sabine bacher

Autumn in Tirol

2011-10-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Tyrol is the best place to hang around in autumn. The weather is stable, sunny but not too hot. Stew and I spent as much time as possible on the rock. During our France trip I built a good level of stamina and managed to climb my hardest route ever; "Fortuna" 8b in Nassereith. This route is powerful, tricky and a fair bit of stamina is required. At first it felt impossible for me, consequently it felt even better to be able to climb it.
Last week I managed to climb my 4th 8b named "a g'sunde Watschn" in an fairly new area in Oetztal. In comparison to Fortuna, this route was more my style and I climbed it quite fast. However, it is almost November now and the opportunities to climb routes on the rock will slowly be over.

(photos are all from Elias Holzknecht in Niederthai: Stew on "passport to honesty 8c" and me on "le miracle 7b").

Woldchampionship Arco, Adidas Rockstars and BWC Munich

2011-08-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

Arco: The world championship in Arco was a great event unfortunately it ended for me already after the qualification round with a close 23nd place. For Stew the competition was more successful and he finished with a strong 9th place. But the winner of the day was Anna after a rickety semi-final she crushed the final and won.

Adidas Rockstars: Amazing show. I climbed a strong quali-round but semi did not go so well, but once again Stew climbed really strong and was able to rock in the final. Congrats!

BWC Munich: The preparation for this comp was mainly doing routes outside and try to work on some stamina. However I felt stronger than before. The competition was really enjoyable and I climbed to my best result this season (11th). Now its time for the rope...

Worldcupseason 2011

2011-07-20T03:02:00.000-07:00

The preparation for this year’s competition season started off really well and I had a lot of confidence to improve my performance from last year. Finally the first Worldcup in Milan approached. Few days before the competition I was suffering from a bad stomach flu and only decided to compete on the day of travelling. Considering the circumstances I climbed alright and finished 22^nd. Unfortunately my body was not totally ready for the heavy workload and I inflamed a tendon in my finger, which troubled me throughout the season. Stew climbed really well in the qualification round, but a few hours later he caught as well the stomach flu and could not climb in the Semi-final- DAMN!

Log Dragomer- 24^th. That was the low point this season and my finger injury. I felt distracted throughout the whole competition.

Vienna – 20^th Good start, amazing run in the qualification round. Semi-final not my style.

Eindhoven -22^nd tried hard.

Barcelona- 12^th. Wow finally a good result, the comp with my unfinished top attempts.

Sheffield- 18^th my worst semi-final, everything went wrong.

Munich....coming soon!

Trainingslager Fountainebleau

2011-04-01T08:08:00.001-07:00

March saw the Austrian Bouldering Team (Anna,Katha, Babsy, Kili, Lu, Heiko, Klaus, and myself) plus Stew hit Fontainebleau for 10days to prepare for the up and coming season. Except for Kili, Fontainebleau was almost new to everybody. As the weather was unusually dry, we attempted as many blocs as possible during the day but couldn't attempt everything we wanted as there are just not enough hours in the day. To complete the training we even found some time to meet Jacky in the French military training base to pull on some interesting style problems that he'd set.

From Arco to England

2010-09-02T00:41:00.000-07:00

On the weekend Stew, Mart and I went to Arco to escape from the rainy Austria. It ended up being too hot to climb but the pizza was great. Back home after a long day of painting a roof Kathi, Stew, Mart and I were off to England. We were really lucky with the weather and had a few awesome days on the rock. However the training for the European Championship was still Stew’s and mine priority. We visited a few of the big bouldering walls to climb some set problems. It’s amazing how much you climb when every problem is new to you. The well earned rest days Kathi and I spent shopping and in Manchester. The week was so quickly over and without realising it Kathi, Stew and I were in the plane back home.

