Colorado

I've been here in Colorado for a couple weeks now and the weather has been anything but good. Actually it's been raining pretty much every day. Still we've managed to get some climbing in. The season is just starting in the park and a lot of the problems in lower and upper chaos are still buried in snow.

Freaks of the Industry, V13

Despite the snow, the Green 45 is in the prime right now meaning that I finally got to try Jade, V15. First day that we hiked up there I was definitely not used to the thin air at 11 000 ft. After a desperate effort to warm up I started working on Jade. I suprised even myself by doing the famous crux move on my third try. It was too cold to stay warm while resting. I got really close after a few tries from the start, but then split my tips on the tiny crimper.

Jade, V15

Yesterday we hiked back up, even though the weather forecast was bad. After I got warmed up up it started snowing really hard and we had to hide in the cave. Luckily it didn't last too long and the topout on Jade stayed pretty dry.

Whiteout at the Green 45

On my first try of the day I got trough the crux and felt solid. Then my left foot slipped. On the ground I noticed that my shoe was wet from the pads. I was really frustrated, because that try took a lot of skin, and you only get about five good tries before you split your skin on the tiny spike. Second try I stuck the crux hold, but my feet swung and I let go to save skin. Right when I fell on the pads I looked into the valley and noticed it was already snowing and saw a huge blizzard coming towards us. I knew this was my last change and with no rest I started climbing. I got through the crux, stuck the sidepull and got to the good rail. At this point it was snowing really hard and I saw some water dripping from the top. Carefully grabbing the holds I topped it out in the rain! In total Jade took me two days and around ten full tries from the start. Such a good problem! Video and photos coming up soon.

A cold day in Upper Chaos

I'm hoping the weather turns better soon, because I'm syked to climb in the park and Mt. Evans. There are a few hard projects that I want to get on before I leave to South Africa. This week we might escape the cold weather and go to Joe's Valley in Utah to climb on sandstone.

Benson

Lake Haiyaha

Home sweet home

I'm back home from Val di Mello in Italy where the annual Melloblocco was held. It's a big outdoor bouldering event (6000 people estimated!) in the Italian Alps. This was my fist time there and I thought it was good fun, except for the weather which was really hot for hard bouldering. There were a few problems with price money that was split between the people who climbed them. Among lots of others, I was not too psyched to try these problems, because some of them had drilled holes, some sika used and holds or parts of the wall taped off. Adam Ondra was superior in the competition by climbing all 8 problems. Instead of the competition problems I was more motivated to climb on some of the nice looking problems that were outside the competition. One very good problem that stood out was La Chimera, a really beautiful and high 8A arête. Overall I thought Val di Mello was a nice area with tons of bouldering in a scenic valley. You might want cooler conditions though or you'll lose the skin really fast.

After Mello we made a quick visit to Zillertal in Austria. I only got to climb there one day, well half a day, because the weather has been bad in Austria lately. I got to see some areas I haven't been to before and climbed a classic problem called El Gauhara.

I'm excited to be back home now. I've been a traveling a lot lately, so I decided to skip the Nissan Outdoor Games in Switzerland. It's a really cool event and I like the concept, but spending two whole weeks at home just seemed too good. At the end of this month I'm hitting the road again, first stop Colorado for 5 weeks and then South Africa for 6 or 7 weeks! I'm really psyched for that, but at the same time I'm happy to spend some time at home.

The Machinist Video

There is a nice video on Projekt-Media.com of The Machinist, V13. It's a really cool roof problem I put up in Hueco this spring. Props to Brant Hawkins for making the video.

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

Japan Trip Report

Once again I had to learn that climbing on plastic is not rock climbing when I didn't make to the semifinals in the World Cup in Kazo, Japan. After the World Cup we checked out a bouldering area called Horai, where Dai's new 8C called Epitaf is located. We drove more than five hours from Tokyo and paid over 10 000 yen (~ 90e) highway tolls just to discover that Epitaf is pretty much the only boulder in Horai. Soon we were told that the key hold on the problem broke - twice. The rock is quite loose and some of the still existing holds seem like they will break with some time. Since we made such and effort to get there I tried it a little bit and found myself falling off a big incut edge that had absolutely zero friction on it. I did quite a few of the moves but after falling a few times more from the big buttery crimp I called it quits. Needless to say I was not impressed with the "area".

Epitaf, Horai

Mitake was a really small area two hours north of Tokyo. There are some nice problems like Kani V11, Mushi V11, In Tokyo! V10. After all it's a pretty cool place with nice surroundings, but only a handful of boulders.

We climbed in Shiobara for a few days. There is the famous roof with many of Dai's hard roof climbs. I was really suspicious about this place because I had heard that all of the problems are chipped. After seeing it myself I can say that it is really hard to spot the chipped holds. I thought the roof was nice with a few cool hard problems - chipped or not.

Sabby in Shiobara

Ogawayama is an area with quite a lot of problems and good rock. It's only two hours from Tokyo by car and close to another bouldering area called Mizugaki. Definitely worth a visit if you go to Japan. Ogawayama also holds the famous slab Banshousha, which is 5. dan in the Japanese grading system that is the highest standard at the moment and earns you a "black belt" in climbing . It was given the grade of 8C by the first ascentionist Tokio Muroi, which would easily make it the hardest slab in the world. It was unrepeated for a long time until last Wednesday when I managed to make the first repeat. I was a little surprised it only took me one day of work, but a huge amount of tries to be honest. Was it hard? Yes. 8C? No. I never thought that a slab could be 8C knowing the standard in Font. However, Banshousha isn't a pure slab. Sure it's less than vertical hence a slab, but the whole time you are climbing a really slopey arete. Having something to actually grab onto makes a huge difference in the grading versus it being just a blank face. I felt like it is a really technical 8B and hard for sure, but not an 8C.



Mizugaki is my favorite area in Japan. It's 2.5 hours southwest from Tokyo and close (~ 40mins) to Ogawayama. Unfortunately we went to Mizugaki last and climbed only one day there. It seems that it's by far the biggest boulder area in Japan and there is a lot of potential for new problems. Rock quality varies from decent to very good. You won't find many crimpers, just pockets and slopers. Oh yeah, there are no chipped holds in Mizugaki (I think...).

Overall it was a really good trip. I must say I was pretty disappointed with some of the places. I would not recommend Japan if you just want to go on a climbing trip, there are much better places. If you are also interested in the culture and seeing the country, it's well worth the trip. Just use your consideration when choosing the climbing areas.