Šimon Potůček, Underground 8c+/9a
I’d had my eye on this legendary line for a long time. It’s a sport route in the Massone – Pueblo II sector in Arco, Italy. Around the year 2000, it was one of the hardest routes in the world and a benchmark for sport climbing.
The route is almost entirely roof climbing, on rock shaped by quarrying, with distinctive ledges. Despite how it looks at first glance, the climbing is surprisingly technical, with complex move sequences.
It starts with an easier section on big ledges, around 7b, leading into the most powerful boulder problem on the route, around 7C. There are plenty of beta options here, and you really have to figure out what suits you best and what you can execute consistently. A few easier moves lead into a technical boulder problem involving a very specific heel hook and a long reach to the next rest. You can recover reasonably well here, but the fatigue is already building, so you can’t get it all back. Then comes the final hard section: sustained climbing on slick holds and small footholds all the way to the top. After all the climbing below, this final section is the route’s real challenge.
I first tried the route a few years ago, but I probably didn’t have the technique or strength for it back then, so I had to leave it for a while. I returned this year after the European Championships, before the start of the semester. At first, I was surprised all over again by how hard it was and how little the style suited me. I struggled a bit with the heat during the first few days, but still managed to make pretty solid progress. The send came on day five, in pouring rain, which made the whole experience even more atmospheric. It was a little more humid too, but that actually seemed to work for me on the slick limestone, and I made the fourth Czech ascent of the route.
I was absolutely thrilled. It feels amazing to climb one of the routes that helped shape sport climbing. The ascent also means a lot to me personally: we have a photo of this route hanging right above the door at Vertikon, my home climbing gym, and seeing it there for years has always motivated me to train.
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