Christmas in Chironico: Jakob Schubert climbs Alphane (9A)

Christmas arrived a few days early for Jakob Schubert who at Chironico in Switzerland repeated Alphane, the 9A boulder problem freed by Shawn Raboutou in 2022 and repeated previously by Aidan Roberts, Will Bosi and Simon Lorenzi.

The 32-year-old, who had previously climbed six 8C boulder, described Alphane as being his favorite boulder problem but also explained that he had gone from "feeling good on the first sessions to basically being about to give up along the way, as I felt that the boulder required more focus and attention than I seemed to have available." The Austrian climbing machine persevered and on Monday he sent what ranks as one of the few boulder problems in the world graded 9A.

The send caps a stellar year for Schubert who in September established BIG at Flatanger in Norway, putting forward the grade 9c and therefore indicating it is one of the hardest sport climbs in the world. Indeed, after Adam Ondra's Silence at Flatanger and Seb Bouin's DNA in the Verdon, BIG is only the third route worldwide graded 9c.

In August Schubert was crowned Lead World Champion for a record fourth time, before becoming World Champion Combined Boulder & Lead qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 2023 is definitely Schubert's year and it's difficult to imagine anything he could have done better.

Links: FB Jakob Schubert, Instagram Jakob Schubert, La Sportiva, Mammut