Andrea Chelleris has done the 40 meter long
Mandanga total (9a) in Villanueva del Rosario. The 15-year-old has the last month onsighted three 8b’s and repointed three 8c+’ and he is #1 in the VL monthly world ranking game.
Can you tell us more about the ascent?
The plan was to do Mangarbo (9a) but when I got to the last part my kneepad were sliding off😅 so I decided to go on Mandanga.
The last part is easier for me. On Mangarbo I already fell three times on the last tufa very close to the jug.
What is your next plan?
I want to send mangarbo and onsight an 8b+.
Caroline Ciavaldini, who last year did her first 8b+ trad, has done the third female ascent of Greenspit (8b) in Valle del Orco. Between 2002 and 2011, Caro competed in 66 Lead World Cups, finishing in the Top 12 in 58 of them.
"At the end of September I started trying Greenspit again, after a couple of earlier sessions in May of this
year, when I actually tore my hamstring trying the route. Coming back this Autumn was almost like
starting again, as I’d forgotten most of my beta.
This was my fourth session back on the route this season and it was the same game as every time, I didn’t
think I was going to do it today. I felt under pressure, I felt grumpy, I warmed-up and it didn’t feel great. I
didn’t think I was ready.
I realised I had to change my mindset and just enjoy the climbing and appreciate I had James and the kids
there with me.
On my first go, I managed to make a new high point before falling.
I’ve never had two good tries in one day before on Greenspit, so I wasn’t that optimistic about my second
go.
It’s my first real route of this type and it was so nice to feel almost like a beginner again. I loved the
process of trying to improve on these jams and I used visualisation a lot for this route, especially for the
first section (up to the rest), which should actually be relatively straightforward but which I found
particularly hard. I really had to take it move by move, only focussing on the current jam and not thinking
beyond that. Not even really thinking about doing the whole route, but just getting through the next
move.
On my second go of the day, I made it through the first section, to the rest. Something I’d never done
twice in one day before now. At the rest, I was able to clear my mind, I knew the second section like the
back of my hand, as I’d spent many recent nights visualising how I’d climb it. So, I just let my body do
what it knew how to do. I still had the main cruxes ahead of me but I just went at it with nothing really in
my mind and the next thing I know I’ve arrived at the rest after the last crux. Just a couple of movements
left do do and I didn’t want to fluff it. Now I started to feel a bit of pressure. I had made a choice to
protect myself with just a single ‘friend’ for this last section, which I’d placed rather hurridly. Images of
this piece ripping and me taking a ground-fall infront of my young kids flashed through my mind
momentarily. I managed to block it out and make those last few moves. I’d done it!
Overall, it’s been a really cool journey. The process of building my ‘crack-machine’ (with the help of my
neighbours), training on it, perfecting my technique and working through the pain barrier to learn
something new and climb this iconic route, with my whole family watching, has been pretty amazing!"
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Jorge Diaz-Rullo repeated Adam Ondra’s Change (9b+) in August. ”I still can’t believe it happened. Being able to pass the boulder problem [pictured] at the beginning from the ground for the first time and then climbing the 50-meter complete line was a physical and mental fight that I will never forg…
Babsi Zangerl, who one year ago did Meltdown (8c+) trad, has sent Magic Line (8c+) also in Yosemite (CA). Including a couple of 8c’s on gear she has one of the most impressive trad tick lists out there.
The 36-year-old made her first 8a/VL headline sending an 8A+ Boulder in 2005. During a couple of years she was one of the leading female boulderers but due to a back problem she had to stop and started focusing more on rope climbing. With achievements that include 9a routes, 8c+ trad, 8c multipitches, and 8b+ big walls, she is the world’s top female climber in multipitch disciplines, matched by only a few male climbers. (c) Jacopo Larcher
”This one means a lot to me. What a stunning line!
