Puumala

My last weeks boulder hunt went well. The weather could not have been better and I spent every day running around the woods looking for new boulders and making first ascents.

Puumala area     

  

I found a lot of boulders, big ones, but not that many lines for some reason. The rock quality wasn't the best in some places. I put a few nice problems, but overall this area wasn't quite as good as I thought it might be. Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes.

Puumala       

Here's a little clip I filmed while I was there. I didn't have much time to put into editing it, but the footage isn't that great anyway so whatever. It shows two new problems I put up: Milestone and Laiskuus Palkitaan.





On Monday I'm leaving to Norway. I haven't spent much time there climbing, but I've seen enough to know that the potential for new bouldering is huge there. The last few days it's been really hot in Finland, so hopefully we'll find better conditions in northern Norway. If not, you can always do night sessions. Soon you wont even need headlamps because the sun doesn't set that far up north in the summer!

New boulders

Not many people would drive 8 hours back and forth on a Friday to go run around the woods for nine hours while it's raining.

That's how I spent my Friday. After hours on the computer scrolling trough maps and aerial images, I was headed towards a remote area about 4 hours drive North east of Helsinki. Maps are an essential tool for finding boulders in Finland, because there are thick forest everywhere so the visibility is often really bad and the boulders are usually scattered around. You never really get a good view from the road, so you really need to go look at each boulder individually. So, after several exhausting hours of non-stop boulder hunting, I did find some really cool projects and not just individual boulders, but potentially actual areas.

 Some of the small roads were in bad shape               

The weather forecast for the this week looks a bit dubious, but whatever. I'm psyched to go out there and make some first ascents and brush some cool projects. If it's going to rain the whole time, at least I'll have a change to go look for some new boulders around.

I'm driving out there in the morning and I was just packing some of my stuff and once again realized how much gear I actually bring on a bouldering trip. Often people say that bouldering is nice because you don't need a lot of gear. I would say quite the opposite. When I was sport climbing in Spain, I often realized how nice it was that you didn't have to carry a lot of gear.

I'll be out for a few days if the weather allows and hopefully come back with some photos and video.

Happy Up Here

Yesterday I put up a really nice new boulder in Sipoo. I tried this scary highball a little bit last spring and after falling from the last move a couple times I never went back. This year I finished it off on my first try after warming up on the bottom part. Happy Up Here has a technical start which leads to a bit steeper climbing with a committing move at the top. There are two ways to do the very top section, either a big dyno or two long lockoffs. I did it both ways and they feel about the same difficulty, depending on what your good at.

A video still of  Happy Up Here     

We got it on film, but I'm not sure yet when it's going to be out. I just started a new film project and I don't know whether I will release several smaller clips or make a longer flick like Could Be Worse.

I've spent a lot of time training for and working on the Sisu project, but I can't really say that there has been any progress lately. I'm planning to stay in Finland for about a month trying it, as long as the conditions are still good. After that the plan is to go to northern Norway and explore the endless potential for hard bouldering there. Alright, I'm off to try Sisu again!

Sisu Project

The prime bouldering season is now really kicking in here in Finland and I've been taking full advantage of the good temps. I've spent four sessions on what I named Sisu project. All I can say at this point is that it is the hardest boulder problem I have ever tried in my entire life. It's still difficult to say if it actually goes or not.

So far, after four sessions on it, I've managed to do one single move, not counting the five last exit moves that I did on a rope (which are also hard). In total, this problem would be around 16 moves long and about 7 meters tall. Also, that one move that I've been able to do is the first move and most likely the easiest one. I've had my spotters push me into different places on the wall and at best I've been able to hold a positions of them for a split second, not even feeling remotely close to being able to move any part of my body.

To put things in a perspective, I've seen, climbed and tried several boulders graded 8C or 8C+ around the globe and this line seems to be on a completely different level of difficulty. I've done the all moves to several 8C boulders in a session or two. I climbed Jade in 2 days of effort, The Island took me 4 days. After spending 4 days on this project, I've been able to do 1 move, the easiest one.

