second last day - GREAT one again ;)

second last day was great again! first i teamed up with another "moonie" - funny meeting with andrew on top of warmup-boulder ;)

even the shoes had been from the same brand... ;)

andrew and some friends were then trying "stinking jesus, 7B+" i got al psyched - such a fun moves on slopy holds  - opposite hueco-style - but great as well! first i messed up my flash burn by going to high on the right sloper (pic). second try it hit the right spot and  up i was on the topout. next was the logical low start. i had no idea of the grade but that one felt HARD!!!

and suddenly warmup turned out into full commitment ;) nasty pull on a slopy polished crimp to deadpoint out left to catch the bad starting-sloper of the high-start. to stay on the wall LOTS of bodytension was required - then the jump out right and some nice moves to finish. i had to dig deep, try very hard but finally was able to send. GREAT! "stinking jesus (low), 7C+" felt as hard as the 8A's i flashed/done this trip... but may my skin was just too trashed already. so whatever THE grade; a spicy hard intro sequence to a great classic for sure!!!

"stinking jesus" - such a great move!!! HARD if you start on the ground!!!

then it was on to "diabolique, 8A+/B". such a perfect little line with powerful moves. unfortunately i had very thin skin on my right hand where you have to pinch hard on a sloppy hold. i slipped three times with the jug left hand on my tips out of that hold and had to call it a day cause my skin was just f***ed...  see ya next year with better skin!

we then went up to "le retour de gouphil, 8A+/B". a fred nicole classic, nice line, seldom climbed (because razor-shrap crimps?!) in the crux-moves. no gifts here for the grade! alex was able to climb it two years ago but had no pic's yet. so we went for a 5min photo-session. i like the result, given time and basic equipment!

alex devaud on "le retour de gouphil, 8A+/B"

and katharina sauerwein and jorg verhoeven are really killing it with kata doing an 8A after another and a one day ascent of "rumble in the jungle, 8A+". jorg meanwhile is on the take down as well with fast ascents of "esperanza, 8B+", and then later in the week "nagual, 8B" and a rare ascent of "land before time, 8B"! (the last two in the same day! WAY TO GO!!!