Jonathan Siegrist, 39, does Erebor (9b)

Jonathan Siegrist, with a total of 83 routes 9a and beyond under his belt, has completed Erebor (9b) in Arco. ”A bad ass strength enduro test piece from Stefano [Ghisolfi]!! So incredibly psyched!”

The 39-year-old has had a steady progress for like 15 years and he is now #2 in the ranking game, 3 points behind Stefano Ghisolfi.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
So last winter was our first time in Arco. We were totally blown away. I was trying a different route but it proved too cold for me at that cliff so I spent some time checking out other stuff - including one try on Erebor. I had it in my mind during January and February and trained pretty hard for it specifically. It's a bouldery, powerful route which can be a weakness of mine.

When we got back in the middle of March I felt like the training was really good and I made rapid progress on the route, but then after a couple weeks I totally hit a wall and just could not break through this one section from the ground. After several more days I finally got through that section and felt like I could send soon! Unfortunately at this moment the weather totally shifted and the rain was intense - plus it suddenly heated up quite a lot. I kept trying but some days the route was wet or the humidity was just insane. We extended our trip as late as we could, and finally yesterday there was some wind and good vibes and everything clicked!