European Power Surge

Hermann Schwaiger on Zunami

Hard boulder problems are falling left and right to European strong men. Austrian Hermann Schwaiger made the second ascent of Zunami (V15), a 12-move overhang at Saalachtal, Austria, established in December by his brother, Bernhard. This is only the third boulder problem rated V15 to see a second ascent; the others are New Base Line and Dreamtime, both in Switzerland. Dreamtime got its eighth ascent last week when Scottish boulderer Malcolm Smith repeated the problem after several visits, though Smith maintains this problem should be called V14. In Hueco Tanks, Texas, meanwhile, the outstanding Italian boulderer Christian Core repeated Slashface (V14) after only about an hour’s work.