April 2011. I reach the crimp, hold it well. A short thought: I got it... Christian behind me is supporting me... suddenly the foot slips, I find myself back on the pad. Dammit, so close...
Then brainfucks... slipping feet… uncoordinated... frustration… back home. Unfortunately I didn't have any fitting opportunity to return afterwards. Too warm, work to do, not strong enough… the entire summer past like that, but well.
Finally autumn arrives and this year it is a supreme one. November is incredible, dry but not too cold. My first visit in the valley leads me to a sector called “Chaos”, where my friend Alesandro did the first ascent of two very beautiful problems 2 years ago; “Nunuria” 7c+ and “l'importabile” 8a. If they weren't in impassable terrain like this but in a more beautiful location they'd be dream lines for sure... Nonetheless they are incredible to climb on. I did “l'importabile” in a few tries and thereby got the second ascent. Gabri Moroni did the third one a few days later. After some work I was able to send the second one as well. The day was insane, but still one problem remained in my head...
November 30. As always after the Ziller Valley the skin is thin. Bad weather is nearing and it's probably the last chance this year. I put everything on one card and drive to Val Daone on my own. My goal: “L'avenir Nous Reserve Rien de Bon” 8a+.
The biggest threat is that the nearby road is closed off, which is very well possible at this time of the year. I wasn't very keen on carrying four crash pads uphill for 40 minutes, even if they're super light Moon pads :)
Luckily everything works well, I prepare the pads, clean the holds and prepare myself. First try, I hold the crimp, get the next crimp and then... again the foot slips. Dammit... not another brainfuck now...
Second try, crimp, next crimp, jump and scream... finally... the woodworker in the forest probably thought the screams came from a slaughtered bison, but I'm sitting happily on top of the block.
Probably it's the boulder, which played the most tricks on me until now. It seemed to be quite easy from the very start and I came always close, but something went wrong all the time, and then… brainfuck
Even though I used an older, harder beta, I didn't want to change it until the end. All in all it's an incredible problem and I'm very happy to have gotten it done.
I'm looking forward to the next Daone season.