7th WorldCup in Munich

2010-08-02T02:51:00.000-07:00

On the Weekend the last World Cup event was held in Munich. After Arco I especially tried to work on some weaknesses and already felt the improvement. In Munich I was confident but exited; because it was the last competition and I wanted to perform well. In the qualification round I flashed problem 1 which was not easy, but unfortunately problem 2 I misread the starting sequence and in my last attempt I got it right but on the top hold I run out of time and the top did not count anymore. The last 3 problem were too hard to make up my mistakes and therefore I was 1 problem to short to qualify for the semifinal and finished in a disappointing 22^nd place. Resume´ from this year´s Worldcup season: lots of training, 7 competitions and only 3 semis (place 16^th 2x and 19^th), 4 times not qualified for the semifinal (22, 25, 27, 30), overall worldcup ranking position 21^st,1 injury (from Sheffield) and a lot of traveling. What to improve for next year: miss out on the comps in America (jet lag, to stressful), train more awkward reachy moves (otherwise training seemed to worked for Stew, 6^th overall!!), and try not to think too much all the time (over psyched). However, in the meantime I am enjoying the rock and to get pumped, before I prepare myself for the European Championship mid September.

Arco Rockmaster 2010 and World Championship Pre Event

2010-07-27T02:44:00.000-07:00

This was the hardest competition so far this year. The girls had to climb very early it was super hot and the problems were mega hard. Between climbing, watching the men boulder and the leading competition the hotel pool and Marco´s ice cream was the only way to survive the head. I finished 10^th which was my best competition result so far this year.

6th BWC in Sheffield

2010-07-05T01:09:00.000-07:00

The BWC was part of an outdoor festival called Cliffhanger which was located in the Millhouses Park in Sheffield. Beside other competitions the Boulder Woldcup was one of the biggest attractions and the walls were mounted inside a big circus tent. The competition started on Saturday with long, long waiting hours (up to 5 hours) for the girls in the isolation (THE CLIMING WORKS!). My biggest worry was to not get too psyched by the warm up.

The qualification went alright for me, except on the last problem, because you had to bright across two walls and reach to the top on the other side. Unfortunately my legs where almost too short and I tried so hard that I pulled a muscle fiber in my hamstrings. At least I got the top and was in the next round. On Sunday, in the semifinal I had to climb with a lot of pain in my leg, but I managed to top one problem and finished 16^th. Now I need a lot of therapy to be fit again for the Rock Master.

4th + 5th BWC Moscow and Eindhoven

2010-06-27T01:48:00.000-07:00

In the last 2 month I was travelling so much as never before and I experienced many different cultures. I already competed 2008 in the BWC in Moscow and this year everthing was 100 times better, from the hotel over food until the competition venue. However my competition-down-period continued. I have to say in this competition I just did not feel right, tired and not switched and the problems felt hard for me. I finished 25th. In Eindhoven the result crushed even lower, except that I actually felt strong and not tired. I misread one crucial problem and made a silly mistake on the other one. I finished 30th. One thing is for sure I totally underestimated how tiring travelling can be. Especially when you work, climb and revise for uni exams in between. Now uni is over and I am looking forward to spend a weekend at home again and I miss climbing on rock. This week I am trying to relax a bit and prepare myself for the 2nd to last BWC in Sheffield, almost my home competition

Austrian Championship

2010-06-13T00:48:00.000-07:00

Straight after Vail there was the Austrian Bouldering Championship in Reith i. A. The weather was amazing, sunshine and really warm temperatures. The competition was perfectly organized. The blocs were on a stage, with good problems and there was a massive tent over the wall that you can climb in any weather. All the climbers which entered Vail where entitled to just come and climb in the final. My performance on that day was not so good, I suffered from bad hay fiver and felt very jetlagged.
The results:
1.Anna Stöhr
2.Katha Sauerwein
3.Kathi Posch
4.Babsy Bacher
5.Babsy Zangerle
6.Ich

3rd Boulder World Cup Vail

2010-06-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Straight from Vienna the Austrian Bouldering Team (Anna, Katha, Killi, Johanna, Lukas and me) + Stew, Heiko (Coach) and Klaus (Physio) went to America for the 3rd Boulder World Cup in Vail (Colorado). Before we drove to the 2500m high valley of Vail we had a few relaxing days in Boulder, where we went shopping, swimming, training, had some physio treatments and tried to coupe with the jet lack. In Vail the air was thin and the problems long and powerful, not the best combination for me. However I was happy that I qualified for the Semifinal and finished in an alright 16th place.

