After returning home to Finland from a hot Fontainebleau, Nalle Hukkataival felt the time had come to settle the deal with one of his last long term project near his home. We could all follow the drama on Facebook:
Just had it with this weather. Going to the proj, wet or not! 45min drive and a 20min bike ride with a ton of gear, to find find out exactly how wet the project is.
And then 6 hours later:
Just sent that thing!!! YESSS!!! I think it took me more time than what I've spent on any problem before. Psyched!!!
Before this, Nalle had fallen several time on the last move, but now it was in the bag.
From his blog:It's a great problem on bulletproof granite and climbs extremely well. Every move requires lots of body tension and shoulder strength. It climbs very differently than granite usually does and it is more like a sandstone problem style-wise. I decided to name it Circus Elephant Syndrome and for the grade I'm proposing hard 8B+.
In my opinion 8B+ is HARD and I intend to keep my line with the 8C grade, which I still view as cutting-edge until something a notch above the current bouldering level gets climbed. However, the way 8C has been shifting again lately, this grade may not correspond too well. Either way, Circus Elephant Syndrome is likely the hardest boulder problem in Finland and a world-class shoulder strength testpiece! I'm very psyched that I finally got it done!!!
Nalle Hukkataival is sponsored by: Black Diamond and La Sportiva
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