Introduction
Today, we’re setting up a replica of one of the most iconic boulder problems in the world, Burden of Dreams. Established by Nelly Hook Table, this problem was groundbreaking for its time and was the first to be graded 9A. It’s a bit of a historical test piece in climbing and has yet to see a repeat.
My Experience with the Original Problem
I went to Finland and tried Burden of Dreams about a year ago. It challenged me in ways I didn’t really expect, but while I was out there, I managed to scan the boulder and holds. Someone reached out and 3D printed the scans I’d had over the holds, and my friends at Climbing Kindly molded the 3D scans and have since poured them. Today, we’re setting up a replica here in the Lattice lockup. It’s exciting to have a chance to try this problem again!
Setting Up the Replica
As we set up the replica, we’re paying close attention to detail to make sure everything is in the right place. We’re using a scanned version of the boulder and a measuring tape to get the positions of the holds as accurate as possible. It’s amazing how complex relatively simple things can get, because the amount of measurements you need to get all of the holds in the right place without any preconceptions of how the positions feel is insane.
Trying the Replica
The first move is probably the hardest, the holds are in off-position and everything’s quite close. All the feet it’s quite easy to generate, but you have very little stability in the position, so as soon as the limb comes off timing is key, you’ve got to move really quickly. We’ve got some sofa cushions here so I’m feeling quite tired today so I might have a mid-session nap if we need to.
There’s quite a few different ways to hold this left hand for the first move. I haven’t spoken to Nelly about it, but I think he holds it with like his index in this very shallow bit, the middle finger in this little chip which you can’t really get much out of, and then mostly loads of ring finger in this scoop and then pinky probably goes about here. I’m gonna have a couple of ghosts trying the way that I’ve tried it in the past with the higher foot.
After trying the replica, I noticed that the way Sean holds it which is a close-up in his recent video is he’s lower down in this little scoop it looks like he has his front two, his ring finger goes where my pinky was going and then his pinky goes in this like chip further back. And I think that like pinky chip helps him like have a bit more stability in compression.
Conclusion
Burden of Dreams is a classic problem that’s challenging in ways that I never expected. It’s exciting to have a chance to try it again and to experiment with different ways of holding the holds. We’re taking great care to ensure that the replica is as accurate as possible and I’m looking forward to seeing how other climbers approach this problem.
