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.

Two Days in Chironico

The weather is really bad in Austria at the moment i.e. lots of snow, so we decided to have a quick two days in Chironico. We arrived at around 12ish on Sunday and went straight to Team Work (8A). Sabby was psyched for the boulder and she climbed it pretty fast. It involves some good moves on nice crimps and some cool moves to top out. I then wanted to try the Great Shark Hunt (8A+). When I found the boulder I was amazed by the steepness and how good the holds were. I messed up the move to the sharp undercut a few times through trying to static it and then wimped out slapping for the sloper on the edge but on my 5th go i climbed the bloc...such a satisfying bloc but I don't think it's 8B because the holds are just too good.

The Great Shark Hunt

My skin was pretty bad after Sunday but I was psyched on Monday to look at the top area of Chironico. Warmed up and climbed Les Doigts Vert (7c+) and flashed Le Pilier (soft8A). Back in Austria now and it's totally white. I have a competition in Kitzbuhl next weekend, nervous but It's good prep for the World Cups.

sabby getting psyched

I went to Tumpen the other day with Sabby and found a wall that had a few nice blocs on it (already chalked and cleaned). I climbed the middle bloc (pic above) at around v7 and then had a quick go at the problem to the right...well hard. It involves a really hard move rocking over onto the wall. I don't think that this bloc has been climbed...but who knows??? Heading to Zillertal soon to try and climb the Incubator.

UK Trip

Just got from England and had a brilliant but short trip. On Friday we went to Stanage and the conditions were amazing and I was loving climbing on the Grit. I warmed-up and climbed the Joker V11. I've wanted to do the Joker for ages but have never found the right conditions. It's really nice when you catch the last sloper perfectly and then just swing to the jug...classic problem...well pleased. On Saturday I went to the Climbing Works for Team Training and had a really good training day but it was so cold in the Works. We spent Sunday in Manchester and back to Stanage on Monday. It was really warm on Monday ad impossible to climb hard in the Sun, But climbed Not to be Taken Away and Sabby climbed Brad Pitt!

UK Trip Booked

The weather is perfect here at the moment. Last week I went to Niederthai and attempted 'Brandy Tarte' Fr8c, I quickly got all the moves done and climbed it in two halves. I had already tried the route 2 years ago but couldn't do the crux involving a crazy lock to a 3-finger pinch and a powerful move to a flat hold. It snowed last night, so the route could be wet now, but will hopefully try it on Thursday if the sun keeps shining...not long before Mordor is ready!! Feeling strong. Heading back to the Uk later this month..will probably try the Ace or Voyager sit. Hope the weather will be good!?!

Training and skiing

I have just 2 more weeks of my system training..it's going very well, but I'm looking forward to starting the next period of my training which will involve campus board, fingerboarding and hard boulders. On a skiing front, it hasn't snowed here for a few weeks....but we managed to go on an incredible ski tour. It took around 4 hours of climbing until we were on top of the mountain "High Wasserfall" Oetztaler Alpen. The view was incredible and the ski down was amazing with perfect powder snow. Hope it snows soon.....