When in Switzerland
This last winter, Siri and I spent the season in Bishop. Like every other year, I had big goals going into it and when I sent my project, “The Process” (v16), I was left feeling curious. I guess I was feeling psyched, strong, and all the other emotions, but I couldn’t shake this curiosity. Coming up I fantasized about climbing the hardest boulders in the world. That’s the coolest thing about getting stronger, you unlock more rocks to climb. That being said, I’m not sure I ever expected to be where I am today. Don’t get me wrong, I fully believed in myself, but I still sit back and wonder what allowed me to get here. Maybe, just maybe it was this feeling of curiosity I can’t shake. It always keeps me on my toes, looking for the next hardest thing. That curiosity is what led us back to Bishop year after year, and now, that same feeling is leading us to Switzerland.
When you think of Switzerland, you think of amazing bouldering, incredible views, and maybe Dave Graham! I think of all that too, but ever since Aidan Roberts climbed “Arrival of the Birds” (v17) for its first ascent, I’ve been thinking about that as well. The static micro-crimping style of that climb inspires me. Aidan is likely the best in the world at this style, and he still believes its the hardest thing he’s ever climbed. That means its fucking hard! Besides the actual climbing on it, the mystique surrounding the boulder lured me in as well. Aidan never posted his footage, only black and white photos. When Sean Bailey climbed the second ascent, he posted a blurry video with no caption. All this mystique only fueled my curiosity more. I hope in writing this I don’t ruin any of the mystique around this wonderful climb, but rather inspire others with a similar curiosity to explore that feeling a bit more.
Thats probably not good. . .
The plan was to climb in Switzerland from February 7th to the 20th, putting 70% of my time into “Arrival of the Birds” and the other 30% into the classic hard blocs. Unfortunately, Switzerland had other plans. We went directly to Arrival day one, only too be greeted with extremely soggy conditions.
One productive thing did come out of the day though, I finally got to lay eyes on “Arrival of the Birds”. Honestly, it was everything I expected. . . and more! The rock was incredible, the holds were exactly what I imagined, and the line was striking, I couldn’t be more psyched! All I gotta do now is wait for some dryer weather.
Cant give tooooooooo much away.
As I woke up the next day and looked out the window, it didn’t look great. We decided to go for it anyways and headed back to Arrival. The literal moment we arrived it started to rain, I said fuck it and hiked up with my pads anyways. The wall is slightly overhung meaning it will stay dry for a bit, until it starts to seep down the top out. I decided it was worth playing on the start moves a bit since they were “dry”. This was stupid. Instantly I realized I was wasting time, but didn’t want to just pack up and leave. The session went about how you would expect, I complained a lot and didn’t really do anything. On top of all that, the sharp crimps mixed with the soggy conditions made for a skin nightmare!After that awesome session, I decided it was really only worth trying Arrival in good conditions. Surely I’ll get some days that can be considered good. . .
Wet and psyched was the theme of the day. If you look closely, you can see the rain coming down. If you look even closer you can see some small ass grips. . .
The one thing they don’t tell you about Switzerland is just how much it rains. Well, maybe they do tell you and I just chose to ignore it. Anyways, its now two days later and relatively nice. We headed back to Arrival in hopes of better conditions this time around, and lucky for me it was dry enough! The goal this session was to focus on the crux sequences, which to me felt like the first lock-off and the jump move in the middle. Now is probably a good time to talk about the different sequences for the middle. On Aidan’s first ascent, he utilized this extremely shitty and slippery heel hook out right to statically reach to the slotted crimp. This method felt almost impossible to me, and it sounds like almost everyone else who has tried felt the same. The other option is Sean’s method, which skips this sequence out right and jumps to the slotted crimp. Technically its an easier move, I can easily get the distance every try, but actually hitting the hold correctly is fucked up hard! I decided to settle on Sean’s way, for now, as it seems the most reasonable. Although, I can see Aidan’s way feeling much better after spending more time on the boulder and learning the positions. The problem is, the holds are so sharp you don’t get many learning goes!
This second session was spent mostly throwing myself at this middle move, slowly getting closer but never doing it. Towards the end of the session I switched to trying the first section, which also has two different betas. Aidan’s approach is slower and more of a lock off while Sean’s is a dynamic snatch, both climbers start on the same left hand but different right hand holds. For this bottom section I decided to go with Aidan’s sequence, while its a little more reachy, it would allow me to grab the first crimp well enough to feel confident on it. There was also this deep personal feeling that I wanted to match Aidan’s first ascent. Not to take anything away from Sean’s ascent, I tried his method for a moment and it honestly felt harder! To end the session, I decided it would be smart to hang some positions. It was nice to feel extremely solid in every static position, but after looking at my hands I realized I started to split my tip on my right pointer finger. . . FUCK!
Shoutout to Sam for all the psych and beta. Here is where I started to learn I needed to be a little higher, getting there though.
For the next few days I decided to chill a bit and try some classics. We headed to Brione where I managed to Flash “There is no Spoon” (v7) as well as “Forevermore Sit” (v12). The cherry on top of those days was watching Siri climb “Catatonic” (v11) and “Red” (V11) for her first and second of the grade! She kind of pissed them too! Believe it or not, it rained every single one of those days, we just learned that with enough patience, toilet paper, and Kika fans, we could dry most boulders.
After that stint of chill days, I decided I wanted to head back to Arrival. Weather wise, it seemed like this would also be my last day on it. My goal was to simply work on the crux sequences again. As long as they felt closer than before, it was a win! I began by trying the jump move, quickly I was closer than before, but something still wasn’t clicking. After a few power spots and some beta chat, I realized I needed to jump a tad higher so I could catch a lock off a bit more. Unfortunately, I never managed to do the move without a power spot, but damn did I start to feel close! I then switched focus to the first sequence again, although energy was low spirits were high! I settled on the feet I wanted to use, which ended up being basically the same as Aidan, and started locking. Instead of going completely static like Aidan, I was pausing on the absurdly tiny intermediate and trying to dead point to the crimp. I knew if I had the right timing, it would work well, but I couldn’t line it up perfectly. With a light push the move was consistent, but with no push I would always mess something up. I had a few close calls, even practically stopping on nothing once. Sadly, in the end, I couldn’t make it work.
Some “last day on the rig” psych, and my closest attempt on the crux jump (far right). All over it, just need to get a little luckier. . . or maybe a little stronger. I’m not sure which one is easier.
With a few more days of climbing before it was time to head home, we decided to romp around on some other blocs. I managed to climb “Midnight Lightning of Ticino Sit” (v13) and “Boogalagga” (v13) as two cool highlights, and Siri went full project mode on “Teamwork” (v11). She was so psyched one day that she tried it early in the morning and later that night only to punt off the soggy topout! I guess we both have things to get back to!
Sending “Midnight Lightning of Ticino Sit” (V13). A pretty funky newer Giuliano rig which adds a pretty savage first move into the stand start. Speaking of the stand start, it deserves so much more love! Its such a banger!
The perpetual wetness really makes the greens stand out. At least I managed to make my way up “Boogalagga” (v13), what a classic!
Leaving this trip, I was feeling a bit disappointed. With such shitty weather, we didn’t get to try nearly as much as I would have hoped. Before getting to Switzerland, my intent was to cure this curiosity. Thinking about it now, I’m not even sure what that means. Sure, I touched the grips and climbed on it, but that only leaves me with more questions. What do I need to do to send this thing? How am I going to level up? When will I be back? On top of all that, if I did actually manage to send it, I know I would be left feeling like I did back in Bishop. Curious about the next big thing.
