Feeling quite solemn from our time in Magic Wood I was a little bit apprehensive about our first destination, Silvapark. 3 days of rain to begin our stay didn’t make for a brilliant start, I managed to work the moves on a 7c+ called ‘Flechtenkante’ and as I was about to go for the send the heavens opened and drenched the slopey arête. Could this be the end of our Summer in Europe? Is winter heading our way quicker than we thought? Living at nearly 2000m and temperatures dropping to 8-10 degrees on a night definitely got us asking ourselves those questions!

One more rained off session on ‘Flechtenkante’ and finally the weather started looking up. Much to our delight the next 2 weeks would be glorious sunshine with cool conditions, perfect for all the bouldering to be had! The next day I was set to finish off ‘Flechtenkante’ and was looking forward to a good go at an amazing looking line on the boulder next to it called ‘Niviuk’, 8a. I had also spotted a pretty high ball problem called ‘Too Young to Die’; a 6b which I figured would make a good warm up (see photo below). Good conditions and no looming black clouds overhead took all pressure away and I found myself on top of ‘Flechtenkante’ first go, a happy chappy I started to work the moves on ‘Niviuk’, I slowly pieced together all the moves but had nothing left in the tank for the full send; a big cross over with the right hand required too much tension and I couldn’t keep my right heel on the hook as I moved out to the next hold. On my last try I managed to get passed the big roll over move and found myself flailing around on the next move with no energy left at all. Try again the next day, nice and fresh.

The next day saw us joined at ‘Niviuk’ by two newly acquainted German friends, the Austrian bouldering teams coach and two very strong Japanese guys; one strong route climber and the other fresh and psyched from winning the previous world cup in Munich. A few goes at failing to get my heel to stick and finally it all came together for the send of ‘Niviuk’, such a relief and such a good problem. Still feeling pretty fresh we wandered up the hill towards the next area which was home to the famous 8c, ‘Anam Cara’. Following the Austrian coach and two Japanese guys who were set to try ‘Anam Cara’ I was more than tempted by the problem to the left, ‘British Airways’, 8a. After seeing one Japanese guy flash it and the other do it second go I definitely fancied my chances. The last move was a big throw to a sloper over a very uneven landing, figuring the start would give me problems before I had to commit to the end move, I had placed all the pads down at the bottom of the problem. Much to my surprise I comfortably made my way through the moves and found myself at the last move on the first go. Kay frantically tryed to move the pads while I hung there, After waiting for the pad rearrangement, I felt a little tired from hanging around and I missed the last hold. With the help of the Japanese guys pads I had the whole problem padded out and was set for my second attempt, a big throw at the last hold and I found myself topping out an 8a second go… couldn’t be more pleased with my efforts, on an amazing line too.

Three problems down now and feeling good about the area, what else could be in store for the next week or so? Two friends from a trip to Fontainebleau several years earlier sent us an email saying they were looking for somewhere to go for a weekend bouldering and asked if they could meet up; living in Germany the drive to Silvapark wasn’t too far and soon we had some great company for the next few days. Happy with a day pottering around on steady things we spent the day wandering the hillside picking out problems that looked fun for all of us. As mid-afternoon arrived we ended up in the area ‘Palm Beach’ and right next to another problem I had spotted in the guide called ‘Sunrise’, 8a; my easy day of pottering didn’t last long and I spent the next hour working moves and finally sending my next 8a of Silvapark. We ended the day with the classic ‘Photobloc’ problem (see photo below), which from the guide looked about 2m high, as we approached it turned into a 6m drop over a spikey boulder field… not the landing I had in mind! Nevertheless I still wanted to do it since it looked so good, a big sloper traverse all the way round the boulder with a spicy mantel over the big drop. It turned out to be good fun, my description doesn’t really sell it but it was a great problem!

Next up I had set my sights on a good looking line called ‘Shining’, 8a, set to the right of the classic 8b+ ‘Memento’. An attempt to work the top and a few goes to work the start ‘Shining’ went down surprisingly quickly, another really good problem on small crimps, fun fun fun! Being so close to ‘Memento’ I had to have a go… I surprised myself by getting off the ground but the second move was too much for my fingertips having been eaten by the small crimps over the last few days! I just wanted to have a go to say I’ve tried it so wasn’t too bothered when I had to leave it for another day… or trip. I was more than happy making my way through the many 8a’s without having to spend my usual, several days working them in bad conditions. After my failed attempts on ‘Memento’ I dropped down to try ‘Razorblade Junior’, another 8a which was highly recommended by a friend of ours, Chris. Three goes at the big move out left to a tiny crimp and within half an hour I was topping out again, second day of finishing two 8a’s; could it get any better?... I pushed my luck a little too hard on the way back to the van trying for my third of the day, a short steep problem called ‘Sunshine Reaggy’. First go I found myself on the top but clipped the pad, I was set for another clean ascent only to be met by a local who informed me that the lower start was the more the classic line. I managed to work the moves out but the lower start added a lot to the last move and my fingers just couldn’t cope with the throw to the pinchy crimp at the end. This one would have to wait for another day, more importantly after a rest day!

On the last day, rested and ready for the send we headed back up to ‘Sunshine Reaggy’ to finish it off. It took quite a few goes to get my fingers warmed up for the crimps but eventually it went down, another send on another really good boulder. Feeling pretty tired but aware that it was our last day at Silvapark we stopped off at the classic line ‘Flash Face’, 7c (see photo below). I was hoping for a very quick ascent since my fingertips were well and truly battered, first go I found myself at the last move and with a badly placed heel I fell going for the last hold of the hard section. The crimps were way smaller than I had thought and after that one good go I couldn’t bare the pain anymore and had to leave it for another time.

So our time was up in Silvapark and we were looking forward to meeting up with Jason and Claire again in Zillertal to see what the area had to offer. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas, with countless days of rain and boulders in the forest there was no hope for things drying out. We had one good day in the open area of Sundergrund and managed to send the classic line ‘Moonwalk’, 7a+. Both Jason and I also got very close to the other classic ‘Hotel California’, 7b+; but after 2 hours of flailing around on the wet slopers we were running out of time. The pressure was on for the slopers to dry, before the black clouds above burst. After so many attempts working the moves on the damp slopers we finally gave up and headed for better weather.

So now we are now back in Chironico with fantastic sunshine and slightly cooler temperatures that when we were here a few months ago. Let’s see what we can rustle up here!

The Silvapark chapter of my most successful 2 weeks of climbing is below : )