Burden of Dreams | 9A Boulder problem at Lappnor

UKClimbing.com | 8a.nu | 27Crags.com

Also known as The Lappnor Project.

The first 9A boulder problem in the world. Nalle Hukkataival made the first ascent in October 2016 and the problem received significant attention from many of the strongest boulderers in the world (Toru Nakajima, Shawn Raboutou and Aidan Roberts to name a few) before Will Bosi made the second ascent in April 2023.

The problem was initially found by Marko Siivinen:

At first it looked like it might be possible so we started trying the moves... Pretty soon it was obvious it was a bit too hard for us 😄 So next time we took [Anton Johansson] with us, who was the strongest man alive at that time. He looked at the problem and touched the holds a bit and said: "well... It looks really good but it also looks like 9A"😂 So the only thing left to do was to take Nalle there and the rest is history. [1]

In an interesting twist, the problem has become somewhat famous for replicas being made of it. Aidan Roberts made a 3D scan of the holds and problem on his phone during a working visit to try the problem, he then 3D printed the holds and worked with Core Climbing to cast copies of the holds in resin. Due to the relatively flat, consistent angle of the problem it was then possible to mount the holds indoors and effectively train for the real thing using the replica. Notably, Will Bosi trained on the replica for several sessions to train for the problem, then having done all the moves on the replica he booked a trip to try the real thing and made rapid progress, doing all the moves in his first session and then making the second ascent after ~12 sessions on the real thing.

References

[1] Marko Siivinen on Instagram, commenting on discovering the problem in 2013. April 2023. https://www.instagram.com/p/CrB1L4ctXrR/

Contributors: remus, LeodF, nick_dt, aniol_santacreu
Added 8th February 2021. Last updated 22nd September 2024.

Pics + Vids

Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
Added at 13:02 on 08 February 2021
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Nalle Hukkataival
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Added at 07:04 on 16 April 2023
Will Bosi
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Added at 09:04 on 14 April 2023
Will Bosi
Added at 09:04 on 15 April 2023
Will Bosi
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Added at 16:04 on 16 April 2023
Will Bosi
Added at 04:06 on 07 June 2023
Simon Lorenzi
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Added at 15:12 on 28 December 2023
Ryuichi Murai
Added at 08:07 on 07 July 2024
Elias Iagnemma
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Added at 04:03 on 26 March 2024
Elias Iagnemma
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Added at 18:04 on 03 April 2024
Elias Iagnemma
Added at 07:09 on 22 September 2024

Ascents

5 recorded ascents, including 1 unsuccessful ascent.

Climber Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Nalle Hukkataival Boulder | worked 24th Oct 2016 9A
First ascent.

Nalle invested a huge amount of time and effort in to the problem before finally making the first ascent, spending 3 years and 4000+ attempts on the problem.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2016/10/nalle_hukkataival_puts_up_burden_of_dreams_-_font_9a-70761

[2] https://vimeo.com/241518809

[3] https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thelappnorproject17

[4] While working the problem Nalle posted about in a series of Instagram posts:

Will Bosi Boulder | worked 12th Apr 2023 9A
Simon Lorenzi Boulder | worked 27th Dec 2023 9A
Third ascent. Around 25 sessions.

With this ascent Simon became the first climber to climb three problems graded 9A after his subsequent ascents of Soudain Seul and Alphane. Interestingly Simon used a slightly different sequence to previous ascentionits:

Instead of matching on the left hand crimp after the first move, I use a high left foot to put a drop knee. From there I cross directly to the gaston left hand and then I match on the pinch. [4]

On the difficulty of the problem compared to Soudain Seul and Alphane:

I think that Burden of Dreams is hard for different reasons but not harder. The fact is that the first move is low percentage and you have just a few tries before your skin is dead. That means that the opportunities to send are quite limited before you have to rest again at least one day for your skin. Alphane and Soudain Seul are completely different; they are physically more demanding, and it feels harder to put all the moves together, but for the same length of trip you’ll have more opportunities to send once you’ve got everything dialed [sic]. [4]

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C1Zu5gONwDT/

[2] https://karpollaon8a.com/burden-of-dreams-third-ascent-by-simon-sisu-lorenzi/

[3] Training process for BoD youtube part 1 of 3 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7R-aIeZ7yS8

[4] https://www.climbing.com/news/simon-lorenzi-burden-of-dreams/

Ryuichi Murai Boulder | did not finish 2024

Ryuichi made rapid progress on the problem, linking it from one move in on his third session and dropping the last hard move on his fourth session, but was unable to complete it on this trip.

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXW0pTnkQjc

Elias Iagnemma Boulder | worked 26th Mar 2024 9A
Fourth ascent.

On the day of the send, I was alone. I did not get to grab the holds perfectly but I was so motivated. A couple of weeks before I fell on the last move but this time I had a perfect mindset and could control the padel finishing dyno. I started screaming and then ran down to check if I got it on tape and then I called my wife and my parents. They have been such a great support. [2]

Interestingly Ellias used very different beta to the other ascentionists: after sticking the first move he uses a heel hook to establish on the final hold, then instead of dynoing for the last hold he does a paddle dyno to the top edge of the problem.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C49dbMFoL34/

[2] https://www.8a.nu/news/elias-iagnemma-repeats-burden-of-dreams-9a

[3] https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5TdA0lNRhQ/

[3] https://www.youtube.com/?v=aQUYgdLXY5w