David in the „flight phase“ on one of the world most famous climbing moves – the first jump from mono to finger pocket of Action Directe (c) Lars Scharl

Please, find the original article on the website of The Circuit Climbing!

Wolfgang Güllich and Action Directe

With the first ascent of Action Directe in Frankenjura Wolfgang Güllich introduced a new dimension to climbing. During the years before, he had already revolutionized the difficulty levels. In 1984, he climbed the worldwide first 8b, „Kanal im Rücken“ in Altmühltal. And in 1987, he also sent the world’s first 8c, „Wall Street“, in Frankenjura.

Taking difficulty to the next level in 1991, Action Directe became the test piece for the world’s climbing elite. At first Güllich assessed it UIAA XI, corresponding to 8c+/9a on the French scale. But then, during the following years, the climbing community agreed to make it a gold standard for the 9a level. Even today it is considered a very special route. Many world class climbers found it a hard nut to crack.

However, Action Directe might not have been the first 9a. „Hubble„, in the English Peak District, first sent by Ben Moon in 1990, is also endowed with this mythical grade by some climbers. Initially, it was considered the first 8c+ in the world. A few years later, Ben Moon corrected the difficulty to 8c+/9a or 9a. Accordingly, Hubble would be the first 9a in history.

Güllich himself could not participate in such discussions. He died in 1992 after a tragical car accident. If he was still alive, who knows to what dimensions Wolfgang Güllich would have taken sport climbing. A climbing idol par excellence for the generation of the 1980s, he still remains a role model up to this day.

Bolted by Milan Sykora, Action Directe is about 15 meters long. It runs through a 45 degree overhanging rock formation and – depending on the chosen beta – consists of 13 – 19 moves beginning with a characteristic and famous dyno from a mono into a sharp two finger pocket.

Hitting the two-finger-pocket on the first jump-move of Action Directe (c) Lars Scharl

During my ascent, I chose a way to ease the mono. I took exactly the same pocket with my left ring finger, but then piled my middle and index finger on it and let them hang down. This way, it felt more like a three finger pocket.

The initial dyno into the sharp two finger pocket is followed by a passage with extreme lock-offs on small finger pockets. Then there are technically complicated side holds and pinches with difficult foot changes before you run out with a tricky to hit crimp at the very end, where I still fell several times before sending.

The name of the route refers to the French terrorist group „Action directe“. With this name, Güllich symbolically wanted to point to the terror attack of the route on the finger joints.

Actually, Wolfgang Güllich was also the pioneer who invented the campus board to train for the special requirements of such routes. He trained his finger power on this special wooden board with small crimps, on which he constantly bounced upwards on single fingertips.

Finally, he needed 11 climbing days in the route, spread over three weeks, until – 25 years ago – he managed to send the route in free climbing style. This was not much time compared to how long it takes many top climbers nowadays to perform a project on their personal limit. Therefore, Action Directe certainly would not have been Wolfgang’s most difficult sport climbing legacy, if he would not have died that early.

First repetition by Alexander Adler in 1995 and further ascents

The early repeaters also had to train specifically for the route, because it was „a whole new kind of contactless climbing“, as Alexander Adler stated. The winter before, Alex began with a consistent and very intensive finger and muscle training. He climbed and exercised with a lot of body weight until summer. One month before sending, Alex was more or less constantly on the route, until he could master it after weight reduction.

Alex, today living in Dresden where he runs a climbing gym, gave a CD with a TV broadcast about his ascent of Action Directe to my brother Ruben and me when we were about 10 and 12 years old and visiting his climbing gym. Watching this, we were so impressed that we also wanted to climb this legendary route one day.

Kurt Albert was, besides Güllich, another former iconic Frankenjura climber. With the title “Fight Gravity” he published in 2005 a book about sport climbing in Frankenjura. In this book Alex Adler also describes his impressions (translated by D.F.):

„The second ascent of Action Directe undoubtedly represents a borderline in my life. For me it is the most difficult route I ever climbed. It demanded far more than my repetition of Wall Street or any other similar difficult routes. From the beginning – when I did not try Action Directe yet, but watched the others checking it out – I was thrilled by the sequence of the moves. When I then tried it myself, I went back again and again to just climb one single move even more optimally. In the end, I was engrossed so far by this route that I climbed nothing else, except for some warm-up routes. I was completely focused on the thirteen moves during the last three weeks before the ascent. Almost to the end, I went there with the idea of never being able to climb through. As I rehearsed the route top down to master the run out perfectly in case of getting through, I left the dynamic entry to the end. I knew that this was primarily a matter of maximum coordination. When I then devoted myself to the initial jump one and a half weeks before the ascent, I was at first surprised that I had fewer problems than expected. At this point, I could imagine the possibility of getting through for the first time. But during the next few days the well-known problem began, which many of us know by experience: when the moment of the successful ascent is coming closer and closer, the head blocks out, the psyche strikes. The initial dyno, which I firstly did not regard that difficult, became a „head killer“. Sometimes the jump worked at the first attempt, but then I fell nervously just before the last moves. Another time I made five jumps to grasp at nothing.

