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Dave Graham and Ethan Pringle climb Thor's Hammer at Flatanger

American climbers Dave Graham and Ethan Pringle have both repeated Thor’s Hammer, the 9a+ sports climb at Flatanger - Hanshellern in Norway.

Planetmountain

October 2015

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Dave Graham repeating Thor’s Hammer 9a+ at Flatanger, Norway.

Cameron Maier / Bearcam Media

Not even a week ago we reported about the Flatanger - Hanshellern cave in Norway and the fact that one route in particular - Thor’s Hammer - had grabbed the attention of the world’s elite. After its first ascent in July 2012 at the hands of "local" Adam Ondra, this 9a+ has seen an unprecedented spate of repeats this summer, starting with Germany’s Alexander Megos, followed by Austria’s Jakob Schubert and America’s Daniel Woods. In the meantime this list has got even longer thanks to another two Americans who had touted the line together with Woods, namely Ethan Pringle and Dave Graham.

Pringle had actually already left his mark in the cave a few years ago during his first visit, when he put up the difficult The Eye of Odin (8c+) and Nordic Plumber (8c) and evidently still on form after his May repeat of the 9b Jumbo Love at Clark Mountain, at the end of September he clipped the anchors of Thor’s Hammer as well. And yesterday’s news is that Graham succeeded in adding his name to what, this season, has rapidly transformed into one of the most popular 9a+ sport climbs in the world, similar in some respects to Biographie at Céüse which during summer 2014 witnessed four repeats.

It’ll be interesting to see if the American dream team has the time, motivation and adequate weather conditions to attempt some of Adam Ondra’s other testpieces in the cave, such as his two 9b’s - Iron Curtain and Move - and the world’s first 9b+, Change.

Thor’s Hammer
Adam Ondra, first ascent 07/2012
Alexander Megos 08/2015
Jakob Schubert 08/2015
Daniel Woods 09/2015
Ethan Pringle 09/2015
Dave Graham 10/2015