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!

Blasius 8b+

I climbed a really cool route yesterday at a crag pretty close to Imst. The route is called Balsius (8b+) and involves some powerful moves on undercuts with a tricky top section. Here is a link to a video of me trying the route last Sunday made by my good friend Elias:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ldPTeMEDJ4

UK Trip

Back in Austria after visiting the UK for the BBC. I was so psyched for some classic lines on limestone but the weather was pretty bad leaving some of the crags wet. However I did climb some great routes including Ben Moon's classic 'Zeke the Freak' 8b (pic). On Sunday we went to Chee Dale and I climbed 'Entree' 8a and then I decided to have a go at the 8b to the right...the rock is perfect but I split a tip on the first move...putting a stop to my attempts. Well psyched to do it in Sep when return for the British Team training day.

British Bouldering Championships'08

What an event! The 2008 British Bouldering Championships was a mega success. The event was so much bigger and better than last year. I was amazed by how many strong climbers turned up to compete from around the UK. The qualification round went well and I felt proud to get into the final. During the break before the final I chilled out in the Sun catching up with friends, which was great. The girl's final was fantastic to watch and it's good to see some new climbers on the scene. The guy's final was one of the best ever. The final bloc would decide who would get the title between Dave, Ned and me. Dave was up 1st and missed the crucial beta on the final move and fell, then it was my turn and I missed the beta.......Ned's turn; on his 1st attempt he missed the beta and I thought I'd won but then on his 2nd attempt he climbed the boulder perfectly topping out and winning the title. I finished 2nd and Dave 3rd, complete results available at the BMC website.

So perfect venue, massive crowd, lots of respect for the comp.....it must be time to hold a round of the Bouldering World Cup at the Cliffhanger event.