Chris Schulte has quietly amassed an astounding ticklist while wintering in Europe. During a 14-day stint in Switzerland, Schulte managed to tick The Dagger (V14), flash Conquistadors (V12), and put down three V13s—General Disarray, Amber, and Einfisch Kleinfisch. 

“The granite is perfect,” wrote Schulte in an e-mail to Rock and Ice, and he attributes his Swiss success to “style, perfect conditions, and limitless great weather.”

Having left Fontainebleau and his long-term project The Big Island (V15) due to snowy weather, Schulte arrived in Switzerland having no expectations. “I was more wanting to enjoy the place and the cultures, the mountains, and the climbing,” he says.

But The Dagger had always been resting in the back of Schulte’s mind. Having traveled to Cresciano, Switzerland over 10 years ago—before The Dagger was established by German powerhouse Toni Lamprecht—Schulte remembers seeing the potential boulder problem. “I had walked over to Dreamtime (V15) to marvel at this iconic achievement and strolled around the back side of the boulder to admire the amazing view of the valley below. I saw the vicious spike pointing out across the valley, and wondered out loud, ‘why has nobody climbed this!’”

On this trip, Schulte was able to piece together The Dagger quickly, crediting the Internet and some help from the locals for figuring out the beta. “It is a steep compression line on good holds—exactly ‘my style,’” he says. Schulte was able to repeat the The Dagger faster than he had ever done a V14 before.

Next, Schulte then managed to flash Conquistadors (V12) during his Swiss visit. “I’d never flashed a V11 before Conquistadors,” he says. Again, Schulte credits watching various Internet videos for beta, and adds that he used screen shots of the moves on his phone.

“I was well rested, had good skin, great conditions, and the crux is the first couple of moves,” says Schulte. “If you get through those, it’s just shoveling through great compression and great holds.”

Using the momentum of flashing Conquistadors, Schulte moved on to Freak Brothers (V12) and managed to tick that problem in the same day.

Before leaving Switzerland, Schulte had another stellar day, wrapping up two previous projects he had tried two years prior. Within one session, Schulte managed to send General Disarray and Amber, both V13.

Now Schulte is back in Fontainebleau battling the weather once again. Other than repeating Partage Assis (V13) for the problem’s second ascent prior to his Switzerland trip, Schulte’s luck with the weather in Font has not been great. But his determination has not been deterred.

“It’s back to work on The Big Island,” he says. “It’s really fun to go somewhere, climb many things, and top out boulders. But it’s quite different to tick something off the ‘life list.’ Hopefully I can have both!”