Climbing Trainer Course Innsbruck

I never realised that climbing is so complicated until attending this course...the Austrians certainly know what climbing actually involves. A great experience and I am thoroughly looking forward to the next stage.

Sardegna Autumn Trip

I first visited Sardinia back in 2003 with my Dad and a good friend, Luis. We had planned to escape the bad weather in the UK and had visions of climbing in the sun, whilst the rain continued to fall back in Manchester. As we approached the island, the weather was looking bad and, flying through dark stormy clouds, the hopes of climbing in the sun started to diminish. I remember that we attempted to drive to Cala Ganone but had to give up and stay in a village above the port because snow was blocking the road. We ended up drinking lots of grappa and having a massive snow ball fight in the local market square. Fortunately though, the weather improved and we were eventually able to climb.

 

 

Ten years later, I was off to Sardinia again, this time with Sabby. The weather in Tirol was horrendous but as we drove south the skies began to clear and the autumn sun began to re-energise our batteries. We were ready for a climbing trip! We met up with Kili, Anna, Reini and Tanja and started to explore some of the fantastic climbing areas in Sardinia. The harder climbing areas are a little out of fashion so it is very unusual to meet anyone else at the crag. I can recommend the climbing area of ‘So Telergin Oro’ for climbers who sought after steep tufa climbs.

We had some fantastic days climbing and swimming under the Mediterranean sun. One unforgettable day was when we decided to climb the Goloritze. There are two possible ways to approach this limestone spire from Cala Ganone. You can drive a good two hours and walk down towards the coast for an hour. Alternatively, and much more fun, you can hire a little speed boat from Cala Gonone and race across the choppy bay until the spire becomes visible. Cala Goloritze is a protected part of the coastline so boats should not anchor close to the beach. We decided this wouldn’t be a problem for us. We protected our climbing gear in bin bags and made a few trips back and forth from the boat to the shore, with the climbing gear balanced on Sabby’s lilo. We climbed the spire in four pitches and were able to enjoy the awe-inspiring view on the tiny summit before jetting back to Cala Ganone enjoying the evening sun before it hid behind the mountain range.

We will definitely be returning to Sardinia in the near future, possibly to explore some more of the multi-pitch sport climbing on the island.

photo: Kilian Fischhuber

photo: Kilian Fischhuber

photo: Anna Stöhr

Black Mamba Don’t Text

Last year we found one of the best new climbing areas in Tirol and the projects are slowly getting ticked off by the Oetztal climbing team. Elias Holzknecht bolted one of the king lines at the crag and kindly decided to declare his project open and free for people to try. I was keen to get stuck into a project and started working out the crux sequence. The route is incredible. It involves a pumpy bottom section leading to an amazing rest followed by a few really powerful moves on compact black granite. The upper section, winding up towards the chain, is technical and involves squeezing some wide granite pinches. 

The route is named ‘Black Mamba Don’t Text’ and is graded Fr8a+.

Lukas Ennemoser on the 2nd Ascent

2012

2012 began in the wild fisherman’s village of Whitby, contemplating the year ahead on long coastal walks, with the stormy sea blowing in the wind and in the historical White Horse and Griffin, where sailers from the past rested before their next adventures.

The rest of the Winter was spent training, snow shoveling, lots of ski-touring and free-riding on clouds of deep white dust.

A short trip to Fontainebleau prepared me for the competition season. In Fontainebleau we climbed some classics and some more classics, dreamt about climbing some other classics and so on...it was an awesome trip. However, the competition season started off slow for me. I felt physically prepared but was unable to find the right mental zone required in order to be able to compete well. I had a few lonely training sessions on my fingerboard and at the bouldering wall where I was able to find the balance again. At the following round of the Bouldering World Cup in Innsbruck I finished 6th in the final. I drove home knowing that the rest of my year would be a good one. I finished 6th at the final round of the Bouldering World Cup in Munich and it was a satisfying feeling turning my competition season into a good one.

The year has been full of different rock projects and with the totally unexpected finding of a new climbing area in Ötztal I was able to pick, bolt, clean and climb some new lines. Some major highlights of the year include making the first ascents of some older projects in Ötztal; ‘Ganesha’ and ‘Don Pedro’.  Another major highlight was climbing the classic ‘Wall Street’ in Frankenjura with my Dad and Sabby, it was just an awesome weekend desperately trying to stay warm during a fierce cold front.

The year finished free-riding through Polles Tal in Ötztal with some good friends and, as the winter sun set, I found myself in a new setting contemplating the new year ahead. 

Let’s see what 2013 brings!

Wall Street

In 1987 Wolfgang Güllich established the World's first 8c with 'Wall Street' in Frankenjura. 1987!
Sabby and I met my Dad in Frankenjura for a short climbing trip. We'd hoped for perfect conditions and to get loads of climbing done. What awaited us was quite the opposite. On Saturday it snowed and we ended up at the 'Fight Club' bouldering wall in Betzenstein. On Sunday we awoke to beautiful weather but freezing temperatures. We were optimistic and decided to head to the crag. After a really cold uninspiring warm-up, we got stuck into our routes on the Krottenseer Turm. I clipped up 'Wall Street' and worked out the moves again. It felt really cold and I was pretty close to giving up. I gave the route 2 attempts and fell both times on the last hard move due to freezing fingers. My skin wasn't looking good and I knew I had just one more go left. I gave it everything and clipped the chains in relief. My skin was destroyed. Sabby and my Dad battled it out on the Turm for a another few hours before we retired back to a warm gasthaus for some Weissbier and steak.

Don Pedro

Niederthai in Oetztal never seems to stop giving. Every year there is something new to climb. A few months ago I went up to Niederthai with Hansjörg Auer. He was trying a route, and I wasn't sure what to try. We started to talk about some projects in Niederthai and 'Don Pedro' became the obvious one to attempt. Local legend Markus Haid bolted and named the route after a speciality found in South Africa. Don Pedro started to build a reputation as this extremely hard short bouldery route next to Markus's classic Brandy Tarte. The route revolves around one really hard technical/powerful all-out dynamic move to a narrow pocket. I needed a good few attempts just to complete this move and realised that the route was possible. It took me many attempts to learn the strange body movement involved and after 6 days of effort this year I was able to make the first ascent of Don Pedro. I think the route is a hard 8c+. Hansjörg gave the route the nickname 'Hubble/Humble', it would be awesome if it became the Austrian equivalent of Ben Moon's classic Hubble. Time will tell. 

Here is a video of the ascent.

Don Pedro

Frankenjura Sep'12

A 3 week trip to France was planned but due to a busy practice the plan had to change. Living near Innsbruck is actually really good. One is pretty much in the best location for climbing in Europe with some of the best climbing areas just driving distance away. With Frankenjura just 3.5 hours away, Sabby and I decided to spend a week pulling on pockets. The first few days were really cold with our fingers freezing half way up the routes. After a day mountain biking on some of the best single trails I have ever experienced, the temperatures improved, and we started to really move on the rock. I climbed some awesome routes including Markus Bock's Paroli (8c), Morlock Shocker (8b) and Odins Tafel (8b). The climbing in Frankenjura requires a certain amount of control and there doesn't seem to be room for mistakes on the harder routes. I really like this style of climbing and I am going to work on a few weaknesses before returning for a long weekend at the end of October.