9A to the third: Simon Lorenzi repeats Burden of Dreams

Simon Lorenzi secures the third ascent of the Nalle Hukkataival testpiece Burden of Dreams in Lappnor. This is the third 9A boulder for the Belgian bouldering specialist after Soudain Seul and Alphane.

It was mid-November Simon Lorenzi set off for Finland to tackle one of the most famous and at the same time hardest boulders in the world: Burden of Dreams (9A). Almost a month and a half later we received news of success from the snowy far north. The strong Belgian was able to string together five moves and wrest the third ascent from the ominous boulder.

From something I couldn't even imagine in my craziest dreams not long ago, to achieving a life goal.

Simon Lorenzi

Persistence pays off

Gilles Charlier's documentary about Simon Lorenzi's ascent of alphanes showed how relentless the 26-year-old pursues his climbing goals. Once he has committed himself to a project, he can hardly be dissuaded from his goal.

This was no different with Burden of Dreams. Although he was faced with very challenging conditions and skin problems in Lappnor, the strong Belgian was not discouraged and rewarded himself with the second repetition of Burden of Dreams on December 27th.

Video: The breakthrough is becoming apparent

9A Boulder number 3

With Burden of Dreams, Simon Lorenzi succeeds in his third 9A boulder. He secured the second one in December last year with Alphane in Chironico. He achieved his first 9A in 2021 with the first ascent of Soudain Seul.

His own line in Fontainebleau was downgraded to 8C+ by Nico Pelorson and confirmed in difficulty by Camille Coudert. Further inspections will be required to determine whether the grade issued by Lorenzi for Soudain Seul will be valid in the future.

Video: This is how Simon Lorenzi climbs Alphane

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Credits: Cover picture Daniel Gajda / IFSC

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