The next level
posted on April, 2016
This past winter, my main goal was to climb a route graded M14. In my previous trip to Colorado one year before I had already tried a great route called "The Mustang" but that time I did not feel well physically, so I decided to come back to the Amphitheatre in Vail
this January and give it another try. This amazing route starts on a waterfall called "Seventh Tentacle", graded WI5 and of 20 meter hight. On Top of this it goes into the roof and traverses the whole cave for a 20 meter of completely horizontal climbing, before
finishig on some thin ice. A total of 45 meters of climbing, so it can be called quite an endurance route. Already at the warm-up climb i felt much better than the previous year and the second day I could climb flash the route "Reverse Stratofortress", M12+, which was the hardest flash climb ever for me. This route that crosses half of the roof, linked toghether with "the Lightning", gives "the Mustang", M14-. The fourth day of climbing at this crag I could climb the whole Mustang and was super happy. Back home I had another project waiting for me. "Low G man", situated in my home crag Iseo, had been established by the strong
French climber Jeff Mercier last year and links a route with a very long single move, with the upper part of "Kamasutra", of which I had done the first ascent in 2014. I had previously tried the single crux but was not able to do the move. I could get the hold but not
take the ice axe off the other hold. I was too treched, so I thought I was simply too small to do the route. But I did not want to believe that I was not able to do the route, so I tried again this winter and found a solution with my legs. So it was possible! After a not so satisfying home competition in Rabenstein I brought our visiting American friends Ryan and Susan to climb in Iseo. The anger about my failing in the comp was still inside me and beeing very motivated, I did a very good attempt. I suprised myself just climbing past the crux move and then on for all the overhanging upper part, until a hole broke just a few meters before the anchor where you are already on easier terrain. So another failing. The next day a trip to the famous French DryTooling Mekka L'Usine was on the program and I was really psyched to climb there for the first time. Thanks to the perfect tips of the local Gaetan Raymond I was able to flash "Next level", D13 and so to increase my flash level a second time in one season!
This gave me the right motivation to try again "Low G man" and I managed to clip the anchor of this, for me for sure not much congenial and so even more satisfying route, graded D14.
Photos Zach Mahone, Pierre Chauffour and Monia Gaibotti
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