David sends „La Rambla“ (9a+) and „La Reina Mora“ (8c+/9a) in Siurana

David before setting off to jump to the next hold in "La Rambla" (c) Iuliia Leonova

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 Weiterlesen

Ascending „Action Directe“ in the past and today


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. Weiterlesen

2016 – the year in review

Thank you Escaladrome Blockwerk Hannover for the amazing support in 2016! We really enjoyed the time throughout the season. Especially our HardMoves Boulder League Team from Hanover with the best fans we could imagine!

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. Weiterlesen

„The Fine line“

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.

Firnenburgbrothers – Video Portrait

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)

Black Label (9a) in Frankenjura

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

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. Weiterlesen

The Elder Statesman (9a) in Frankenjura

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 ;-)

The Essential (9a) in Frankenjura

The Essential (c) Louisa Firnenburg

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. Weiterlesen