I’ve never climbed something this insecure before. Firstly, it took me a while to find out the perfect beta
for all the hard sequences and my initial goal was simply to link everything together on toprope, which is a
still a world away from getting to the next level where you place the gear on lead.
The gear makes everything a lot more uncomfortable and the placements are all very small and fiddly. On
this route, it felt like I could potentially fall at any given moment.
Hard, stiff shoes felt great on the lower crux but then totally useless for the upper one. After 3 days on the
climb my shoes were too soft and the crux then felt impossible. From my La Sportiva Katana laces back
and forth to Skwamas and the other way around, it took a while to find the best formula.
Last Autumn, Magic Line already felt possible, after Lara Neumeier and I spent some days on it. I had
climbed the whole thing on top-rope and made a couple of lead tries but just couldn’t get past the crux on
lead. Then a key moment came during that process when a foothold on the top crux broke, followed by a
really crucial foothold in the lower crux. After this, I really wasn’t sure if it was still possible for me, or if I
had enough power to move through that lower section in a different way. There was still something left to
stand on but it was probably only half of what had already been a very tiny foothold, previously.
With just 2 days left of that trip, I wasn’t able to find the right solution to send the route. Despite this set-
back, motivation was still high and I was excited to return again this year. Jacopo was psyched to try
Magic line as well, we had a great reason to come back.
This year, I had no expectations at all because I was really not sure how it would feel, with that broken
foothold.
I had to change my beta to get over the crux sequence but, after some days on top-rope again, I started to
make lead attempts. The crux shut me down multiple times on that first lead day.
After a rest day, I came back, warmed up and somehow managed to stick the crux move. The middle part
of the line which is actually the easiest, felt so hard and pumpy that I was surprised after every move that
I was still on the wall.
I reached the final no-hand rest for the very first time on lead. I was so nervous because I know everyone
who climbed Magic line fell up there at least once and, at the same time, the huge runout from the last
cam placement to the anchors added an additonal layer of tension to the final section. It was really
stressful. I didn’t want to fail up there.
I told myself it can’t get any more exciting than this, so I should enjoy that moment and try not to freak
out. I knew I was lucky to have made it this far and had to simply take it move-by-move and try not to
think about anything else.
A few moments later I had a big jug in my hands. All I had to do now was to follow those big holds to the
final anchor. Pulling through those last easy moves I could finally relax and appreciate what I’d just done
and why I love climbing so much! You never now what’s possible until you try…very hard.”
Karoline Sinnhuber has completed Libre Original (8B) in Felbertal. The Austrian has previously sent 55 boulders 8A+ or 8B, and this was her first climb of that grade in 2024. (c) Dietmar Sinnhuber
Can you tell us more about the ascent and the reason why this is your first hard boulder in 2024?
Well, at the beginning of the year I had twice a golfer ellbow and therefore I concentrated more on doing routes. [She has done her first three 8C’s.] Also I don‘t like the warm temps, which were brutal this year. So I‘m super happy that it finally cooled down and I can crimp hard again ;)
The original start of Libre is all about getting your ass off the ground with these 2 little nasty undercling crimps.
I am really bad at underclings, which made me even more surprised, that I could lift my ass off the ground quite well and stick the first move pretty fast.
Afterwards you‘re in the standstart of Libre and you just have to keep it together 😉
Solomon Kemball, who previously has logged three 8C’s and one 8C+, has completed Foundations Edge (8C) in Fionnay. “Boxed out my mind, quickest I have done 8C but had to fight.”
Can you tell us more about the ascent and the number of sessions needed?
It took me four sessions over the last week. The boulder is a Dave Graham masterpiece with lots of nuisances and tricks. It has an easy intro into 6 hard moves the first few seemingly powerful but very body position dependent. Into some feet above your head action where you are trying to take as much weight off the fingers with your legs as possible. Finishing with a high juggy top out that gets the forearms well and truly pumped.
I worked the top from stacked pads going from the crimp rail to the jug as a warm up and topping it out once before the send go on the day to make sure I knew what to do.