Nach dem Seb Bouin, die Toprouten  „Iron Curtain“ und „Nordic Marathon“ 9b/+ in der Hanshallarenhöhle in Flatanger (Norwegen) erfolgreich wiederholen konnte, versuchte er sich noch zu guter Letzt in „Change“ (9b+). Die Route  „Change“ war erste Route auf diesem Planeten, welche mit 9b+ bewertet worden war. Erstbegangen wurde sie von Adam Ondra vor mittlerweile zehn Jahren. Bisher konnte nur Stefano Ghisolfi die Route wiederholen.

Relativ schnell konnte er die beiden einzelnen Seillängen klettern, hatte aber letztlich nur noch vier Tage Zeit, um die gesamte Route erfolgreich zu durchsteigen. Nach zwei Tagen mit miserablen Bedingungen und einer verständlichen Müdigkeit und einem Tag bei ganz guten Bedingungen, konnte der Franzose am letzten Tag mit dem letzten Versuch die Route komplett durchsteigen. Dabei verwendete er, wie auch Stefano Ghislofi „Kneepads„, wodurch die Route sicherlich etwas leichter war.

After sending pitch 1 and pitch 2 independently, my goal was for sure trying the entire route. The only problem was I only had four more days, before my departure to come back home.
I didn’t know if it would be enough for the entire route. My body started to feel crushed by this cave. I felt tired from the trip. But I wanted to play the game until the very end.
Day 1, the conditions were terrible. It was humid and wet. A lot of the key holds were wet. I decided to not climb and wait for the next day.

Day 2, it was still humid, and key holds were a bit dryer, but the humidity didn’t give me confidence. I decided to try the route anyway. It was difficult to wait much longer, knowing I had to leave soon. I passed the first pitch, rested a lot before pitch 2. Then passed the first traverse crux on Pitch 2, and fell straight after that on the second crux. The holds were really humid and almost wet.

Day 3 (August 5th), I still felt really tired from my attempt on the previous day, and I didn’t sleep well during the night. I wasn’t planning to climb – I wanted to wait until I felt ready. I went up to the cave to check out conditions and belay my girlfriend on her route. The conditions were exceptional! I was torn in my mind. Should I try it and take advantage of the conditions? or should I wait until I knew I was fully recovered? I finally decided to try the route. I was literaly flowing through the holds, due to the good conditions. It was so much different than the day before.
I am happy to say that I made no mistakes and felt the belief that I could make it to the end, and I did! I am not usually a ‘last day, last try’ kind of guy, but this time it happened 
I climbed the route with kneepads, like previous ascensionist Stefano Ghisolfi.

More posts to come regarding the global trip, and comparaison between Change, Nordic Marathon, and Move.

Foto (c): Marco Müller