#18 Magic Wood sends, Hard Grit, El Cap in a Day and an Alpine Multipitch
In this week's Ticklist, top boulderers sneak in some hard ascents at Magic Wood before the snow, plus a free ascent of El Capitan, some hard gritstone bouldering and a first free ascent of an alpine multipitch:
Clément Lechaptois ticks The Understanding (Font 8C)
French climber Clément Lechaptois has climbed Nalle Hukkataival's 2013 line The Understanding in Magic Wood, Switzerland. Clément had tried the line in the past but hadn't made it past the stopper dyno until October. With little time until the end of the season, Clément thought it would have to wait until next year but luckily the weather came good and he was able to perfectly execute the problem.
New direct finish for Jakob Schubert in Magic Wood
Top Austrian climber Jakob Schubert has added a direct finish to La Force Tranquille (Font 8C) in Magic Wood. The line was a long-standing project and follows a direct exit to Daniel Woods' original problem, making the top pretty spicy!
La Force Tranquille was first climbed by Daniel Woods in 2011. Jakob ticked the problem on his first day in the forest and checked out the direct finish the following day whilst getting photos. About an hour later he found himself on top of the boulder. He believes his direct finish is only slightly harder the Woods' original line.
Watch Jakob float up the problem in the footage from the first ascent:
Golden Gate for Jordan Cannon
Jordan Cannon has completed a free ascent of Golden Gate (VI 5.13) on El Capitan. His ascent of the 36-pitch route was done in a day. At the end of October, Cannon had come close to ticking the route but came up short on the A5 Traverse pitch, after which he abseiled in to work the section.
On the day of his ascent, he climbed the A5 Traverse on his first attempt and cruised the final five pitches to the top, climbing the route in 20 hours and 26 minutes.
Jordan was the star of the film Free As Can Be (currently showing at Kendal Mountain Festival) where he makes an all-free ascent of Freerider on El Cap in a day.
Sam Mawson ticks Cypher
Sam Mawson has ticked Ben Moon's Cypher (f8B) (Font 8B) at Slipstones, North Yorkshire. He first tried the problem after lockdown in the mid-summer heat, but unsurprisingly didn't get far. With better conditions, he returned and found the problem felt completely different.
Leap of Faith 8a+/b - New Swiss Multipitch freed by Matteo Della Bordella
Italian alpinists Matteo Della Bordella and Ale Zeni have completed a 5-year project on the Poncione d'Alnasca in Ticino, Switzerland. Leap of Faith is a 16 pitch 500m 8a+/b max., 7b+ obligatory multipitch protected by nuts, cams and some places where traditional protection wasn't possible. Della Bordella established the line ground-up with friends in 2015/16.
The name is derived from a huge dyno move on pitch 10. In 2018, Della Bordella freed all pitches except for one, which proved so difficult that he couldn't manage it on top-rope. Returning this year with an on-form Alessandro Zeni - who recently redpointed Cryptography, the famous 9b slab in Saint Loup, Switzerland - the pair managed to free the line, with Ale making the first all-free ascent and Della Bordella completing the hardest pitches with just one fall on one of the easier pitches.