So, there came September 13^th, 1995, a day with worst conditions. It rained the day before. And then the temperatures rose to 24 degrees centigrade. When I came to the “Waldkopf”, the rock where Action Directe is situated, after my obligatory warm-up on the nearby rock “Rotenfels”, a catastrophic picture was waiting for me: the entire entry of the route was wet. Disappointed, I said to my girlfriend, I would like to use the day again as a training day and try to do a few attempts without pressure. In this weather I did not expect any chance to succeed in the route. After I had put some tin foil on the wet jumping-off point, I made the first attempt. The climbing shoes remained dry, but the foil did not remain. Finally, the jump succeeded at the second attempt and I was able to climb to the penultimate move. Surprisingly, in my next attempt I could manage to do the jump right away and I arrived well to the hold, where I otherwise had often failed. For a moment I thought I was getting through, but my left foot slipped from the hold and, well, that was it. I then took a longer break again. The third attempt really was only supposed to be for training and to re-collect the quick draws. But nevertheless, I wanted to have a try again. The initial jump succeeded right away. On the last clip I rested a few seconds before the finger became numb in the pocket, and, I was off then: crimp, side hold, two finger pocket … At that moment I realized that I was above my obligatory „drip-off point“ and I started to fight. Cross over, dissolving, crimp, and not getting lost in thought before the last move. Sideundercling and … exit move.  The rest was like in a trance. After that, I needed a lot of time to process everything. A dream came true and yet the time, when everything was still a dream, was the best.“

Falling nine times on the very last move is part of the game (c) Lars Scharl

In spring 2016, ten of the previous repeaters of Action Directe came together in Frankenjura on occasion of the 25^th anniversary of Güllich’s first ascent and discussed their experiences. Alex Megos reported that Alex Adler was the only one who had climbed the route in exactly the same moves like Güllich. All others would have used holds to the left or right. Impressively, Alex Megos himself managed to send the route in May 2014 in just two hours.

The route has been climbed 21 times in total now, including my own ascent. One ascent is discussed controversially. During the first 12 years, only three more climbers next to Güllich and Adler managed to repeat the route. From 2005 onwards the frequency increased, possibly because of the generally improved training conditions. Although women have been able to cope with the 9^th French grade for several years, none of them yet was able to do Action Directe. It will be exciting to see in the next few years who will be the first. Some have already begun to meet this challenge and to try Action Directe.

My ascent of Action Directe in October 2016

After my competition season 2016, which went very successfully with semifinal and final results in the World Cups as well as an overall bronze medal at the World Championships in Paris, I was psyched again for hard rock climbing. Action Directe was one of my open projects.

Due to my obligations in my studies at the University of Zurich, I was forced to complete a lower volume in the training sessions than I was used to during the competition season before. I took the training easier. I put my focus on short and qualitative training sessions with short boulders on pockets and crimps, longer 20 moves maximum strength endurance boulders, finger and maximum strength as well as explosive power on the finger and campus board. I wanted my finger joints and tendons to get used to the extreme stresses and strains in Action Directe and build up a sufficient muscle tone in my fore arms.

Since I committed myself to my studies during week days, I shifted my travels to Frankenjura to the weekends. From Zurich, that is 500 km forth and 500 km back. All in all, I drove almost 4000 km to climb the route.

I first tried Action Directe the year before, partly with Julius Westphal, when I spent some time climbing and training in Frankenjura. So I already knew what I would have to go through. Back at the time, my high point in the route was at the last quick draw. I realized that I still had a certain deficit of maximum strength and endurance and I was forced to stop trying it because of the still running competition season.

One year later, I came back with a higher maximum strength level. The successful training with my coach, Urs Stöcker in Zurich, played a decisive role in my improvement of climbing this year.

