Brandy Tarte 8c+

I woke up this morning and looked out the window...finally good weather! We drove to Niederthai and I warmed-up in the sun. Walked up to Brandy Tarte in the snow and on my 2nd attempt today I climbed the route. It's a fantastic route, really steep and powerful. Very typical of Niederthai the route is situated in a beautiful location and it felt great when I clipped the top and got lowered off in amongst the trees with the valley of Oetztal behind me. The route was first climbed by Markus Haid and graded "Hard" 8c. My ascent was the 5th behind Markus, Heiko, Kilian and Luki. The route feels more like 8c+ because when i compare it to the other 8c's i've climbed it feels considerably harder. I've chatted to heiko and luki and they agree. After i climbed brandy I went down to the steep sector and climbed some more routes in the sun.

KitzRock2008

I entered the KitzRock Regional Event in Kitzbuehl on friday and Saturday. The qualification went very well and I qualified in 3rd place behind Marcus Hoppe and Kili. In the semi-final I felt very strong but had some bad luck on the first boulder popping off with my hand on the final hold a few times. The comp was good practice but I felt a little uncomfortable in the comp situation again. Last season I entered many local bouldering comps to break the nerves, whereas this year I've had no practice and i wasn't flowing. I finished 9th and missed the final by an attempt. When you have a bad result you sometimes question whether comps are worth the hassle but they are because one day you could have luck on your side and climb fantastically and you will never forget the feeling of the crowd behind you......hope I'm feeling it in Hall.