The Essential 9a by Kajtek Pawelec

Kajtek Pawelec skips 8c+ and does The Essential in Frankenjura as his first 9a. "Once I passed the third clip I managed to send the route. The main crux was the thumb-gaston section, in the beginning, fingery face wall part suited my style really well. 9 days, super happy ☺️"


How was the process taking it down and what about skipping then 8c+ grade?

I was just curious how 9a would feel like. I found this route attractive as also one that seemed to suit my style really well. It turned out that fingery crux was indeed quite manageable for me. An interesting thing is that the upper part after the third clip was supposed to be the crux. For me the beginning was and after I passed this I sent the route.

How come you are so strong on fingery cruxes?
Well, I always found myself strong on small holds. Besides that, I got into hangboarding in recent years what was more like improving my strengths instead of reducing week spots. Sometimes finding a suitable project and improving in strong areas can be more beneficial than focusing on your weaknesses. Training is a crazy complex process that I found not only on myself but also with people I’m working with as a coach.