Titus Prinoth climbs Menhir trad at Mëisules dala Beisces, Dolomites

When you grow up in Val Gardena, you have a lot of mountains and routes in front of your doorstep. But only a few of them are truly iconic, and as a child, you dare to dream about them. Among them, Menhir, one of the most beautiful lines I've ever climbed. This route was bolted by Christof Hainz in 1992, which at the time triggered a discussion in the local climbing community because of the bolts on the clean alpine wall where the route is located. However, it was soon accepted because, with the gear in use back in 1992, nobody considered seriously the possibility of a trad ascent of this smooth, slightly overhanging pillar. Less than a year later, it was Hanspeter Eisendle who claimed the first free ascent in 1993.

For me, my relationship with this line goes back about 10 years, to 2015, when I first clipped the chains of this beauty as a youngster. In the years that followed, the idea of checking out whether it might go on only trad gear kept floating around. We’d bring it up with friends every now and then, but it wasn’t until last summer that I decided to take a serious look at it.

As soon as I saw a chance of climbing Menhir, in relative safety and on clean pro, the obsession was on. Many days followed, alone up on the wall, memorising the gear placements, refining the moves and simply dreaming. Even more days where invested in endurance training, because 8b is not merely a warm-up for me, and the placements drain a lot of power.

Thanks to my great friends, I got the opportunity to send on Saturday 20 September, just before a full week of bad weather and snow rolled across the Dolomites. Knowing the weather forecast was bad, the pressure was definitely on! I'd probably thought about Menhir every single day this summer, and have never spent so much time and energy on one single pitch. Going through this process was a completely new, yet wonderful, experience.

Thanks to everybody who supported me at the belays! And thanks to Salewa.

- Titus Prinoth, St. Ulrich, Grödnertal