24I25 buttermilks and zion adidas.com/outdoor

PHOTOs Michael Meisl TEXT flo scheimpflug, eva meschede

Highballing and Trad climbing It was the last day of our trip to the Californian on America’s finest rock. boulder mecca Buttermilks and time was running out. The next day we had planned to A sudden cry from above tore apart the silence hit Zion National Park for some first-class and a split second later Alex slammed into the crashpads crack-climbing. But before that was going to in front of his dumbfounded spotters. happen Alex had to get to terms with some un- It was a touchdown of the inconvenient kind. finished business. Because Alex had a dream – System check: everything seemed fine except for Alex´ middle one that he had been carrying around for thou- finger which looked like it had made the acquaintance sands of miles. It was the dream of an ascent with a cheese grater. Well, Buttermilks’ granite is of the infamous “Evilution to the Lip” (V10), a razor-sharp and if you slip off it, variant of the legendary test piece “Evilution”, you’ll taste the pain. It’s that simple. a boulder with triple B-rating: big, bad and Thick red blood was oozing out of the chalk- beautiful. covered fingertip and dripped into the desert sand. “Evilution” is located at the Grandpa Peabody Damn it, why now? Just one moment shy boulder, a block with the size of a single-family of the sure victory. house and the shape of a billiard ball. Diehard highballers call it “one of the most beautiful boulder problems in the world”. Beauty is a welcome feature but if you lose your head high up on “Evilution”, you’ll taste the bitter end. Falling off this boulder means a long flight with a nasty landing.

Four friends and too little time There’s probably a thousand reasons to visit the States for a climbing trip and each and everyone is good enough to jump up, dash to the near- est travel agency office and book a ticket right away. The States offer enough rock for count- less climbing lives if not for eternity.

To be honest: 14 days couldn’t be called a lot of time considering this oversupply of climbing possibilities. In fact it was close to nothing. But it was all that Alex, Tilo, Raphaela and Maria, four friends from Austria and Germany, had to their disposition for a trip to the praised land. The maxim for this trip was therefore evident and clear from the start: Push it to the max! But before the team could get rollin’ a route for the trip had to be figured out. Grandma Peabody – East Arete 5.10 “Two weeks – two areas” sounded like the Alex fighting through “Evilution to the Lip” (V10) 14 nights 14 perfectly obvious master plan but making 14 DAYS and DAYS 14 the right choice was a much harder task. What’s the best combo? Yosemite and Red River Gorge? Hueco Tanks and Joshua Tree? Buttermilks and Zion? Hmm… crack-climbin t Wh A B on t on wit systems Th wit C ballet dancin ballet limbin h re you kiddin you re uttermilks and Zion!uttermilks e soles and j and e soles e answer: N e answer: at h do some cras h some h e h g h arness h arness E B B of town the in stopped A emptiness. vast and sand stone, but nothing that besides but awhile in once every tree a Joshua harsher: be D toB were we off and first things first B the of granite golden the tangible: more something of but dollars volatile own our because B glamour. and glitter lamps, and lights by blinded immediately almost was gaze our looked we everywhere overkill: asensoric like felt town N the of middle the in dreams L E F CALI the drugstore. We got some food and then the hell out of here. of out hell the then and food some got We drugstore. the to next metal scrap sell that figures suntanned some as well as “ T i uropeans know from films like “ like films from know uropeans ach journey has to begin somewhere and our starting point was was point starting our and somewhere begin to has journey ach as Vegas, the epicentre of lightspeed luck and hypertrophic hypertrophic and luck lightspeed of epicentre the Vegas, as riving through the desert we experienced a contrast that couldn’t couldn’t that acontrast experienced we desert the through riving eatty is a small nest similar to those towns by the road that that road the by towns those to similar nest asmall is eatty i gh he Hitcher”. A Hitcher”. he on h on gh a double set o set h adouble ball-boulderin ORNIA g h ot g g me? uttermilks and the red-coloured sandstone of Z of sandstone red-coloured the and uttermilks hp ammin and sumo wrestlin h ut we didn’t have any time to dwell into this spectacle spectacle this into dwell to time any have didn’t we ut a as as muc as as ads f ads in u v e in common? common? e in g g trailer park there, a burnt out car wreck there, there, wreck car out aburnt there, park trailer e g A . g f merican dream wasn’t made of bling-bling and and bling-bling of made wasn’t dream merican ar underneat ar ranite e ranite ully ta eatty in the D the in eatty in common as as common h in camalots clinkin f camalots and g and evada desert. O desert. evada p gg ed h ed N ishop. hungry. were We Valley. eath s o Country for O for o Country g . h ands into crack crack into ands ur first ride across across ride first ur fter a while we we a while fter ld M ld g ion. B ion. en” or or en” ut ut

