Aidan Roberts makes FA of Unison (Font 8C)
- Thursday 2nd March 2023
Aidan Roberts has made the first ascent of Unison (Font 8C) at Ticino, Switzerland.
Last year was a stellar year for Aidan; the highlight, difficulty-wise, being the second ascent of Alphane (Font 9A). Since then Roberts has been deep in training mode for the forthcoming season. In early February he posted about the progress he’s had this winter and in particular about his progress on ultra-steep (50° degree terrain) and ultra-thin crimps.
“Well training season now comes to a close (indeed I’m Switzerland bound in a matter of days!) and it’s been a good one at that. It’s been rare in recent years to see leaps in progress, especially on this niche 50° terrain which I’m so familiar with. I set this one revolving around a crimp which I put on as a bit of a joke but over a series of sessions I saw some non-linear progress and eventually a scrappy ascent. In fact, it felt the most stark example of replicating the experience of an outdoor project in the ‘comfort’ of a home board setup. It’s likely one of the hardest climbs I’ve done. So now let’s hope I can find an analogous experience on something a little more permanent.”
Within days of arriving in Switzerland Aidan unleashed his considerable skills on a particular overhanging thin wall. Aidan explained how he first saw the boulder and the issues however that had to be solved before climbing could begin. “I actually saw this face on my earliest days in Ticino, but with no landing and dirty holds it barely looked possible for me at that time. I’d almost forgotten about it actually, until @shawnraboutou showed me it again last Autumn and we got a little excited by its potential. So my first rest day this trip was filled with cleaning the holds and carefully arranging logs. But still it looked a little dangerous to try. And so the following day, after getting a strange split on another climb, @onceuponaclimb, @luke_murphy_98, @tompeckitt and @giuliano_cameroni rallied and together we crafted a solid log platform which somewhat transformed the safety of the boulder. In the dying light, we were able to sample the moves enough to know that the line was possible.”
So how did it go when he started to climb, “We soon returned and I promptly settled on this sequence. It felt hard, the edges are small and required a lot of precision, the feet are similar and yet the true difficulty feels to lie in coordinating use of the two. I’d say the style suits me almost perfectly and after a good rest I was able to climb it on my first try from the beginning.”
Having made the first ascent this is how Aidan summed it all up: “This climb felt to be a rather special one for me and my experience with it has been dispersed throughout my trips to Ticino. I actually first visited this area just one year ago but have since spent over 3 months in these beautiful valleys. Now, as I begin my latest trip, I have begun to realise my attachment to this place. It’s hard not to appreciate the rock quality and the landscapes but my observation feels to supersede this still, I refer to that comfort of a landscape which feels familiar, and almost like a home."
He continued, "With this has come the satisfaction of feeling to help develop an area which has offered me so much. Indeed, the trip thus far has mostly been focussed on opening new lines I have been inspired by.”
And finally the grade, “It’s hard to gauge the difficulty, especially when this suits me so well. But consensus was that it was perhaps 8C. Hopefully future ascents will shine more light on it. But with the memories around this boulder, it feels not to matter so much and I hope others enjoy it similarly. Thank you for the spots and good times to those who helped :)”
Click here to Aidan’s Instagram post to watch him making the first ascent.