Petra Klingler ticks three 8A (+) in a day

Petra Klingler has had a memorable day in Magic Wood, sending Octopussy (8A), Jack's broken heart (8A+) and Unendliche Geschichte 1 (8A+). The 32-year-old has won the World Championship in Boulder in 2016 and Ice Climbing in 2022.

Can you tell us more about that special day?
What an incredible day it was! I arrived to Magic Wood on Saturday evening to try UG1 with some friends. Unfortunately, nothing was going right. I could barely manage the first move. Eventually, I managed to get an okay go, but it drained so much energy from me that I couldn’t continue afterwards. Feeling a bit frustrated, I headed to bed.

Exhausted and tired, I slept remarkably long on Sunday, waking up at 11 a.m., which is quite unusual for me as a morning person! After a hearty breakfast—or rather, a late brunch—we set off again. We started with a little warm-up on a 7a that felt surprisingly tough, and then we decided to give Octopussy a shot. I had already attempted it in two previous sessions, but the long reach had always been a challenge.

I started with a warm-up attempt. The holds felt good, and before I knew it, I was holding the top hold in my hand. It was such a surprise that we didn’t even film it. Catching my breath, I jumped back on, teasingly prompted by my friends, who joked that I would have to do it again since there was no proof of my ascent. And once again, I managed to climb the boulder cleanly.

Next to it was Jack’s Broken Heart, which I had also tried during two sessions. Since I felt good and was waiting for my friends, I thought I’d take the opportunity to repeat the beta and stay warm up. The first move was close, but I didn’t let go. Move by move, I made it to the crux—an extended reach to a sharp hold, a cut lose, and right heel to hand. I slapped the sloper and made a dynamic move to the left. At this point, I knew I couldn’t let go. Fortunately, my friend was filming, as I certainly didn’t expect to send it.

With two of my projects already crossed off the list, I felt happy and satisfied. I wanted to join the others at UG1 to burn off some energy and repeat the moves, hoping to tick off this classic before the season ended.

I jumped on and pushed through. What a day! I can hardly remember the details of the movements—it felt like a movie. I couldn’t believe it. Until that day, I had never sent an 8a+. Prior to that, I had bouldered seven 8as, four of which were in the Rocklands just last month. What an incredible day!
Just to top it off, we once again forgot to keep the camera rolling 😂🫣, so I climbed UG1 a second time for the camera 🙃.