Americans do Euro-Mixed

Coloradans Ryan Nelson and Jared Ogden made a two-week tour of Europe’s highly publicized mixed-climbing venues and quickly cleaned up some of the hardest routes. Among the highlights, Nelson climbed Captain Hook (M10) and Mission Impossible (M11) in Italy, both on his second try. At Isenfluh, Switzerland, he climbed White Out (M10+) on his third try and Tomahawk (M10+/M11) second-try. And at Uschinen, Switzerland, the Euro-crag du jour, Nelson onsighted several hard routes, including Tool Time (M10+), and repeated Vertical Limit (M12) on his third try. Ogden, meanwhile, climbed Tomahawk on his second try, flashed a couple of M9 and M10 routes, and also did Vertical Limit on his third try.Nelson, who has established a string of hard mixed climbs in southwestern Colorado in recent years, was not impressed with the well-hyped climbs in Europe. “With the exception of Mission Impossible, which is the best quality route I have ever done, most of the routes you walk up to and say, “This is it?”