Nick Muehlhausen su Too Big to Flail, super highball a Bishop

"Può una salita valere la pena?" Valere la pena di rischiare di farsi male, seriamente male. La risposta se l’è data Nick Muehlhausen a fine dicembre quando, anche lui, è riuscito a salire Too Big to Flail, il super highball a Bishop liberato nel 2012 dal maestro dei nervi d’acciaio Alex Honnold. Si parla di quasi 15 metri di blocco, con un passaggio chiave gradato V10 (7C+) a 7 metri da terra.

Dopo aver lavorato la linea con la corda dall’alto "sono arrivato ad un punto in cui la mia mente era così preparata, forse più preparata persino del mio corpo" racconta Muehlhausen, che non si è fatto intimorire da una caduta dall’alto, da veramente alto. Per fortuna sotto c’erano ben 27 crashpad…

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“Too Big to Flail”-v10/13D Prepare yourself. This post will be as long as Too Big is tall... First thing first, the support I received from my tightly knit bishop framily is what makes this achievement something that I will surely never forget. To share something like this with people that I truly care for is a gift. The BEST gift. They’re the reason I get to share my moment with the rest of the world... Too Big was, in my mind, a test... it was my ultimatum.... to see if I’m fit to find who I truly am thru risk, or to drop it all and become a casual passionate climber. I wanted to push myself on something that was cusping my limits. To see what I can achieve with a wholehearted obsession that I let take me over, mind and body. I’ve been trying to understand why I’m driven towards the routes that show risk with an open hand.... for some odd reason it’s the only thing I’ve found that makes me feel real... In those moments of calm precise movement in a potential life altering position, I feel the most alive! With Too Big, the part that blew my mind while sending was how calm and stoked I was grasping onto its tiny holds in insecure positions. I had ground the moves into my body over the course of 4 days, but those sessions were maybe one or two goes roped and pre-send, I had only successfully climbed it from bottom to top once on a rope. But with that small hurdle achieved I felt an immediate sense of confidence. The morning of I went for a run around 7 o’clock out to the climb. I had a small amount of nervousness, which I believe was more so the organization of people, pads, cameras etc, than the climb itself. “Is today the day? Am I sure? I’ve only sent it once... Is that enough? What if it’s not and I’m dragging all of my friends into a bad situation?” These questions flooded my brain on my way over to The Secrets and started to push doubt into my brain... but the second I rounded the corner and glared at the route, I no longer had any doubt on my mind.... “you’re mine today mother fucker!” I felt slightly ridiculous for yelling at a boulder but it served as a message to myself.... All doubt was gone and I KNEW I could do it... -(Continues in comments)

A post shared by Nick Muehlhausen (@rockninja_8a) on Dec 19, 2018 at 8:13am PST

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I've seen some impressive stuff in my time out here in Bishop... but I've never seen anything as impressive as watching Nick become the sixth ascentionist of the proudest line in Bishop, the 50 foot mega-highball, Too Big to Flail (V10). He had an unexpected crowd, and I'm sure he felt the pressure to perform. But even after taking a 25 foot fall (that's 25 feet of air under his damn feet, not hands at 25 feet), he calmly and confidently executed this monster five minutes later. This clown even took a quick pause, 35 feet off the deck, to look over and stick his goofball tongue out when he knew the final 5.12 slab to the top was in the bag. You're a maniac, buddy. Congratulations doesn't cut it with this one. #bishopbouldering #bouldering #buttermilks #tbtf #highball

A post shared by Daniel Winsor (@professionalvagrant) on Dec 19, 2018 at 6:56am PST