Pete Whittaker frees Eigerdosis, 8c trad crack at Jøssingfjord in Norway
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Pete Whittaker
Norway's Jøssingfjord has long been considered by those in the know one of the premier granite crack climbing areas in Europe, however it probably wasn't until Nico Favresse freed The recovery drink at the Profilveggen wall in 2013 that the area caught mainstream acclaim. The 35m outing, described at the time by the Belgian as "one of the coolest lines I have ever climbed and the hardest crack I have ever redpointed" has been repeated twice in the meantime, first by Daniel Jung and then by Pete Whittaker. The 32-year-old Brit has now thrust the crag back into the international limelight with his first free ascent of second pitch of the trad crack Eigerdosis; established in 1996 by Hans Jørgen Moe and Trym Atle Saeland as an A2 aid climb, Whittaker believes this now warrants 8c.
Pete congrats! when did you start working the project?
I checked out the pitch after doing Recovery Drink. I abseiled down in my trainers, ran out of directional runners, got caught in a storm and generally had a nightmare! It wasn't until this spring that I re-visited the pitch.
The Profilveggen is long and overhanging
In all honesty to work the pitch is a bit of a pain as it's marooned in the middle of a very steep wall with no good ledges for belayers to stand on. A lot of rope and a patient belayer really helps for this one. The same holds true when you're leading: if you fall high up, retrieving all your gear is a load of time and effort. Of course, the quality of the climbing makes up for this.
What style did you adopt?
I did it in redpoint style. I fully worked the moves, knew the sequences, links and gear placements. Basically I knew everything before leading.
All trad, right?
Fully trad. There are no bolts on any of the routes and bolting isn't allowed on Profileveggen.
You've given it 8c. How hard was it placing the gear?
There is only one piece that is a little tricky to place. The rest of the pro is placed from decent holds after harder sections of climbing. The wall is steep, so falls are safe. The best option I found is to run out the harder sections of climbing to not waste energy.
Is there a specific crux? Or is it a stamina test?
The route is a series of boulder problems broken up by varying qualities of rests. It is still a decent length pitch, so fatigue builds up a little. The climbing is a mixture of face and crack climbing, it's certainly nothing like desert splitter climbing, but at the same time if you're not used to steep or technical jamming then it's probably going to be really tricky. I used all jamming techniques, from fingers to Wide Pony. This hybrid style is quite common for the Profile Wall.
You indicated that there might be more in store
Yes, I've been working on a harder project which I climbed on a little back in 2019. It's only really this year I've put more effort in.
Photo by Jaime Merino
