Florian Wientjes sends his first 8C+, Off the wagon low in Val Bavona
Florian Wientjes keeps going from strength to strength. After a myriad of 8C boulder problems, last Saturday the 27-year-old German climber took his game to a whole new level and successfully repeated the 8C+ Off the wagon low in Val Bavona, Switzerland. Established by Shawn Raboutou in 2018 and repeated by a flurry of athletes such as Jimmy Webb, Daniel Woods, Giuliano Cameroni and Simon Lorenzi, this boulder first made famous by Chris Sharma demanded circa sixty attempts spread out over six sessions.
Wientjes is evidently on great form: a trip to Switzerland around Christmas time yielded two classic 8C's, Dreamtime at Cresciano and Forgotten gem at Chironico, while in August 2022 year he added his name to the small but growing list of climbers capable of flashing 8B+ with his first-go repeat of Amandla at Rocklands in South Africa.