Gripped Magazine
Nalle Hukkataival Making the First Ascent of a V14 in Rocklands
Nalle Hukkataival made the first ascent of Get Railed V14 in South Africa’s Rocklands back in 2015. A new video from Three Peaks was just released documenting the decade-old ascents – watch it below. Daniel Woods was quick to make the second ascent of Get Railed, and it went on to be repeated several times over the past 10 years, including by Billy Ridal and Ethan Pringle.
Hukkataival was 12 when he tried climbing at a local wall. At 17, he competed in the Nordic Championships. A year later, he placed 5th in the World Championships in Munich, ranking highest among Nordic climbers. After six months of military service, he won the Arco Rockmaster in Italy and became Vice European Champion months later. He has won international competitions, including the 2010 IMS Cup, Tierra Boulder Battle, four Nordic Championships, and eight Finnish Championships in bouldering.
He established the first V14 in the Nordic countries, named Living the Dream, and Finland’s hardest sport route. His hardest first ascent in Finland, Circus Elephant Syndrome, may be the first V15 boulder in the Nordic countries. In 2014, he repeated Gioia, the world’s first V16, and then established Livin’ Large, a V15/V16 highball in South Africa.
Of course, his most famous first ascent was that of Burden of Dreams, which took place in October 2016. After his send, he said, “Waking up today I can’t help but look at the world with different eyes. Having achieved the first ascent of Burden of Dreams marks a new level in my climbing. With a handful of existing 8C+ [V16] boulders in the world, proposing 9A [V17] is the logical step.” A blog by Hukkataival from 2008 to 2011 is still live on the internet – scroll through his old stories here.
Get Railed V14 FA
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