A couple of our Hangar team members were fortunate enough to escape from the intensive Monday night training sessions and spent a couple of weeks over in Magic Woods, Switzerland.
I had been to Magic Wood a few times, so wasn't quite as awestruck as Laura who was visiting here for the first time. The Woods are a hectic maze of boulders and trees strewn across a steep hillside in a narrow valley which is dissected by a very chilly glacial river (that doubles up as the daily icebath with no shower facilities on the campsite!)
I had set out to try and get
Unendliche Geschicte pt I done as I'd climbed the second part before but as always I got sidetracked into trying other things and with the high temps, it was better to be up in the hills anyway rather than down on the smooth rock of the Bruno block (which is in much better condition on cold rainy days!).
The trip highlights included finishing off an old nemesis Master of the Cow in a couple of attempts as well as a single session ascent of Rythmo and both Octopussy and Nothing Changes in a couple of short sessions.
The ones that got away included UG Part 1 in 2 halfs but no link and Body Count which I did in 2 halfs and from a couple of moves in but not on the link due to painfully thin skin and not enough rest! I had a brief play on Muttertag in high humidity but never got back on it with too many other things to try. It's always a bit of a gamble on short trips getting on harder problems as if they don't go down fast in a single session, you are loathe to take too many rest days incase you return home empty handed. With this in mind, I climbed nearly every day dropping the level a bit to get some 7's in the bag.
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Laura hadn't been climbing outdoors for quite a while and had just gotten back into her climbing recently with the opening of the Hangar but her progress has been impressive. She managed to flash nearly every 6C/+ she pulled on to and managed both Kameltrophy and Gulliver kante in 2 attempts. She also managed a couple of rapid ascents of more 7A/+ with Slab Jack and Blindflug. She came really close to the tricky technical testpiece of Grit Deluxe and the committing highball rockover of Verbotene Frucht but thin skin and greasy conditions proved too much on both of these!
It was good fun to test out some new shoes throughout the trip with my courier Laura bringing over a pair of Evolv Talons fresh from the Hangar, just in time for the last 10 days. They took a bit of getting used to as the heels are a bit wider than on the 5.10 shoes I usually wear but they worked well after a couple of sessions use and should be good for comps as they smear well for a toe down shoe.
It's a bit gutting to get back to the UK after climbing in an amazing area in glorious weather and it seems to be pretty standard on a trip to be leaving just as you are adapting to the climbing style. I'm sure everyone would always love that extra week to be able to take sufficient rest to grow back skin and finish projects that are left tantalisingly out of reach!
Rich's ticklist highlights:
8A
Octopussy
Nothing Changes
7C+
Master of the Cow
Rythmo
7C
Schnee Brett (flash)
Intermezzo (flash)
Gollum
Laura's ticklist highlights:
7A+
Slab Jack
Gulliver Kante (2nd go)
7A
Kameltrophy (2nd go)
Blindflug (2nd go)
6C/+
Big Cheese (flash)
Mexican Seafood (flash)
Jenny (flash)
Riverblock arete
