{"id":5424,"date":"2020-07-19T15:43:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T14:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.exploreclimbing.it\/?p=5424"},"modified":"2020-07-19T15:48:44","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T14:48:44","slug":"back-to-the-future-aka-tik-tok-sok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.exploreclimbing.it\/it\/back-to-the-future-aka-tik-tok-sok\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to the Future (aka Tik Tok Sok)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Let\u2019s take a trip down memory lane to the beginnings of Explore Climbing transforming from an artisanal project of Alex to the partnership with Read. Back when the idea hadn’t even sparked…<\/p>\n

It\u2019s June 2015 and Read is in Italy on holiday to climb with Alex. One fine day Read, Alex, Cosmin (Alex\u2019s brother) and their partners Alina and Anca, all head to Droide crag in Valle dell\u2019Orco.<\/p>\n

Upon arriving Read was immediately curious of the question mark written at the base of the line named Tik Tok Sok. \u201cIs this unfreed?\u201d Read asked. \u201cYep\u201d the boys replied. Read is drawn to the unknown and so they set about trying to free the opening moves, long moves on tiny millimeter thick granite edges. Eventually Read and Alex discovered a way through, but at the 5th<\/sup> bolt, it seemed blank \u2013 at least for the feet! Yet a seed had been planted. They remained curious to know how it would be possible.<\/p>\n

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Read went back home to Oman after a couple weeks holiday and didn\u2019t really think about Tik Tok Sok until spring 2017. Now that Alex had proposed that Read partner with him in XC, Read had decided, with his Italian residence visa pending approval, to sit down and write his dream list of European climbs. Among some of the most recognizable routes in European climbing he wrote, \u201cTik Tok Sok\u201d. Even to the best traveled climbers the name would be like reading Klingon, yet it held a special memory and a question mark.<\/p>\n

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Fast forward to summer 2018. Seeking respite from the heat in Asti, Read with the support of his partner Aleksandra Taistra and her foxterrier Jason, began to clean back to life.<\/p>\n

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To say conditions are important on the face climbs in Valle Dell’Orco is an understatement! Because the nature of the climbing is so precarious yet also so powerful on this line, a minute increase in humidity or temperature can seem like adding 20kg to your harness.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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So, after regular weekend trips in June 2018 and a slight hiatus in July due to hot conditions, Read and Aleksandra returned for weekends in mid-August for Read to try to free the line. In memory Read had the sequence memorized, or so he thought. After just a few weeks break what seemed in memory as foot holds seemed non existent and it took a few more trips to recall all of the micro movements and body tension required to link each movement<\/p>\n

Finally, after a near ascent, falling with his hands near the rest, it was on a cloudy and windy day, 8 September 2018 that Read was able to finally free the line. Coming around full circle, Alex snapped these photos of Read on the day after his send!<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t

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After the ascent Read re-dubbed the line Back to the Future \u2013 an homage to the old-school style of climbing that once represented the avant-garde of our sport.<\/h5>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t
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Here is the uncut iphone clip from Aleksandra\u2019s phone. Read proposes 8b+ for Back to the Future and as of this blog July 2020 it still awaits a repeat, though strong Torino-based Edoardo Bocchio Vega is making good attempts and Andrea Migliano also looked capable! Rumour has it that it could be harder. Time will tell and we hope this line sees more action in the future.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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