Background information
Damn Gravity - my bouldering gym challenge
by Patrick Bardelli
Kevin's fight in the Black Arete
22.5.2019
We are in Ticino. There is a boulder near Brione in the Verzasca Valley that climbing pro Kevin Huser wants to conquer for the first time. It's going to be a long battle.
Flashback. I meet Kevin last autumn. He accompanied me on my first bouldering attempts at the Gaswerk climbing centre in Schlieren. Now, six months later, I meet the climbing pro again. This time in the railway station car park in Arth-Goldau. We are heading south.
The climbing lifestyle at heart
Three hours later, we are in a car park near Brione. The village in the Verzasca Valley lies almost 800 metres above sea level above Locarno. Population per square kilometre according to Wikipedia: four. There are more boulders here than people.
And it's every minivan manufacturer's wet dream: Opel, VW, Renault and Ford stand bumper to bumper. Each bus belongs to a different climber. Sometimes luxurious with a fitted kitchen and teak bunk beds, sometimes spartan with a mattress in the back of the load compartment. But what does Kevin say? "You have to have this lifestyle in your heart. When you're doing a boulder, it doesn't matter what you have. You're just climbing."
No lifestyle in a sleeping bag
The sun goes down. Dinner is croissants with tomato sauce. Prepared on the gas cooker. After a few beers and some good conversation, it's time to crawl into our sleeping bags. Mine is good for up to five degrees plus. I'm still awake at three in the morning. Fully dressed with all the clothes I have with me. And still shivering. The outside temperature? The smartphone shows minus six degrees. The lifestyle in my sleeping bag has room for improvement.
The boulder
It's getting light. For breakfast, I have jam sandwiches with cheese. Plus oatmeal with quark and an amazingly good coffee. Thanks to the Bialetti. The sun pushes through the clouds and the chill of the night out of our tired bones. We set off on our way. We, that's Kevin, his mate Vladek, the two cameramen Manu and Luca. And me. After a short walk, we reach the boulder. Kevin wants to climb the line Black Arete today.
This boulder is one of the classics in Brione. Nevertheless, Kevin is climbing it for the first time today. The level of difficulty is given as 7C on the Fontainebleau scale. How difficult is that? I'll get to that later. It's a highball. That's the umbrella term for very high boulders. I can only estimate the actual height. It's about eight metres high at the exit and probably around twelve metres in total.
«That thing looks awesome. I want to get up there.»
Twelve metres in three hours
So how hard is this line to climb? As a member of the national team, Kevin Huser regularly won medals at Swiss championships. At the World Youth Ice Climbing Championships in 2013, he won the World Championship title in lead and came third in the speed discipline. He has been climbing for over ten years. Today, however, he seems to be biting his teeth out on this boulder. The rock keeps throwing him off. And Kevin stands cursing in the streambed.
One move in particular, with his right arm around a rock ledge, turns out to be a tough nut to crack. Kevin has almost no grip here. Time after time, he claws at this spot like Spiderman and still gets nowhere. Everything back to square one. Up to the same point. This spectacle is repeated dozens of times. As a layman, it would never occur to me that this point could be problematic. Until I take a closer look at the "handle". Now I understand. In principle, there's nothing there that deserves the term. No idea how Kevin is supposed to hold on here.
Sometimes he seems to be close to mastering this boulder. Then it looks smooth as he hangs with three fingers on a few millimetres of ledge. Sometimes it's just a struggle and the effort is written all over his face. I would give up in frustration after just a few attempts. Not so Kevin. And then, after three hours and countless attempts, he finally manages the move. Shortly afterwards, he conquered this chunk of rock. The cry of joy in the video above has it all.
The lifestyle on a plate
Evening twilight. We pack our things and make our way back to the car park. Manu, Luca and I are tired. And hungry. Off to the nearest pizzeria and then home. And Kevin? He sits down in his minivan with Vladek and says: "We're going to another boulder. We've been wanting to try it for a long time. There's still a bit of daylight left. Don't you want to come with us?"
We say "arrivederci" and decide in favour of the pizza. As it sits steaming in front of me a little later, I can see Kevin in my mind's eye. His hands white with magnesium, his gaze focussed. Vladek is standing below him, ready to catch him if he falls. And for a brief moment, I feel guilty that I'm not outside right now. Then I take the first bite of my Napoli pizza and my guilty conscience melts away like warm mozzarella. My lifestyle is on the plate in front of me at this moment. And that's a good thing.
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Patrick Bardelli
Senior Editor
Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.chFrom radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.
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