Drytooling, past and present by Albert Leichtfried

Ever wondered what happened to drytooling, the discipline which took the ice climbing world by storm a few years ago and which, after the battle first against leashes and then against spurs, now seems to have all but disappeared from headline news? We asked one of its main activists, Albert Leichtfried, to give us some insight onto what is brewing in his home Austria.

Drytooling, past and present by Albert Leichtfried
I've often been asked the question recently about what has been happening at the top end of mixed climbing? The big boom which was marked by one success story after then next seemed to have disappeared and the question arose as to whether the main activists had lost interest in hard mixed testpieces. I'd say no, not in the slightest, since the interest is bigger than ever before. 

But to make a first ascent of a cutting edge mixed route, one which only counts if it actually climbs some ice, you need to solve a number of different tasks. Being a strong climber  isn't actually enough to climb a new, hard route. At least half the difficulty is in finding a logical mixed line with the highest percentage of ice possible and with moves, usually through steep overhangs, which are complex and athletic and therefore of the highest difficulties. A typical example of this is the new route 'Encore' at Dryland above Innsbruck. This line had remained unnoticed for five winters, even if I walked right past it every time I went to this winter crag.

The standard of mixed climbing rises year by year thanks to increased training and the experience gained by the top climbers. Routes which were the absolute limit 5 years ago are mere warm-ups for these climbers today. This explosion in standards is also the reason why I find it just as hard to find a new M13 as to actually climb it.

Ice formed as early as November in Dryland this winter. This is untypical for this crag, since enough ice usually forms around mid January. Motivated by these abnormal conditions I spent some days with climbing partner Benny Purner up there and after an intensive workout and a couple of failed attempts I finally managed to link all the moves of my project on 12 December. The crux of 'Encore' is a doubtful dyno to a pocket, followed by a series of powerful moves through the first roof. To get the grade right I then repeated 'Tension' M12+ and 'Game Over' M13-. 'Encore' differs from the other two since they require mainly stamina, unlike 'Encore' which has this difficult dyno. This makes it hard to give it a grade, but I reckon it's somewhere in between the two.

Much has been going on apart from 'Encore' in the Dryland. Benny Purner has steadily been developing into an absolute top climber and recently confirmed this which his spurless ascent of 'Tension' M12+ on 15 December. Furthermore, he added the interesting and beautiful new route 'Seitenwind' M9 to the crag.