Hello again... :)

More than 5 years without climbing! Sounds strange, but it's reality. 

Family circumstances have led me to hang up my climbing shoes. For almost 6 years no climbing, no bouldering, no rock, no hard moves, purely nothing... ok.... biking, babysitting, chilling and many other things of course, but no climbing. I had no motivation anymore, no desire, had not missed climbing in any way. I even assumed that it would remain, but for a few weeks I am now climbing again something. Once a week, in the hall with friends. The persuasion of good friends has shown effect.

I don't want to resurrect this blog, but I would like to publish a few videos, which I wanted to put online for a long time. Not because people need to see this (lol), but because people have asked me about it. ;)

Specifically, it's about some first ascents in Blattiswald. They are a few hard and really super nice lines for which people kept asking for information. Let's see... maybe I'll draw a topo for this bloc, but at least you'll find the videos for the most important two lines now (Hemera 8A and Amun-Re 8A+). 

Hemera 8A

Amun-Re 8A+

see you out there...

Adios Murgchachos

So... now it's slowly getting too warm at Murgtal. The last day I went there i had overt 20°C on the lower sectors. In the morning and up on the sector lake it was about 15°C. Ok for some climbing, but still far away from good conditions. I think I'll devote myself to new areas again until the fresh coolness returns to the "Valley of Murg".
On to the Sustenpass and surrounding areas...! ;)

Some days ago I managed to climb the new line "Minor part, 8A+". Even that day I had 20°C... but the line hiding between two big boulders and is the whole day in the shade. At least the rock was quite cold - not me ;) - so I could climb the line pretty quickly. Luckily...!! I would have not had enough power for a third attempt this day.

The next day then I had a look to "Flanagans, 8B".... but since days now it's coming too much water down the stream and it's not possible to cross it. But... it probably makes sense to wait for autumn anyway!!

What could I do otherwise? Sure... let's have a look for new lines!!!
Recently I noticed a boulder, i've never seen before. It's close to the sector lake... a wonderful high boulder which offers some good lines. The day I saw the boulder I just had a short look to it. But now it was time to put on the shoes. ;)

The boulder had already magnesia on the holds... therefore someone tried or did it already. I managed to climb two lines on it. "Dreamtheater, 7B+" and "Access denied, 7C". Both are highly recommended and very beautiful lines!!

Access denied, 7C (yellow)...  and Dreamtheater, 7B+ (red).

Later I saw that both lines have already been climbed... but not topped out. As I topped out them, I already thought that these were first ascents... just because of the fact, that I haven't seen any signs that someone was up there before. The forest facing side of the block is completely overgrown with moss and it is impossible to come down there, leaving no trace in the moss. Anyway... the topout makes sense and completes the lines, but it is not necessary (quite easy) and pretty high too.

Dreamtheater, 7B+


Have fun!!

Cheers

Growing Murgtal - 2

Three weeks ago I was able to climb one of my favourite "must do"-boulders... "Bourguignon, 8B".
I really like this brute bodytension style!! ;) Since about two years I wanted to climb it... but either it was not possible to cross the stream (too much water), or I just had other projects. This year now the stream was already dry in spring, what's pretty unusual. Good for me ... so I could finally take the horse by the bridle and after four days it was also tamed. :)

Bourguignon, 8B

the first hard compression-move in Bourguignon...

The same evening I tried a new project in the back of "Bourguignon". I had already a look to this boulder some days ago... but now the boulder was completely cleaned. When I arrived a couple of guys just left the area. I'm pretty sure that these guys have cleaned the boulder. It would be interesting to know, if they've climbed something on it. There is no arrow or any other sign on the boulder.
Anyway... that evening we tried a sitstart, started with both hands at the low undercling. It is definitely possible to climb that thing. We did all the moves except one... so no success so far.

A few days later I had a look to Guntrams new boulder "Cosmic chaos, 8B/B+". It's kind of an extension to the existing "8A-shield" in one of the lower sectors. The idea to climb the whole shield is not new... I discussed this already last year with a friend of mine, but I never started to work on it. Now it's done and we got a beautiful new testpiece in Murgtal. Congrats GU...!!! Nice one!
I checked out all the moves, climbed all the different sequences and now I just have to go for it. It's not that hard... pretty long (about 18 moves), yess... and very steep... but also very homogeneous without extremely hard moves. A "must do", if it's in your reach!!!

