Friday 5 August 2016

"no-holds" Grimsel, scary, brilliant & beautiful

Oh man!! Where have all (any!) of the holds gone.... #swiss #slabs #granitedomes





Getting out of our comfort zone on the amazing Eldorado, 500m / 14 pitches of granite dome swooping down to the Grimselee in Switzerland. Motorhead (the route name) felt sustained and hard for us, not so much the grade but the style (physical with strenuous laybacking), and when not strenuous then run-out and mentally taxing, plus some tricky to protect flared cracks all adds up to a brilliant challenge on stellar granite (a Remy brothers classic). Took a decent fall (7m) too, as a foot popped whilst trying to place some gear, a trusty yellow alien cam below holding me. Cracking route and memories, thanks to my partner Paula for taking up the adventure, our learning curve continues...