David right before setting off for the famous dyno in „La Rambla“ (c) Iuliia Leonova

The two weeks trip to Siurana turned out to be a very successful one. After a couple of days of working on „La Rambla“ David could finally tick his first 9a+ ever. And right before leaving he finished the trip with a quick ascent of „La Reina Mora“, just next to La Rambla.

The trip to Catalonia was originally planned together with Ruben over New Year. But just before David got a foot injury which made it impossible for him to go. So he had to shift his climbing in Catalonia to February.

The main objective of the trip was to send La Rambla. In January David started to train for the upcoming bouldering season. Together with his coach Urs Stöcker he put up a new training plan in Zurich. Since the trip to Catalonia was actually planned earlier he didn’t train his endurance specifically. Instead he’d done a lot of maximum and explosive strength exercises in the gyms around Zurich and spent 3 days bouldering in Fontainebleau where he did some milestones of the history in bouldering, such as „Karma“ (Fb 8A), „La Merveille“ (Fb 8A+) and „Partage“ (Fb 8A+). All of them are very technical and tricky. True Fontainebleau style which everyone knows who has been to this magical bouldering area once.

Well, it was the first time that David has been to Catalonia in February. It is calmer than over New Year (not so many climbers). He stayed in a nice apartment of „La Vileta“ which is run by very friendly Catalonian locals, close to the main square of Cornudella de Montsant, the village underneath Siurana. Cornudella is pretty rural, mainly inhabited by farmers’ families who live from the surrounding olive, nut and wine fields. When you go climbing or walk around in the countryside you notice its beautiful landscape and nature. In the karst there are numerous caves. Dry and rocky areas dominate with a low vegetation of herbs, shrubs and pines. There are many rare species of wild animals. Because of their trustfulness robins often accompany you when climbing.

Dad feeding a robin who came to take a look if we don’t make any troubles at the crag

Because of its 9a+ difficulty La Rambla has been a new challenge for David. It is a long (around 45 meters), overhanging and technical route. It has got a famous name in the climbing scene. First ascended by Alex Huber to a lower anchor and extended by Ramón Julián Puigblanque to the actual top. It first kicks off with a technical crack followed by more powerful and pumpy moves with a unique jump in the middle to a rest before the hardest and most bouldery part at the end.

Some years ago David did already „El Rastro“ and „Broadway“, two lines which share at least half of the route with La Rambla, so that he already knew the lower part. On the first day he once checked out the moves, brushed and tick-marked the holds and gave it a good try where he already fell in the last and hardest part at the top. There are 4 compression moves on round side holds and crimps which easily spit you off when too pumped after around 35 meters of climbing approximately 8c to this point.

David shaking out his arms before he attacks the redpoint crux of „La Rambla“ (c) Iuliia Leonova

After this good first day of projecting David struggled some days with bad skin (especially the pockets literally ate the side skin of his fingers). Not the best conditions to send hard stuff. During these days he always fell on a certain and probably the hardest move in the route at the top from an open side hold into a small undercling which you have to catch close to your chest after you’ve reached out longly. In the past years such failures (falling on the same move without getting any higher) sometimes awakened negative thoughts and frustration in David. But meanwhile he can manage his mind set well. This time he didn’t really care about these failures and took it easy.

To be honest, every time you fall and reflect what mistake you’ve done you somehow have a progress in your project. It does not always have to be that you’ve got some moves higher but that you have adapted your beta or optimized your clipping positions and rest points for example. It is actually a failure itself to think that there is no progression at all although you keep on falling on the same move.

„It will happen sooner or later“ was David’s devise and he kept on trying with confidence and mental coolness. In the end it took him some 6 days of work to finally stuck the last hard move and top out his first 9a+ ever.

Keep smiling although projecting might be frustrating sometimes – that works wonders (c) Iuliia Leonova

So, La Rambla represents a new dimension in his climbing and now it feels like that there are more years of personal progress in climbing still to come. There must be a reason why the years between 20 and 30 are called „The Golden Twenties“ in climbing The main task will probably be to keep the mental coolness alive and to work on the maximum strength, mainly in bouldering and in the gym.