On the other hand our team suffered from bad luck with Kili hurting his toe a day before the Qualification round and had a battle with his health, Johanna hurted her ankle on the last Qualification problem after an astonishing performance, Katha had a psychological fight after an old injury and Stew could not coupe very well with the height and got a cold a day before the Semifinal round. The results men: Kili 3rd, Stew 10th, Lu 36. Results female: Anna 2nd, Johanna 20th, Katha 24th

2nd Boulder World Cup Vienna

2010-05-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

Vienna World Cup was the second event this year. The qualification round felt pretty good for me, even the warm weather did not distract me. Unfortunately, did I not see a heel hook on the last problem and therefore I had a top too less to make it into the semifinal round. My final position was 27th. Good that there was not too much time to be sad for, because I had to cheer for Stew in the Semifinal and than for the first time ever in Stews World Cup career in the Final. He finished 4th.

1st BWC Greifensee

2010-05-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

On the weekend the first Boulder Worldcup of this year was held in Greifensee (Swiss). The weather was cold and wet, but the competition could take place without any troubles on an outside competition wall. When I think about the competition I have split feelings. Firstly, I felt strong and prepared which gave me enough confidence to perform well in the qualification round, However in the Semi final I was laking of the right amount of determination, and therefore I just finished 20th.

Trainingscamp in the capital city

2010-05-03T00:36:00.000-07:00

The weather forecast for the weekend was bad for Tirol that’s why the Austrian Bouldering Team (Lu, Kili, Anna, Katha, Johanna, +I), Heiko, Ingo and Stew went to Vienna to train on the Competition wall. We had a lot of fun and now I can´t wait for the Worldcups to start.

Chillaz Winter Collection 2010/11

2010-04-27T01:17:00.000-07:00

Kitzrock 2010

2010-04-25T00:50:00.000-07:00

The competition in Kitzbühl has been held for the 3rd time this year and it counts to the Austrian and German Cup. It always a good event, well organized and a good preparation for the upcoming Woldcups. This was reflected by the unbelievable big number of competitors, with 60 men and 30 women. I had a good time and enjoyed the competition and finished on 2nd place behind Anna Stöhr and Katha Sauerwein came 3rd. Also the rest of the Ötztal Team did well with Lu winning the competition by the men before Kili Fischhuber and Jonas Bauman. Stew came 4th, Kathi 18th and Eli 27th.

Easter holiday on the côte d´azur

2010-04-05T01:50:00.000-07:00

After a hard and long period of training I felt like an easier week with sun, sea and tufas. Therefore Stew and I decided really spontaneous to make a 6 day trip to Castillon to do some easier climbing and improve our power endurance. I was impressed from the climbs and some of the lines had the most interesting tufas I recently held.

CWIF 2010 and Team Training

2010-03-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

On Friday the 19th of March the Austrian Team went to England to take part in an International Climbing Master in Sheffield and to climb and train on the Gritstone and to check-out some bouldering walls.

The competition on Saturday was probably one of the coolest comp I took part in. I don't think I ever climbed that much before on a single day. With 30 qualification problems, a semi-final and a final all on one day, it was a real climbing battle. Additionally, I was really pleased with my performance, and made it into the final (through a drop out). In the end I finished on the 5th place.

After a well needed rest day the training-week started. The weather was a bit rainy (typical!?!), so we just made it 3 times outside and the rest of the time we ended up training indoor. Unfortunately the week felt way to short...

Chironico

2010-02-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

After a long periode of training, Stew and I felt the drive to escape from the plastic and went to Chironico. It was amazing to hold on to the rock again, however as soon as the sun was gone it went pretty cold (too cold for our cooker..died and left us with cold pasta). I was really happy with my ascent of "les doigts verts 7c+" and here are a few pics...

Training phase 2: GETTING STRONG

2010-01-20T05:43:00.000-08:00

My 2nd training phase, involving a lot of metal, sweat and heavy loads is nearly over and I am well looking forward to start bouldering and going outside again.

2 times Chrismas

2010-01-05T05:56:00.000-08:00

This year I spent my first time Chrismas and New Year away from the mountains on an island. Fortunatley it had a lot off snow (very unusual), which made it much more Chrismas like for me. It was cool to experence a total different chrismas senario to the one I know, with differnt hapits and foods. The good thing is that in England they celabrate Chrismas on the 25th so i had 2 Chrismas days :-).

I enjoyed me time in England even when there was too much snow to go on the grite, we visited lots of differnet walls and met many friends. Now we are back home and are reseting our trainings wall with the Oetztal team to get ready for serious training...