Sisu project                        

I can't tell you how psyched I am, that I found a boulder this perfect and difficult near my home. It's still unsure if it actually goes, but no matter what, this has already been a dream come true for me. Even if I wouldn't ever be able to climb this line, at least I'll have an amazing project to work on for the next twenty years. It's a huge source of motivation for me and I've already started training like crazy to get fit enough to do a little better on it. I even built a training "simulator" of a couple of the bottom moves at my gym. I just canceled my trip to Switzerland, because the weather is just getting prime here and I don't want to miss a day of the perfect weather to try it.

I'm not expecting to climb this line any time soon, although that would be amazing and I am training harder than ever, now that I'm super motivated on this project. Most likely, climbing this line will take years and years of hard work and maybe it will still remain unclimbed. Time will tell, but I know I will enjoy every moment of trying it, no matter what the outcome is. Hopefully I can convince some other climbers to come and try it. We're also filming it and the footage will be released eventually in a climbing film, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to come out. For those who can't wait to see some video, I'll probably upload a short clip of me trying it/failing miserably, at some point.

Oh, and then there's the sitstart project, which adds a four move ∼ 8B+ into the the obvious stand start...

Finland update

I left Spain a few days ago and now I'm back in Finland for a couple weeks. I had enough of sport climbing for a long time and am very psyched to boulder again! A few months ago I heard about a cool project near Helsinki and now that I'm back in Finland, I finally got a chance to go check it out. Today we went to go look at it, but the weather and record amount of snow turned our trip into an epic expedition.

Moving around in the snow was hard and really slow, but eventually we found what we were looking for and it was absolutely amazing! About 6-7 meters tall, steep, rounded feature with a Fontainebleau-esque top-out. The project is on bulletproof granite with small crimps that are far apart. Here's a few photos. The wall is frosted and the holds look better than they are, but you get the idea.

It's hard to tell how difficult it is yet,  but it definitely seems like it could be very, very hard or even impossible. And then there's the sitstart... Either way, I'm very satisfied with this project. I've been searching for a hard project near my home for a long time now and here it finally is; an incredible line that will be a huge challenge.

We shoveled all the snow off the top, so that it won't seep when all the snow starts melting. I'm very psyched to start trying this as soon as possible, hopefully within the next couple weeks. It's about time for the weather to get better. I hope I get to try this before I leave for Switzerland in a couple weeks. If so, I will post some updates.

Finland Photos

I'm in Helsinki, looking at the snow falling on the ground. For me the snow means one thing, time to get out of here. Conditions were nice until yesterday, but now it looks like there won't be too much climbing going on here anymore. Some projects remain unclimbed, until the next time. Chuck Fryberger was here filming and we got some nice footage, that I'm very psyched about. Since the snow put a stop to everything, there isn't much to report. 2 days ago I flashed a very nice 8A problem called Stylewars. It felt really soft for 8A, though. No photos of this one, sorry. Next week I'm leaving the snow and cold behind and going to Switzerland to develop a new bouldering area and try a few problems I haven't repeated yet. I'll post some photos soon. In the meantime here's some photos from Finland:

First Ascent of Spider Pig 8A, Sipoo

 Tornaattori, Puumala

 First Ascent of Never Land, Åland

 Fågelberget, Åland

 Bridge jumping

Finland

Lately I've been hanging out in Finland. A few days ago Chuck Fryberger got here and we've been filming a lot of different things, also some that have nothing to do with climbing. Chuck's idea is to show a little bit of the people's lifestyles too in his next film, not just climbing. I think it's a great idea and it's been really fun shooting all kinds of things along with climbing, like longboarding and bridge jumping.
 

Longboarding in Helsinki

One of the boulders we've filmed so far is an FA of mine from 2004 called Hypergravity, the first 8B boulder in Finland. It's located in Sipoo, about 25 min drive from Helsinki. It's a really small area with a few quality problems and very good rock. Hypergravity has a perfect obvious starting hold and climbs out a horizontal roof on small edges. I'm really syked about the footage we got from this problem.

