"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