Hannes Puman quickly sends 9a+ and more in Flatanger

Hannes Puman has been on a ten days trip to Flatanger, sending seven routes up to 9a+ and trying another five of the hardest routes in the big cave.

The 28-year-old Swede first made his mark on the competition scene, winning the Youth World Championships in 2014. As a senior, his PB’ are fourth at the European Championships and eighth at the World Championships in Lead before gradually shifting his focus to rock.

Since then, he has put together one of the most well-rounded climbing résumés in the game: a big wall first ascent in Yosemite, trad climbs up to 8b+, and boulders up to 8C. Few climbers can match that level across so many disciplines.

Can you tell us more about the trip, the most memorable ascents and which other routes you tried?
This was my first sport climbing trip in a long time. As usual I wanted to climb many routes and a bit randomly I wanted to do at least one new climb every day. The first three or four days of climbing, the conditions were not ideal, so I just tried many routes to see how they feel. I tried;

Change (9b+), Iron Curtain (9b), The Trap (8c+), Witchhammer (9a), Thor's Hammer (9a+), Kangaroo's Limb (9a+) and Illusionist (9a).

I just went through the moves once on each route and went to the next, sometimes I tried it again the day after. Then a good wind came for two days and I decided to try to do one of the hard routes. I was really lucky and climbed Kangaroos limb without a lot of drama. I also did some attempts on Illusionist and thought I was really close. I came back the next day thinking I would do it quickly but after maybe 6 - 7 tries I was not so hopeful anymore, I did one last try and to my surprise I did it!

During the trip I also sent; Steiny L2 (8a+), Frigg (8a), Break free (8b+), Hand-made Jam (8b), Dumpster Master (8b).

Most of the routes that are not the most popular ones are still really good! But not all... I have been to Flatanger many times but the trips have not been very long, just a few days up to two weeks. The rock is great, mostly friendly and sporty but sometimes you get a nice surprise of something different unexpected. The wall to the left of the big cave is definitely my favourite!

What is next?
At the moment I’m back in Norway, in Lysebotn with Kristoffer Klev. We are trying to find out if we can free climb Smelveggen.