At the end of her trip to Spain, Anak Verhoeven faced a special challenge. She climbs Esclatamasters twice in a row, once with and once without a Kneepad. And that with only an hour break in between.
Kneepads have become indispensable, especially for professionals. Especially in Spanish sport climbing areas or bouldering areas such as Hole The rubberized "knee pads" enable climbing moves that would be difficult to do without or enable so-called "no-hand rests". Accordingly, the discussion repeatedly sparked whether the use of a Kneepad makes a route or a boulder easier.
With or without a kneepad - equally difficult
In the case of the heavily overhanging and traversing route Esclatamasters, in the Spanish climbing area of Perles, a kneepad makes no difference when it comes to it Anak Verhoeven goes.
"It makes no difference in terms of difficulty whether you climb the route with or without a kneepad."
Anak Verhoeven
The ascent of the route without a kneepad was the bigger struggle because Anak only took an hour's break before she started the Esclatamasters route for the second time.
Anak Verhoeven on the double ascent of Esclatamasters
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Credits: Cover picture Ramón Pujol