Climber September/October 2017

news round-up
You can read all the latest news on the
Climber website at www.climber.co.uk/news
Barbara Zangerl on The Big
Issue (E9 6c). Photo: Jacopo
Larcher
Barbara Zangerl in Pembroke
trad-fest
Austrian all-rounder, Barbara Zangerl,
was in Britain recently mopping-up an
impressive number of E8 and E9s in
Pembroke including The Big Issue and
Muy Caliente.
Barbara was originally known as a
boulderer; in 2008 she climbed Font
8a+/b when she did Pura Vida. However,
a back problem pushed her into climbing
routes and by 2011 she added the
Vorarlberg (Austria) test-pieces,
Reifeprüfung (F8b+) and Erntezeit (F8c), to
her CV. Since then she’s done numerous
hard routes with sport routes to F8c/+,
Alpine multi-pitch routes – including
Silbergeier (F8b+) – and desperate trad
climbs such as Prinzip Hoffnung (E9/10).
Last year Barbara repeated both Dalriada
(E7 6b) and Requiem (E8 6c) and what is
thought to be the second ascent of
Achemine (E9 6c) in Scotland. In April
this year Barbara climbed Gondo Crack in
Switzerland, a trad F8c.
Barbara arrived in Pembroke in late
June and within days had climbed
Chupacabra (E8/9 6c) and Do you know
where your Children are? (E8 6c). Then,
using beta from her partner Jacopo
Larcher, she flashed Point Blank (E8 6c).
The team then spent a few frustrating
bad weather in North Wales before
returning to Pembroke. Barbara’s second
stint here was also productive climbing
Muy Caliente (E9 6c) and then The Big
Issue (E9 6c).
Barbara seemed especially pleased
with her ascents in Pembroke and of The
Big Issue judging by her comments on
social media: “I am totally impressed of
this place. That was one of our best trad
climbing trips so far. Every route was
simply outstanding! Yesterday I had such
a big fight through Big Issue (E9 6c), with
bad conditions.... I really don’t know
how I made it to the top! More luck than
anything else.”
Feehally flashes Font 8b+
News from the bouldering world is that
Ned Feehally has flashed Trust Issues
(Font 8b+) at The Realm, in Rocklands,
South Africa. It ranks as one of the
hardest flashes, alongside that of Adam
Ondra’s with Jade and Gecko Assis, Jimmy
Webb with The Globalist and Daniel
Woods flashing Entling.
Trust issues was first climbed by Nalle
Hukkataival just a couple of weeks
before in this new area at Rocklands and
climbs a beautiful leaning sandstone
wall. Alex Megos who watched the
ascent said: “That was very impressive to
watch! That fella knows how to use his
heels and lock down to his hips.” An
impressive feat by Feehally who also
snagged an ascent of Amandla (Font
8b+), said to be one of the finest hard
problems in the world.
Elsewhere in Rocklands, Eliot
Stephens broke into the Font 8b+ grade
with an ascent of Golden Shadow that
climbs out of a 45 degree wall on good
crimps with awkward positions and
movements between them. Eliot
remarked: “I spent a few short sessions
just trying to reach holds off the heel toe
cam, but eventually just realised that I’d
have to do my own thing. It then took
another two sessions to link.”
Ned Feehally flashing Trust Issues (Font 8b+).
Photo: Alex Megos
Limestone news
Pete Dawson recently ticked two
noteworthy repeats with True North (F8c)
at Kilnsey, Yorkshire and the third ascent
of Brian (F8c+) at Anstey’s Cove, Devon.
Brian links two existing routes, Poppy
(F8b+) and Tuppence Ha’penny (also
F8b+) and was first done by Ken Palmer
at F8c but upgraded when it was
repeated by Ellis Butler Barker. Before
that the 19 year old made a super-fast
ascent with a first go red-point of True
North. He commented: “I was blown
away by the climbing. Inspired I gave it
my all and somehow finished at the
chains!”
At Raven Tor in the Peak District, Will
Bosi made a fast repeat of Jerry Moffatt’s
Evolution (F8c+) climbing it on only his
third attempt.
Jordan Buys repeated Steve McClure’s
Bat Shadow (F8c+) at Malham. By all
accounts, it’s the second ascent as well.
Back in 2013 he repeated Rainshadow
(F9a) making him one of the then few
climbers to have made it into the super
grades. Jordan nearly did Bat Shadow
just after Rainshadow but it’s taken a
bit longer as Jordan explains: “Well I
got close in 2013, a few months after
doing Rainshadow. In fact it nearly
was a mega-day – early afternoon I did
Dalliance (F8b+) at Kilnsey. Then drove
round to Malham in the evening and
fell off with my hand on the hold that
marks the end of the difficulties.” Fast
forward to 2017 and: “I went on it early
in the year as a reason to get fit. Having
had a bit of disaster following a training
plan that just did not work, I felt like
I was starting from scratch. I was
barely able to do any links, I was heavy
and getting burnt off by everyone. It was
nice to be able to train myself up again
and work out what is best for me
to peak.”
McHaffie – The Cumbrian
Face
James McHaffie plugged a major gap on
Clogwyn Du’r Arddu (Cloggy) with The
Cumbrian Face (E8 7a). The route didn’t
go down without something of a struggle
however and he referred to it has an
‘emotional affair’ on social media.
He’d previously tried the line in late
May but wasn’t successful and had to
lower off a sky-hook. Not easily deterred
he returned at a time when conditions
had been hot and sweaty in North
Wales; hardly conducive to hard
climbing and perhaps not surprisingly
things still don’t go swimmingly well.
However, McHaffie got the lead on his
third attempt. n
10 Sep–Oct 2017 www.climber.co.uk