David Firnenburg does two 8C’s and 8B+ in a day

David Firnenburg has had a personal record day up at Gottardo sending Adularia (8C), Stairway to heaven sit (8B+) and Hazel Grace sit (8C).

The 31-year-old started out as a route and competition climber. He won a couple Euro Youth Cups and in 2016, he got the bronze in the Combined World Championships. By 2020, the German had climbed 21 routes graded 9a or harder. He later shifted his focus more toward bouldering, and in 2025 he completed his second and third 8C boulders. (c) Clem Lechaptois

Can you tell us more about your great sending day?
So, Andrea [Kümin] and I started the day early at Mätteli sector where Adaluria is located. These days you can find good conditions until around 12 a.m. We met our friend Marco Müller and later Nina Arthur and Clem Lechaptois joined us. Andrea worked the stand start and made decent progress. She made the heel hook move look easy on which I struggled the most coming from the sit start. Marco was the first to send Adaluria. Looked very in control and precise. I sent the stand start two weeks ago, so this was my first time trying from the sit. I quickly found my beta and went through the first part into the stand. However, I struggled with a right heel hook where you to place your finger precisely on a kind of mini horn in order to have enough space for the heel. After around 4 times falling there, the heel finally sticked and I didn’t fall at the last physical moves anymore. Back to back send with Marco! Great support from the crew!

Then we went on to the king line of the entire area, Stairway to heaven. It was crazy windy up there. Usually you wait until the sun is gone but it was sticky enough to try it in the sun. I quickly tried the climb two weeks ago but after half an hour we got rained out. This time I had no stress, worked the upper part on the rope, made some tick marks and then tried from the bottom. Alois Remund and Beni Blaser, two other good Swiss friends joined us. Again pretty good vibes! I mostly struggled with the first two left heel hooks on the slopy arete. Once they stayed on, I sent the problem. Such a nice mixture of physical compression, technical heel hooks, friction, height and good mental game!

Alois got us excited to try the sit with him. He had sent the stand before. Marco was actually trying Child of Hell (8C) just next to it but came over to us to join. He was again the first to send the sit of Stairway which motivated me to do the same. Again, he made it look really in control. Inspiring! Alois, Beni and I made shifts on the boulder. Alois and Beni also had promising tries. Funny and acrobatic how we flew off the arete onto the uneven landing underneath! Luckily, we had enough pads to make the climb feel safe despite its height.

The difficulty of the climb remains the same, the heel hooks. The sit adds four hand moves and two foot moves, though. I made progress try over try and then fought my way up to the top. Some power screams were needed because I started to feel tired. A couple of tries on Adaluria in the morning which consists of around 12 steep moves, more tries on Stairway stand afterwards (9 powerful moves) and then some more on the sit (15 moves). Actually I thought the day was over and that I would support Andrea working Hazel Grace.

At Hazel we teamed up with Nina and Clem again. A bit later Jorge Diaz-Rullo joined us. The boulder is the whole day in the sun and only climbable in the evening. Nina and Andrea worked the stand, the boys the sit. I sat down and had some snacks. I actually told myself to end the climbing day with a sweet success on Stairway sit and the other climb I had sent. But then I changed my mind and thought I should at least give it some tries because the conditions were good, my skin wasn’t too bad and I wanted to be very tired when sitting in the office next Monday morning😊 Watching the others climb made me excited, too. I had my first session on the stand the day before sending it. I knew how to do the upper part and in the end of the session I figured out how to do the moves from the sit. I had a good first go climbing into the stand and felt surprisingly good again. Maybe it was because of the nuts and chocolate I had eaten before. I just had to do the second move of the stand start a tiny bit differently coming from the sit. A bit more bouncy and dead-pointy. That’s what I did on my second try, felt good on the slot holds, didn’t need the intermediate for the cross move and strong on the last moves which are easier but hard enough to fall on every move. I was surprised standing on top. A bit surreal.

Overall, probably my best bouldering day so far when it comes to sending. A good mix of a motivated and supporting team, beautiful landscape, fresh air, beautiful lines and own ambitions. Also cool to see that I am still progressing after so many years of climbing. I am still very motivated to try hard and climb as much as possible. I also have the drive to discover new areas and travel when I find the time besides work. I am also healthy and didn’t face any big injuries in the past which is a gift. And I’ve got a loving girl friend and family which is the most amazing thing. Very grateful for all of that!