In this week's ticklist, we travel from Switzerland to Canada and back, with ascents of hard boulder problems, first ascents, tricky trad and an outrageous Alpine rope-solo:
Hard problems in Switzerland for Marine Thevenet
Marine Thevenet has had a fantastic year and has climbed over fifty grade 8 boulder problems. In the past week, she has made the first female ascent of Kingda Ka (Font 8B) in the San Gottordo Pass and Dulcifer Sit (Font 8A+) at Goschenen, Switzerland.
According to 8a.nu, Thevenet spent four sessions on the problem - two working it on a rope and then another two attempting it from the ground. Earlier this summer, she ticked Tony Lamiche's Stage Divers 8B at Les Bossons in Chamonix.
Stil vor talent 8C/+ FA by Giani Clement
Swiss climber Giani Clement has made the first ascent of Stil vor talent - a Font 8C/+ in Magic Wood, Switzerland. The problem is his hardest first ascent to date and is an extension of La Grosse Tarlouze, a Font 8C which he had climbed previously. Clement's extension adds two hard moves which are the crux of the problem. He describes the crux as 'tension-intensive shoulder move from a perfect shaped pinch into the slopy roof, followed by a cool dyno to a big rail system.'
The 36-year-old's previous hardest climbs were The Story of Two Worlds (8C) in Cresciano and Practice of the Wild (8C) in Magic Wood.
La Zébrée 8b+ trad by Emilie Pellerin
French-Canadian climber Emilie Pellerin has climbed La Zébrée - an 8b+ trad route at Mount King in the Laurentides, Quebec. The route was first climbed by Jeff Beaulieu in 2003 who climbed it on pre-placed gear and was repeated by JP Oullet in 2008, who placed the gear on lead.
Gripped Magazine has a thorough history of the route and explain that the route is very difficult to work due to the steepness. The gradient makes it very hard to clean, meaning you have to down-aid the route.
Unbelievably, Pellerin climbed the route when it was still wet! She wrote on Instagram: 'Sometimes the odds are against you, but it doesn't mean that you don't stand a chance... it only makes you believe that you don't, thus lower your expectations & stress level - just to help you send it.'
Łukasz Dudek rope-solos Pan Aroma (8c)
Polish climber Łukasz Dudek has rope-soloed Pan Aroma on Cima Ovest in the Dolomites. The route was first climbed by Alex Huber in 2007 and is 9 pitches long with the following grades: 7b, 6c, 6a+, 6c+, 7a+, 8b+, 8c, 6c, 6c+.
Writing on Facebook, Dudek said that the route took him 17 hours and topped out at 2 am. On the day of the ascent, he also managed to climb each pitch on his first attempt.
'I feel fulfilled as a climber. This is my summary and the culmination of my 20-year climbing experience.'
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