On...

and OFF again... but new (old) significant beta improvement! (ok, may its just psychologically - but thats what this fight seems to be all about since some weeks...)

snow again this morning in the highlander-area...

looks like climbing twice into the last moves was too much and i was not able to recover enough before snow hit again. this time i was mentally ready but i exploded on the second last move (on which i felt quite ok, but did not commit some days ago...).

that game is now going on for over one month. once i feel super strong but conditions are shit. then i feel shit, but conditions are great and so on and on... result: i nearly always climbed into the last moves but not once further up... and i just once hit a day when everything fitted perfect and then i went down on the very last move... hmmmmmm....

angela enjoying the sun at sustenpass...

but on the other hand (thanks to the shitty conditions sometimes) i (had to) learned some new micro-beta on how EXACTLY i have to move and grab some cruical holds. really interesting what details you can figure out after YEARS of climbing (and analysing) on that piece of rock... really interesting!

after going down again on that last moves i tried again to climb another beta on that last crux. i figured out that different beta some 5years ago when i tried to climb the "reve de faire"-part. its about a tricky heelhook that slipped all the time on the last move. so i changed to the beta, climbed "reve de faire, 8B", and i kept that beta since then.

there is another way to climb that move... pic by ikuko serata

but early this fall i took that old "hooking-beta" out again because i was afraid i could fail on the original beta in the very last move because you tend to slip of crimp facing in the wrong direction (i whished i would not have had been so right about that!). but about one month ago i tore my hamstrings while hooking too hard and was not able to climb that beta again. until now.

this fall that heelhook always felt super strange. but i did not had it as such a strange hook in my memory. so i tried it again and suddenly found the way (again) how to hook (without getting blocked by my hamstrings) and how the heel even stayed on the last move. with this "NEW" beta i climbed the standing-start twice in a row at the end of the day despite feeling pretty tired! BAMMMM!!! its not a much easier beta, but safer and as i failed so many times with the old beta also good for my mind to climb (totally) different into that last moves...

hopefully i will get a chance to try my new beta on link before winter definitely shuts bouldering down for this year up there.