Roland Hemetzberger frees Stefan Fürst desperate at Achleiten

Germany’s Roland Hemetzberger has added yet another desperate route to Achleiten in Austria. After Lichtblick 9a and Tunnelblick 8c+/9a, Hemetzberger gave himself a great Christmas present yesterday by freeing a 35m climb first attempted by Stefan Fürst circa 20 years ago. Hemetzberger describes this a "slalom-like line past tiny crimps" and, using the 9a Fugu at the Schleierwasserfall as a guideline, he suggests 9a+ for what is now his hardest climb to date.

For those whom the name Stefan Fürst means little: during the early development of sport climbing from the late 80’s to mid ’90’s, this tall Tyrolean was without a doubt one strongest and, concurrently, least known Austrian activists. His climbs can be found all the way from the Schleierwasserfall to Sparchen and while his greatest contributions are quite possibly the countless classics in the region of 7a - 8a, it is worth noting that his 1992 masterpiece Piccolo Orso at Sparchen was originally graded 8b+ and then, when finally repeated by Adam Ondra, upgraded to 8c+. In 1996 Fürst upped the ante to make the first ascent of Qui at the Geisterschmiedwand, grading it 8c+. Admittedly an important foothold broke a few years ago, but despite valiant attempts this route is still unrepeated.

Info: FB Roland Hemetzberger and www.stefan-kuehn.eu