Next "project" was a one week trip with my whole family to the "Gardasee" (lago di garda). My parents invited us (me, my two children, my girlfried and my sister with their children) for that vacation. MANY THANKS FOR THAT...!!!! We had a great time down in Italy and were lucky to have six days of perfect weather!!!

The week after we just had rain, rain, rain, more rain, still rain, rain and rain again...!! I think that was the worst week of the present year 2014. :( 
...did I already mention that it rained THE WHOLE week!!??!! ;)

Luckily it was over with the rain the week after and Murgtal started to dry. It was my first climbing-day after two weeks break and I went for the unknown line "John Rambo, 8A". It's an awesome boulder up a pretty steep edge. Despite (or because of!?) my break, I was able to make a "turbo-ascent" of this hidden pearl. 5 minutes warmup to check out the moves... 10 minutes break and then the ascent at my very first try from the sitstart. Cool...!!!! The shape seems to fit! :o)

John Rambo, 8A

hidden in the forest... John Rambo...

Next one was "Flanagans, 8B". There I met a couple from Austria with their nice little dog "Caramel". Forian worked on Flanagans with me and both of us had the same problem with the first very very hard tesion move with a hold for your left (shoulder) and the foothold far right. You're almost hanging horizontal in the wall... completely stretched... and have to push your body up to an undercling. It's possible for sure... but I'll need some days to get used to that brutal move. The rest would work...

Florian told me about a new line from Fabian Christof, which is close to my route "Taurus, 8A". The line is called "Minor part, 8A+"... a hard traverse with a crunchy crux in the middle. The rest is homogeneous... but always very exacting.
Yesterday I gave it some tries... but I had such strong muscle soreness from my attempts in "Flanagans" that I was just not able to hold on for more than 20 seconds. Especially my left forearm ached extremely!! After I longer warmup it went better... and at the end of my session I was able to do all the moves (I counted 28 of them!!!!) and climbed the line in two sequences. At least good prospect for the next day of climbing...!! But first of all I need a few days without any strain... just relax and recover!!!! ;)

You see... Murgtal is still growing... and that quite fast. "John Rambo, 8A" was already climbed in 2007... but nobody knowed it. New are "Cosmic Chaos, 8B", "Minor part, 8A+", "Big Ben right, 8A" from Gu too and two lines from an Austrian guy, which are called "Sumatra, 8A" and "Morene, 7C". Unfortunately I've no idea where these two lines are located... know that someone???


cheers

"Scarface, 7A" - FA

Some days ago I cleaned and climbed a new boulder in the Entlinge-sector. It's a really really NICE faceclimb (shield), comparable to Fred Nicole's testpiece "L'ombre du vent, 8A+"... just a few grades lower. ;)
The line is pretty high... but luckily the tricky moves are the very first ones and the last moves up and with the topout are quite easy.
I called the line "Scarface, 7A". It's somewhere between 6C and 7A+... no idea.

Scarface, 7A

vid-screeshot of my FA... 

beautiful shield... before I cleaned the topout. ;)

cheers

Growing Murgtal

I really like this area!! There is so much potential for new lines... it's just incredible!! Only a small part of the Murgtal-forests are known and there are still dozens if not hundreds of boulders in this valley. Sure... the ones close to the streets are mostly known. But even close to streets are still many undone problems... especially further down the valley. If someone - like me - is looking for new unclimbed rock, then he is right here! So keep your eyes open and find new challenges all around this wonderful area!!! ;)

In recent months the forestry workers have cutted down hundreds of trees. Now you suddenly can see boulders, which were previously hidden in the dense forest. Additionally, you can move much better through the former thicket now. This I do not want to miss... so I made my way through the jungle and what I found left me amazed...!!
I found several pristine boulders which offers some wonderful lines. These must be there for centuries and are just waiting for their discovery.

The first problem I found was certainly not an unknown. Right of "Happy Housewives, 7C+" is a massive overhanging little wall , which seemed to be impossible first. I tried this line already last year, but did not found a good solution. This time I realized that there is a little stone in the crack, which I just can pull out of it. Without this small stone I got an appropriate little hold, where I can take for the previously impossible sequence. I did not chipped it.. that's something I really hate and NEVER would do. It was more or less the same as you pull dirt out of a crack. ;)
Anyway... now it works well and the new line makes a lot of fun to climb. I called it "Poseidon, 7C+" (probably 7C). I choosed this name because of the fact that the wall has the shape of a wave and you're kind of surfing along the lip of it.

