Niky Ceria has bouldered at a world-class level for several years, although he cares less about the arbitrary number attached to the rock and more about aesthetics, movement and history. UK readers will remember Niky as the man who made the 2nd ascent of Ben Moon's No match for climb id:301048,"Voyager Low Start" in 2015. His affinity with climbing in the UK began much earlier during his childhood when he idolised a picture of Andy Earl on Cypher. He has made several trips since then, returning for the 'quiet and peaceful' British moors, the sense of community found in climbing walls and the attitude towards rock and nature.
In 2010 at age 16, Niky came on a trip to the UK and one of the few things he knew about was Voyager (f8B). The problem had only seen a handful of repeats at the time and the low start was far away from a second ascent. One afternoon, Niky went to look at the 'legendary' problem and after 15 minutes found himself past the crux and onto the 'easier' section:
'Totally unaware of the beta, I missed the last move by hitting the slopey part of the rail rather than the proper jug. It would have been a very nice climb for me at that time. I gave it other goes and I worked it for two more sessions, but I couldn't reach that point anymore.'
Niky wanted to come back and try it as soon as possible, although struggled to find anyone who wanted to return to the UK with him. It wasn't until 2015 that he returned and on the only dry day of the trip went back to Burbage. He dispatched the stand in a couple of attempts and proceeded to check out the lower moves:
'Fortunately, I linked it on my first go from the start. During the sending go I split my tip very badly and it rained for all the rest of the trip. I was very lucky and I had nice skin. It's a day I will hardly forget.
'As far as I could experience, the Gritstone is brutally technical and extremely skin dependent, so every problem is challenging: you need to manage a lot of factors at the same time as having a proper skin, prove your technique, being in a good shape and gambling with the bizarre British weather.'
Despite the weather, Niky keeps returning to the UK and on a recent trip had several other classics in mind. The climb at the front of his mind was another Ben Moon problem: Cypher (f8B).
'Many years ago, a famous Italian clothing brand released a poster. It showed a dark grey arête in a stunning place, the sky was dark and gloomy in the background and the climber was waving his leg in the air. I loved that photo, the setting where the boulder was and the position of the climber. I attached it on my wardrobe just near my bed. Years later, I found out that the climber was Andy Earl and the boulder was Cypher at Slipstones.'
That was in 2004 when Niky was just starting to get into bouldering. He later found out about other classics such as Zoo York (f8A) and High Fidelity (f8B) and planned a trip to Yorkshire in his mind.
In late March and throughout April, Niky worked his way through some of his dream problems, meticulously looking after his skin and endlessly visualising moves. Cypher took him 12 attempts over 2 sessions, after 14 years of dreaming about the line.
Niky went on to tick High Fidelity at Caley and Rhythm (f8A+) at Flasby Fell: 'High fidelity is probably the best climbing (in terms of moves) I have done in this trip. I really liked a couple of problems I did in Brimham, 'Ancient' and 'Tender Homecoming'. Those are amazing problems considering how they look and the pureness of the line, even if the rock isn't perfect.'
After steadily working his way through some of the best 8Bs in the country, there's still a huge amount of climbing waiting for Niky. High on his list are Ben Bransby's Lanny Bassham (f8A+) at Rylstone, Peak classics such as Careless Torque (f8A), The Ace (f8B) and Samson (f8A) and visiting some different areas: 'I would like to visit St Bees in general and then would love to make a trip to Northumberland to check all the beautiful things that Dan (Varian) has put up. Last but not least, I would like to do Milk-it at the School.'
It's more than the climbing that keeps Niky coming back to the UK and certainly more than the weather: 'The settings are often incredible. I love the British moors and I like to see how the community takes care of the rock and the nature. I found it fascinating seeing climbers walking on a very remarkable path, leaving all the rest untouched and undisturbed.
'I also came to UK to climb at the gym. The climbing scene in Sheffield is unique. It's great to know that somewhere in the world the climbing gym is still a place to escape real life and to meet climbers who train for rock climbing. We don't have this attitude in Italy anymore (and probably also in the rest of Europe) so this is another reason why I like UK. And honestly, I don't mind sitting in a pub and getting bored on the rainy days.'
Comments
This was a great read. The enthusiasm really came across well.