Anna Hazelnutt repeats Prinzip Hoffnung (5.13d/14a E9/10)
- Thursday 23rd March 2023
Anna Hazelnutt, climbing with Tom Randall, has stepped back into the trad limelight with an ascent of the ‘dirty vert’ test piece, Prinzip Hoffnung in Bürser Platte, Austria.
Battling injuries, limited time and bad weather, American Anna Hazelnutt was able to dig deep and repeat the famous slab-cum-dirty vert run-out wall.
Writing her ascent up on Instagram Anna was justifiably chuffed with her send saying, “It’s a dream climb and I’m just SO FRIKKIN HAPPY IT WENT!!!!!” Reflecting on her success she added, “There’s been so much uncertainty through this projecting process, from my shoulder injury (and [Tom Randall’s] finger injury) beforehand, to unlucky weather, to personal doubts of whether or not I could do it in such a limited time frame, to genuine fears of falling at the start and/or on the loooong runout (plot twist, I took the FULL WHIP and survived haha), this climb was filled to the brim with new challenges to work through! Tom, you’re up!”
Beat Kammerlander first climbed Prinzip Hoffnung using bolt protection around the turn of the Millennium only to return and climb it again on trad gear in 2009 having removed the bolts. Since Kammerlander’s trad ascent, the route has seen several repeats over the intervening recent years by top climbers including Alex Luger, Jacopo Larcher and Babsi Zangerl, Nadine Wallner, Maddy Cope, Lena Müller and Luisa Deubzer. The difficulties of Prinzip Hoffnung start with a super thin crack which snakes it way up the wall for the first 25m or so before closing down. Thereafter, and constituting the crux, a technical and run-out section leads up and right before a second thin crack leads to the top.
Although a relative newcomer to trad climbing Hazelnutt has racked up a number of bold repeats – often climbing with Tom Randall – which include both the infamous slab test pieces on Dyers Lookout in Devon, Once Upon a Time in the Southwest and Walk of Life – both of which are graded E9 6c.
Hazelnutt has confirmed that a video of her climbing Prinzip Hoffnung will be released in due course. Meanwhile, you can watch a short clip of her on the crucial run-out on her Instagram page here.