I needed the first weekend in the route to get used to the small holds and therewith stress and strains on my fingers. Throughout the whole season I trained and climbed on mostly ergonomically shaped holds and my fingers weren’t really used to pulling hard on monos and two finger pockets which are only rarely set in competition climbing. On that first weekend, I already reached my high point from the previous sessions the year before. I felt optimistic.

On the second weekend, I showed a significant progress although I fell three times at the last hard move to the saving hold at the very end of the route. This gave me an extra motivational boost to finally send it the weekend after.

However, during the following third weekend, I failed to finish the route. Another four falls on the last hard move left me behind disappointed and frustrated. I also started to doubt if I could still finish the route, because it seemed to be a much too limited time regarding the upcoming cold and wet autumn of Frankenjura. I accessed it bottom-up. Was I about to get the same „head killer” at the top of the route like Alex Adler described it for the first dynamic move during his top-down trials?

I wanted to keep pushing through and not give up, coming back a couple of days later, mentally even stronger, relying on myself and not losing hope for an ascent still this year. Arriving, though, there were even more difficulties with the weather. A sudden high above Southern Germany with warm temperatures of almost 20 degrees centigrade and water condensation on the still cold rock led to completely wet conditions in the route.

Luckily, not all was lost. I still got another chance a couple of days later when weather and autumn in Frankenjura showed themselves of their friendlier sides with dry and cool conditions. On the first day of the fourth weekend (Saturday, October 29^th) I fell once again at the last hard move. Subsequently, in visualizing the route, I tried not to think about every single move, but focused on the changes that I had considered necessary to be able to get through. These were a certain move in the middle of the wall and the exact execution of the last hard move with a modified closure for a crimp with my left hand. This mental attitude – do not think too much, do not make it more complicated than it is, concentrate on the essentials and simply go through, you are able to do it, simply wrap it up and just tick it – was probably the crucial factor for this successful ascent on the second go of that day.

During my following go, I did not reflect much, but was attentive and focused. I did not make mistakes while climbing the route. On one hand, I was sufficiently relaxed and on the other hand, also sufficiently tense, determined, accurate and speedy on the way. I breathed deeply several times and finally managed to stick the very last hard move. Frankly, I was a bit surprised and had already seen me hanging in the rope again. It had become way of mental routine and expectation in the sessions before to fall there every time I got up there. Clipping the anchor this time all the way right from the bottom was a great relief and satisfaction. Immediately, an intense feeling of joy and pride came up.

One of the moves in the middle of the route where David had to be very focused to hit the pocket right (c) Lars Scharl

Overall, I returned stronger to the route than the year before. I struggled with the weather conditions and had to prove mental endurance, will and perseverance. Through the long road trips and the consecutive time expenditure, I had to accept some shortfalls in my studies, but could reward myself in the end with the ascent. As the route still held me back a little while, taxed my patience and challenged me, the success was even sweeter. I am proud that I managed to make my dream come true of climbing this famous and difficult route ever since I first heard about it and all the stories around Wolfgang Güllich and Alex Adler’s second ascent which I had seen in the old film recording as well as those of other strong and world famous climbers.

Today the ascents seem to be faster. On the one hand, a certain mitigation has occurred by different betas with more holds to the right and left of the original line being used. On the other hand, climbers nowadays arrive with a higher level of physical fitness due to improved training possibilities with higher climbing limits up to 9b+. Although, this might reduce a psychological hurdle, as climbers might be more confident to tackle climbs in the 9th French grade, it seems to me that some other psychological challenges still remain the same like the respect for the status of this prestigious route, pressure and expectations as well as “head killers” at the moment right before you get successfully through.

Acknowledgment

I am grateful to Franz Kaiser, a good climbing friend, who is studying in Erlangen, for his hospitality, his time in belaying me and above all his encouragement when the last hard move did not want to work several times. With such a sportive challenge, you simply need such an active support. It is impossible without it. Last but not least, his mobile finger board helped me very much to warm-up my fingers specifically for the route. Without it, perhaps it would not have worked.

By the way, the original video recording of my ascent of Action Directe will be uploaded here soon. To be continued…

Mastering the body swing which sets in when sticking the pocket on the first jump-move (c) Lars Scharl

We hope you also like the short article and the pics down below. They were originally published on the Hompage of the Escaladrome. We have translated the text into English as we believe it gives a good summary about our climbing achievements in 2016. For more details please click to our Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or 8a.nu (David, Ruben) accounts.

Let’s crush together in 2017!