Trainingslager Obergurgl

2009-12-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

All the hard work from the Austrian team last year should be paid off and to get some recovery our team met up again in Obergurgl for a bit of skiing, wellness and good food.

Long weekend in Arco...

2009-10-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

...and we were not the only ones

Metamorphose 8a+

2009-09-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I climbed Metamorphose (8a+) at Piburger See. If you like crimps, this is a route for you! The crux involves 7 really crimpy moves on bad foot holds followed by a pumpy last section. The crux is a little harder now since a good foothold snapped....the route is still one of the best in Oetztal.

Competition August

2009-09-05T02:34:00.000-07:00

Competition dates and finishing position

31/07/09 - 01/08/09 Boulder Austrian Championship in Mayerhofen ... 2nd place
08/08/09 Boulder Austrian Cup in Zwettel...1st place
15/08/09 Lead Austrain Cup in Imst...5th place
21/08/09-22/08/09 Lead WC Imst ...21st place
28/08/09-29/08/09 Blocmaster International Boulder Event and Austrain Cup...8th place

Between the competitions I had a lot of climbing days outside. I was especially pleased with the sent of Titti Twister 7c+ in Niederthai (2nd go), Oetztal Szene 8a in Piburg (2nd go) and Ares 8a+ in Nassereith.

France Part 2 -Céüse

2009-07-29T01:46:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday the 14/07/09 Babsy and I arrived in Céüse and met our friends Eli and Häns. The excitement was gigantic. My goal for this trip was to get fitter, so I decided to climb as many routes as possible between 7c and 8a+. My second goal for the trip was to get braver, especially on run outs and far bolted routes. Therefore I was in the perfect place to be, every day I felt fitter and slowly started to deal with my fear of falling. Midway through the trip Häns leaved the team and Stew completes us again. We also had two days in the climbing area called La Palm, which was a personal highlight for me. The routes were long, friendlier bolted than Céüse and I loves all the tufas. In the End of the trip I climbed 3 7b+ (flash or 2nd go), 2 7c’s (one flash), 5 7c+ (onsight, flash or second go), 2 8a’s, unfortunately no 8a+ but overall I am really pleased and the team was lots of fun.

France part 1

2009-07-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

Just a few days after we arrived from China it was of to France. First stop was Chamonix to enter the leading Woldcup. I knew that my chances to get into the Semifinal are pretty small but I was there anyway so I thought I may as well enter. There were two routes in the Quali and that means 2 times I got really pumped.... I finished 35th, but it was a good opportunity to see Chamonix (unbelievable busy but very pretty).

WM China

2009-07-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the 27/06/09 it was off to China. The 24 h travel to Xining was only the beginning. All the athletes were based at the same hotel complex. After the first day people started to feel really ill, suffering from headaches through to diarejrra. The symptoms spread like wild fire and infected at least 80% of all athletes within two days. From that point onwards my hot-bot-nuddle-soup diet started. But it was not all bad about China I had a pretty successful competition with a 12th place in bouldering and a 19th place in leading. Another favorite was the cheap markets, just that this was always linked with a crazy taxi ride...

Sauron 8b, Niederthai

2009-06-07T03:38:00.000-07:00

On Monday the 1st of June I went back to Sauron, a hidden 8b in the forest of Niederthai. I had some good tries, but my head was not right that day. I felt put off by my cold fingers and the spaced clips, however I found a new sequence on top that seemed to work really well for me and I knew that on a good day I can climb this route. On the weekend Stew and I planned to go to Magic Woods, but due to the bad weather forecast we stayed at home. On Friday I went with Stew to Niederthai that he can try Mordor 8c+/9a and he had 3 amazing attempts (past the crux but always fall off at the last hard move) on it. On Saturday it was my turn and we went to Sauron. The weather forecast was rain in the afternoon so I knew we had to set off not too late. On my first go I felt nervous and my fingers went extremely colt that I thought they fall off any minute. I had to rest in the middle of the route and then climbed the rest. After that go however my fingers went so warm and I had an amazing second go, but I fall of right at the end going for a semi-jug. It was already raining by then. My third go had to be soon, because the rain gone stronger and the jug on top was already getting wet, on top of that it gone cooler and a big foggy cloud came through the hole and top. I felt so psyched and concentrated on this go that nothing of this put me of. I climbed my first 8b, an absolute MASTER PIECE. n Monday the 1st of June I went back to Sauron an 8b hidden

