Martin Keller, 45, Climbs V16 in Switzerland
He made the first ascent of Gateway since holds broke, making it much harder than the original V14 grade
Martin Keller, 45, spent over 150 days projecting Gateway, a hard problem in Cresciano, Switzerland. Keller works as a teacher and climbing coach, and is known for his dedicated training and multi-year projects.
Gateway was first climbed by James Webb in 2019 at V14, but after a few holds broke the problem became significantly harder. Other climbers had attempted it, but it was Keller who put in the time to get the post-break first ascent. About his repeat, Keller reported on 8a.nu, “From not being able to do the single hard crux-moves, to coming very close to send, to breaking (a few times) the crux-hold at the end, to not being sure if it still would go, to having to rebuild the landing after a tree took all the landing out, to fall on the last hard move a year before the send, to finally link all 20+ hard moves on the last night of the season before summer hit – and not slipping off the final mantle and slab at 2 a.m. on a solo after-work-session (after a full day of work).
In 2020, Keller climbed Dreamtime after 18 years of projecting. One of his hardest first ascents was Ninja Skills V15/16, which took him well over 100 days. His repeat of Highlander V15 took 13 years. “But it’s the story of a long journey that shows that you can turn your dreams into reality when you are truly passionate, willing to go the extra mile and ready to test and push your limits,” Keller said in 2016 after his FA of Highlander.
Ninja Skills FA
Gateway V14 FA
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