From North to South and setting high



By Simon Lenke, David Firnenburg and Susanne Lieberknecht

Despite their young age, David and Ruben Firnenburg already belong to the climbing elite. No matter if it is bouldering or sport climbing, on rock or at competition, their name is often ranked top in the end. In recent years, the two native Hanoverians have achieved national and international success in climbing.



At the age of 5 and 6 years, during a family holiday in Northern Italy, they discovered their enthusiasm for climbing. Assisted by their parents and the climbing scene in northern Germany they got to learn climbing with passion. After their A levels they first traveled around the world. A year ago then, they moved to Zurich, Switzerland. Their choice of living in this new place is not a matter of coincidence: „Here we can combine studying and training very well and there are only short distances to the rock climbing hot spots in the Alps“, David explains.

In spite of this big step to Switzerland, they both agree that they will not let disrupt their connection to Hanover over the new distance. „We will keep in touch with the North – especially with the Escaladrome, the home and hot spot of bouldering in Hanover, and our family“, Ruben says.

For both, the highlights of the international competition season occurred in the second half of the year. Ruben achieved a strong third place in the combined format of bouldering, lead and speed at the Juniors’ World Championships in Guangzhou in November. And David also secured a bronze medal in the same format at the World Championships in Paris in September. The combined triple will be the future competition format of the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, where climbing will be Olympic for the first time as one of five new sports. Ruben and David are thrilled and see good chances to qualify for this important sport event. But that’s not all: David just missed the podium at the Boulder World Cup in Munich in summer, but secured a strong fourth place. In September Ruben crowned his competition year 2016 with a victory at the German Championship of sport climbing in Neu-Ulm, where David achieved the third place.

Also rock climbing went very well – despite the long and strenuous competition season last year. Thus, David could send the legendary „Action Directe“ (9a) in Frankenjura, one of his proudest achievements so far. „Topping out „Action Directe“ once in my life has always been a dream for me. This year, on the 25th anniversary of the route, this dream came true“, David says.

Ruben’s big project by the beginning of last year was the long and overhanging „Selecció Natural“ (9a) in the huge cave of Santa Linya in Catalonia/Spain. Right at the end of the year he started a new try ascending the route, but he had to realize that a number of decisive holds had broken out in the meantime. For the time being, he changed his project to the left and ticked „Analogica Natural“ (9a) shortly after Christmas. Completely free and self-confident, he then succeeded during the last day of 2016, on December 31th, being finally able to send „Selecció Natural“. These were two 9a’s in just four days. What an end of the year on rock for him!

Though, for David and Ruben the sports year 2016 began with the famous HardMoves Boulder league event. Together with eight other athletes of the Escaladrome Hanover the two brothers qualified for the final and then took a strong second place in the “Swimming Opera” of Wuppertal. „The HardMoves is probably the coolest fun competition for me at all. I like it very much that my own performance is not the focus, but the one of the whole team. And the team of the Escaladrome is just great. Everyone is passionate and dedicated, they help and cheer you up the wall, and the fan community from Hanover is simply undescribable. It is always an event full of tensions and emotions. I’m looking forward to next time! „, David reports.

We would like to congratulate and wish all the best to the two Firnenburgbrothers also for 2017!

Link: The Firnenburg Brothers climbing „The Essential“ (9a)

At Schneiderloch: (1) Burn for You (2) Corona (3) Black Label (4) Pantera

Two days ago I was able to send Black Label (9a) at Schneiderloch (Ailsbach-Valley) in Frankenjura. It’s a new route by Markus Bock in 2013 which had only seen one repeat by Alex Megos last year. Now I have secured the 3rd ascent of this test piece.

During a comp last year Markus Jung recommended it to me. He was talking about the moves and I became excited to try it. After the comp was over I put it on my tick list and when I’ve headed to Nuremberg to live there for a while it became very close. I just had to wait for the right moment to try it. Around the Easter holiday my brother Ruben visited me and we drove out to the crag to give it the first tries.

The route climbs up the slightly overhanging wall between the famous Corona and Pantera, two other 9th French graded routes. It is the same style of climbing, so pretty fingery on crimps and little pockets. It is around 15 meters high on compact rock which is neither loose nor pretty structured.

