i just climbed the "highlander"

but i did not top out... i did let go... crazy??? nope!!!

at the end of the day - after falling off the last move (again) and another good try - i wanted to check out the "new bypass" beta for the lower crux and the hardest section of the boulder (where also the hardest moves for ikarus/deadalus wait) - and just climbed it to end of the hard part - where i did let go. well WHY did i let go after the hard part?! after 10years i finally made it there... so WHY let go? because THIS was not "THE" highlander-project i was trying over all the years.

the "new bypass" beta climbs around the hardest move of the boulder. a move that still gives me a lot of trouble. some days i just can't do it on link. a move that is pretty weird and strange. a move that involves a hold that is wet a lot of times. so it would be very nice to avoid this move. this "new" beta does avoid this move and i did try this "new" beta already years ago. but the bottom was so close it was impossible to climb this section without dabbing. during the years there was quite a bit of erosion at the boulder, and also "human" erosion... a lot of climbing was going on and over time stones and vegetation have/ have been moved and now this "new" beta is quite ok to climb and seems totally natural to do so if you don't know how the place looked before.

the hardest move that suddenly could be by-passed low left thanx to "erosion"...

i know that some climbers did come very close and did put quite some effort into climbing ikarus/deadalus this summer. and they were using this "new bypass" beta. i really don't want to "shut down" a climb on nobody. i was thinking a lot about it but the ikarus/deadalus boulders had been done and repeated before this "new bypass" beta was possible. it's like a new hold as "appeared" and it definitely changes the line and the character of the boulder. and it also changes the character of the "highlander-project". for sure you could say you could climb it on the "original" variation and on the "new" variation. but for a visiting climber it will look totally stupid to climb to crux with a defined very strange and hard move when there is a smooth way around this move.

good thing about "erosion" is that it can be corrected. i (re)built the bottom back to where it once was. the "new bypass" beta should no longer be possible, but there is other beta (then the heinous undercling move) for sure. please respect this pile of dirt (sic). and now lets hope for a decent fall - and some send days... :)