Ascents in Europe as Attempt by Christoph Rauch

Fiddled around for ages after the first bolt to get a bad nut in, then found a decent placement for a black totem a meter above that, which I trusted enough to go up to the second bolt. Unfortunately I was almost completely empty at that point. Still, I pushed on past the bolt, and even tried to bump up with my last strength, so I took a nice whipper. Didn't manage to get to the third bolt after that, though, I was just too exhausted. Next try is going to be much easier, no more fiddling around in the lower part.

Fantastic endurance piece. I first had the impression that the crux would be at the fourth bolt, but actually a little dyno gets you through that passage. Brilliant, flowy climbing up to the bulge with the big ring. Had to call it a day there after a dozen tries. Hints welcome! So far, I grab the undercling with the left, cross over into the narrow pocket with the right hand, grab the horn out left and bump to a sidepull with the right. I can freely position my feet in that position, but I have yet to figure out how to continue.

Messed up after the second bolt. Held on with my left pinky in a sharp mono and my right middle finger in a shallow mono; quickly decided to let go.

No chance on this one. Two slanting fingertip sloper crimps and a long move to a bad sloper with a slight pocket. Tried a few things, found an option with a fragile structure, but it broke (sorry). I saw others climb it later that day, looked much harder than what the grade suggests (but also tricky).

Couldn't find a sensible beta quickly and didn't want to fuss around too much because people were already queuing up for the route.

Soaking wet in many places, so I didn't go for a real onsight attempt, but I wouldn't have expected to get very far anyway. Bailed at the last bolt (that is, about halfway up or so), but I tasted blood. Feels much more manageable than "Luftballondach".

#lastrouteoftheday Tough beast. Feels like three jugs with blank wall between them. Took me half an hour to get to the third bolt, gave up there (the first two bolts are tiny, so it‘s hard to retreat from there).

Resorted to aid in the upper part. The first half actually went quite well, placing two nuts included, but then had to sit in the rope around half-way up. From there I was able to find a possible solution to the next two meters, but no more than that. I guess this is another one from the category "should check out on TR solo to not annoy my belayer". Nasty, open jams further up, probably better with the correct tape treatment (which I hastily applied en route) or crack gloves.

Pre-clipped the first bolt, then worked my way up to check out the moves. Two draws in the second bolt are a wise choice.

Still couldn't figure out how to climb the crux. Had the second bolt preclipped, though, so I was able to pull myself up to the jugs and enjoy the beautiful slab above (around 7+?).

Got to the second to last bolt before the roof, prepared for a reachy move to a jug, but didn't put enough juice into it. Couldn't recover from that move, so I had to rest. After the move, you can easily clip, but there's another boulder awaiting. I don't even want to know how to get over the roof, but I could imagine that it might be easier than the part before. Tried a few things but had to give up because it got dark. The lower half (I assume part of "Donnerdach") is already quite challenging, felt hard for 7+/8-.

Couldn't uphold the full crimp in the two finger pocket this time and fell. Tried again with index and middle finger, which was much much better.

Nasty crimp just above the first bolt, then seemingly you have to make a diversion to the right just to reach the second bolt somehow … apparently the to is easy, but didn't want to ruin my fingers on the brutal crimp, so I gave up.

Thought I had found a good solution for the way to the last bolt, but then I stood there, left hand on a sidepull far above my head, right hand down low in the good, round pocket, and I couldn't move. Bummer. Seems like there's a solution on the right, but that one eluded me as well, tried a few times and took good falls, but to no avail.

Didn't find a solution at the second bolt … it turns out you have to make quite a detour to the right (indicated in the latest Röker guidebook). Might try again some time, the upper half looks good.

Oh wow. Brilliant wall climbing, around 8+, for about 19 of the 20 meters. Then suddenly it felt like I got sweat into my eyes, because the final section didn't seem to contain any holds. Fell off after a desperate attempt to hold on to the (probably eponymous) sloper. After a few tries, I was able to reach the next pocket and even stand up, but the faint crack above doesn't contain any holds either. Gave up and bailed to the anchor of "Spatz in der Hand" after a few more tries.