Austrian Comp series

2009-06-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

After the BWC in Japan the Austrain Competition series started.25th April Austrian Championship Leed in Graz ....6th place01th May BWC Hall ...25th place

08th+09th May Austrian Cup Bouldering in Kitzbuehl...3rd place
29th May BWC Vienna ...23rd place

I am semi-pleased with my recent results. The Austrian national competitions went pretty well however with the Worldcup results I am really disappointed, because I felt that my preparations for them went really well. I am used to not perform at my best in Hall but this year I really messed up. Although Vienna disappointed me the most because I actually climbed really well and flashed 3 problems. However on one problem I found the beta to late and my time run out on the decent. That put me into place 12 in my group and I finished overall in place 23. Again not in the semifinal -unbelievable.

BWC Japan

2009-04-22T02:37:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday the 07th of April the Austrian, Dutch and Italian team, Stew and I went to Japan. The competition took place in Kazo a small town an hour away from Tokyo. The qualification went pretty well for me and I managed to climb 3 of the 5 very hard problems. In the semi-final it did not turn out that good anymore, the problems were unusual hard and I had a hard time to get 3 bonuses. I finished in place 17.

Our extended team stayed a week longer in Japan to experience a bit more of the culture and to climb. We all dumped our bags in a climbing wall in Tokyo called pump2 which was our base for the week. Then we went for two days climbing, which was amazing. On the first day we went to a really tufary crack called Togiama and on the second day we went to a secret climbing area from Yugi. I got a lot of climbing done and was surprised of my decent stamina. Then it went back to our base and we spent another day sight seeing in Tokyo. The next two days we went bouldering in Shopera. Unfortunately it rain all day as soon as we arrived and I did not climb very much. However, the second day was beautiful and I enjoyed to climb with the girls. On the same night we went back to Tokyo and after waking up the next morning some of us had a training session in pump2. Sadly the next day it was time to fly back home. I was really amazed by the way the Japanese climbers took care of us. They organized everything for us, beginning from where to stay and climb, drove us around in their cars and helped us ordering our food.

...Finally sunshine....

2009-03-16T02:12:00.000-07:00

After a long period of snow in Austria, Stew and I decided to drive to Chironico. The weather forecast was not lying, it was unbelievable warm and sunny, but very windy. Our first stop was in Chironico sector Boogalagga were we warmed up, than I went to Dr. Pinch 8a. After Stew demonstrated how easy it can be, I had do workout the right sequence for the top. Than I started to try the problem from the bottom which felt surprisingly okay, just after a few attempts I managed to keep my feet on when I went from the pinch to the sloper and I climbed the boulder on that go. Well happy. After that we moved on and Stew tried Boogalagga, unfortunately his tip split again and instate he climbed the 8a next to it with the same top-out. On the rest of the day we just messed around on some problems we passed.

Next morning we got up quite early and went to Chironico sector les doigts verts again we had an extended warm up and then i wanted to try les doigts verts because I am already so close of doing it but it was to hot so I decided to leave it and do lots of new problems instate. After an amazing day I climbed Auto pilot 7b+ (flash), Richiamino settimanale 7a+ (flash) and Karma Police 7a+.

Update

2009-03-06T03:16:00.000-08:00

After the Worldcup in Moscow I took climbing a bit easier, by doing some stamina training. From 23-25 November the Austrian Climbing Team had a relaxation camp in Obergurgl, skiing, massages, spa, food and drink in a 4 star hotel...thats luxury. In December Stew and I went to Tessin, it had a lot of snow and just a few things were try. I climbed Hannibal Lecture 7c, La Boulette 7b (flash). After that trip our training started again, gym + specific strength training. Half way trough the training (01.01.09-06.01.09) Stew and I went to England to do some bouldering. Unfortunately the weather was not so good and we ended up going indoors, but it still was fun and it felt good to climb some set problems. On 15.01-16.01.09 the Oetztal Team had to organize a big children comp-a lot of work but always a success. End of january we started our new boulder training. 13.02.-15.02.09 we went in a big team to Cresciano to climb lots of funky problems. On 28. January there was a Mammut climbing party in Tivoli where the whole Oetztal Team attempted. That was a great night with lots of boulders (80 in total) free drinks and food, some pictures and many climbers. The rest of the time gets used for training, training, work and sleep....

