Roland Hemetzberger repeats Fugu at Schleierwasserfall

During Ondra’s visits in 2009 he also made the first ascent Fugu, of an old visionary Alexander Huber project bolted in 1998. The route was named Fugu by Ondra because all of the routes in the Aquarium Sector are named after fish and the line is as delicious as the dish for gourmets, too.

The route is about 25m long. First you have to do about 15 meters of steep 8a climbing, after this the first boulder starts - around Fb7C - and this leads into a bad rest. Then comes the second crux graded Fb7C+. Both cruxes are very close together and due to the bad rest it is very hard to link the two sections. A lot of body tension is needed for sure. After the cruxes there are a few easy meters where you really shouldn't fall.

When I started to check out the moves last year in autumn I realized the climbing suited my style extremely well, so I was very motivated to try it after this winter. In the middle of March I returned to Fugu for 5 days in a row and on the 5th day I was lucky to make the first repeat of this amazing line.

Not only the history of Schleierwasserfall, but also the quality of the rock and the nice landscape make this place special to me. I’m now really looking forward to spending more great time at this place in the future.

by  Roland Hemetzberger


24/09/2009 - Adam Ondra nets Fugu 9a at the Schleierwasserfall, Austria