last moves with a rope... or I just try it with a spotter at the ground. At the moment I've no idea if the topout is easy, or if there is another crux up there... ;)

That happens if you loose your feets... but on this move it doesn't matter. ;)

The Snow:
Last Wednesday I thought, that the snow will never melt down this year.... but after yesterday I'm not sure anymore. Since last Wednesday the snow melted for about half a meter at the Marrakesch-bloc. Just five days for half a meter... that's impressive!! If the weather stays warm as it is at the moment with some heat thundestorms at some evenings (typically for a Swiss-summer)... the snow will be completely gone in three or four weeks.

cheers

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Still some Snow

Unbelievable...!! I've never seen so much snow up at Sustenpass at this time. I'm wondering how long it will take until all the snow is gone. Some boulders are still unexcavated. But the most boulders are free of snow and dry.

Never mind! My main projects are accessible and so I went down to "Sputnik, 8B" last Monday.
Sure... after three weeks hanging around, sunbathing, enjoying and eating good stuff I was far away from an ascent. Also the perfect conditions (7°C in the evening) didn't helped much. ;) But at least I had a first impression and worked out the moves a bit.

Yesterday then I had a look to "My Axis, 8A+". This line I've never tried before, but touched the holds already last year. The upper moves working well... even that they are already quite hard. But the two very first moves are the crux and I was not able to do them. I'm quite close at both moves... but I've definitely to work a bit on them to get the specific strength.
I'll be back soon...!! ;o)

The first moves you have to do hanging in the roof...

cheers

Lovely Croatia

So... after three weeks in Croatia with my girlfriend and sons i'm back home. It's not the first time that we stay down there for holidays. Because of the fact that my girlfriend is Swiss-Croatian and her mother (unfortunately her father predeceased last spring) is having a nice house there on the island "Krk", we are spending our summer-holidays mostly in Croatia. The good thing is, that also a part of the family is down there and we have some support in babysitting! ;)

But I like that country very much anyway. All is very clean, the wather is cristal-clear and bluish green, the historical Italian influence is everywhere (old roman castles and the general architectural style), very friendly and helpful people and there are over 1000 islands at the coast... and and and. I just can give a positive review... honestly. I really recommend to have a look to Croatia and spend some time there. You won't be disappointed.

Here a few impressions: