UKC

Soo...time to get focused on the new, 2017's goals - the main one for me being to redpoint my first 8a.
As there are only 3 months left to my longest climbing holiday, which is in Kalymnos, applying all possible RP tactics seems quite necessary
Therefore, I would highly appreciate a suggestion of an 8a there, which can be my first of the grade. My ideas so far are:
- should be soft for the grade, but not a guidebook mistake. I want it to be a real 8a.
- my strength is crimps, slight overhang
- preferably a short route (10-20 meters) as longer ones are harder to work as a project
- due to the same reason as above - preferably a route with 1-2 cruxes, instead of an endurance monster. The lower the crux(es) are the better.
- my weakness are dynamic, shouldery moves
- I believe I am not strong enough for a one-move-wonders at this grade...
- preferably technical crux rather than brute force....
After my research (consisting of videos from youtube and log comments here and in 8a.nu) I have identified these two routes - Helios and Danniboy, but for sure I have missed/misjudged some other 8a's, so any suggestions are more than welcome!!!
Thanks in advance and wish you a happy, injury-free new year.

In reply to 8dreams:
All the soft ones have been downgraded Unfortunately.

The Path to Deliverance (8a)

I thought this was ok on the quick play I had. Very techy but not brutal. The extention to aurora at kalydna looks ace. Bouldery I'd imagine tho if the first pitch is anything to go by. Meant to be soft, might have been downgraded .

Edit: daniboy is defo bouldery. A bit upside down into what appears to be a hard boulder problem. And polished

In reply to 8dreams:

To be honest, I'm not sure many people would suggest Kalymnos would offer you the best opertunity to break into the 8a grade. There are a limited number of routes at the grade. Once you rule out things that are either longer or more cruxy, than you'd ideally like, then you are going to be up against it, to find something suitable. Breaking into a new grade on a time limited holiday is a big ask of anyone. Fair play to you if that's something you've done before, perhaps you thrive on the pressure. Personally, I'd be looking at the holiday as final quality "training" before immersion into the seige of a suitable, closer to home, project. Good luck.

In reply to JLS:

100% agree with this. It got a rep for being soft has kalymnos but it's really not in the higher grades unless you are a euro stamina monster. There is the odd one tho, like everywhere I guess. Even still there's just so many good routes and crags that it's hard to focus on something that is going to take more than 1 session. At least for me. I do lack focus almost always!

In reply to snoop6060:

Thanks a lot for the feedback! Will look into the route that you suggested.

@JLS - what you say makes complete sense. Unfortunately, the nearest crag is located at 4 hours drive and furthermore there is really no 8a there... 7c's and 2 8a+'s...

In reply to 8dreams:
Yikes! And I thought it was rough trying to be a sport climber in Scotland.
Is there really somewhere that's 4 hours from a crag?
Still, I reckon if you've got a chance of knocking out an 8a in Kaly in a week or two then 8a+ 4 hours away could be done in a summer.
Don't envy your task mind.

In reply to JLS:

Yep, namely -Amsterdam. I was thinking the same - to aim for the 8a+ as well, as it is exactly my style (or at least i imagine it so), rather soft and it's soo much easier to project during weekends - you go rested and try to give everything for 2 days, then allow your body to rest and your mind to memorize the moves and repeat the process i indeed find it difficult to pace my rest days on a long climbing trip but nevertheless wanted to try out once and see how well i cope with real time pressure

In reply to 8dreams:

Is Freyr not closer that 4hrs?
There are a few 8a's there...
Freyr

In reply to 8dreams:

You haven't mentioned when you are going to be in Kalymnos but it might be worth pointing out that the classics can get pretty busy in the season. How much time you have to work a route might depend on how many others are waiting to get on it,


Chris

In reply to JLS:
That's true, Freyr is nearly an hour closer than Berdorf but not so adored and cherished by my climbing partners and tbh I do understand them - really polished and old-school bolted in the lower grades.