Right before David had to leave Siurana to head back home to Switzerland he wanted to use his fitness to dedicate to „La Reina Mora“ which has the same crack start and the same top-out with La Rambla but a more crimpy and sustained middle section. It is the real straight-up on this part of the wall. Falling two times on the last hard move in the end was a bit annoying but he had chosen a not optimal beta and when he optimized this it went down first go of the day and the finish of the trip couldn’t have been sweeter. La Reina Mora might be one of the most beautiful climbs in whole Catalonia.

David working himself up the crack of „La Reina Mora“ (c) Jon Cardwell

David is happy to return back to Switzerland again to prepare for the upcoming bouldering competitions and rock climbings in Switzerland. University lectures start as well again and it is great to come back home to reload batteries for the next challenges which climbing always has to offer in a brilliant way.

Thanks to Iuliia Leonova and Jon Caldwell for their nice pictures and to our sponsors Scarpa, Haglöfs, Friction Labs, Escaladrome Hannover and the DAV section Rhineland-Cologne for the amazing support lately. As the Spanish climbers say: A Muerte!!!

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

Santa Linya in Catalonia is a very impressive sport climbing destination. Not only because of the steep power moves in the big cave and the spectacular shots in this film by Hening Wang. It´s also because of the many falls, frustrations and failure that are behind a sucessful climb. Ruben is showing this fighting spirit in “Seleccio Natural” (9a) that has turned out to be his hardest project up to now even though it is not his first route in the grade. And by keeping working on it he fires all our inspiration for hard climbs.

The crew. F.l.t.r. Julian, Ruben, David and Michi (c) Julian Bückers Photography

In the beginning of October we’ve spent three days at Swiss Rätikon for some multipitch climbing. Rätikon to climbers is well known for its hard alpine climbs on outstanding limestone and the surrounding beauty of mountain nature. It is located up in the mountains on an altitude above 2000 meters and is divided into two parts, a Swiss and an Austrian but the walls are mostly south facing so you predominantly climb on the Swiss side. The closest village is called Schuders consisting of only a handful houses. This time we were climbing at the Schweizereck in the region around Grüscher Älpli besides the other parts of the wall such as Kirchlispitzen (known for routes like Silbergeier, Unendliche Geschichte and WoGü), Drusenfluh and Drusentürmen.

It was our first multi pitch experience ever and we could share it with multi talent Michi Wohlleben and photographer and mountain guide Julian Bückers. They were introducing us the required belaying techniques for alpine routes and supporting us up there every time we needed some help. During this short but really enjoyable time we were curious and attentive as small kids. Greedy for knowledge waiting for the new adventure to come. It is always nice to feel that there is still high motivation and exaltation when trying new things and there are a lot of things we haven’t seen in climbing yet although we’ve already practiced it for almost 15 years now. That’s such a great aspect of climbing. That’s its unique variety and we love it.

On the first day we met at Bad Ragaz down in the Tamina valley and drove to a nearby sport climbing crag close to the village called Fläsch which is funny because as German speaking climbers we spell it like English „flash“. Sometimes things are meant to be and fit together

Nevertheless, Michi and Julian gave us a technical briefing to prepare for alpine terrain and all of its challenges and risks. They taught us how to install a belay, haul, jumar and place gear such as cams and nuts. Basically, learning all of this techniques enables you to move in alpine terrain in a safe style. But gear is only steel. What you also need are strong mental abilities. Focus, alertness and rationality are one of the most important ingredients you need up in a high wall with a lot of air below your ass. After this extensive briefing we drove up to the car park below the wall to stay the night and therewith be able to start our tour right after an early breakfast the next day. It was an adventurous drive with our old van because the zig zag road is steep, long and often tight. But we made it and David as the driver was totally done afterwards

On the second day we woke up at 7 a.m. and had a nourishing out meal. Well rested and euphoric we hiked up to New Age, our main mission for this stay. Austrian pioneer Beat Kammerlander opened it as one of the extreme multi pitch classics back in 1989. Such a big achievement back then and always worth to remind yourself what this has meant during this time. A milestone. It’s located at Schweizereck and is 5 pitches long (150 meters, first pitch starts at 100 meters above the ground, until there it’s easy climbing but you have to belay each other). It’s mainly very technical climbing on compact and sometimes very sharp rock with a powerful roof passage in the third and hardest pitch.