WC Moscow

2008-11-03T02:57:00.000-08:00

On Thursday I went with the Austrian Team (SIS Babsy, Anna, Katha, Killi and Coach Heiko) to the Boulder Worldcup in Moscow. On Friday we had the qualification round. I climbed all five problems in 8 tries and finished 12th on the day. The rest of our team climbed also well and we all made it through to the semi. On Saturday morning the semi-final took place. Unfortunatly the girls problems were to easy and to get through to the final all 4 problems had to be flashed. I climbed all 4 blocs in 5 goes and finished 8th. Katha was the only girl from our team to get through to the final and won it. Kili also made it into the final and finished 2 and won the overall Worldcup. Anna come 7th on the day and won the overall Worldcup too. Babsy finished 13th and was pleased about doing all the blocs in unbelieveable 11 tries. Following these good results the rest of the saturday was used for teammatters (party, party) ......

Qualified Climbing Instruktor...

2008-10-26T02:49:00.000-07:00

The last few days I had the end exams from the Climbing Instructor Course. It was a marathon of exams but I passed them all and can call me now a "Qualified Climbing Instructor". Congratulations also goes to my friends from the course that made the time of learining and sitting around on beautiful weekend days bareable especially thanks goes to Fabi, Ivan, Leo and Ursu.

Fontainebleau

2008-10-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

After the European Chanmpionship Babsy, Heiko, Anna, Jakob, Kili, Jorg, Stew and I went climbing to Fontainebleau. That was my first time in Font and I had the best time ever. Everyday we went to a different areas and just climbed all the problems that looked good to us. A game of football was also not missing on the big, sandy playgounds (that felt harder than climbing!). We had so much fun all the time and I enjoyed every second of the trip. Unfortunatly Stew and I had to leave on Thursday morning, a few days earlier than the rest, because I had to be back in Innsbruck to take the final exams of the climbing instructor course.

PARIS

2008-10-19T02:05:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we finally set off for our trip to Paris. On Wednesday it was time for the qualification rounds of male and female bouldering. Tue do the high number of competitors the groups were split into two. All the girls from the austrian team were in the same group ecept my sister Babsy, she had to start in the other group. The problems felt quite basic and I climbed all blocs (5) in 6 tries and finished 2nd in my group. For the girls the semi-final continued on Saturday therefore we had a two days rest, what I used for sight-seeing around Paris. I felt less nervous for the semis and was psyched to do well, but somehow I not seemed to get into the usuall fighting mode. I just managed to top one problem and fall of two other problems on the last move. The probelms were not mega hard but I just could not give everything on them. I finished 19 th and was dissapointed but on the other hand I also felt pleased to know that this was not my best effort and I could to better.

11 days in England

2008-09-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

From the 18 th to the 29 th of September Stew and I went back to England to do some training for the European Championship. Saturday we went to the British Team Training. It felt strange to be put back into a Comp situatuion, but on the other side it was very useful. On Sunday we decided to have a easy cimbing day and we went to Stanage Trad climbing-the first time ever in my life. I totally enjoyed it and I was less scared than I expected.Monday we went to Manchester wall and did a competition based training, were we tried to flash as many prblems as possible. Tuesday was a rest day with a light run. On Wednesday we went route climbing to Rubicon. I tried lots of different hard routes and come really close to an 8a but my tips gone really bad and I had to leave the decent. On Thursday we went for an other competition training to the Climbing works in Sheffield where we met lots of friends and had a massive session. Friday was another rest day with a relaxing Yoga session. Than on Satuday I was ready for an other training day but this time without Stew because he had a cold. I went to Stockport climbing wall a ferly new place in Manchester where i upsolved another competition training. Sunday was a beautiful day and we went route climbing to cheedale. I warmed up on some classics and then got stuck on a 8a that which felt very powerful on tiny crimps and small foothold. On my 4 th try I was so close, climbed already the hard sequences but then messed up the last harder move.

I really enjoyed the trip and it felt nice to switch off from working life back home. i especially liked the compination of having a indoor training session followed by an outdoor climbing day. I think i feel ready for Paris now.