Have a look to the short movie and you know what I mean. ;)

Poseiden, 7C+

The next one I found was a completely new boulder in  the "Entlinge sector". This boulder was not visible before... thanks again to the forestry workers! :) ...and now you can see it already from the road. It's just about 30 meters away. This boulder offers a few new lines.

New boulder in Murgtal...

An already done line is "Dr. Frost, 7C" (yellow)... a beautiful line along the "edge". You start sitting at the obvious big hold, go right to the edge and then along it up to the top. It's quite high and the dropzone is everything else than flat... so be careful... even if the topout itself is quite easy.

 

the crux... bring the left hand to the edge too.

To be able to climb and topout the boulder we had to clean it for about four hours... a big part of it with a rope. The first day together with Aldo... the edge itself and all the holds below the topout... and the second day I cleaned the whole top of the boulder with the rope. Quite a lot of work and pretty tiring!!

The second line is called "Würger, 7A+/7B" (orange). This one starts standing... the left hand at the overhanging edge (undercling) and the right one on a pretty high little crimp. Then you go dynamicly to a sloper on the left und mantle up there. The mantle was a real fight.... hence comes the name. ;)
There you have to be even more careful! Have a look the the overhanging "nose" there... a big part of it is completely cracked and for the mantle you're hanging completely on this part. It has definitely a few hundred kilos weight... and if it breaks off, you'll have a coarser problem!!!

The third line is still a project (red)... a pretty hard one! I would say it is at least 8B. I tried it already... but without success. The holds are really small and you have almost no footholds. Most of the moves I can do but the middle-sequence is impossible so far, or I just did not found the right beta for it.
Feel free to try it...

 

So then... let's see what other boulders I will excavate in the next weeks/months. There is still so much to do!! ;)


cheers

Kitty cat

Two days ago I went to Chironico... the first time this year. After many weeks of bouldering in the north, I was extremely motivated to climb some other things in another area.

My first intention was to have a look to "Roswell, 8A+" and "La Soucoupe, 8A+", which I tried already last year... but I had to stop my attempts because of my finger troubles. Now I wanted to check, if it works better... AND... if I can try this extremely steep roof with the small holds without any pain.
Hmmmm... I just tried it for about 15 minutes. I was not able to do any move on this boulder!! I felt super weak and I was not even able to lift my ass at the very first move, which I did all the time last year. Oooh MAN... totally frustrating...!!! ;o))

So I packed all my stuff and went down to the 101 sector to have a look to some completely new things.

"Cat on a hot thin roof low, 8A+" and "Electric ant, 8B" were my targets. On Martins blog Swizzybouldering I saw some pics of the "kitty boulder"... and it looked AWESOME. It has a very similar style to my "Imhotep, 8A" at Blattiswald. It's a pretty steep and very powerful bodytension-problem on quite small and slopy holds. YEEAAHHH... my style!

I started to work on it... but it felt superhard at the beginning. Especially the crux after the first hard moves felt impossible. So I took my smartphone, sent a short message to Martin and took my pad for some attempts in "Electric ant". Not 5 minutes later the phone buzzed already and I got the needed beta for the cat. Yess... thanks! That's an exemplary service...!!! :)
But now I sat on "Electric Ant" and tried to lift my ass at that boulder. Unfortunately, it looked no better than half an hour ago in "Roswell". This boulder starts at such a tiny little hold that a movement on that one simply looked impossible. After a few tries I was at least able to lift my ass... but the move itself didn't looked any better. Ok... let's try at least the much nicer and more logical higher start, which is called to be 8A+. A few tries later I grabbed the top of the boulder... but with just one pad, no spotter at the ground and some additional moves in front of me in 4 or 5 meters hight, I had no other option than to climb back down.
NICE... at least something for the next day, when I have some companions. :)

Back at the cat I tried Martins beta and after some attempts I had the crux behind me. COOL... it works... and it feels just great!!
After the initial setbacks in "Roswell", things were going better now.

Yesterday then my second day in Chironico and I went straight down to the "kitty cat". This boulder was THE ONE I had to try today. Luckily I had enough pads with me... for that boulder you need at least three big pads, if you're alone!

myself in the crux-moves...