The Schweizereck (c) Julian Bückers Photography

Well, we got our asses kicked in the beginning. Already the first two pitches (7a and 7c) turned out to be super special and technical. We were bewildered as climbers who already have sent 9a but they told us that alpine climbs and grades are tough compared to the modern sport climbing disciplines and now we know that it’s true. It does not mean that the climbing itself is harder but it’s the stress and pressure which comes along with longer bolt distances, own mobile placements, technical climbing styles and of course the heights. We were also very slow but that’s normal as „beginners“. Professionals have a collective routine and flow. It’s about fast partner shifts, belaying and knowing what to do in different cases. You have to be spontaneous as a good alpine climber.

Finally, we made it up to the fourth pitch that day. Then strong wind appeared and we started freezing and even shaking. Moreover, it was quiet late and it was time to get back to the ground. So we lowered down and went back to the van. Opening its doors and sitting down we realized that being out there all day, walking, freezing, climbing and focusing is completely exhausting. We were actually too tired to cook some dinner but we had to reload our batteries because the next and last day of our stay would be as tiring as this day. It’s this enjoyable tiredness though you probably all know when coming back home after a long day at work

On the third day up in Rätikon our goal was to send New Age. Red pointing the pitches felt possible so it was only about going up there again and get our mission done. The weather this morning was cloudy and very windy though and when we approached the route Michi wasn’t sure if it would be possible to ascend it. However, we decided to give it a try at least. Let’s say there was still some hope to get rewarded in the end

David was leading the first two pitches and it was a true struggle from the very first moves on. It was so cold that it was impossible to get warm fingers to feel the holds. He somehow made it up until the belay below the roof of the third pitch although some sequences almost shook him off the wall. He fought and even sometimes screamed but that comes out by its own when you try hard and need to push yourself. It should have been a team ascent so we switched knots and decided that Ruben should lead the third and hardest pitch. The weather started to clear and it was only a matter of time that the sun started to reach our belay to encourage us with its warmth. Ruben started to reach the crux moves, slowly pulling over the edge of the roof but then he fell on the crucial move, a long move from a jamming side pull one pad crimp high up left to another crimp of the same size, hitting his wrist against the rock. David lowered him off to the belay that he could get his down jacket back on to warm himself. 5 minutes break and then it was time to give it another shot but the same happened again. Back to the belay.

Ruben while trying the crux moves in the third pitch on the first day in „New Age“. Michi is belaying (c) Julian Bückers Photography

Not sure what to do, still freezing and a bit frustrated Michi pulled out his mobile phone and showed us some videos of old men sitting in a bar and making funny jokes about alcohol. We started to laugh and then the sun came around the corner and started to touch our helmets on our heads. In retrospect these were the two recipes which probably saved us the ascent of our first demanding multi pitch. David started to take over the lead again, fell once even before the crux slipping away with his foot, returned to the belay and managed to get up to the next belay without falling into the rope in his next try. That was refreshing and we got the energy and confidence back again to reach the top.

The last pitches weren’t that hard anymore and especially the last pitch was varied climbing in corners with many body position shifts involved in the lower overhanging part. That was kind of the perfect end of the whole project and when we all reached the top, shook hands and hugged each other everyone of us was happy that all the hard work payed off and everything was successful and no one hurt himself. But as every mountaineer says: You not only have to get up the mountain but also back down to the base camp. There was a way down a steep slope on the back side of the wall but one part of it was so steep and slippery that we were wondering how to get down there in a save way. We both would have taken the risk to climb down on the rubble but Michi told us that this won’t work and would be too dangerous. He felt responsible for us and with his expertise he found a spot to place cams and fix a rope to be able to lower down the slope. This is what we did and after a short shock we all stood on solid ground again. At this point New Age was really done! Yesss man

We threw all of our gear into our backs and hiked back to the car. When we got there we were even more tired than the day before (we expected that) but the feeling that everything worked well in the end and that we’d completed our mission was stronger. We sorted our gear, shared some victory cookies and had a fresh little beer before Michi and Julian left with their car on the way back home.

