Florian Riegler frees Skinwalker, difficult crack climb above Bozen, Italy
South Tyrolean climber Florian Riegler has made the first ascent of Skinwalker, a difficult single-pitch trad climb on the outskirts of Bolzano.
It was my brother who discovered the inconspicuous wall, barely visible from below. A little later we went to have a look. I could hardly believe it! "What a line!" I said to myself. And just 9 km from home! I absolutely had to climb this crack!
First I had to work and link the moves for this very technical climb. The combination of tiny Cams and the soft porphyritic rock at the start bottom gave me a hard time. Placing the pro was really difficult from some holds, I could barely hang on to the crack...
On 9 January I tried the crack again with Michele Caminati. It was bloody cold and the sun kept disappearing behind the clouds - it was becoming less and less pleasant. "I'll five it one last go," I told myself. I wanted to show Luigi, who was there to film me , at least some interesting moves. And completely unexpectedly I managed to free Skinwalker.
The 25 meters are 8a, maybe 8a+, I don't know exactly. But it doesn't matter, because as Michele says: "In this case, the route's beauty is far more important than its difficulty." A Kingline, just a stone's throw from home!
by Florian Riegler
Links: Instagram Florian Riegler, FB Riegler Brothers, www.florianriegler.com, CAMP
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