Ascensiones de Lichtjahre

What an amazing route! And what an amazing way to climb it.

I got to the crag knowing that it would be too hot to try Fugu again so the plan was to try Lichtjahre as my backup project. On the first try bouldering up trying to get the moves dialed I felt awful. My skin hurt already and I felt week. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a send go next try. Unfortunately, my foot slipped on one of the harder moves, but I started immediately again from a few moves lower and could top it from there. That really surprised me but also gave me a lot of confidence that I could actually send it. However I didnt know if it would make sense to give it another try today since my skin was absolutely on the limit and it was already getting dark soon. But the motivation was stronger and so I went for one more try in the darkness with just my headlamp on. I was worried I wouldnt have enough light to properly see all footholds but the little light made me focus much more on climbing perfectly and so I made my way through the route up until clipping the anchor.

Perfect execution, the perfect moment!! One of those moments I will never forget and that gives me a huge motivation boost! Simply amazing!

After a relaxed breakfast at my girlfriend’s parents place, we drove to Schleierwasserfall and I warmed up with a 7c route. My buddy Mischa Piccolruaz tried the route Lichtjahre and so I was able to watch him closely and get a good impression of the route.

I was psyched to give it a go as well and after Mischa convinced me I should even try to flash it, I warmed up at the fingerboard and went through the route mentally before I attempted it. The route went really well, I loved the style and I felt on top of my game so I could flash it pretty solidly.

It always takes two, though, to achieve a flash: someone who does the work and checks out the route and then is able to talk you through. It was Mischa who gave me such great support, thanks buddy!

Lichtjahre is located in the grey sector of the Schleierwasserfall, where the routes are slightly shorter (about 20m), it's one of the best routes of the crag and I can only recommend it

Right next to it there are a couple routes that I already knew, as for example Mercy Street which is pretty similar in style so I knew what to expect. A lot of sharp holds and quite difficult from the start. Some bouldery sections with long and powerful moves but good holds. Closer to the end you need to keep it together as it’s all about endurance.

One of the trickier parts was where a big foot hold had broken away a few months ago. Many say the route got a lot harder since then. Even before it was a hard 8c, so it’s absolutely fair for Alex Megos to say it’s an 8c+ now. After flashing something it's always hard to grade it but I think 8c+ could be right, although it didn't feel much harder than Mercy Street for me, so one could argue it's still 8c, we will see what other people will say

Due to my biceps tendon injury I had to adapt my training. Rock climbing proved great for my recovery, so I climbed a lot recently, improved my endurance and that’s why I feel super comfortable on the rocks these days. Psyche for more!

3rd try, maybe 8c+/9a