My warmup was the traverse after the hard first moves and the 6C-finish with the topout (a boulder for itself). These parts are not the problem... with the exception of the topout. At the first tries I had no clue how to climb it. I almost went crazy on it... could it be!!??!! It's "just" a 6C... FUCKED UP!!! To cut the story short... it requires a little "trick". With that it is not so bad! ;)

Anyway... two hours later I was still busy with the crux and far away from  the topout. I was getting tired and really saw no more chances for an ascent. I told myself to have at least one last try... let's see what happens. AND... it happened... it happened very well... it happened extremely well... COOL... at the last try I fighted it to the end and "Cat on a hot thin roof low, 8A+" got his second ascent.

the whole "kitty cat"...

Cat on a hot thin roof low, 8A+


cheers

"Tiefflug, 8A/8A+" and "Imhotep low, 8A+" - FA

Since many years I'm climbing in Chironico during the winter. It's by far the closest area where I can climb outdoors. Usually...!!
This winter I was three or four times in Ticino so far... the last day in early December. Since then I just climbed the north of Switzerland.

The northern "hemissphere" never got a lot of snow this winter... and when, then it melted within hours.
I like to call it "hemisphere", because of our big luck to have the alps between these areas and the possibility, to have completely different weather conditions inbetween of one hour drivetime. If it rains on the one side... it is often dry on the other side and vice versa.
What lucky guys we are...!! ;)
So this winter was good chance to try some "northern hemisphere projects", which usually just offer good conditions a couple of days per year. AND... Blattiswald still offering some of these lines, which are rarely possible. ;)

Aldo in "Imhotep, 8A"... Blattiswald.

"Ex Nihilo":
I never went back to this project (see my last entry). this project is still open and undone... at least the intended way to climb it. Now... after I did some more FA's at Blattiswald and I don't have any other open projects... I like to go back there for some more attempts. Who knows... after some weeks with other physical stresses, it could be a good chance to be fresh enough (physically and mentally) to wrest an ascent.

"Tiefflug, 8A/8A+":
The next project after my FA of "Imhotep, 8A" was a low start to "Blindflug, 8A". Already the very first day at this boulder I've seen the possibilities to either climb it out left (Imhotep), or to try a low start version. Some days after the ascent of "Blindflug" I started to work on a low start, but was not able to find a good sequence to climb it. It seemed possible, but pretty hard.
Next one was "Imhotep", so I forgot a little about this low start and focused on the beautiful and powerful prow of "Imhotep".
As soon as this project was climbed too, I had no other options as to go climbing by myself, or to find something new on this boulder. Some friends were still working on "Blindflug" and "Imhotep", so the decision was made fastly and I restart my work on the low start. It's much nicer and above all much more FUNNY to climb with friends...!!!! Even if I sometimes really enjoy it to climb alone too.

The first day back on the low start was succesful... at least for a possible sequence for the first moves. The second day then I climbed "Tiefflug, 8A/8A+".
"Tiefflug" adds three moves and some foot chances to the original. The moves are not extremely hard... but all together they add quite some difficulty and I really had to get used of these moves to climb them safe and economical.
I wrote already that "Blindflug" is a pretty soft 8A in my opinion. However, I realized that others are thinking very differently about it. Nevertheless, I'm not sure if "Tiefflug" deserves an 8A+.
But who cares... let's give 8A/8A+ and anyone can take the grade he likes. ;)

"Imhotep low, 8A+":
Since I'm now climbed this low start ... so why not the same for "Imhotep" too?
This version needed quite some additional effort from my side, compared to the upper start. "Imhotep" already felt pretty hard to me... and even the other solutions I've seen and tried now are not easier (depending on your preferences and preferred style of climbing). The low start adds just two moves... but due to the fact that the original is already quite long, it gets more a question of endurance than maximal strength. This is also the reason why I had to fight a few more days for this FA and in my opinion the low start really deserves 8A+.
Will be interesting to get some feedback to it...


As always lately I have some vids for you...

