Within a few days, the ultra-classic of Val Bavona, Off the Wagon, with its low-start version, is celebrated twice. Yannick Flohé and Sergei Topishko were successful.
Ticino has been under siege by strong boys and girls for weeks. Numerous difficult boulders have been cracked or are being planned. One of the most difficult lines Off the Wagon low, rated 8c +, has been climbed twice in the past seven days.
The first message of success reached us from the Ukrainian Sergei Topishko. He topped the impressive line in northwest Ticino on December 27, 2021.
"I have no words to describe how incredibly happy I am to have finally climbed this boulder."
Sergei Topishko
On December 13th Topishko's one-month trip to Ticino began and after just two weeks he achieved his primary goal of climbing Off the Wagon low. In the back of my mind, however, I had something even bigger right from the start: the seated start version of the boulder. Will he make it?
The year couldn't start any better
Also for the German professional climber Yannick Flohe Off the Wagon low was at the top of the to-do list. The classic standing start version, which starts away from the well-known car, he succeeded a year ago and since then Flohé has dreamed of bigger things. It did not stay with the dream for a long time, Flohé quickly nailed it. After focusing on the first moves a few days ago, he climbed the full low-start version on New Years Day. What a start into the new year for the German!
That might interest you
- Hannah Meul: highball action in Val Bavona
- MSL first ascent in Val Bavona: Alexandra Schweikart and Christopher Igel climb Space Force (8a +)
- Jan Hojer and Yannick Flohé devalue Bock-Route Working Class
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Credits: Cover picture Fedir Samoilov