Jorg Verhoeven climbs Papichulo (9a+)

Jorg Verhoeven reports on Instagram that he has repeated Chris Sharma’s Papichulo (9a+) in Oliana. This route marked the first 9a+ ascent for the 38-year-old, who won the Lead World Cup in 2008, and sent his first 9a some 20 years ago. (c) William Barchelo

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
In my long-term goal of climbing, I often used Papichulo and its variations as a training route to train finger strength and power endurance, but also as a personal fitness-check. I must have been on the route around 30-50 times.

This year in April I decided to make Papichulo my primary project, as I felt the route deserved more than to be my 'training route', and I was motivated by others who were also projecting the route (Hugo Parmentier, Josh Ibbertson, Dylan Chuat). At the end of April the conditions were ideal and I knew that my fitness should be good enough to climb the route. Surprisingly I could climb all of the hard part with relative ease, but I kept failing high up, since I lacked the endurance and believe in myself, putting too much pressure on sending.

After a week of rain and training, I gave the route a go in less good conditions while feeling tired. I struggled all over and was about to give up, but decided to keep going and started feeling better and better towards the top. I still don't really understand how on this day I could send the route, and not on the days before, but that seems to be one of the nice intricacies of rock climbing. Expectation is treacherous.

I've always enjoyed climbing on this route, and I still do. I'm very thankful for all the routes in Oliana; this crag really means a lot to me. After the fire two years ago, I was happy to see the usual traffic this year, with many local and international visitors. Even if that meant issues regarding parking, access, toilet, etc., I still prefer the crag to be busy than abandoned.

Some details:
I used a kneepad
I did not pre-clip
the route is almost 100% natural, and despite the often brittle rock in Oliana, only very few holds are reinforced with sika. No holds are chipped.
The fire only caused two small changes.
The burnt fixed draws were exchanged with steel draws, yet rebolting (ideally with chemical anchors) is necessary in the near future.