The plan for next week is to go try a really hard trad project, that I've been working on little bit. Also we want to film a cool problem called The Globalist, 8B+, which i put up this spring. Hopefully the weather will stay like this, because the conditions are prime right now!

photos: Chuck Fryberger

The Globalist

Last winter a friend of mine found this new boulder close to Helsinki that had an amazing project on it. It's definitely not easy to find lines here that are really hard but still have all the necessary holds. On overhangs the granite often seems to have either big holds or just a blank face. This line was not one of those. I was really stoked to have a project close to my home that was A. really hard, but possible and B. a five star line!

photo: HeikkiToivanen.fi

Since January I've been anxious to get on the project, but the weather has not been good. After leaving for Hueco in early February I haven't spent many days back home. Finally after returning from Japan a week ago, I got a change to start working on it, which also meant skipping the World Cup in Hall.

photo: HeikkiToivanen.fi

The conditions here have been good for once and I've been able to work on the proj without having to think about the weather. First day on it I managed to do most of the moves except for one or two. The line reminds me of The Island in Fontainebleau, because it has a similar sloper in the crux section, but for the opposite hand. It's not the tallest line but it has around 13 moves. It's all about compression. The whole way you are squeezing the feature on really bad slopers and a tiny crimp.

Second day on it I still could not do the crux move alone. Third day on it I stuck the crux move for the first time! The same day I got the crux crimp from the start twice. Yesterday I went back again. Knowing that I'm flying to Italy on Wednesday I was already planing to fly back to finish the project instead of staying in Switzerland. After a proper warm-up I tried the top part and for the first time I got the heel to stick two times in a row. A couple tries later I stuck the crux crimp from the start. I got the crimp perfect and my heel didn't slip. I just barely made it through each move after the crux, but it was enough to make it to the top!

photo: HeikkiToivanen.fi

I named it The Globalist. It took me 4 full sessions of work. My suggestion for the grade is 8B+, but it's definitely a hard one. Possibly the hardest 8B+ I've climbed, but I don't think 8C. I'm quite confused what the standard is? I've climbed some 8B+'s in a day or two that felt like they were a step below this one. And for that matter The Island also took me 4 days, but less work and it's quite comparable in style. But most importantly this is one of my best first ascents: a five star problem with only the necessary holds and very cool moves.

photo: HeikkiToivanen.fi

1up

So, I'm back in Finland and it's snowing. Big surprise. Well, not really but I was expecting the weather to be better when I flew here. I might flee to Austria any day now in search of better weather. Anyway, last Saturday there was a premiere in Helsinki for the movie Pure, which went pretty well. It's good to notice how I seem enjoy the movie more and more every time I see it. That is a sign of a good movie if you ask me. Also, I think Chuck did a very good job with putting together the soundtrack. I'm really pleased with the music in the film.

Here is a short clip from last fall. We shot this at about 1 A.M, after hours of setting up camera equipment. This is the first ascent of a highball problem in Finland that I named '1up'. With about 9 meters height and the landing dropping away at the end, it is quite scary. The problem starts by climbing an 8A+ called Hottentotti, but instead of dropping off half way up, 1up climbs all the way to the top of the wall. The upper section isn't very physical climbing, but technically and mentally hard for sure. As the landing drops off at about 6-7 meters, falling off after that point isn't really an option. I felt like the last five metres of climbing surely add one grade, therefore the grade 8B.

Rain and First Ascents

The weather in Finland has been very rainy lately, but I’ve managed to put up a couple of new problems. One of them, located near Vihti, I named Optical Illusion, because it looks really easy, but in fact the difficulty is around 8A. Another FA I did, has been a project for a long time. My new problem is the full line climbing an 8A+ called Hottentotti (8A from the stand start), but instead of dropping off, you climb all the way up. I named it 1up, because it is THE line from the obvious sit start straight up to the top. 1up is 8-9 meters tall with the landing dropping away, so it adds quite a lot to the scary factor, but I'm not sure if it actually adds a full grade to the 8A+ difficulty.

First Ascent of Optical Illusion, 8A

We had night filming session, with a film crew plus two photographers, so there should be some cool footage of the ascent. The short film we made, might premiere at the Reel Rock Tour in Helsinki 13.9. We’ll see. Right now, I’m on my way to Arco Rock Masters in Italy and after that to hopefully not too hot Switzerland.

Let there be light

1 A.M. Bouldering session

Photos by Heikki Toivanen