Alex Rohr retrieves Oblivion at Gimmelwald

Alex Rohr has made the first ascent of Oblivion, a long-standing project at Gimmelwald in Switzerland which he suggests warrants 9a. The route links the easy section of Alpenbitter (8c+/9a) with the top section of Renardo Rules (8c/8c+) via a hard crux in the middle, graded about 8A+ boulder.

The Swiss climber explained "There is no real rest and the main problem of the route is doing the 4 move boulder crux a little tired. The first two moves of the crux are not very hard but offer very tricky climbing with high probability of doing mistakes. One little mistake and the two last moves felt impossible. I wanted to do this route before Flatanger but couldn‘t finish it. After returning from Norway, I immediately jumped on that challenge again and spent another four days until yesterday, when I could finally link all the moves together. I hesitated about the grade a little, but after the successful try, I repeated Alpenbitter as a training and had to realise, that the new link-up must be harder."

Rohr is on great form and in mid-August the 26-year-old climbed his hardest to date, the 9a+ first pitch of Change at Flatanger.

Info: alexrohr.com, Karpos, Petzl, SCARPA