Christof Rauch completes Foundations Edge

Christof Rauch, who already has fourteen 8C’s to his name, has done Foundations Edge (8C) in Fionnay. The 29-year-old is approaching 1 000 boulders 8A and harder but during the last 12 months he has “only” done 61 and this was his first 8C in 18 months.

“This one means a lot to me! I had a few trips over the last years and around 10 sessions on the boulder. This year I finally did it, first day back at it. It feels amazing and somehow surreal to close this chapter and climb one of my dream lines! Syked! Onto the next!

Solid work! You've been a little quiet up until now this year. What else have you been up to?
[It's] Probably due to work, building a house and some small injuries [I've had]. At the moment I also have a small finger injury on my right index finger. I can’t do some things but finally feel in a quite good shape again. Another problem is that I don’t have many cool boulder projects left around my home. I still work full time and also have a week of beeing on call for work every 5 weeks, so I can’t travel on these weekends."

Can you tell us more about Foundation and the challenge it posed?
[Ever] Since I saw the video of the first ascent by Dave Graham I was inspired by the line. A few years later, in 2019, I had my first trip to Fionnay. Back then I wanted to do some easier boulders but couldn’t resist to check out the moves of „Foundations Edge“. To my surprise it went not so bad and I managed to do all the moves and already some small links. The weather was against us that trip and I couldn’t go back for another session. Syke was high and I went back the next year. This time I felt better on the moves and managed to climb it in 2 parts. Sadfully the weather turned bad again and I only had 2 days on the climb.

2022 I decided to go back for another round. The weather was better but still a bit too warm for my taste. I came really close to send it that time but went home empty handed. With the boulder in my mind I just had to go for another trip a few weeks later. This time the conditions were better and I came painfully close, it feels like I should have sent it but my mind played against me. I was nervous, made mistakes and just wanted it too bad.

One year later it was time to go back, I planned some days to get the moves dialed again and even another trip later to have more chances. After a long drive I already realized at the warmup on the fingerboard that I feel pretty strong, then I immediately made some big links. First real try I fell on the last really hard move, mind-games kicked in again and I got really nervous. Then I had some medium good tries were I felt strong but always made some small mistakes. I knew I could do it, I only had to calm down a bit.

So I really focused on that and went for it. I climbed not perfectly but somehow still stayed on the wall. After the crux I almost messed it up due to hesitation and then I almost messed it up going to the jug. Climbing the easier but high topout felt amazing. I finally did it, first day of the season, I couldn’t believe it! Syked!