Only one year after the birth of her child, the Swiss climber Nina Caprez is back in the climbing business - it seems almost stronger than before: In the Friborg Gastlosen, the 36-year-old succeeds in repeating the difficult multi-pitch tour Yeah Man (8b +, 300m).
In the course of her climbing career, Nina Caprez made a name for itself with the ascent of the most difficult multi-pitch routes. The two Rätikon touchstones Silbergeier (8b+, 200m) and Neverending Story (8b+, 400m), La Voie Petit (8b, 450m) on the Grand Capucin or Delicatessen (8b, 120m) in Corsica are just a few of them. Last Sunday she was able to add another tough tour to her list: Yeah man (8b+, 300m) to the Gastlosen.
"A year after my daughter was born, I'm back to doing what I love to do: trying hard multi-pitch routes in the Alps."
Nina Caprez
Yeah Man: A project for the whole family
The Yeah Man project started in the first week of June. "We traveled to the Gastlosen as a whole family," says Nina Caprez. The plan was that she would check out the multi-pitch Yeah Man route with her 19-year-old au pair, Pauline, while her mother acted as babysitter and partner Jeremy Bernard as photographer.
As we all already know at this point, this division of labor paid off. Not only did the au pair, who had little experience of multi-rope lengths to date, show an amazing learning curve in terms of rope management, jumaring or rope handling. To her own astonishment, Nina Caprez quickly found her way back to her best form.
When she managed the key pitch on the fifth day, she could hardly explain it, says Nina Caprez. "I haven't been able to climb 8b+ for years." Maybe it's because she feels so damn good high up in the wall. Or the fact that her entire family supports her in this wonderful place. "And maybe the magic is just really banging those tiny handles shut in Yeah Man."
First women's red point ascent
With her successful ascent last Sunday, Nina Caprez secured the first free women's ascent of this difficult multi-pitch route. Although the Basque duo Josune Bereziartu and Rikar Otegi were able to free climb all pitches in 2004, they were unable to attempt a free ascent in one go due to the bad weather. Nina Caprez dedicated her ascent of Yeah Man to her dear friend Giovanni Quirici (1978-2011).
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Credits: Cover picture Nina Caprez