BURSTNicolai Užnik is getting very close to sending Burden of Dreams in Lappnor, Finland. Despite battling splits on his fingers and tricky conditions, he has managed to get incredibly close. Time will tell if this will be the trip where Užnik joins the small cohort of five others who have topped the world’s first V17.
“This was my first actual send go, almost sticking the last move before my left hand fired off, and I split my finger,” said Užnik on Instagram. “Afterwards, I taped and gave it another go, which looked pretty much the same, yet again splitting another finger. Since I managed to do all the moves really fast in my first session, even sticking the first move second go and pretty much doing it consistently, I was quite confident that I might be able to climb it rather quickly.
“Due to bad conditions of all sorts, severe skin issues and therefore very limited attempts, it has become quite a battle now [though]. Going to rest for a few days, trying to heal as much as possible and wait for the snow to pass. Let‘s see if I can still pull it off.”
Burden of Dreams was opened by Nalle Hukkataival way back in 2016. Located in Lappnor, Finland, it took Hukkataival nearly four years to send the problem. Hukkataival’s beta is what most people think of when they think about the beta for Burden of Dreams. He used a five-move sequence to move up the short, 45-degree overhanging face.
It wasn’t until April 2023 that Burden of Dreams receied its long awaited second ascent from Will Bosi. Simon Lorenzi followed with his top in December 2023. Elias Iagnemma, the first climber to establish a route with a proposed grade of V18, came next with his send in March 2023. And finally, Lee Sungsu made the fifth ascent in May 2025, climbing it twice due to a the tiniest of dabs on his first ascent. Intent on being sure he really sent it with no shadow of a doubt, Sungsu climbed the problem a second time without wearing a shirt at all.
Everything about Burden of Dreams is difficult. The holds are small and face in awkward directions, requiring very specific finger and thumb positions. The moves are long, especially the first move and the final one to a three-finger crimp, necessitating powerful, dynamic movement. And the foot holds are lousy demanding an immense amount of body tension and balance. There are many betas for the problem – find them all in detail here. Užnik appears to be locked into Lorenzi’s four-move sequence, eliminating a hand move from the standard beta used by Hukkataival and Bosi.
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