Weekend on Swiss Granite

It has been snowing so much in Austria...great for skiing and training! Last weekend I finally had some time away from work and went to Switzerland! We arrived in Chironico and discovered that it had snowed there too, found Dave and Ellie buried in the snow and went climbing! Climbed Dr Pinch (V10) and La Boule (V11). La Boule is amazing, the 1st hard move involves holding a press with left hand and you have to hold your body in the correct position to make the next move, it took me a while to get the right body position and then I climbed the bloc...fantastic last move to jug!

I started the 2nd phase of my training plan this week..Kraft training! I had a session in the gym on Tuesday and felt so weak! Another week of just gym work and then I start specific power training for climbing in addition to the gym work. It feels really good to be following a training plan, I feel so much fitter already and looking foward to another trip to Switzerland later this month to shock the body!

chiao

Endurance Training!

I started phase 1 of my training plan this week and it's hurting big time, it basically involves getting pumped over and over again and been amazed by how much stamina Babsy has. Going skiing on Sunday with the Austrian Climbing Team...it´s gonna be awesome because I think there will be some powder snow. Hopefully going to swiss next weekend to meet Dave Barrans, will do a few sessions on fingerboard before to make sure fingers are feeling strong.

craziest project in Ötztal

After spending Saturday moving snow around we went to have a look HJ´s new area in Ötztal. I was well psyched because he was always talking about it his new project, a crazy roof crack, and I wanted to check it out. When we got to the crag I couldn´t believe it, the project follows one of the best lines I have ever seen. I climbed a few other routes and made the 2nd ascent of a 3-star 7c+ with an all-out dyno to the last hold...amazin. Then I had the privilege of having a look at the project on a rope. Wow, the route follows a small crack through a huge roof with some of the best moves I have ever made with a rope on. There´s one bit where you have to make a cross-over jump into a good hold and then turn your feet around so they´re facing outwards and make a few moves in this position....crazy. I hope HJ climbs the route soon because I am so psyched!

Autumn Days

Went to Tumpen Bloc yesterday and climbed an amazing new problem 'Autumn Days' (V10). It starts standing and you pull off the ground on two crimps and place a right heel hook on a thin edge and slap all-out to a slopey edge, slap again and then rock over onto a slab. One of the best problems in Tumpen. Tumpen Bloc is getting some traffic now and it's great to see so many climbers enjoying the area.

I have been trad-climbing alot recently and went to a local crag today with Elias to climb some classic routes ohne bolts....It feels great to be getting used to placing gear and think we're going to climb a new route soon....it's going to be crazy. I think it's a good job that I'm not based in the UK at the moment...I KNOW I'd end up on some hard grit route. There is one route that I would love to climb: Equilibrium. Who knows...........................................

European Bouldering Championships

Location: Bercy, Paris
Position: =25th
Feeling: Satisfied
Due to a high number of competitors, the qualification round is now split, so there are 40 climbers in both groups climbing different problems. The top-10 from each group makes it into the semi-final. I finished 12th in my group missing the semi by an attempt. Ned climbed well in his group and made it into the semi-final where he continued to climb strong and finished 16th. The final was very inspiring.....I now know exactly what I'm missing and will get to work on it asap. A good finish to the season and I'm looking forward to next year. The 2009 World Cup is going to be mega...lots of travelling!

Tao 8c

On saturday morning I looked out my window and snow greeted me....the thought of getting back on this beautiful route this year vanished. I ended up in the bouldering wall training with Luki und Heiko and we made some amazing blocs with loads of crazy moves, Luki climbed one of the craziest dynos I have ever seen...to put it bluntly he is an absolute beast! Sunday arrived and I looked out at snow covered mountains and a crystal clear blue sky...I was psyched!

Piburger is another crag you can find in Oetztal. It's located above a beautiful lake surrounded by snow peaked mountains. The routes are steep and involve athletic moves between amazing granite holds. Tao starts on this little ledge high above the trees with some really aggressive shouldery moves on bad footholds, it then leads into continuous technical climbing with some really long moves on goodish holds to finish. The route is a proper PE type route and I'm well happy to have made the 5th ascent.

Pic: Kili climbing at Piburger (H.Wilhelm)

Zillertal ho

Had a cool weekend in Zillertal bouldering. On Sat we drove to magic places and climbed some nice classics. I really wanted to try the Riddler but the river was really high and couldn't be bothered getting my feet wet. Next stop was Wehr where I climbed Pitbull- an amazing move with a nasty crimp. On Sunday we went into the zillergrund wald and messed around checking out some nice blocs. It was nice bouldering again but seem to be more psyched for routes at the moment. I'm trying this amazing 8c above a beautiful lake. The route is perfect. Looking forward to gettin back on it this week. psyched!