29 Dots | 8A+ Boulder problem

First ascent.

29 Dots is the proudest, the hardest piece of rock I climbed in this style. A great moment, and a highlight in my bouldering career. [2]

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv0uU1fc0ag

[2] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/bernd-zangerl-joins-29dots-in-val-noasca.html

Second ascent.

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSv47Qslwt0

Third ascent.

The lack of toprope warm-up definitely gave me a little more energy, and I stuck the 7m high crux hold, though with far less margin than I would have liked. At that point, it's possible to have a quick shake on two very small but positive crimps whilst you prepare yourself for the next section, but I knew if I did that I would definitely get numbed out, so decided I was going to race the numbness to the top of the route and climb straight into the second crux. Immediately when I grabbed the first left-hand hold, I knew something was wrong, I couldn't properly feel the specific spikes under my fingers, and had to force way more than necessary to move my feet into position.

The next move is in my opinion,the most dangerous move on the route, and whilst significantly easier than the lower moves, it is still around a 7A+ boulder, with your feet high up and to the side opposing your hands on two side-pulls. Whilst falling off the lower crux is not to be advised, it is a straight fall down to the mats from an up-right position. The second crux, whilst only one and a half metres higher, is from a totally different body position, and would likely see you falling sideways away from the pads, possibly onto your back! I gave a lot of my remaining energy into controlling this move, and came far too close to the edge for my liking.

From this point the climbing becomes slightly easier with every passing move, and I’d never really considered the possibility of falling from up there. It comes as no surprise that with little feeling in your fingers you waste a lot of energy in over-controlling every hold, and I found myself in the hellish position of being both pumped, and numb, and getting worse by the second. Moves that should have been easy static pulls became focused lunges, and for the first time in many years I thought about what falling off from here might feel like! [2]

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wKNt8B1p1s

[2] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/james-pearson-repeats-bernd-zangerl-huge-highball-29dots-valle-dell-orco-italy.html

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZPxKLP2eDo