by Chris
Re-edition 24. January 2017.
Sometimes miracles still do happen.
In August 2016 one of these happened to me in Gimmelwald...
A very wet spring forced me to do a lot of indoor bouldering. I really didn't knew where I stand. And I had nothing to compare - to see if all indoor effort, work and pain pays off. It's nice to have a project outdoors and feel the progress. But this year I was asking myself if something's wrong. Staying for too long in the fine dust of gyms always kills my mind...
To gain some spirit back again and motivation for upcoming goals on an already planned trip to Norway, I
went to my personal favorite crag in Switzerland: Gimmelwald. The idea was to
get some endurance on the classic 'Surfers
Paradise', a well-known and rather hard 8a+, suspected by some being one of
the most beautiful in its grade in Switzerland.
In my first bouldering sessions I was trapped by the heat in July. Then the next two days I wasn't even able to try, because after heavy rain and thunderstorms a lot of waterstreaks ran down from the grey-colored headwall. All other 'easier' climbs (in Gimmelwald this means up to 8b) I had already done or were also soaking wet. At least, there is the always dry but very bouldery and resistant 'Goldfinger'. For me its grade of 8c was more daunting than appealing. And a 7C+-boulder-problem in the middle of the line sounded more like tempting a god or a journey to Mars. In fatalism but happy to find some dry rock I began to play on it.
To my surprise
I found the moves being a pleasure. I realized how nice and complex but yet interesting the climb is. With my
in-built dedication I tried to put together all pieces of the puzzle wich resulted in some microbeta that may only fit me with
strange movements and body-positions. Somehow I understood more and more, that my
body shape seems to be made for the route. Literally I fit into this climb. There
is one super-slopey pinch right hand. And I must admit, that this hold is
perfect for big hands with short fingers. But still I never managed to link the
entire boulder. I didn't took too much care about. Intuitively I began to work the
upper part, a powerful and in its end an agonizing fingery 7c+.
Mid-august came. I still don't know what was going on then. There are these special moments in a life as a climber. Hard to tell what it is exactly. Several month of feeling paralyzed, having no goals and doing exercises on plastic holds making my head and body feel heavy, vanished in a second for a clear and strong mindset. Virtually out of oblivion. First I send 'Surfers Paradise' with ease and without being
pumped, although only days before I complained about its pockets being too small for my superfat fingers and hence power
killers.
Only a few days
later the seemingly impossible happened on 'Goldfinger'... A great day out with nice people in a great setting on one of the best crags... Pure magic!
Because of its difficulty I believed to have only two good tries a day. But the sent was on my third try of the day! After I screwed up my first two go's I thought to give more or less a 'training-run' to calibrate my body and to understand the moves better. Simply for recruitment and preparation for the next visit and set of tries. I felt weak . More shaky and insecure than the tries before I made it through the lower section to the bad rest before the crux. Already tired I made some nervous shake outs. I had to dive into the boulder. More in disbelief I linked the first tricky moves around the above-named sloper pinch right hand. I made it to the hard long reach which is the ultimate crux move.
All tries before I had the same problem. Coming from the start my left arm and fingers
were too tired for the ultimate cruxy lock-off. What I do there is a highstep
right foot to continue with a rockover. Then suddenly it happened. Somehow and not explainable why I was sitting
relatively solid on my right foot. This allowed me to put away a bit of load
on the fingers of my left hand for just a few seconds. That coincidental trick must have been enough of
recovery, because I stuck the reach for the first time in a redpoint try!
The many eye-witnesses later said, that my strange manoeuvre of not moving on for a few seconds looked more
like I had no more power with alarmingly high chicken-wings. The following upper third was an incredible fight. After the reach there is another very physical move that always felt being at my limit. I must have been full of adrenaline, because I kept it together even with vanishing body tension. While my working sessions I had fortunately found a little rest just before the final crimpy moves. Luckily – but maybe more thanks to the overdose of epinephrine
– I recovered so well that I had enough strong fingers and - the icing on the cake - clipped the anchor without grabbing the draw. The latter has happened to me several times while working the route...
I was lowered to the ground. I couldn't believe what has happened. It felt great but surreal in the same time. A miracle!
Handshakes and High-Fives from all the guys around. There is no better place in Switzerland to celebrate climbing. Thank you Tina and N. for patience in my bouldering sessions.
Re-edition 24. January 2017.
Sometimes miracles still do happen.
In August 2016 one of these happened to me in Gimmelwald...
A very wet spring forced me to do a lot of indoor bouldering. I really didn't knew where I stand. And I had nothing to compare - to see if all indoor effort, work and pain pays off. It's nice to have a project outdoors and feel the progress. But this year I was asking myself if something's wrong. Staying for too long in the fine dust of gyms always kills my mind...
 |
| The middle part of the crag - Goldfinger is situated in the red wall on the right |
In my first bouldering sessions I was trapped by the heat in July. Then the next two days I wasn't even able to try, because after heavy rain and thunderstorms a lot of waterstreaks ran down from the grey-colored headwall. All other 'easier' climbs (in Gimmelwald this means up to 8b) I had already done or were also soaking wet. At least, there is the always dry but very bouldery and resistant 'Goldfinger'. For me its grade of 8c was more daunting than appealing. And a 7C+-boulder-problem in the middle of the line sounded more like tempting a god or a journey to Mars. In fatalism but happy to find some dry rock I began to play on it.
 |
| Cruxmove of Goldfinger - Rene, who established the route, in Phase One... |
 |
| Cruxmove of Goldfinger - Rene in Phase Two... Unfortuanately there are no pics of me in the route. |
 |
| Cruxmove of Goldfinger - Rene in Phase Three : the long reach... |
Because of its difficulty I believed to have only two good tries a day. But the sent was on my third try of the day! After I screwed up my first two go's I thought to give more or less a 'training-run' to calibrate my body and to understand the moves better. Simply for recruitment and preparation for the next visit and set of tries. I felt weak . More shaky and insecure than the tries before I made it through the lower section to the bad rest before the crux. Already tired I made some nervous shake outs. I had to dive into the boulder. More in disbelief I linked the first tricky moves around the above-named sloper pinch right hand. I made it to the hard long reach which is the ultimate crux move.
 |
| Happy Rene writes the route name after the succesful first ascent in summer 2011. |
 | ||
| Sefinen Valley - home of the crag - with the mountain range of Tschinggelspitz, Gspaltenhorn and Buettlasse. |
I was lowered to the ground. I couldn't believe what has happened. It felt great but surreal in the same time. A miracle!
Handshakes and High-Fives from all the guys around. There is no better place in Switzerland to celebrate climbing. Thank you Tina and N. for patience in my bouldering sessions.
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