"Tiefflug, 8A/8A+"    ... without music. :(

"Imhotep low, 8A+"   ...with music. :)



cheers

"Imhotep, 8A" - FA

The last time we all just climbed at Blattiswald. This little area experienced a true renaissance the last weeks. Because of the bad weather in the south of switzerland - Chironico is in deep snow! - many people came to Blattiswald and some routes got more ascents in these days than in the last 20 years!!! ;)

The weather situation is pretty special. Since christmas we never got snow, had less rain and many days with "Föhn"... the warm wind which is coming from the south. This is quite unusual and rare...! So at least it was possible to climb the north of Switzerland... and this, with sometimes perfect conditions.

One line i've climbed the last days was "Bullenritt, 7C" (FA). This line is an old project from Alexandre von Rohr and friends, which they never finished up. Surprisingly! Because even at that time they were definitely strong enough to climb it.
Anyway... it's an nice little line at the Memmentanz-bloc, which starts standing about one meter on the left of "Memmentanz, 7C" (red arrow). It is a very strange dyno... and hard to rate. Could be much easier for tall guys... but even harder for small ones. I'm wondering about the next ascents and the difficulty proposals.

Stefan Kürzi (www.stefankuerzi.ch) took a beautiful night-shot of me in "Bullenritt".
Thanks a lot for that picture!! It looks amazing...

"Ex Nihilo"... another long standing projects at Blattiswald, was initially tried by Alexandre von Rohr and Fred Nicole. Up to now it never got an anscent with the original idea to climb it. I don't know exactly when, but Dave Gisler did an ascent some time (or years) ago. He climbed a special version with a hold, which is a bit out of the line and was not originally planned. Anyway... also this version makes sense and is a real beauty. He called the line "Morpheus, 8B" (sitstart!).
The only thing is... you have to be tall with a huge span to climb it. I tried it and had NO CHANCE to reach this hold. Too bad!! But no matter ... my goal was of from the beginning to climb the original idea.
I tried it now for several days and since the second day I'm able to do the strange dyno up to the pretty good target hold... often even pefectly. Nevertheless, until now I was never able to keep hold on. Slowly but steady it get's nerve-wracking...!!!! ;)

This is also the reason why I decided to try something else for the next days to get a little break from these moves.

The first line I tried and did at Blattiswald this year was "Blindflug, 8A", as already wrote in my last entry. Already the very first day at Blattiswald when I did this line I had seen a possible version which climbs to the left on a very steep prow. I just had a look to it, touched the holds a little and thought that it will be REALLY hard... at least 8B... but I never really tried it. This Monday some friends told me to give it a try. They said that it should be possible, not too hard and offers beautiful moves.
So why not...!!??

It felt extremely hard this evening. I was able to do most of the single moves. To climb the whole thing seemed possible, but also incredible. On the other hand I was blown away from this beautiful but powerfull boulder, which requires an extreme body tension during the whole line.
Fucked up...!!! What a boulder... what a beauty and what movements!!!! I REALLY HAVE TO CLIMB that thing!!

the first very tricky move to a pretty bad pincher-sloper... 

 

On Wednesday then I left work for three hours just to be able to take use of the perfect dry conditions this day ("Föhn"). After the first tries I realized that it probably would be difficult today. All my muscles were aching... my shoulder, my shoulder belt, my upper arms... I even felt pain in my chest muscles. Oohhh man... this will be a short performance!
Surprisingly it went better with every try and at my very last try I even climbed up to the last hard move.
CRAZY...!!! But now it was over... I was over! I went back to work... distroyed, but also very confident.

The next day then the conditions were perfect again... despite of the rain the last night. I knew that Aldo wanted to go climbing and despite of my climbing the day before I felt extremely fresh. This could be THE DAY!!! AND so it WAS!

Wow... this is definitely one of my nicest FA so far! A perfect piece of rock with incredibly nice movements!! Try it out!!! You'll be blown away as I was... for sure! ;)

Check out the vid:
Imhotep, 8A

I don't know how hard it is. For me it definitely felt more like 8A+, which was also my first intention. But the day after my first ascent it got some more ascents from Michael Thalmann, Dave Gisler and some friends of Dave... although with a different beta.
Most of them agreed on 8A. So for me it's o.k... it's definitely somewhere between 8A and 8A+...BUT... if this one is 8A, I think "Blindflug" should be adjusted. Compared to "Imhotep", "Blindflug" felt way easier to me... but this is just my personal impression.



cheers

Hello again

Ohhh man... it's almost 4 months ago since my last entry to this blog. The time is running so fast, it's just crazy...!! :)

Many things happened in the last months. Friends got married, other friends got pregnant, my girlfriend was godmother, I have a new job since three months and these are just the highlights. You see... time is running and life is running even faster. ;)

But thats not all. I feel that things are changing. Priorities change... time itself is valuable and rare! I like it... no question. But I really feel that i'm getting older and slowly but steady set new standards in life.