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Indeed, therefore I plan to give it 10-20 tries spread in 3-5 days, and I will be there for a bit more than 2 weeks in April, so I guess even with a bit of traffic I still will be able to give those amount of tries. I don't want to siege the route during the my whole holiday anyway... And again in the lines of my reply to JLS - even if I wanted to, I won't be able to siege a given route the whole time as my climbing partners have other interests

In reply to 8dreams:

Sardonique (8a) could be worth a look. Easy climbing to a vertical/technical longish boulder crux. Quite shouldery but you've plenty of time to fix that

In reply to Gerry Gradewell:

Thanks Gerry, indeed I have quite some time to fix anything, as long as I know what I should aim at
The route looks interesting and something that can either take a little amount of time to RP or be discarded as "currently too hard"

In reply to 8dreams:

I can email you some written beta for Sardonique if you like? As mentioned it is long but is mostly quite easy apart from the crux sequence.
I also have some written beta for Angelika (8a) that might suit you, shorter but not crazily powerful but with a hard/marginal move towards the end. Lots of videos around of various people climbing it to look at the different methods for the crux moves. the final tufa can be wet in April but it's still climbable despite that.

In reply to Dandan:

That would be awesome. Any kind of feedback, beta is more than welcome.

In reply to snoop6060:
As previously said all the soft touch 8a,s have now been down graded including Path to Deliverance and Super Lolita which are both now 7c+ In the new guide - sorry! Probably the easiest one that I can recall that has remained at 8a is Angelica at Arhi. I personally would not get hung up on 8a as there are some fantastic 7c and 7c+ routes in Kaly which you could get stuck into.

In reply to marky:

This is precisely why I'm not buying any new guides. 2014 for the win

It's defo got rid of the perma queue on Orion though.

In reply to MischaHY:

What's aero and boom?

Sounds like some new school music thats a fusion of jazz and dubstep. Which sounds awful.

In reply to marky:

That's indeed my plan in case that after trying out one or two 8a's I realize that I will need more than 3-4 sessions on them. I have already been to Kalymnos twice and I know how many awesome routes there are, I wouldn't like to waste too much time on a single route there. Hence, the whole topic - I want to understand in advance which might be possible and not loose any time once I am on the island

@Dandan82 - awesome! Thanks a lot for the document. Knowing myself, I will probably find yet another way that's the most efficient for me, but it def helps to have an idea of possible solutions. It also makes the videos of Anjelica a lot more clear

In reply to 8dreams:

I would suggest Sardonique or Las Gallinas at Odyssey, or Narcissus at Secret Garden. The next best option Angelika at Arhi.

The first three are not extremely steep face climbs that more or less fulfill your requirements. Plus they are on nice crags with shade until late, and there are lots of very good routes at +/- all grades nearby for the people you climb with. Most of the other popular 8a routes at Kaly are either long, very steep or brutal endurance routes which are not really ideal for somebody breaking into the grade. Regarding the routes you mention:

Helios is relativey short, but also rather steep, certainly not "slight overhang". Many consider this as soft which I (with similar strengths as you describe) do not at all think is true. Needs body tension and biceps power, power endurance with a tough final crux. It is also in a place with very limited route options nearby and the sun hits relatively early. You'd need a partner who is either also working on it, or maybe on the similar but easier Nirvana 7c nearby.

Daniboy is certainly not "slight overhang". You need to be efficient with kneebars and pockets. It is also very popular on a crag that is nice and has a variety of routes, but is often crowded. Again, for me personally there are tons of 8a's that are easier to climb than this one.

In reply to Cellinski:

Great info, exactly what I am searching for. Thanks!

In reply to 8dreams:
It's a funny thing the 8a grade these days in Kalymnos, as someone above mentions all the soft 8as have been downgraded, and the ones that remain are a bit polished and not so good. "Helios" is still good though and fits your brief, lots of different sequences too for the strong or more technical. Just about 8a too, although definitely soft.

It's worth bearing in mind that with all the downgrades/ sorting out of the soft grades over the last few years, there are some amazing 7c+'s about, "savina" and the one next to it at secret garden, and "ourania" probably fit your brief well.

If you want a really soft one then "zavara katranemia" at the cave above Massouri is seriously soft touch (probably 7c!) !!

Sardonique is 8a but hard/uk style rat crimps!

Enjoy