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Climber Says Off the Wagon Low V16 Now Easier as Hold has Changed

Sergei Topishko said that a missing crystal has made one of the holds easier to crimp

Of the Wagon is a powerful problem on a big boulder at the edge of a field in Val Bavona, Switzerland. It was first tried 20 years ago by Chris Sharma and Dave Graham.

Nalle Hukkataival made the first ascent at V14 and called it Off the Wagon in 2012. Shawn Raboutou climbed the low start at V16, the first problem at the grade in the country. Jimmy Webb repeated it, and Daniel Woods got the third ascent.

It’s now been climbed by several people, including by Giuliano Cameroni and Yannick Flohe, and most recently by Sergei Topishko. He said, “It should be said that the hold before the crux cross move is a bit different, than it was in April 2021, when I tried it last time. A small crystal is missing, so now you can put the thumb on fingers to crimp the hold. It’s a bit easier now to do stand, but doesn’t really change something for the Low and Sit starts. Or maybe 8C [V15] would be more right grade for the Low now.”

The news of a possibly chipped or broken hold made its way around, and today Teresa Corti and Matt Groom discussed what might have happened. Watch below.

Off the Wagon Low V16 by Topishko

What happened to the hold?

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