Don't worry... I don't finish climbing. I just love it too much!!! ;o)
I'm still motivated as years ago. Fortunately, I'm still able to improve myself... and this with 36. Why the hell I should finish something I'm loving that much? ;)

On the contrary... I'm really happy at the moment! I like my new job very much and I'm really glad that I can cut the old braid. I worked there for seven years and that was enough. I think that I've found the right job for me... a new challenge with very nice people. Hopefully something for the next seven years, or even more. We will see...
Also my two boys are getting older and older. Lien is 3 and a half years now and Inea is two. If I arrive at home after work, then there's only one... Papa here... Papa there... playing, romping, fighting... a real pleasure. :)
Yes... life can go on as it is! :)

But I've also climbed in this time... at least more or less... and was able to finish some projects. Let's give a short summary.

At Sustenpass I don't climbed many things... but I was able to complete the whole "Marakesch"-boulder. There are a few 8A's on it and I was also able to put up some new lines or combinations.
First of all there is now "Pini Pincher, 7C". A really nice version of "Marakesch-Variante, 8A"... but after the first hard moves over some pinchers you have to go straight up over some more pinchers. A really nice Version, which was umclimbed so far. I'm wondering... but as I know it was never climbed before.
Next one was a combination of "Marakesch, 8A" and "All I had I gave, 8A". I'm not sure if I climbed "All I had I gave" the right way... but after some repeats from friends we all agreed that this one is not easier than "Marakesch" and the new combination combines the cruxes of both. The new line "All I gave I had from Marakesch, 8A+" s probably not the hardest 8A+... but we think that it deserves the grade.
Last but not least I worked and almost climbed an even harder version... I'm not sure if it will be a hard 8A+ then, or even an 8B. For sure it will give one of the harder testpieces at the Sustenpass. The next summer will come...

Next was Wassen... Giuliano Cameroni opened a beautiful new line there which is called "The Mentalist, 7C+", with a huge dyno as the crux. He assessed the line originally with 8A+... but after I did short work on it (third try) we agreed on 7C+. Next was a possible sit start version, which adds five moves. Especially the first move is extremely hard. I think that the first part is even harder than the upper part "The Mentalist"... just these moves will be 8A or 8A+. Unfortunately I never had a perfect and dry day there and therefore it is hard to rate it. If everything comes together, this first move can suddenly work fine. We will see... :)
Because of these humid days I had to try other things than this low start version. The problem was that the important start-hold was mostly wet. Therefore I tried "Sur le fil stand, 8A"... the standstart of THE Fred Nicole testpiece in this area. The sitstart is 8B+... and the standstart is called to be 8A. I did it quite fast... the first day it was just too humid and the second day it had much better conditions and the holds sticked as the should.
It is not the hardest 8A I think... but a really nice one. Go and try it... worth it!
The sitstart I worked also a bit and it looked quite well. Surprisingly!! But because of some pain in my left knee since the uncountable tries in "Marakesch" and all the other versions... I had to stop my tries on that one. :(

I think that's it so far for the northern side of Switzerland... next was TICINO. Ohh yesss... I love it. Still many things to do and alway worth the long way.

Down there I was able to climb "Bridge over troubled waters, 7C+", "Soilwork, 8A+" and "Dr. Jump, 8A+". "Dr. Jump" felt pretty soft and I'm not sure if this line is that hard. I'm really wondering that everyone is giving 8A+... even if many people are calling is soft. But anyway... it's a funny dyno and definitely harder if you're not the tallest guy. 

myself in "Soilwork, 8A+" in Chironico...

But I've also started some new projects... for example "Baby mammoth, 8B", which definitely should work. The problem is the dropzone... you need either enough pads, or someone which is changing their position.

The last things I started were "Deliverance, 8A+", which has a brutal start move from a fucking tiny crimp, "No Mystery, 8A+" and "Schule des Lebens, 8B", after the broken start hold.
"Deliverance" is working pretty well... it's just a matter of a few tries I think. But firstly I had to adapt to that hard first move for two days... now it looks quite well.
"No Mystery" and "Schule des Lebens" are working really good with the exception of the first move too. This dyno feels extremely at my limit... but i'm also not the largest one. It should work... I reach the hold, but am still unable to hold on.

