Lamprecht Sends Possible V16 in Germany
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37-year-old Toni Lamprecht of Munich, Germany, has climbed a new limestone boulder problem at the cliff Altantiswand in Kochel, Germany, that he has graded 8C+, or roughly V16. At about 20 moves in length the link-up of Bokassa’s Fridge and Assassin, Monkey and Man is more of a route than a boulder problem and if the grade is confirmed this will rank among the hardest problems in the world.
Below is an email we received from Toni Lamprecht about the first ascent:
I climbed a new, and I think very hard problem, called “Bokassa’s Fridge – Assassin, Monkey and Man”, (8c+ or V16).
I have been trying this project since last October (2008) and it was a lucky day last week, when I did it (my hardest problem so far). I needed six tries on that day because I fell a few times on the first move and also when topping out before finally succeeding. My new problem is kind of a variation to my last hard problem in Kochel, the “Assassin”, which changed, due to broken holds. To climb it again wasn’t the real goal in the beginning as the whole thing started more as a training game: to climb the total straight line without these holds. I had the long-term target to get fit for some other boulder-projects. It was the first time in quite a while that I hadn’t taken a winter break and I really got more and more into trying this thing.
After an injury in Ticino (I fell hard on my tail and injured the sacral-bone) I got into that health-healing trip, avoiding alcohol and bad food. I tried bouldering and of course I tried THE project managing to do it in three parts. But the injury didn’t get better in the first 4 or 5 weeks, because I never really stopped bouldering and in the end of January I got really painful Ischias problems as well. After a two-week break I started again. Now, I was almost 10 kilos lighter and without the pain in my back my climbing improved really fast! I did the project with one rest in the middle of February 2009. I climbed a few other projects at home and in Albarracin (Spain) and when I came back it seemed the right time to attack it seriously. After more than 100 tries in 30 days over almost 5 months I finally made the first ascent.
It is hard to compare “Bokassa’s Fridge – Assassin, Monkey and Man” to other climbs, because for me it started as a game and ended (after some holds changed) as the new bouldering highlight in front of my home. I wouldn’t consider it a great line if since it’s at my home, but it is something that you can try every day. It has nice, powerful and long moves along a 6 meter high prow and the rock is always dry. It just happens, that you climb things like this one… .
The name is similar to the grade a synergy of the two “old” boulder that used to be there, before the holds changed. For me it was only logical to use the next, higher grade, but only the future and its protagonists can tell us more about this issue.
Toni Lamprecht
Click here to watch a video of the ascent
See more photos by Bruno Axhausen at Flickr.com
Date of Ascent: Saturday March 7th, 2009
Sources: Toni Lamprecht, Bjorn Pohl and ukclimbing.com
Background: Read the news item by Dougald MacDonald posted 4/20/08: Lamprecht’s Hardest Problem: In His Own Words.