Read the beta I had written down last time before getting on the route, but it didn't help at all. After a few tries, I got to a point where I probably could have slapped to the jug, but it was wet, so I bailed. Again.

Tried with my "performance" shoes … felt horrible. Exchanged them for the comfy ones right after I fell off in the crux (almost hit myself in the nose when my thumb popped off the undercling).

Yet another route on this wall which I couldn't even finish to the top. Got shut down by the upper crux, which it turns out requires an armspan of at least 1,80 m … which I don't have. And even if I did, I'd probably find it hard because it's not my style. Felt hard to clip the first bolt.

Didn't want to push my luck after a few hard catches, toes hurting and the ring finger of my right hand putting up subtle warning signs. Already struggled quite a lot to the second bolt, which felt hard. The crux is to get into the tiny sidepull while having your feet high enough to reach into the pocket next to the third bolt.

Painful and awkward boulder start to the ledge. The sling should best be replaced soon, otherwise clipping the hideous first bolt after the no-hands rest could end on the ground. I placed a cam before to be safe. Fell off trying to get past that first bolt.

Missed the two-finger pocket, fell, and directly lowered to the ground to try again.

Second 8+ onsight attempt in a week that got shut down after a supposed crux by yet another difficult passage over some roof with wet holds above. Gave my all to reach that last bolt, too, like last time. Hard to get out from the little cave and reach the big flake.

Oh bugger. Crux right at the end, after what I first believed to be the anchor because I didn't see any holds above the roof. Splits off from "Reine Nervensache" after about 20 meters or so into a no-hands rest on the left, which you should use, because you need the strength on the last few meters. Bold balance moves a meter above the bolt (I luckily had a knotted sling on my harness which I placed in a crack and which fit perfectly, so my pulse went down a bit again ) lead to a fantastic two-finger pocket. You then clip the last bolt from a huge undercling below the roof, but that's where the journey ended for me. Couldn't figure out how to get over the roof (at least not while the holds above it were slimy from wet lichen … probably hasn't been done in a while). Got to check this out some time.

Same as for "Denkste". Had a hard time reaching the second bolt (from the ledge).

Quite humid today, which made the crux even more desperate.

Didn't work out … couldn't find a solution to get to the second bolt, so I bailed. Apparently you have to put your right foot quite far into the slab on the right?

Well … such a shame. The pockets up to and slightly above the first bolt are fantastic, the texture and colour of the rock is amazing. But then it suddenly stops. Also barely any chalk marks above that point. I bet a jug must have broken off, otherwise this is certainly not climbable for 9-. Dynamically into a bad mono, then another bad mono, then what? Jump a full meter to a mediocre pocket? I don't think so.

8 meters of easy, damp choss, then suddenly two meters of blank crack dihedral! Used a gaston on the left and wedged my foot into the crack, then reached up for the sidepull. Grabbed the topmost part … and sent it flying, together with myself.

Slipped off a hold that was greasy from chalk (despite chalk actually being forbidden at this crag, but nobody seems to care …) in the crux after the first bolt. Lowered off immediately and started again.

Got to the crux with what I thought was enough strength left, but messed up. Didn't shift my body enough to the right before grabbing the bad crimp on the right, so I slipped off the sloper crimp on the left when bumping up to the other sloper …

Super hard start on sharp pockets. Couldn't find the right ones in time and had to try again.

Desperate last light attempt; couldn't clip the bolt before the crux anymore …

Didn't hit the two-finger pocket after the first bolt, but I was surprised how much lighter I felt in this second try.

Slipped out of the clipping hold for the second bolt … didn't hit it in the right spot.

Tried to reach the first bolt (about halfway up …) on lead because there was lats of chalk on the holds, but could only do reversible moves up to about half the distance to the bolt, so I slowly climbed down again.

The second bolt is in a very uncomfortable position. I also highly doubt that this route is 7 in the current state. Something (or rather: a lot) must have broken off, and it looks like it, too. Gave up at the second bolt.