The last climbing day was Christmas the 24th. Strong wind ("Föhn") and 15°C on northern Switzerland offered perfect conditions. We went to Blattiswald, which is just a 15 minutes drive from my home town. A small but nice little area, which offers some good lines of moderate difficulties. The hardest line there is an old testpiece from Fed Nicole, which is called "Blindflug, 8A". I wanted to try it since MANY years... but never went there. I'm not sure if this beautiful line ever got a 2nd ascent... but at least now it got one more...!! ;)

Aldo in "Blindflug, 8A"... an old Fred Nicole testpiece at Blattiswald.

I've made some nice vids from some ascents... the nicest ones are these two:

Soilwork, 8A+

Blindflug, 8A


cheers

"Reykyavik low, 8B" - First Ascent

O man... a long battle has finally found its end. Over the last two summer-seasons I went up to this bloc for uncoutable days. Altogether it took me 18 up to 20 days to finish this low start version to the original "Reykyavik, 8A+/8B".  I wrote already so many words about this battle, I don't like to lose too much words again. Just something:
YESSSS....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unbelievable how many days it took after my ascent of the original line. After the first two or three days in the low-start and the solution found, I thought that it will be a matter of a few more days or even a few tries. But the presence tells a different story. ;)

It was an extreme fight to link all the moves together. Nonetheless I think that I have made myself quite clumsy. But anyway... this low start is definitely significantly more difficult as the the original and therefore I put it as a safe 8B or even a hard one. Would be nice to get a feedback soon. I'm sure there are many guys out there, which are able to climb that beast a little bit faster than me!! ;o)

Short movie of the FA...:

Reykyavik low, 8B

the low start holds... the sloper above is the left-hand start hold of the original line.



the first crux-move... i's hard to do not loose your feets. 

cheers

Rocklands 2013

Our three weeks trip to the Rocklands is history... unfortunately!! We had an awesome time down in South Africa, met many nice people, enjoyed day after day the breathtaking scenery and were able to climb a few nice lines. Only time went by too fast!

Nonetheless both of us (Aldo and me) went back home with a big smile. Not just because of the great satisfaction after this holiday... but mainly because we were able to close our loved ones in our arms again. Especially for me it was a loooong time. Martina left Switzerland already in June to go down to Croatia with our two boys. Therefore I haven't seen them for over two months. A really long time...!! Accordingly, I was very happy to see my family again. :)

 

But what about the Rocklands?

As already wrote in the previous entry, my last trip to the Rocklands is eight years back. It feels like a century!! In 2005/2006, when Paul and me was on our "around the world-trip", South Africa was the one destination, which remained to us as the most beautiful and memorable in memory. Accordingly, I was very excited to return to this place. Sure... I knew that it would not be the same "Rocklands" as back in 2005. But this had no negative impact on my anticipation. I just loved it too much!!

The landscape is the same as years ago. The same beautiful scenery, the same grey-orange sandstone-boulders. Even Clanwilliam, the little town in this area is looking almost the same as 8 years back. Just the "Spar" is bigger today and the road over the Pakhuis-pass is not a dirt road anymore, but an asphalt road... what makes the ride over the pass much faster and more comfortable. Everything else was just like in my memory.

As we drove up to the pass on our arrival, I almost went crazy. As soon as I saw the orange boulders, I was happy as a little child. I just could not wait to finally get this sandstone back into my fingers! But we had other things to do first. It was already after 8pm and we had a 25 hours travel in our bones. First of all we had to go to the "Alpha Excelsior Guest Farm" to get our room, have dinner and to go to sleep.

The next day then we went back to Clanwilliam to buy some food and go for lunch at "Nancy's Tea Room". This is a little but very nice restaurant where you get the best sandwiches you can imagine. Still... I have to say. Already 8 years back we went several times to "Nancy's Tea Room" and always enjoyed the nice food there. Afterwards we went for our first boulders at the pass itself. What a pleasure...!!! ;)

However, there are also a few unsightly developments... especially the many people! The Rocklands completely changed to a mainstream boulder destination. As we were there in 2005, we were almost alone and it was a real adventure. Today you have hundreds of climbers there, a pretty big new campsite and many new houses for rent. Especially at the "old" classic areas like the "Roadside" and others you will never be for yourself. On the contrary ... some boulders are FULL of people. Sure, this was to be expected… but I do not like this.