Dynamischer Exorxist 8a+

2008-09-09T03:21:00.000-07:00

Today I climbed "Dynamischer Exorcist 8a+" in Astlehn (Oetztal). It felt quite hard for me to do it because their is no flow in the route. There are always hard sequences, where a lot of body tension and control is needed, separated by semi good rests. The first bit is quite pumpy than comes a goodish rest followed by a boulder problem and to finish it off it goes into technical-vertical climbing on the end and that all on 18 meter. I was pleased that i climbed it after just a few goes.

Zillertal

2008-09-01T02:33:00.000-07:00

On the weekend Stew and I were in Zillertal- finally getting on some boulders again. First stop was Magic places. Conditions were quite bad (way too hot) so we were just warming up on some easy blocs. I climbed Big Spender 7b and then we moved on to an area called Weer. There the boulders were hard with a high quality rock. I managed to climb a boulder called Dr. Green Dump 7c (very technical) and a 7b. On the second day we went to Zillergrund. Conditions were even worse than on Saturday and I just climbed a few easier problems and did not climb anything hard but on the end of the day the skin was still trashed.

Last week....

2008-08-25T03:11:00.000-07:00

This week was quite a good week. On wed. I climbed “Nix fuer schwache 7c” in Noesslach und on Saturday we went to Piburg and I climbed “Nostalgie 8a” 2nd go. I was well pleased because this route is very pumpy. After I tried “Klettersteig 7c+” but that was defiantly too pumpy after Nostalgie. On Sunday Stew and I had an easy start and climbed good warm up routes in Noesslach. After that we went to Astlehn and I had a few goes on “Dynamischer Exorcist 8a+” but that was not my day. I had troubles to concentrate and finally just had one useful try… but not long and I will climb it.

Oetztal Climbing Team in Arco

2008-08-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the Oetztal climbing team (Babsy, Heiko, Lu, Elli, Tai, Stew and I) went to Arco. It was warm but not boiling. On Friday after work (my last working day in the Aqua Dome) we drove down and climbed a few easy routes in Massone. On Saturday after a nice breakfast in Arco and a bit of shopping we went to Massone. It was an awesome day I did some good warm ups and then spent a few goes on Red Rocks 8a but I did not climb it this day. Next morning we went to a new crag in Arco. We had no topo and just went on the things that looked good to us. I was so often pumped and on the end of the day I was felt really tired on my forearms.

Last weeks update

2008-08-13T00:24:00.000-07:00

Time is going fast and my last update is already some time ago. In the last few weeks I was climbing lots and was already able to onsight a 7c in Nassereith called “Venus”. I also found a new project to try in Niederthai, it’s a ~20m long, power endurance, 8b on a steep wall with round holds and a few bouldery moves. On the weekend we planned a trip to Zillertal, hopefully the weather is not letting us down….

Hello Paris.....

2008-07-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

I am well pleased to report that this week I have been selected to compete in the European Bouldering Championships in Paris mid October this year. I was unable to climb properly in this years comps due to sustaining a finger injury early in the season. However, the sad days are over and my drive to get back to my original fitness is very high.

Let´s ROCK....again

2008-07-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

My last update was already some time ago. However, after the Austrian Championship in Innsbruck my finger was hurting so badly that I decided to rested for 4 weeks (I banned myself from climbing--hard work). I started to climb very easy mid June and went on the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of June to Magic Woods to potter a bit around and just to have fun. Now I am climbing nearly a month again and my finger is recovering well. Hopefully I am soon able to start training again and to report about some good ascents because I have enough projects waiting for me….

BWC Hall

2008-04-20T02:41:00.000-07:00

The first World Cup this year was on Friday in Hall. I was really exited to meet all the climbers again, to see all the problems and just taking part again. This year the number of competitors was the biggest ever around 50 females and over 80 males! I was a bit unlucky with my starting number because I had to climb 2nd to last. The qualification problems were not too hard but sometimes a bit awkward. I managed to climb 3 problems in 5 goes, but there was another problem I kept falling of the top, I just could not find the right way to do the move. I knew that I was not in my best shape because my finger injury troubled my training a bit , but I was very disappointed with my end position and I could not qualify for the semi final the first time in my world cup carrier.

