by Mayan Smith-Gobat
Mayan Smith-Gobat from New Zealand has repeated Wolfgang Güllich's 1985 test-piece Punks In The Gym, 8b+, in the Arapiles, Australia.
At the time of the first ascent this was probably the most difficult route in the world. This was the first female ascent.
Mayan told adidas: When I first tried Punks in the Gym, nearly 2 years ago, I thought that it was a climb that I would never be able to achieve because of its long reaches... . To avoid the powerful shoulder presses I came up with a new sequence. This made the moves possible for me, but changed the route into an unrelenting crimp-fest! Since then I have invested a huge amount of time and effort into climbing this route - it feels incredible to have finally achieved this goal and lifelong dream of mine!
Mayan Smith-Gobat is sponsored by: adidas , Five Ten, Petzl , Sterling Rope , EM's power cookies and Cactus climbing