Weekend in Cresciano and Chironico

Stew and I went this weekend to Swiss and visited Cresciano and Chironico for the first time EVER. On Saturday we arrived quite late in Cresciano but still got enough climbing done. I did some warm ups and managed to climb “la pioche 7b+” which is a nice line with a quite hard start move on a smeary foothold and a toe hook. We packed up really late when it was already dark and visited our friends Gaz, Martin, Liam, and Mickey which where also here for a trip. We spent a cosy night in a small hood with a wooden firer and a lot of climbing talk. Next morning we all went of to Chironico. In Chironico I warmed up on some nice and easy problems and then went on “That goes left 7c+”. After trying all the moves I knew that I should be able to climb this problem but in the end it than took me longer than I expected. I dropped the top a few times and other times I slipped of the smeary foothold but finally after 1.5 hours or so I climbed it. After that I just look at some cool lines and tried the odd problems before we had to head back home….Overall I really enjoyed it and will be back soon.

Wintertraining

On Tuesday last week Stew and I went back to Tumpen bloc to check out if it is dry and it was. I climbed a boulder called Indiana Jones 7b, a really good slopey boulder quiet sustained.

We planned to visit Brione this week, however the weather turned really bad and it started to snow a lot, so we stayed at home and started a really specific training to build up our strength. However I am really pysed to visit Swiss for a few trips whenever I am off work and the weather is alright. So keep checking out my bloc for updates....

Graduation day

On Thursday I went back to England with my family because Stew and I had our graduation day on Friday morning in York. Fortunately we had the same Ceremony so we just had to go once, but it was freezing cold in York. A really cold wind was blowing but it did not rain. After the ceremony we all went shopping in York. The Leeds Wall Bouldering comp was on this night but we all could not be bothered to enter because of been cold all day. On Saturday afternoon my family and I went back to Austria. So I am now officially not a student anymore. I have already stared a new job as a fitness trainer in a health spa called the Aqua Dome near my house in Laengenfeld 2 weeks ago. Now I am earning some money for trips and comps I want to do.

PS: Planning my training for the new comp session, because finally the provisional comp dates are out.

Crocodile 7c

Last week our friends Ben and Rachel were here for a visit. On Monday we went to Tumpen again. It was a really nice day and we showed them around and climbed a lot of nice problems in all difficulties. Towards the end of the day I and Ben started to try Crocodile 7c. I have been already on it once, but just for a few tries because there is a nasty crimp on it which can split your finger tips (that’s why it is called Crocodile). I needed some tries to sort out the move form the nasty crimp to the sloper, and then another few goes to be able to link a farley long move from the sloper to a positive crimp. My fingertips where already bad beforehand and after a few tries nearly all my finger tips on my right hand were split and on the left hand they were not particularly great. However a felt really psyched this day and just climbed through the pain. On one of my last tries I finally climbed it, even when it was not my best go nothing could stop me from doing it. I just wanted it so much.

Ps: A picture from the problem is coming soon….

Tumpen Bloc

On Sunday Stew and I went to Tumpen Bloc because I really wanted to try the problem called “Am Wasser gebaut” -7c+ again. However, we expected it to be wet because all night from Saturday to Sunday it snowed and it was pretty freezing. Fortunately as we arrived the conditions where awesome (freezing + try = sticky). We went down to the river blocs and after the warm-up I climbed a 7b/7b+ crimpy-face problem. Then I went onto “Am Wasser gebaut”. It felt very good and I dropped 4-5 times the jump over the lip, but eventually I managed to hold the swing and did it. I am well pleased, because it is quite powerful and steep.

After making some photos of Stew I decided to try “Stick It”-7c+/8a. This is a long traverse with very sloppy holds and a lot of heel hooks. It is very sustained and there is no hold where you can rest or chalk and on the end you have to do a crazy rock-over move. On the first goes this day it felt so good and I knew when I stay focused that I could to it. After falling of on the rock-over move totally shaky and chipping my shin I made a longer rest and told myself that it is possible today. The next go I did it. It was such a fight on the last moves and when I stood on top of the bloc I could not believe that I done it.
On the end me and Stew climbed a tricky 7a+ boulder beside Stick It which we had never noticed before but it is good fun.

Tick list of the day:

??? 7a+ …second go

??? 7b/7b+ ...few goes
Am Wasser gebaut 7c+ …2 days
Stick it 7c+/8a ... 3-4 days

Back to the UK

Last week I went back to the UK. On Friday night I landed in Manchester and Saturday morning I already went down to Cheshire to join the British Bouldering team to perform a fitness test. Sunday I was really exited to go on the grit but on the way down to the roaches it started to rain heavily. When we arrived at the roaches the whole place was in one big cloud. I had a walk around and the crag looks very cool and I definitely will go back there. Anyway, on the way back to Manchester we stopped in Manchester wall and climbed the boulders from the last bouldering round. Monday the weather was still bad and we went to Leeds wall to climb their some boulders from the bouldering round and to do some routes. Tuesday me and Stew had a relaxing day in Manchester and went a bit shopping. Wednesday the day was brilliant but my plane already leaved in the afternoon so I just went in the morning in Stew’s garage for a trainings session. A bit a disappointing trip because I couldn’t climb outside but I had some good trainings sessions.

Minas Morgul 8a+

We went back to Niederthai again today and my route was in better condition than yesterday. I warmed up and brushed some holds and I didn't believe I could climb it today. However on my 1st go today I climbed through the bottom section and just kept climbing. I finally climbed through the last tricky section with my hands opening and clipped the chain. It was a fight but very rewarding. Minas Morgul is around 30m long and involves three very hard boulder sections separated by semi good rests. It is definitely my hardest route and now I can't wait for the boulder season.

Niederthai

I'm starting to try a route in Niederthai now. It is called "Minas Morgul" and is graded Fr8a+. It's an amazing route with some cool moves on an arete. I am making some big links on the route now and hope to climb it soon. It feels really good to be trying a hard route again after my injury.

Climbing Again

2007 was going perfect, I had some great international competition results and some good performances on the rock, but then in April I was competing in a bouldering World Cup in Bulgaria when I dislocated my right shoulder (ouch!). I had some surgery and then four months rest from climbing. Now I am climbing again and it feels great!! So far I have climbed a few routes in the 7c-7c+ region in Austria and Germany and my shoulder feels strong. I have started training for 2008 and already working some hard boulder problems. Keep checking out my blog for updates.