Underground activities

Tsunami. Photo: Jörgen Sölander

This weekend started out with a trip back to the silver mines outside Sala to climb with my friend Stefan Lindblom. Sala is located 20 km north of my home town Västerås and is most known for the mining which today the  has ceased and given place to slightly more recreational exploits. Over 400 tons of silver where excavated from the mines that where in use between the 1400s till 1908 and where for a period the most importand mining site in Sweden.  Over the past decade Stefan has put a huge amount of effort in to developing the ice and mixed climbing in the old mine holes resulting in some of the hardest graded mix routes in the country.  Started off the day by on sighting and thus making the first repeat of  Thurneman, a dicey and technincal mixed line. Stefan added a new route, Den magiska cirkeln, which involved quite technical climbing as well as a thuggy finnish around a roof on to the ice. I got the honor to repeat it and did so first go. I also got the opportunity to try his test piece Tsunami again and managed to send it this time, first try, pulling off the first repeat of this burl fest. 

[caption id="attachment_526" align="aligncenter" width="426" caption="Ph: Stefan Lindblom"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="426" caption="Ph: Stefan Lindblom"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_527" align="aligncenter" width="426" caption="Onsighting Thurneman in the old silver mines outside Sala. Photo Stefan Lindblom"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_525" align="aligncenter" width="426" caption="Stefan Lindblom making the first ascent of "Den Magiska Cirkeln". Sala."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_524" align="aligncenter" width="426" caption=""Den Magiska Cirkeln" Photo: Stefan Lindblom"][/caption]