You can divide it into two different parts. The first part is a short 8b/8b+ route (around 12 moves long on four bolts) leading to a rest in the middle of the wall. Here the crux is a long move from crimp to crimp with a high foot hold. The clipping is quite powerful too. The second part is a 6 moves boulder problem over a small bulge which is around Fb 8A/8A+ I would say. You take a three finger undercling for the right hand and move to the left to get a three finger side hold crimp. From there You have to stick a long move to a round and open three finger pocket high up right where You have to keep the tension (I could still stand on the holds of the rest making it easier for me, I am around 1,82 meters high, smaller climbers probably have to master the swing of a releasing right leg while moving up – see pic below). Afterwards You put Your left foot on a small hold in the overhang and lock-off to a mono for the left hand. Then a tensiony foot match to catch a bizarre three finger crimp for the right hand. One last hard dynamic move to go to a juggy slot heading on a few more moves to the anchor. To be accurate but that’s already it

Markus Bock in the upper boulder problem – Pic by Jochen Meyer – Source: Kletterszene.com

At the beginning the first part felt quite hard until I figured out the proper beta for me. There are some tiny intermediate holds but I simply couldn’t hold them. Instead I went for the long moves leaving the small ones out  I think what I’ve climbed is the proper beta and also doable for smaller climbers. At the rest You’ve got three good holds. I was mainly shaking my hands on both the right ones although they are worse. The body position is better though. Before the temps were colder. So when I climbed up there I always had to rest until my finger tips weren’t numb anymore. That was a bit annoying because I had to stay there longer than I actually wanted. I still have to struggle with numb finger tips after I’ve done some hard moves on very little crimps in cold conditions. You have to keep in mind that the crag is in the shade all day long. However, now the temps are springlike and warm enough that I didn’t get numb fingers two days ago. The first part became routine because I kept falling three times on almost every single move in the second part. Except the first two moves where I’ve never been falling I had to climb up the first part around 12 times. To finish the whole route I certainly needed around 15 tries. So to speak it was a good power endurance and finger strength training for me. The hardest move was definitely the one from the mono to the three finger crimp right before the saving slot in the second part. Before I started to give it some serious tries I had to get up to that point to especially warm up my left middle finger every time. Otherwise I wasn’t able to seriously pull on the mono (I was only able to put my first phalanx inside it).

To sum up in general: After the work is done and You have received Your present You always start to realize that hard work pays off. And it is even more satisfying if the climb was very challenging for You. It might sound strange but through failure You begin to improve Your performance step by step and You will only find it in the things which force You to try as good as You can over and over again. Actually failure is the key to become a physically and mentally stronger climber. That’s what it means to get out of Your own personal comfort zone. And that’s what to keep in mind!

Indeed, Black Label was a great experience again.

Keep crushing out there! All the best, David

(c) – Ben Ullmann

Today I was able to send „The Elder Statesman“ (9a) at Rotenstein in Northern Frankenjura which is just some footsteps away from „The Essential“ (9a) at Luisenwand.

The Elder Statesman is the direct version into „The Last Rites“ (8c+) I’ve sent some days ago when Ruben sent The Essential too. It is the boulder at the start which adds one grade. There is one tiny crimp for the left hand from where You have to catch a three finger pocket. This move is quite hard. The upper part is the same climbing.

The temps are cold right now (around 5 degrees C) and I had to struggle with numb fingers again. Besides this the climbing felt easy today. It could be a soft 9a.

If a project is ticked, the next one’s waiting! I am motivated.

Cheers David

(c) Ben Ullmann

Last weekend Ruben went direction south to meet up with David and to try some projects which they couldn’t finish last fall holiday at the „Luisenwand“ and „Rotenstein“. Ruben had been already pretty close to send „The Essential“ (9a) and after one day of getting back into the route he did it. It’s his second 9a after „Era Vella“ in Spain and his first in the Frankenjura. The send was unexpected because of rainy and foggy weather but fortunately the rock was almost dry. Just the top-out was a little wet but still climbable. For Ruben the crux consists of a dead-point-move at the second bolt. He is really happy that he was finally able to climb this beautiful, short and bouldery line on pockets.

At the same day David tried „The last rites“ (8c+) at the „Rotenstein“ which starts on the left side of „The Elder Statesman“ (9a) and goes into the same line afterwards. Because of the cold weather and the small crimps David often got frozen finger tips and had to struggle at the top of the route after the crux. To skip a clip was the quintessence for keeping the fingers warm enough and then he did it more or less easily.

