When the NADA rings twice

David climbing semi-final of Boulder World Cup Munich 2017

David climbing in the semi-final of the Boulder World Cup in Munich 2017 – (c) Frank Brandenburger

In this article (in German, published in Süddeutsche Zeitung) David argues for a reform of the controversial doping control system ADAMS. When translating the text into English here, David shortened it in some parts and added more detailed information in some other places.

The controls (urine and blood tests) in ADAMS can be carried out unannounced daily between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. There ist not enough consideration given to personal circumstances, although the National Anti-Doping Agency in Germany (NADA) must be informed months in advance of David’s daily availability. David has also been announced that Weiterlesen

„Scarpa Stories“ featuring the Firnenburgbrothers

Recently we’ve worked with our shoe sponsor Scarpa on a little film showing us training in and around our home base Zurich with our coach Urs Stöcker. We are filmed while training together in the gym, on a local rock project in Amden, Urs is interviewed and we share our personal thoughts about the world of climbing. Well, there is not much more to say about this but to hit that play button underneath to have an own look onto this. We hope You like it and don’t forget to activate the English subtitles in the player settings. Leave a comment and let us know what You think about it ;-) Cheers David and Ruben

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.

German Lead Championships 2015

David in the 2nd qualification route in Frankenthal

David in the 2nd qualification route in Frankenthal

The last stage of the German Lead Championships took place at Neu-Ulm (Bavaria) last Sunday. As last year, this year’s championships consisted of 3 competitions, in Germany known as German Lead Cups. The first cup was hosted at the brand new DAV climbing gym at Munich Freiman and the second at a rather old but gold climbing gym at Frankenthal in Pfalz close to Mannheim. For us two it was a nice series with various challenges because the Cups had different route settings. Weiterlesen

„New Age“ (8a+, 5 pitches) at Swiss Rätikon

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

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. Weiterlesen

Petzl Junior Rock Camp in Frankenjura

Training Café Kraft

Training at Café Kraft with Dicki & Patrick from Gimme Kraft

The Petzl Junior Rock Camp in the Frankenjura was a new experience for us. This time it was all about some of the most motivated young guns from all over Germany who we could accompany for some days.

On our first day we went to Café Kraft in Nuremberg, meanwhile one of the most known boulder gyms in Germany. Every athlete got attached to a group of teenagers so that we attended approx. 15 kids each. In total there were around 50 youngsters who completed an individual training program. The boys and girls had the chance to meet and train with Patrick Matros and Dicki Korb who are known for publishing the classic training book called Gimme Kraft. The main training content was individual goal setting for competition and rock climbing as well as proper warm-up routines and specific boulder training in groups. After a recreative lunch break training continued with circle work outs. At the end the ones who still had some energy left in their arms could try the unfinished boulder problems of the pre-rounds on their own. Weiterlesen

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)