going for the impossible again ;)

with the new start the "gepresster hase" gets really nasty - i took me over 10days over 4weeks to get to that move again -and thats just the beginning of the third part - impossible or possible (for me)?! pic by angelawagner.ch

while waiting for the temperatures to go up in order to not freeze my fingers off in the "highlander"-project i found a nice way to climb on that great moves of "gepresster hase" for a bit longer... ;)
i figured out a possible start-extension (8A'ish itself) to my recent first ascent of "gepresster hase". i like this moves of the "hase" so much, i just had to take the chance to climb them a few times more ;)

new start on the classic "traumland"

going for that strange and hard undercling-move

five moves to join the "gepresster hase" - and the lovely hase get's a nasty beast ;)

despite not feeling tired at all when entering the "hase-part" it totally kicks my ass. it just throws me off, like in the very beginning as i tried these moves for the first time. but i kick back as hard as i can ;) finally after some ten days of serious effort over the last four weeks i managed to link that new start with the first part of "gepresster hase" - felt nails to just do that - but going for the first move of the third part (the "kein-schneehäschen-part") - my fingers just opened the grip.... hahahaha... it will get hard to climb another 8B like that.

but that was great progress! one month ago i was 99% sure this would be way too hard for me and even if i normally just climb one move further then one month ago i can feel the difference: from not being able to just think about climbing one move further i am now so close to stick that next move - i just need to get that little bit stronger (again) - and i will make it up to the last move - and then everything is possible - but may it will take a bit longer as well - we will see - no hurry - still lots of fun... - still need to get stronger... ;)

coming from the "traumland"-start  this is where it kick's me off - but it is the move before that gives me so much trouble... - most of the time my right hand starts to slip, i suddenly start to feel tired - and i am off the "hasi".... pic by angelawagner.ch

Interview at Rock&Ice

Check out this little interview by Chris Parker about my latest two first ascents at Rock&Ice climbing magazine.

What i like to stress is that I am by far not the only "World-Class-Weekend-Warrior" (sic) out there - but I try to give them a voice and to point out that there are not just "wonder kids" jumping around on hard boulders these days... ;) There are so many who did and do the same. Who climb (sick hard stuff) with a job, even with a family (check out my friend ronny's blog for example) who try and struggle to arrange daily life to still get time for climbing. You just don't see and hear them too often in the "regular climbing news". They just climb. And in the end that's what it is all about. Isn't it? 

Take two :) First Ascent of "Nike, 8B+", Brione, Swizzy

just managed to send another one of my multiyear-projects - it was one of the oldest undone projects left in brione - i tried it since 2008 - finally climbed it now in 2014 - but be careful: it is a real greek goddess; beautiful to lock at, but very tricky and brutal to fight with... don't mess with her... ;)  happy times - i could get used to that... :) 

it looks nice in daylight as well: FA of "Nike, 8B+", brione, swizzy. pic by angelawagner.ch

there was a lot of rain the last few days and many of the visiting climbers escaped swizzy and/or went to mellobloco. but weather in swizzy is pretty unpredictable and out of the nowhere we got a short window of crazy foen-wind that dried everything in a few hours and pleased the climbers with some of the best conditions ever!!! 

on the send... - you can not see the friction - but believe me: it was crazy!!! you literally just had to hang on the holds... ;)

lucky enough i had a few days left from my holidays. together with angela we made the four hour trip down into the verzasca valley where i managed to climb one of the oldest undone projects left in brione. there was always waiting that crack-line in that little roof at the "atlantis"-boulder. it sit's in the middle of a lot of classic problems, it was tried by many and thought to be "impossible" as time passed. but that made it even more appealing. it looked like a great puzzle to be solved. together with a friend we solved the puzzle and unlocked the sequence already back in 2008. it took some time and effort and at the end of 2009 i  managed to put up the straight line following the crack: "supertussi, 8B" (still unrepeated, hardest crack-boulder out there?) but fell off many times on the last hard moves on the line we originally wanted to climb.... thanks to angela spotting my back and the perfect friction i managed to pull it together this time in a great night-session... First Ascent of "Nike, 8B+" was in the bag. 

ready for the second crux in "Nike, 8B+", brione, swizzy. pic by angelawagner.ch

I started sitting on a big pad to reach an ok-start hold. but there is an obvious low-start to this line. it involves a heinous one-finger-lock to get into another heinous one-finger-lock (are there non-heinous-one-finger-locks?) in the crack and some footwork to get to the position from where i started. it certainly makes the following moves way harder (at least for a non-crack-boulder-pussy like me). i was close on doing the move from the low but i need to work on my pain tolerance, get a sponsorship from ibuprofen and i may have to visit the "wide boyz" to get some proper finger-crack-training as well.... ;)