La sportiva climbing festival

2008-04-14T01:29:00.000-07:00

On Friday there was a big La sportive climbing Festival in Tivoli. There were 60 problems in total all around the walls from very easy to extremely hard. The festival was a big success with a lot of peoples entering and I really enjoyed climbing with good climbers. I manage to climb 40 problems.

Unfortunately I rested the rest of the weekend because a few weeks ago I injured one of my fingers and it those not seem to get any better and the three hours of intense bouldering did not help either. However I was really proud at Stew because on Sunday he managed to climb Brandy Tarte 8c+ in Niederthai. He is super strong in the moment.

First Boulder Comp this year.

2008-04-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had the first round of the Austrian Boulder Cups this year. The Competition took place in Kitzbuehl. It felt strange to do a Comp after such a long Comp break. The Qualification round went good, I made a few silly mistakes and felt a bit out of practice. On Saturday was the semi-final and final. In the semi I climbed well but I messed up the final and ended in position 6. This Comp was very helpful to find my major mistakes I have to work on to improve my Comp results

Easter weekend in Swiss

2008-03-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday morning Stew and I went to Chironico. The first stop was “Teamwork 8a”, a crimpy wall with a fairly high top-out. I was just my kind of problem and I climbed in a few attempts. Then it was off to “The great shark hunt 8a+” for Stew. We were unstoppable and after just 5 goes Stew climbed it and we went to Doctor Crimp 7c for me because some people told me that it would be flash able with good crimp strength and so I did. It went dark and our first day was over. On Easter Monday we went to the high part of Chironico where I had quite a long warm up and just bouldered around on some easier stuff. Finally I started to try “Les doigts verts 7c+”. Frustrated I had to leave empty handed but I managed to wire the start, just the last hard move did not want to happen. My skin said “Game Over”.

Birthday Party in Tumpen

2008-03-02T02:28:00.000-08:00

First time back at Tumpen bloc this year on my birthday on Tuesday. Was shocked to see all the lines chalked up with big ticks all over the place. Stew and I went to check out some new lines. Found one line just under the path I have never noticed before. It was already cleaned and possibly climbed. The first move felt really hard and I needed quite a few attempts to get it wired but the rest was not too hard, so we graded it approx.7b+ and named it Mr. Undercover for the new topo. At the end of the day, I tried Stick it extension 8a and it felt good but long and very high! It feels good to have another nice personal project at Tumpen.

Brad Pitt 7c+

2008-02-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

The few days in England have been really nice, the weather was brilliant and I had a good time. On Thursday Stew, Kathi (my little sister) and I flew from Innsbruck to Liverpool. We went shopping, cinema, had a Chinese meal and a lot of climbing. I particularly enjoyed our time in Stanage. On Friday the conditions were cold and sticky and we messed around the Plantation sector. I climbed Zippy’s Traverse 7b 4th go and Stew climbed the Joker 8a. Monday Stew wanted to go back to Stanage to try the Ace 8b but it was too hot for it, so I decided to have a play on Brad Pitt 7c+. I tried it once a few years ago but I could not make out how to do the first move, I remember that I always tried the move with my right had and just could not share the hold, so I left it. However, on Monday Dave Barrans, a friend of ours, told me how he climbs it and it seemed to work for me. After a few tries I sorted the first move perfectly than each go I got higher and higher and after a short break everything went really smooth and I just climbed it. It was unbelievable and I was pleased to have climbed this classic!!! Sadly, today we had to leave and went back to Austria. I hope to be back to the UK soon.

Update from the last month...

2008-01-28T09:42:00.001-08:00

Well I was a busy girl the last month and had no real time to do some hard boulders or routes outside. Beside my job I am also taking part in a course to become a “Pilates Master Trainer” what takes up some time in the moment. Additionally I often go skiing or snowboarding whenever I have a day off because the snow is just awesome in the moment. However my training goes well too and I finished recently my first part of the specific strengthening training and will soon move onto the specific campus and explosive power training what is well needed at the moment because from the other training I feel strong but not fast and bouncy but for every bit there is the right time to train…. I am really looking forward to go back to England mid February for a short trip to catch up on friends and to see how things are and hopefully to climb on the grit.

Weekend in Cresciano and Chironico

2007-12-24T03:45:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-13T01:51:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

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+

2007-10-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-07T01:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

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.