However, I have to say that we never have seen garbage lying around. Unexpectedly… because of a few negative reports... but luckily! It seems that the climbers take considerate and not simply throw away their garbage or to have improved significantly. 

And what about the climbing?

Hmmmm… 8 years back I was able to push my limits in the Rocklands. This time I did not even get close to my personal best. But not just me… also Aldo was not able to succeed. Sure… both of us climbed some hard lines… but far away from pushing limits.

There was something like a learning curve during this trip… I realized that I’m getting old…!!!! ;o)

At home I just climb twice a week… rarely three times per week. I work full time and have a family with two children at home. There is not more space for climbing. However, that does not matter. With my age of 36 this two climbing days per week are offering enough rest days to be fresh at every day when I go out for climbing. I really need that… especially when I climb at my limit. In the Rocklands now we climbed more or less every second day… sometimes even two or three days in a row. Accordingly, tired and somewhat exhausted we felt on many days. I’m… or we’re not 20 anymore. I really can feel that the body needs some days rest to fully recover.

Both of us needed some time to get used to the higher load and the style itself. The bouldering in the Rocklands is very athletically. Many roofs and mostly overhanging climbing with far moves on usually quite good holds. I’m not the hardcore-crimper… but here the holds are more or less never a problem, but the athletic climbing loads the muscles and the body strongly. I like that style, but the body needs some time to get used to it.

The first two weeks we haven’t climbed many hard lines… but after these two weeks we felt better day by day and in the last week we felt that it would be much more possible with some more time down here.

Another aspect is that especially the very hard lines (7C+ and above) are mostly dependent on one or two very long or even often dynamic moves. It’s really fun to climb these things… but these moves are always a bit depending on size and coordination and they need a bit of luck. Especially the dynos. You never know if you have to try them for just a few times or for several days. Especially I made the mistake to almost exclusively try such lines in the beginning. After some time I realized that mistake and focused more on homogenous lines with less dynos… with success. In the last week I climbed “Witness the sickness, 8A” and “The shallow cave, 8A” quite easily… both at the second day after just a few tries. Also “Golden Virginia, 8A”, which I climbed in the first week and which does not have one far move, I climbed in a few tries.

I was pretty close at some harder boulders and with some more time I’m sure I would have been able to climb that stuff at my personal limit… but not in just three weeks. There were simply too many things we wanted to check out and too many areas to have a look on. It’s simply not possible to projecting some really hard stuff in this short time frame.
If I alone look at the performance, it was at least a super “training camp” in the end… and I already felt the positive influence the first climbing day back home in my local projects. ;)  

Anyway… in the end it is not about the numbers. It’s all about the fun, the fantastic experience we made, the beautiful landscape and the nice people we met. Thanks to all of you… we had a fantastic trip and enjoyed every minute in South Africa. Who knows… maybe I’ll come back again someday. That would be nice! But for now I’ve many other projects at home and I’m also happy to be back here at our lovely areas up in the mountains...!!! ;o)

Some impressions:

Beautiful arrivel in South Africa...

 

our house...

and environment...

 

surrounded by mountains... in front you see the new campsite area.

 

other view from Pakhuis pass to the same aera...

 

our little car... i'm really wondering how we was able to put all our stuff into it...!!! ;)

Aldo in "Black labour, 7B+"...

and in "Golden Virginia, 8A"...

the view out of the "Madiba-cave"...

and in front of the cave... before sunset.

no comment... :)

nature pure...

wildlife...

...

we also saw leopard tracks, baboons, snakes, giant beetles...

and flamingos...

 

after a day trip to the seaside...

with some nice slovenian guys (Jernej Kruder and Miha Hribar)...

... :)

Krudi in "El Corazon, 8B"... was extremely close, but fell on the last move.



Miha in "Witness the sickness, 8A"... congrats!!

myself in "Barracuda, 8A"... but was too tired that evening.



my right hand after some good looking tries at "Flying guitar thief, 8A+"...

 



just beautiful...

... :)

 

on the way to the pass...

the pass itself with his millions of boulders...

 

the road down to Clanwilliam...

cheers