More Info on Daniel's Magic Wood Spree

About two weeks ago Daniel Woods arrived in Europe and went straight to work.  His first order of business was to check out the famous Christian Core V15, Gioia, near Varazze, Italy.  (video link).  Christian himself offered the tour and in a day Daniel was able to do all the moves and link the stand-start (V12).  But high temps in the 80's provided the motivation to move on to the cooler climate of Magic Wood, Switzerland.  

In just one week at Magic Wood, Daniel has managed to climb three boulder problems originally given the grade of V15.  First up was Practice of the Wild, climbed by Chis Sharma in 2004 and considered Sharma's 'hardest boulder problem'.  Woods considered this the hardest of the three and confirmed the V15 grade.  Next up were Ill Trill and Believe in Two, both given V15 by their respective first ascentionists, Paul Robinson and Chris Webb Parsons, and both suggested by Daniel to be V14.  But the grades don't seem to matter for Daniel as he seems able to just climb whatever he wants, regardless of difficulty.  It just so happens that the prettiest, most inspiring lines are some of the hardest in the world.

Was this the best week of bouldering ever had?  Matt Stark of DPM has been on the scene with Daniel shooting footage for an upcoming DPM video.  He commented on Daniel's ability to put together sequences and execute them quickly, summarizing with; "I believe I am in the presence of the world's best boulderer."  Daniel offered a bit more info on his trip thus far.

Practice of the Wild (V15)  All images: Matt Stark/DPM

Daniel on Practice of the Wild:

I first heard about this climb back in 2007. Dave (Graham) and I were talking about the hardest European boulders and Dave mentioned that one the hardest problems he had tried at the time was Practice of the Wild. Chris Sharma established this line back in 2004.  It had gone 4 years until seeing its first repeat in 2008 by Ty Landman.

The nature of the climbing is very physical. It starts out with an obvious right hand rail and a left hand sidepull.  After 4 moves of around V7 climbing, you arrive at the crux.  This involves taking a left hand sloping gaston and moving to another right hand crimp gaston.  From there, you have an awkward bicycle with the feet and have to quickly slap into a bad sloper.  You then bump again to another poor, but holdable, edge that can just barely fit two hands.  The next boulder starts here.  This revolves around a desperate left hand stab into a quarter pad slot.  From here, you have to reel it in and fall backwards into the jug.  This last section alone would be around a V11 boulder problem and it is very committing.  The problem is wild and climbs very aggressively.  You have to switch your mind off and just go to war and not care about falling into the hole below you.  This line is by far in my top 3 for coolest problems I have completed.

Ill Trill (V14/15)

Daniel on Ill Trill:

I first tried Ill Trill a few years back with Dave when it was still a project.  The weather was warm, but we could still conceive of doing the moves.  After about 30 minutes of trying, I gave up to focus my attention on other boulders.  In 2010, Paul Robinson established the first ascent of this long standing project.  Englander Mickey Page made the first repeat of Ill Trill a couple days ago.  I decided to run up the hill and check out the moves.  The beginning of the climb starts out with four wide compression moves on positive holds.  Once you arrive to a "stand start" this is where the climbing switches styles into a six move mini compression boulder.  Combining these two styles of climbing is the crux.  The first half of the climb has a big throw to a sloping edge that is difficult.  The second part has a last move crux to a pinch.  The climbing in between is technical with the feet and powerful in your pectoral muscles.  In order to complete this climb, you must move fast or fatigue will set in for the last move.  Overall, Ill Trill has some of the coolest moves I have done.  The climb has so many different styles of holds and is beautiful to look at.  Props to Paul for putting this beast to rest.

Believe in Two (V14/15)

Daniel on Believe in Two:

The boulder was put up by Chris Webb Parsons last fall.  It starts the same as Steppenwolf (V13), does the first move, then trends right to topout.  The first move is an awkward stab to a flat edge.  You then move right and grab a sloping left hand sidepull pinch, pounce right to a split finger undercling sidepull, and throw right hand to a sloper jug.  The movement is very compression oriented.  I tried for 30 minutes on my first day, then was able to send on my next day.  It is nice to have new rock and movement to try.  I am very motivated here.

Believe in Two (V14/15)