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Big Sends in Euro Bouldering
By Dougald MacDonald / The Mountain World
The past few days have seen a rush of activity on Europe’s hardest boulders, with some familiar names in the heart of the action. Ty Landman from England has made the second ascent of Practice of the Wild (V15), a Chris Sharma problem from 2004 at the Magic Wood area of Switzerland. Landman, who had witnessed Sharma making the first ascent, worked on the problem for four days over two weeks. As for the grade, Landman, 18, wrote at his blog, “I have chosen to suggest low-end 8C [V15] on the grounds that it is certainly one grade harder than New Base Line and Dreamtime, the standards for 8B+ Switzerland, if not Europe.”
Rémy Bergasse, 21, has completed Quoi de Neuf (V15), a link-up of two older Jacky Godoffe problems at Le Toit d’Orsay in Fontainebleau, France: a 15-move V10 into a physical V13/14, with a crappy (“merdique”) rest between them. See Bergasse on the gymnastic second half of Quoi de Neuf in this video from dailymotion.com. Dave MacLeod has finished a 50-meter bouldering traverse at the Sky Pilot crag in Glen Nevis, Scotland, which he used as endurance training for his Echo Wall first ascent on Ben Nevis last summer. MacLeod said the traverse, Big Long Now, starts with 10 meters of V5, followed by 10 meters of V6, two 10-meter V9 passages, and a final V8 exit problem. He called the problem “Font 8bish” (V13/14), “although a highly unusual one and quite hard to grade. Certainly the hardest link I’ve done on rock.”
Scotland’s Malcolm Smith has completed a link-up at MacLeod’s old stomping ground of Dumbarton Rock. The 25-meter problem, Gut Buster (V14), links Serum of Sisyphus (V12) to Sanction (V13). Though graded “only” V14, it’s now the hardest link-up at Dumbarton and “breaks new ground in Scottish bouldering,” according to Scottishclimbs.com. American Paul Robinson, who has been climbing in Switzerland for a month, had a remarkable afternoon at Magic Wood last week. He completed New Base Line (V14) on his first try of the day, after working it a few days earlier, and then he just kept sending: Deep Throat (V13, second go) and Steppenwolf (V13, half an hour of work), followed by a V10, V12, and V11/12 problem, all in a total of three and a half hours.
Dates of Ascents: September 2008 Sources: Moonclimbing.com / Moonblog.aspx, 8a.nu, Scottishclimbs.com, Davemacleod.blogspot.com, P-d-robinson.blogspot.com
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