(c) New Base Line – Eddie Fowke (The Circuit Climbing)

This April I went to Magic Wood for a couple of days to work on hard boulders I couldn’t finish the last time I was there. On the very top of my tick list there was New Base Line, a boulder problem which was originally put up by grand master Bernd Zangerl as an 8C. Meanwhile it has seen several attempts by the world’s best boulderers and got downgraded to 8B+.

It is not only hard. It looks also fine. A noble crack line running from right to left with a slight rise through an overhanging wall. In the middle of the wall above the crack line there are nicely shaped crimps and side holds heading up to the top edge. It is just perfect. A dream boulder. This is probably why it is supposed to be one of the best in the world.

The time and work I invested to call the ascent mine was totally worth it. The process of getting better and better on this problem confirmed a lot of things I’ve already learned in my young climbing life. In the end strong will, no doubts and tenacity were the mental skills to send it. I had a very nice time on it and I was very satisfied that I battled my way up this problem although the weather was about to upset my plans with rain and warmth during my stay. I again leave the wood with a bunch of good feelings. I try to come back as soon as possible to get back on the other major lines in Magic Wood. I am already looking forward to it. Let’s crush!

Thank You Eddie Fowke for the nice pics!

All the best
David

I’m currently in Fontainebleau again and I thought why not putting up a little video again from my last trip earlier this year. I’m bouldering a lot and my skin isn’t so good. In Font I always have bad skin. It feels like it isn’t regrowing, I just ripp off more and more. Well, this is the only thing right now which isn’t working so well. Yesterday I’ve sent Big Dragon (8A) at Petit Bois, a small but beautiful spot. In November last year I teamed up with my British boulder buddy Nathan Phillips to give it a try. When I slipped off the spiky sloper while going for the top jug I ripped the worst flapper on my right index finger I’ve ever had in my climbing life. That was such an awful moment. That day we concluded: Fontainebleau bites back! This is why I had to rest for more than one week. Yesterday it went down like it would have been nothing hard, like an ordinary medium hard problem You tick on Your way through the area. But it was much more in my mind. I came over the trauma and finished something I thought I would never try again. But I felt like I can’t just leave it there unrepeated because it’s such a must-do in Font. In the movie „Between the trees“ featuring Ty Landman he determines with a proud smile after his repetition „One problem ticked. One problem erased“. This is exactly how I feel now. Onto the next one on the tick list. Enjoy the little video above!

More days to come. Hope the weather will be fine!?

Cheers David

Cheers David