Dorothea Karalus weilte im Februar im Tessin und konnte am 23. Februar mit „Santoku“ in Schweizerischen Bodio in Ticino ihren insgesamt schon hat fünften  Boulder dieses Grades klettern. Vor zwei Jahren konnte sie im Wallis schon „La Danse des Balrogs“ 8B klettern. Die weltweit erste 8B wurde von der Boulderlegende Fred Nicole erstbegangen. Der mittlerweile schon über 25 Jahre alte Boulder in Ticino wurde über fünf Jahre von Doro, welche immer über 700 Kilometer aus Franken anreisen musste, versucht.

Der Boulder „Santoku“ (8B) wurde 2013 von Fabian Buhl erstbegangen und wurde von ihm ursprünglich mit 8B+ bewertet.

Bild: (c) Simon Weißer 
„This was only a good month ago but feels like an eternity. COVID-19 has turned the world upside down since then. Trying this project was a quite intense experience. It took some time and creativity to find a solution for my size, but then I climbed it pretty solid in two overlapping parts, confident that I could climb it quickly. Boy, I was wrong! The next 5 sessions I fell at a good hold at the end, I really seemed to hit a barrier with my power endurance here. Frustration creeped in, but with some time I realized how rare it is to find something where you can really test yourself: almost no condition drama, no skin issues… Just you vs. a problem. A fair fight, that’s what you want, no? On the last day (bonus day b/c I found a ride instead of taking the train) I had one last go and sent! More determined, but also free of all this pressure I put on myself. A mental progress I’ll never forget and hopefully can learn from in the future.

The past weeks made me appreciate how lucky we are to experience these intense adventures, to travel freely, to be healthy. I’m for sure more grateful than ever for this  Looking forward to more climbing experiences like this, but for now let’s figure out how to get through this together!  Staying healthy physically and mentally, being there for others (while #physicaldistancing) and maybe even getting a bit stronger with all this training going on  #livenowclimblater Black Diamond

PS: Only got the pictures now, hence the late post. I climbed this on February 23rd. Italy had 62 cases and 2 deaths by then. So so crazy how it evolved from there. So many families affected, many can’t even say goodbye to their loved ones . #Stay At Home.“