Only a few days after his super-fast ascent of Change (9b+), Alex Megos is successful again in Flatanger: In his second attempt he scores the 9a route Little Badder.
“I can hardly believe that I managed to get through the entire route after checking out once,” says Alex Megos after his ascent of Little Badder (9a) in the Hanshelleren Cave in FlatangerIt was a real fight – with a bad beta and two knee pads on for the first time.
Megos and the knee pads
It has only been a few days since the strong Franke with his ascent of Change (9b+) within just a few sessions, astonished the climbing community. Now Alex Megos has followed suit with the ascent of Little Badder (9a) in his second go.
The 31-year-old is thus underlining his sensational form, which he had built up for the Olympic Games. While he was unable to achieve the corresponding top performances in Paris, things went much better in Flatanger, away from the public eye.
Megos also seems to be getting more and more used to the knee pads. While he climbed Change with one pad, he climbed Little Badder with two – an absolute first.
I have never managed to climb a route with two pads. I always got too annoyed and took them off halfway up.
Alex Megos
For a long time, the German professional climber was very critical of the use of knee pads, especially since they can significantly change the difficulty of a route. However, the long-lasting lines in the Hanshelleren Cave and the kneebar skills of the numerous strong climbers there seem to have made Megos think again.
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Credits: Cover picture @teagirl.m