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30I31 He caught the climbing bug at the age of 13 in a gym in Minneapolis. Since then the 28-year-old has first-ascended many difficult routes (5.14),A “ ll over Colorado,” as he puts it. He now lives in Las Vegas and earns his keep as an industry climber and is planning a huge climbing gym for the re- sort city. As often as possible he is to be found in nearby climbing areas such as Zion National Park. In Zion he opened up new routes with Rob Pizem in The Narrows in 2012. Narrows is a spec- Andy tacularly narrow gorge through which you have to wade in waist-deep water to reach the base. Raether

They met up with the two locals Andy Raether and Kyle Vassilopoulos for some help with the “fine tuning”. “Fine tuning” is quite an important factor especially regarding a safe way of protection. Because Zion is one of America’s trad climbing hotspots which means that all the protection has to be placed on lead. The tools of the trade are called “Camalots” (“Cams” in short) which are devices that expand and clamp in the cracks in case of a fall and hence avoid more serious consequences. But to be able to fiddle the right sized Cam out of 15 or more different pieces of gear that are dangling on the harness is easier said than done especially when the forearm power is as good as gone.

To place a Cam safely in the crack is as much an art form as locking into a solid jam and especially demanding in psychic respects. The first stress test for the gear came faster than we imagined. Tilo performed a Hollywood-style whipper on a route called “Intruder” (5.11+) and was dangling on the rope. The Camalot that held his fall remained stuck in place as if it had been concreted. Thank God! “What a bomb! But the pro is fine,” Tilo euphorically resumed his fall. He was quick to declare that a 5.11+ (or 7a+) crack is quite a different thing than climbing a route of the same grade on limestone, which is something that he usually manages right away. Next up was “Dire Wolf” (5.12). The route had a harder grade but nevertheless it suited Tilo better. He got it first try, which provided a welcome ego boost. Could it really be possible that Tilo is one of those naturally gifted crack talents out there that just have it in them? The “Buttress” would show.

Moonlight at dawn Early the next morning the boys shouldered their packs. Alongside their approach they passed by “Angels Landing”, one of the most well-known pillars in the park. Soon after “Moonlight Buttress” appeared but before they could jam their hands in the cracks, Tilo and Alex had to deal with a bridgeless crossing of the Virgin River. The water was freezing cold but the shock rendered them wide awake within a second. Three easy pitches later they were in the thick of it: the big dihedral aka the Monster lay in front of them. Sceptically they gazed upwards. Why the heck is anyone doing this? The answer was simple: because of the flawless crack systems that come afterwards which were rock aesthetic in its purest form and the perfect place for an unforgettable jam session. After a few metres into the dihedral the “monster” started to bare its teeth. “Damn it, it’s way harder than I thought.” The climbing became more strenuous with every metre and soon the forearms couldn’t recover anymore.

Last but not least there was a chimney waiting in the next pitch and if there was anything that could irritate European trad climbing newbies more than an evil crack, it’s an evil chimney. “Horrible stuff, I almost peed myself,” Alex confessed later on. Alex and Tilo fought their way upwards but finally they had to accept that free-climbing “Moonlight Buttress” was a task, that was a little bit out of their league. At least for now. “It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings”, goes an old saying and once they will be back, that’s for sure. Backs packed and ready to go they gazed up the “Moonlight Buttress“ for a last time. After a few moments they took their eyes off the wall, turned around and walked out.

Kyle Vassilopoulos

As a former professional skier in the US national team, climb- ing should be sufficient enough to keep him busy away from the slopes. Every year the 31-year-old spent many weeks climbing in Europe. Until in 2007 he started his training at the renowned French Culinary Institute in New York. Cooking and climbing – especially ice climbing – go together very well, says head chef Kyle, who works as a chef on a ranch in Wyoming every summer. At least the competitive aspect has returned to ice climbing, because Kyle not only works as volunteer at the Bozeman Ice Festival in Montana, he also takes part.