29 August 2025
Simone Tentori ticks The Finnish Line (8C)
Simone Tentori, who is on a three months climbing vacation in South Africa, has repeated Nalle Hukkataival's
The Finnish Line (8C) in Rocklands. It was the first bloc the 27-year-old Italian laid his eyes on visiting Rocklands for the first time in 2018 and since then it has been a dream. (c) Siara Fabbri
"Six years later, in 2024, I decided to fully commit and see what could happen. By then Iโd already ticked a few 8Cs, so I knew the physical level was there. But this bloc came with its own set of issues: the height, the not-so-friendly landing, and the mental game thatโs totally different from a lowball testpiece. On this one, even trying all the moves is tricky: from the ground you can only touch the first hold, and to work the upper sequences youโve got to rap in on a rope. The arรชte overhangs, so just getting to the holds means swinging in, catching them on the fly, and trying to figure them out in positions that donโt feel anything like the real attempt from the pads. Thatโs why itโs so hard to lock in the beta the same way you do on other projects you can just try ground-up. In 2024, Iโd decided to save my best conditions โ skin, body, and headspace โ for The Finnish Line. In my first five sessions, I always felt good on it, but never stuck the crux โ right in the middle of the line โ which defines the blocโs difficulty. I knew other strong climbers had also fallen there after many tries. So I went home empty-handedโฆ but with a surprisingly good feeling. I think itโs important in bouldering to see these โfailuresโ as part of the success โ stepping stones in the process of unlocking a bloc.
This year I came back to Rocklands planning to stay twice as long as last year. Mentally, I was way more chilled. My first days were all about playing around: trying different foot sequences, experimenting with how to grab the various pinches, and not obsessing over recreating last yearโs sensations. I just wanted to find the most efficient way to climb it.
First session: just refreshed the moves, but the heat was a bit of a send-killer. Second session: perfect conditions โ stuck the crux multiple times on a rope. Started feeling solid. Third session: more experimenting, tweaking the sequence to make it more efficient.
In the third session, after a couple hours on the rope, I pulled on from the bottom and โ for the first time โ stuck the hardest move of the bloc from the ground. I peeled on the very next move, but I was totally fired up: that was the moment I realized the bloc was actually possible for me. From there, the difficulty eases off โ but the height kicks in, so youโve still got to keep your head together. I checked my skin: good for maybe two or three more goes. I told myself, โIf I can hold that pinch on the crux again, Iโm walking away stoked.โ
Next go, I stuck the crux again, latched the following hold, and kept climbing. I knew the moves well, but my hands were almost numb โ that weird feeling you get when youโve been crimping hard in the cold and lose all feedback from your fingers. On the last two crimps, I had to improvise the foot beta because I literally couldnโt feel my hands anymore. It wasnโt the sequence Iโd rehearsed on the rope โ I just made it up on the spot. That made the send even more surreal and special. Looking back, itโs kind of scary: with no feeling in my fingers, falling from that height wouldnโt have been pretty. I donโt know if it was fear or just shutting off my brain, but I kept climbing purely on instinct, with a completely new sensation for me." Full report
"Six years later, in 2024, I decided to fully commit and see what could happen. By then Iโd already ticked a few 8Cs, so I knew the physical level was there. But this bloc came with its own set of issues: the height, the not-so-friendly landing, and the mental game thatโs totally different from a lowball testpiece. On this one, even trying all the moves is tricky: from the ground you can only touch the first hold, and to work the upper sequences youโve got to rap in on a rope. The arรชte overhangs, so just getting to the holds means swinging in, catching them on the fly, and trying to figure them out in positions that donโt feel anything like the real attempt from the pads. Thatโs why itโs so hard to lock in the beta the same way you do on other projects you can just try ground-up. In 2024, Iโd decided to save my best conditions โ skin, body, and headspace โ for The Finnish Line. In my first five sessions, I always felt good on it, but never stuck the crux โ right in the middle of the line โ which defines the blocโs difficulty. I knew other strong climbers had also fallen there after many tries. So I went home empty-handedโฆ but with a surprisingly good feeling. I think itโs important in bouldering to see these โfailuresโ as part of the success โ stepping stones in the process of unlocking a bloc.
This year I came back to Rocklands planning to stay twice as long as last year. Mentally, I was way more chilled. My first days were all about playing around: trying different foot sequences, experimenting with how to grab the various pinches, and not obsessing over recreating last yearโs sensations. I just wanted to find the most efficient way to climb it.
First session: just refreshed the moves, but the heat was a bit of a send-killer. Second session: perfect conditions โ stuck the crux multiple times on a rope. Started feeling solid. Third session: more experimenting, tweaking the sequence to make it more efficient.
In the third session, after a couple hours on the rope, I pulled on from the bottom and โ for the first time โ stuck the hardest move of the bloc from the ground. I peeled on the very next move, but I was totally fired up: that was the moment I realized the bloc was actually possible for me. From there, the difficulty eases off โ but the height kicks in, so youโve still got to keep your head together. I checked my skin: good for maybe two or three more goes. I told myself, โIf I can hold that pinch on the crux again, Iโm walking away stoked.โ
Next go, I stuck the crux again, latched the following hold, and kept climbing. I knew the moves well, but my hands were almost numb โ that weird feeling you get when youโve been crimping hard in the cold and lose all feedback from your fingers. On the last two crimps, I had to improvise the foot beta because I literally couldnโt feel my hands anymore. It wasnโt the sequence Iโd rehearsed on the rope โ I just made it up on the spot. That made the send even more surreal and special. Looking back, itโs kind of scary: with no feeling in my fingers, falling from that height wouldnโt have been pretty. I donโt know if it was fear or just shutting off my brain, but I kept climbing purely on instinct, with a completely new sensation for me." Full report
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