Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, our newest route setter, Zach Galla, is one of the strongest climbers in the world. Having just moved here earlier this summer, Zach has already made quick work of many of the local classic hard boulders, while also nabbing first place at our annual Deadpoint bouldering competition. We caught up with Zach to hear about his recent send of one of the world’s hardest boulders, The Grand Illusion in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The V16 test piece is located in the high-elevation White Pine area of LCC, in the ever-popular Party Pit zone. The cave where it resides has been further and further excavated over the years, yielding harder and harder climbs for Salt Lake City’s strong to throw themselves at in the shoulder seasons.
The process first began with the prolific develop Anthony Txertudi and his terrific vision for what the cave could be. After he had cleared out some of the rocks blocking lower holds, he’d begun attempting a low start to the problem Euro Roof. Soon after, Chris Sharma nabbed the first ascent and the problem became Euro Roof Low V13. For many years, climbers theorized about the potential that lay deeper in the cave, but none were motivated to put the work in that was required to establish a lower start, not to mention, very few were even capable of fathoming adding any moves to the already difficult Euro Roof Low.
That was until Drew Ruana moved to town. Drew, one of America’s youth wunderkind, moved to Salt Lake for a year to train. He put the time and effort into excavating the cave and put dozens of days into working the beta on a super low start into the existing V13 problem. He nearly did it, but after a mentally taxing 20+ days on the project, the temperatures became too warm for him to finish it off.
That same season, The Grand Illusion was established by Drew’s friend, local legend and recent Olympic silver medalist, Nathaniel Coleman. You can watch his send here.
Since then, The Grand Illusion has seen repeats by top climbers Sean Bailey and Daniel Woods, and as of a few days ago, our very own Zach Galla.
A chat with Zach
How many days did The Grand Illusion take you?
GI (Grand Illusion) took me around 14 days to finish up! I didn’t count the exact number of sessions to decrease the pressure on myself.
How has setting at The Front impacted your training, tactics, and performance?
Setting at The Front has been great for trying Grand Illusion! Getting off at 4 allowed me to head over from work with a nice warmup and give a few goes.
You climbed GI immediately following competing in the Sport Climbing Nationals semi-final round. Do you think that round helped or hurt your chances of succeeding on GI? Would you have still gone to try it had you made the final later that night?
If I had qualified for the final, I definitely wouldn’t have gone and tried, a blessing in disguise I guess! I felt nicely warmed up from the semi, so part of me thought there was a chance it could be the day. After getting to the boulder and seeing the intro holds were a bit damp, I instantly started to doubt myself. I think since a send seemed so unlikely it allowed me to climb with no pressure, and the next thing I knew, I was on top!
Were you at all concerned about compromising your skin or fitness by climbing on GI just a few days before Bouldering Nationals?
With the boulders coming up, I knew I shouldn’t go too hard on GI, I allowed myself two goes and only needed one! Hardly any skin was lost.
As primarily a boulderer, did you ever doubt your ability to climb a problem as long as GI?
At first, Grand Illusion definitely seemed outside of my style, being 20 moves long. After climbing on the roof more, I started to realize the moves fit my body super well. I quickly gained some fitness climbing on the roof and on the wave wall at South Main. Things started to seem more possible.
Your friend Drew Ruana put a lot of effort into the development of this problem. How did it feel to finish what he started?
It felt great! Lots of respect to the homie Drew for having the vision and starting the process. Drew has really inspired me to trust the process and stay determined when the sessions start adding up.
Photo 1 by Dan Gajda, Photo 2 by Sean Faulkner
I know you were worried about the impending snow ruining your chances to send GI this season. Tell us a bit about how the conditions influenced your projecting and tactics.
The main reason I decided to try on comp day was because of the upcoming snow in the forecast. The snow coming soon definitely put a lot of pressure on and made me spend every chance I got under the roof. I usually like to take breaks and try other rigs during the projecting process, but it just didn’t feel like a good decision this time.
What was your favorite comp of the year and why was it Deadpoint?
Haha! Deadpoint actually was my favorite comp of the year. Low pressure, good energy, and the most hyped finals crowd of all time! Good times.
Can we see a Grand Illusion simulator climb set in the South Main’s muscle beach wave wall?
Maybe, kinda sick of those moves now haha…
What’s next for your climbing?
I plan on finishing up a few more projects in LCC for a video project I’m working on with Sohi Studios! Psyched to share more about that soon.
Thanks for chatting with us, ZG! If you see Zach setting or training in the gym, be sure to give him a fist bump for the send and the sick routes he’s setting!
Interviewee // Zach Galla
Route setter
