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Nifada, Angela Eiter and Bernie Ruech climb untouched rock in Greece

Austrian climber Angela Eiter reports about her recent trips to Greece where, close to Leonidio, she and her partner Bernie Ruech developed Nifada. The new crag currently hosts 14 routes up to 8c+.

Angela Eiter

June 2015

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Angela Eiter at Nifada, the new crag in Greece she developed together with Bernie Ruech. Here the Austrian is climbing Bergsteigerkante 8b+

Bernie Ruech

After bidding farewell to sport climbing competitions in 2013, Angela Eiter’s focus on climbing outdoors has netted her - at the cutting edge - an 8B boulder at Rocklands in South Africa and three 9a sport climbs, Hades 9a at Götterwandl and Big Hammer at Pinswang in Austria, and Era Vella at Margalef in Spain. Interestingly, the Austrian has now taken a drill to hand for the very first time and, together with her partner Bernie Ruech, has bolted a new crag in Greece close to the new climbing hotspot Leonidio.

NIFADA by Angela Eiter

Unlike the usual climbing trips, this February Bernie and I aimed to establish a new crag at Kosmas close to Leonidio. During the trip we encountered some difficulties due to a bout of bad weather and we were forced to return in May.

The whole trip was something special, in particular when we searched for a way to reach the crag for the first time. In winter we hiked up through snow and ice and in spring we had to walk carefully to avoid stepping on snakes hidden in the thicket. I actually got closely to treading on one, but saw it just in time. When we arrived at the crag we examined the most inspiring lines that seemed feasible. Bernie had already bolted some routes in the past, while I was excited to place some bolts for the first time and create entire routes from scratch.

It was great and thrilling to make the first steps on our routes. We tried to find the natural rhythm of the rock by checking out all its single moves. Surprisingly, we completed our 14 routes quite quickly. Both Bernie and I made seven first ascents each. This varied climbing was so motivating that in the end I managed to tick the crag and climb all the routes.

"Donkey Kong" will always remain etched in our memory: Bernie totally ran out of energy after he had bolted the 20 meter long roof and it was an honour to make the first ascent of this amazing line, which Bernie had dedicated to me.

It was a privilege to give each route a special name. For instance, the route "In memo Martin" and its extension "CAC" remind us on our friends who have battled and are battling against cancer. Furthermore, the route "Baum des Lebens" gets its name from the thick tufa at the beginning and the thin tufas at the top, that make it look like a tree trunk with branches. This is currently the hardest line at our crag and I succeeded in the redpoint after a tough battle. With these names and what turned out to be difficult routes we completed our crag "Nifada".

TOPO: Nifada, Leonido, Greece