Invitation „Red Bull High Five“
After coming back from the Rocklands, South Africa (Scorecard) by begining of August David will participate in Red Bull Five Blocks which is held in Galtür Silvapark in Austria.
Following the Boulder Worldcup in Munich David will instruct younger climbers on the Petzl Junior Rock Camp in Frankenjura. Weiterlesen
Flatanger: Hanshallaren cave in the background
Last month we finally had the opportunity to go to Norway for the first time and to climb in Flatanger. There is a huge cave of finest granite which is surrounded by beautiful nature. In addition to the hard routes that we wanted to climb in Flatanger, we also had the opportunity to get to know new friends which graded up our two weeks even more. With an international crew on site, the nature and first class routes in the cave this climbing trip turned out for both of us to be one of the best we ever had. Weiterlesen
(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. Weiterlesen
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
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. Weiterlesen
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. Weiterlesen
David in the 1st qualification route – (c) Vertical Axis
The first German Lead Cup of this year has been a great event held in Darmstadt near Frankfurt. On last saturday there were the lead qualifs of the youth categories followed by the speed youth comp. On sunday it was the adults‘ turn (qualifs + finals) with the youth lead finals in between.
Ruben was preparing himself with intense lead training in Hanover and Hamburg besides working for several exams at school. It’s his last year in highschool. So it becomes time-consuming and of course stressful. David just came back from the Petzl Roctrip 2014 making its way from Romania to Turkey via Bulgaria, Mazedonia and Greece within 40 days with 10 different base camps (more news to come here!). So recently he has been climbing on the rocks. Weiterlesen
After Fontainebleau became too hot in the beginning of May I headed over into the Alps visiting some of its best bouldering areas such as Magic Wood in Switzerland and Silvretta in Austria. I was lucky that there always was someone to record my hard ascents. In this case thanks to Michael Paulus, Georg Grubner and Ilari Kelloniemi! Here is a short video clip with three top-class problems I’ve done in May and June. I hope you like it
Cheers David
This year’s April and May I’ve spent 3 weeks in Fontainebleau to try demanding boulder problems on my personal limit. It was super fun and motivating to see and feel how I was improving and I really enjoyed the challenge to go this specific step further in my personal bouldering, even if there were sometimes hard and frustrating moments. I also took my camera with me and recorded some ascents. Here is a short video clip featuring four 8B’s I’ve done in the forest. I hope You like it! Cheers David
