Old Eight-Pitch David Lama Project Climbed
Louis Gundolf took several 30-metre whippers while projecting the decade-old route in Austria
Louis Gundolf has made the first free ascent of a 250-metre project established by the late David Lama at 5.14c. The route climbs the south face of Laserz in Austria’s Dolomites.
Gundolf named the route Project Lama after his free ascent, which came a decade after Lama built it with various partners. Lama had redpointed most of the route except the crux pitch. The eight-pitch route follows run-out terrain up steep rock. It only has four bolts and is mostly protected with pitons and trad gear.
In his story about the climb, Gundolf said, “The falls are very frightening because the pro is sometimes very runout. The furthest falls I took were about 30 m. That’s why I only tried the climb with really good friends and belayers, whom I knew I could trust completely.”
Lama was one of the world’s best all-round climbers at the time of his death on Howse Peak in the Canadian Rockies. Earlier this year, Lama’s Avaatara 5.14d was repeated, and one of his single-pitch projects was freed in 2022 at 5.15a.
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