Mike Foley does the FA of Spirit Quest 9a, Ben Harnden repeats

Mike Foley has made the FA of Spirit Quest 9a in Squamish, which is a nine bolt direct start to an existing 8b+. Originally it was bolted by Tom Wright who kept it as a closed project until this summer. Ben Harnden was also trying it and later did the second ascent. Climbing.com has the story and we we added one question to Mike.

How was your mental game before and during the ascent?
Before any send, I like to keep the mood light and not have expectations for myself. When I feel close to sending or keep falling on the same moves I find it helps to change up my routine a little bit. Try a different warm-up, climbing at a different time of day etc. It’s easy to train yourself to keep falling at the same moves when every part of your routine is exactly the same.

During the send, especially on long routes, I try to focus only on the moves directly in front of me and not think too far ahead. I try to be focused and present in that exact moment in the route, not the route as a whole.