The Norwegian boulderer Thilo Schröter gives his home country a new test piece: on the Lofoten Islands he succeeds in the first ascent of Tsunami. He suggests a difficulty level of 8C+ for his new route.
Thilo Schröter is one of the strongest boulderers in Norway. During a Rockland trip in August, he climbed seven boulders between 8B and 8C within ten days. A few days ago, he was able to make the first ascent of an extremely difficult line on the Lofoten Islands, on which he had been working intensively since last summer: Tsunami (8C+).
Tsunami: Largest effort to date
"This is the boulder that I have invested the most passion into. And it is also one of the most beautiful and perfect lines I have ever seen," enthuses Thilo Schröter. The level of difficulty and the challenge were exactly what he was looking for. Too good to be true.
The line caught the eye of the Norwegian top boulderer when he was exploring the Lofoten Islands with a friend last summer. It quickly became clear that this would be the main project of the trip. This season he invested around ten sessions in the project. "Looking back, I probably wasn't even that close this season, but it felt that way at the time."
Three weeks of challenging weather
This autumn, Thilo Schröter returned to Lofoten to "finish what I had started". However, the ascent of Tsunami turned out to be far more challenging than expected - not least because of the weather. "Almost every day there were dozens of rain showers, and the challenge was to find enough time in between for the rock to dry."
Countless times I drove to the boulder only to find it wet. Sometimes I had to wait hours to try it, other times days.
Thilo Schröter
The glimmer of a chance
The day of the climb was one of those classic Lofoten days with constant rain showers, says Thilo Schröter. "I was sure that I would not be able to make a reasonable attempt, and my mind was on another training session."
But suddenly a strong wind picked up and the boulder soon looked relatively dry. "I saw a small chance and started trying. Each attempt felt better than the last, and on my third attempt that day I managed the crux!"
Perfect timing
He stood on the edge at the foot of the slab, which was still a little damp, as if he were out of his mind. "After waiting at least a minute to get rid of the shaking, I put my focus back to maximum and started climbing to the top. It went smoothly."
At the top, Thilo Schröter took a minute to enjoy the view of the rugged landscape before he noticed that another storm was coming over the fjords. While he was abseiling, it started to rain again. "I stood on the mats and stared at the boulder in disbelief - the timing couldn't have been better."
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Credits: Cover picture Thilo Schröter