Dave in FJ

Dave Graham hasn´t been doing much route climbing lately. Well, let´s just say he made up for it in Frankenjura… Climbing photograper Roberto Fioravanti reports: How many routes grade 8 can a climber climb in 30 days? the new standard is set by american “fenomeno” Dave Graham. 30 days in the German Frankenjura size the new dimention on how a good climber can perform. Not possible to start without mentioning the forth repeat of Wolfgang Güllich´s testpiece Action Directe, 9a. For sure the fastest repeat, about 20 tries in 6 days, to mention, Dave didn´t get involved in any kind of specific training, he just worked on the route. “it is an amazing climb, the line is one of the most beautiful pieces of rock I´ve ever seen. Under the line you can see holes, just trying on the route, you realize how small they are” “this route is really good, it´s short, about 19 moves to do in a single effort, you have to be robotic on the moves, you can´t think on it, just memorize each single move and execute them all linked together.” To end the day, after “Action” Dave climbed Downset 8c second try. Dave during his period in Frankenjura faced “the serious problem of wet holes and how to use kleenex” this is with he faced climbing Showdown(2 days), Raubritter(2 days) and Sundance kid(3 days) both 8c, both in bad conditions, “the weather was really bad at the beginning, lots of rain, and snow, we always went to the crag with a towell to dry certain holds. The list of 8c end with Powerplay(2days). Dave also climbed some “easier” stuff, like raise the roof, Stonelove 8b+ both in 1 day, ghetto blaster 8b(1 day),he found some difficulty on repeating Linie 1 an 8b+ Dave tried for 3 days “its an intricate line, beutiful, I think is 8b+, though in the gude book is reported as 8b”. No difficulty on Delicate news, Deadline, Nightmare and Subway 8b. Dave also onsighted some hard stuff, like centre court, 8a+, Blow job and Hitch hike the plane 7c/c+ The list ends, and ends just because I´ll not bother you with the grade 7 onsights, with: Plastikfieber, Nice boys, Bastard, 8a+ in 2 tries and Hurricane, Electrisher Storm in der Hölle 7c+ first try. On the rest days Dave also experienced some bouldering to recover his fingertips from excessive use. Dave sent Maharadsha 8b, Zerberus 8b+, Ramahada 8a 3rd try and some 7c´s. Dave personal message is the following; “Climbing in the Frankejura has been awesome. Lots of fun rest day activities, including buildering in Nurnberg, and filming with our 8mm video camera. My friend Jason Kehl and I had a good time playin pool, then my friends Luke Parady and Joe Kinder came, and things got even more interesting. I like Germany and all the climbers i´ve met are really cool. This month has been traveling at its best. Good german beers too.”

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