Such an experience with all its components keeps staying in our minds and it motivates us to face new alpine projects and challenges in the future. We’ve already got some lines on our tick list which definitely are even more challenging than New Age. We are very satisfied to have done it as our first multi pitch though and we think that Michi and Julian showed us all the skills to conquer new heights soon. Thanks for your great work guys and to our partners Scarpa and Petzl for making it all possible. We are really looking forward to climbing in the future together again in the same style and with the same motivation and good vibes as this time.

Thank You and take care!

David & Ruben

The Panel (f.l.t.r.): Karl-Heinz Steinmann, David Firnenburg, Andreas Kuhnt, Britta Schweigel, Ingo Leven, Prof. Dr. Semmler-Ludwig, Martin Schönwandt, Prof. Dr. Derecik (c) Andre Bertram

On September 23rd, 2015 David was invited to the podium „Freeride, Parcour, Slacklining: Trend Sports with or without Expiration Date?“ by the Academy of Sports in Lower Saxony (GER). The panel dealt with trend sports and their influence on youth life styles and organized sports (General report in German). David was supported by Axel Hake (IG Klettern / DAV-Landesverband Niedersachsen). 

David explained that sport climbing has exceeded the initial stage of a fun sport towards a trend sport on the way to a well-established sport. There is already a recognized organized, competitional and economic infrastructure including gyms and distribution channels for specific sports products. But compared to established sports there are aspects missing such as an extensive support system for athletes, media presence as an advertising medium and a tourism and leisure economic marketing. While some regions, for example, in the Alps are already further developed in such aspects than they are in northern Germany, on the other hand, however, there are already some of them, such as Arco, that are overrun by climbing tourism with its downsides.

From Hake’s perspective who was invited to the auditorium it actually should be also important, in addition to the opportunities for young people arising from the booming gym situation and the increasing use of artificial climbing walls, to raise the possibilities for climbing in freely accessible natural areas, because they represent, just for the “gamer generation”, a close to daily life available space and a low-threshold access to natural movement experiences. Unfortunately, such freely available natural areas are on the wane in northern Germany. There is still much work to do for sports politics to achieve the potential of the forests fully recognized as a recreational sports resort and important source for youth health and athletic experience of self-efficacy and also personal limits without a social barrier.

Another essential point in the discussion was that the sports clubs and associations should use just the trend sports in the context of school cooperations to win children and teenagers and to bring them „into motion“.

Overall it was a successful event which has commanded a lively discussion with many impulses to continue.

The Auditorium (c) Andre Bertram

]]> http://www.firnenburgbrothers.com/?feed=rss2&p=2281 0 http://www.firnenburgbrothers.com/?p=2267 http://www.firnenburgbrothers.com/?p=2267#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2015 10:34:36 +0000 http://www.firnenburgbrothers.com/?p=2267 Weiterlesen →]]> Finally!!! We are very happy to announce that our first professional film is online. In this 10 minutes film we get portrayed talking about how everything started, our passion for climbing, the experiences we made, training, competition and rock climbing and many other things. During the film we climb „The Essential“ (9a) in Frankenjura while testing Vertics.Sleeves, one of our hardest co-ascents on a rope to date. We don’t want to say too much here. Follow the link below and enjoy Cheers David & Ruben

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

(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

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

In October last year I’ve been to the Oker Valley to the south of Hannover where I’ve done the FA of a nice Fb 8A boulder problem called Daruma. On 15th of February I re-visited the area with the local Falco Bartus who now published the nice little video above featuring Daruma and some other classics. Thank You Falco! I like it very much.

In the Oker Valley there is still some potential for several FA’s in the Fb 7th range and maybe a few Fb 8th grades. Hopefully I can join the Northern German Rock Climbing Team (Norddeutscher Felskader) who is going to visit the area in March to open new lines again. The Oker Valley is a beautiful bouldering area on brown and coarse granite in the Harz National Park close to the town of Goslar in Northern Germany. More climbers are welcome!

Cheers David