Orca 9a goes 8b by Jakob Schubert: Interview about next plans and the Olympics

Jakob Schubert reports on Insta that he has done the third ascent of Orca in Schleier Wasserfalle. It was put up as an 8c+ by Alex Huber in 2001 and then Adam Ondra made the first repeat and suggested 9a as a crucial hold had broken. Now Schubert says he found another beta and suggesting 8b! Huber comments on Schubert's Insta. "Harsh, but reality!" (c) Michael Piccolruaz

A 9a getting 8c+. How come do you think these guys missed that beta?
Well, first of all, it‘s a very special "one move wonder" route. It‘s about 7c+ into this single crux move and around 7a after that so finding an easy beta for that move changes everything. I‘m not sure why they didn’t find it, but for Alex it makes more sense since he had a very logical direct beta, still as a bolter he could have looked for the easiest way but sometimes you just miss it especially if you want to find something hard which I can fully identify 😄. Adam was probably just too strong and didn‘t look for too long 🤔.

Since Alex‘s beta is impossible now I tried Adam‘s beta but I broke the inside of the big pocket where the boulder starts a bit more. Consequently, I struggled to even do the move to the tiny crimp that he uses for the first crux move. So I reached out left to this side pull to use it as an intermediate to get to the crimp. But shortly after I found out I can just heel to my right hand, which is the big pocket where the boulder starts.

So what is next and what do you think about Euros in Moscow?
Trips are still uncertain but I still have some great hard lines in Magic wood to do like The Understanding and Force du tranquil. When it gets colder Val bavona and Brione would be amazing to try some of the newer hard blocks and also finish Off the wagon sit. In Spain, if I can go I‘m not sure but probably I‘d go back to Oliana and although it‘s not the coolest route in my eyes La Dura Dura is still something I wanna send someday, after all, it‘s one of the very few 9b+ that we have... 😉

About Moscow it‘s a difficult situation, I think now that more and more countries go into lockdown and some athletes might not even be able to train in a gym it could be pretty unfair. On the other hand, if it gets cancelled I’d feel so sorry for the athletes that work so hard and still have a shot to qualify for the Olympics. By far the best would be to move everything even further into 2021 in my opinion but I heard it‘s not possible but I don‘t understand why...

Obviously I also continue to train speed but I‘m on a bigger break already since I have problems with my biceps while doing explosive stuff. I hope I can start training it again soon.