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I just wanna climb!
ClimbAndMore: How would you compare the experiences of redpointing your first 8c and onsighting the first 8b? Which was more memorable for you? Successes in which style do you find more exiting?
David Lama: I think it was onsighting my first 8b. I don´t know why, but I think I like onsighting more than redpointing. For onsighting you need luck but you also have to be able to read, to understand the route. You have to think much faster; you can´t search for the best solution.
You did 8a when you were 10, 8b - 11, 8b+ - 12, 8c - 13, and this year you're 14 and you did your first 8c+. Can you say that breaking down one of these barriers was more difficult than others, or is your progress so gradual that it just comes naturally?
I don´t know which step was the hardest. I think if your hardest climb was 8a and then you do an 8b, this step is very hard but then you can climb 8a quite easily. The same is with 8b à 8c,…
When you look at the list of your best RP ascents you find many comments like "2nd try", "fourth fry" and so on. Have you ever spent much time working on an RP ascent? Which route cost you the biggest amount on energy?
I don´t like to have too many tries on one route, especially when I have not much time to climb in that spot. But I sometimes get really fanatic about a route, so I try it until it works (to do 7pm jp chaud 8c I had about 20 tries, on No future 8c+ I had about 10 , that´s not so much, but if a route is 70 meters long, it´s quite a lot, I think).
Have you tried a route harder than 8c+ yet?
Yeah, yeah, sure. But such routes would take a lot of time…
Is there something like competition between the best climbing teenagers? I wonder if you are a bit more interested in what for example Adam Ondra's doing, than in other climbers' achievements?
It´s very difficult to explain! Maybe yes, but this doesn´t mean that I climb just to be better than Adam, or anyone else. Or that I climb for grades! I climb when I want and what I want. I also climb easy routes which are very beautiful; every time when I'm in Arco, I do Grado Dipendenti 7c, one of the best routes at Massone. But of course I prefer doing harder routes, the feeling is much better when you are able to do something really hard, than when doing an easy route.
Does school affect your climbing? Or can you say you have no problems with reconciling school with training and climbing?
The school I go to is a sports school, so I have no problems. We can go to competitions and there is no problem with finding time for training…
Are Austrian non-climbing media interested in a climbing talent like you are? Or do you remain well-known only among climbers?
No, no, the media always make reports about competitions, but not about rock trips…
Do you decide by yourself what you spend money on, or maybe your parents have something to say in this matter?
I spend money just on trips, so I decide about everything with my parents.
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