kitzrock bouldercup'10

The 2010 kitz rock event was, as always, fantastic with a massive number of climbers participating. The qualification round on Friday night was very busy and had a great vibe with loads of strong climbers wanting to get through to the semi-final round. The semi-final and final were held on Saturday and were world cup modus. The competition was intense in the final with a battle between Lukas Ennemoser and Kilian, Luki looking like a mashine and pipping Kili to the title. Jonas Baumann took 3rd place and I took 4th. Highlight of the event has to be our 4th bloc in the final, a pocket problem involving a huge footless cross-over on 2 finger pockets followed by a one-arm pull up...I was loving it! Looking forward to some rock now before the next event in 3 weeks.

(Elias Holzknecht)

CWIF 2010

When Graeme invited me and Sabby to climb for the Climbing Works Team at the 2010 CWIF alongside Gabri Moroni and Stéphane Julien I was a little suprised. Instead of worrying too much, I just used it as an incentive to climb really hard at the comp. The Qualification round involved climbing a circuit of 30 problems scattered around the Climbing Works. I got to work and started making my way through the blocs and was amazed by how good the quality was, every bloc had something special about. I qualified in 2nd place for the semi-final and the Climbing Works Team won the event ahead of some very strong teams including the beastmaker!

I made it through the semi-finals and was able to climb in the final with 4 other climbers. I slowly warmed up my aching muscles and enjoyed climbing infront of a cheering crowd. I finished in 4th.

work, train, ski, work, train, ski.....

The past few months have been spent in the practice, at the wall and on the mountain. I was able to spend a weekend in Chironico last month but it was too cold to try really hard so we ended up just climbing lots of blocs to keep warm. On Thursday I will be returning to the UK for the Climbing Works competition and spending the following week with the Austrian Bouldering Team on the grit.

next phase

The past month has been spent training strength at the gym and doing specific exercises at the wall. I have one more day of this training before I start the next phase which involves lots of exercises to improve my hand strength. I'm really missing climbing on the rock so we've planned a bouldering trip next weekend...can't wait.

los gehts!!!

The rest phase is over and I have started training for 2010. I will be training basic stamina for the next 3 weeks in Innsbruck, Imst and in the local bouldering wall. On tuesday we had a session at Tivoli doing double routes in the 7a-7c range. Towards the end of the session it was a real fight to hold on to the biggest jugs and the next day my forearms felt totally "fertig"....great feeling. Heading back to the UK for Christmas with Sabby and really looking forward to boulderig on the grit. I would like to do the Ace at Stanage...hope I'm strong enough after the stamina training?!?

Resting

At the moment I am taking a rest from climbing to let my body recover before I start preparing for 2010. I have been running and working on my core strength to ensure that I am fit enough to train effectively and I need to think of some attainable goals for next year to keep me motivated during this period. A great thing about Tirol is that you are able to do lots of diverse sports throughout the whole year meaning that you never get bored and you are able to take little breaks from training to do something fun like skiing through a forest of conifer trees with soft powder under your feet....can't wait!!!

(long slog up to 3000m peak Jan'09)

Siurana Trip

The Siruana trip was fantastic but way too short. I was a little overwhelmed by the lines, I had a few ideas of what I wanted to try before the trip but as you walk through the siurana valley every route is appealing. My dad was climbing very well...respect. Very much looking forward to returing to this magical place.

Outstanding routes of the trip:

migranya...8b (3rd go)
la cara que no miente...8a+ (2nd go)
el prado del rey...7b+
brigadistak...7a (fantastic)
lo deje to blanco...7a
xerinola...7b+ (amazing route)