Now Ruben has to be focused on school starting to pass the graduation exames soon. After a little rest and if the outdoor conditions will stay stable which isn’t sure yet David will go for „The Elder Statesman“ …

Cheers Ruben + David

The Essential (c) Louisa Firnenburg

Today I’ve sent „The Essential“ (9a) at Luisenwand in Frankenjura which was first climbed by Markus Bock in 2008. It’s a short bouldery route on small pockets and crimps. It actually comes down to approx. 8 meters of hard climbing.

Right at the 2nd bolt I took several gastons and thumb holds in weird angles. It is very special and definitely the hardest passage of the route for me. It finishes with a deadpoint move where I cross over into a two finger pocket while I’m really stretched with my body. When I figured out the moves I thought it is so hard just because of the bad holds but in the end I realized that it’s about the right body position. When I extruded my right leg it felt more in control and doable. Just a tiny difference makes it work.

Afterwards it isn’t over. There is still another deadpoint move from a small two finger slot into a two finger pocket which is pretty hard. I never fell there when I’ve tried it from the bottom but I was always close to fall. Today I just fell once at the last hard move of the route. As I fell into the rope I couldn’t trust my eyes. I felt so confident to stick it but I somehow missed the good hold in the crack on a long move to the side. So back on the ground I rested a bit longer as usual, put on the syked-mode and fired this beast off afterwards. That felt great when I clipped the anchor

It’s my first 9a in Frankenjura. Some years ago it still felt impossible to send 9a in Frankenjura but nowadays not anymore. At the moment I feel in good shape and I’m super motivated. I’m with Ruben and he is also working on it. It already looks pretty good and I think he is close to send it too. We’ve still some days left here. The conditions seem to be good. It started to get warmer due to sunnier weather and therewith it became more humid but we don’t mind. We want to crush anyway

More to come soon and cheers from Bamberg

David

Ruben in the men’s final route (c) Marco Kost/DAV

Video: Hoch hinaus – Regio TV Schwaben

After the first German Lead Cup in Darmstadt we both were staying at home in Hanover until the second cup in Neu-Ulm last weekend. For David it was time to rest and recover a little bit from all the traveling before. Since April he has been on the road. Ruben went to school dealing with a marathon of exams before the teachers let him go for a two weeks fall holiday.

After 6 hours at a stretch on the highway we finally arrived at Neu-Ulm at half past midnight and went to bed which maybe wasn’t the best preparation right before the comp. David went to Neu-Ulm without any expectations, relaxed and curious how he will perform. Ruben wanted to give his best at the senior’s comp but put his main focus on the youth event. He wants to secure his previous title of the last season.

We both climbed well in the men’s qualification round. Ruben finished top 3, David landed on 6th place. So we both qualified for the final of the best 8 men.

The final route was pretty sustained and homogeneous to the end. Right from the bottom the climbing was challenging with awkward body positions and powerful long moves. So the climbers had to be very attentive already during the first part of the route. David was the first of us to leave the isolation zone. He mastered the first passage very confidently and took a little rest on a side pull afterwards. Then he turned into the „psyched modus“ and gave everything he could. He fell off the wall very high up being totally pumped. He couldn’t even clip the quickdraw anymore. Therefore he was really satisfied because he couldn’t have moved any further up and didn’t make any mistake. In relation Ruben was too hesitant and indecisive at the start. On a short climbing passage on an arete he had some trouble and unexpectedly tipped over to the right falling into the rope. He knew what he had done wrong and the next time he wants to perform more determined, confident and freed at the national men’s events. David surprised himself with a strong performance winning the men’s German Lead Cup for the first time (and within the juniors‘ category of the day). After the final Ruben placed first from behind of the men’s result list

The day after, on Sunday, Ruben didn’t let on about something and showed excellent effort in the youth’s qualification round. He topped both routes as the only competitor. In the final route he climbed multiple moves further up as the other athletes and therewith repeated to win the youth A category as he did in Darmstadt two weeks before. Good job!

Now we are very happy not staying all day long in a stuffy climbing gym because we are in the Frankenjura for some rock climbing. On November, 8-9th there will be the final of the German Lead Cup in Berlin. David has good chances to become German Lead Champion in both the juniors‘ and the men’s category. If Ruben wins again he would be German Lead Campion in the youth A category and finally would have secured the youth title for the 3rd time in a row. Of course that would be awesome but it isn’t done yet. There are excellent competition climbers waiting. But we are staying cool and confident. We are on the rocks now and try some hard lead projects. The conditions are cold and dry and we have a lot of fun together. Now it’s time for the final spurt, to accelerate for Berlin and we are looking forward to it!

David & Ruben

- Mens results

- Youth A results