BWC Log-Dragomer

The 2nd round of the 2012 Bouldering World Cup was held in the small Slovenian village of Log-Dragomer just outside of Ljubljana. Jacky Godoffe was the chief route setter so some interesting blocs/puzzles were to be expected.

I went into the event physically well prepared but just couldn’t get into the all important mental zone. The competition field is so strong at present and there’s literally no room for mistakes. I was having a bad day and that cost me a place into the semi-final. I finished 23rd.

Dave Barrans was climbing very well and made it into the semi-final on Sunday where he climbed 2 blocs finishing in 17th.

A real highlight of the event was watching Shauna Coxsey cruising through the qualification and semi-final into the final where she climbed incredibly well finishing 2nd after an awe-inspiring performance from Mina Markovic.

The next event is in Vienna starting this Friday. Tomasz Oleksy is the chief route setter, so powerful moves between crimps are to be expected! 

More info on the next event can be found here IFSC BWC Vienna

Austria-Cup Hallein

The second round of the Austrian Bouldering Cup was held in Hallein. It was a great comp to test how my training is going. I felt strong on some certain styles and less confident on others. I ended up in 4th behind Jakob, Kili and Lu. Lu and myself have some ideas for the next few weeks to finely tune our training ready for the 2012 Bouldering World Cup season. This year's training has gone incredibly quickly. I think it's due to trying a few new ideas throughout the different phases and doing lots of cross-training i.e. back country skiing.

The first round of the BWC is in Log-Dragomer (SLO) 21st April, but in the meantime we'll be heading up to Munich for a training weekend and over to Tessin for some granite bouldering.

Fontainebleau Trip

Back from a week in the magical forest of Fontainebleau. The weather was on our side as we moved from area to area climbing some of the most inspiring lines around. We worked our way through some incredible boulders such as Kheops, L'Apparemment, Partage, Hot Line, Lady Big Claque and many more. 

We spent one day at Jacky Godoffe's bouldering wall at the military station in the old town of Fontainebleau to train on some competition style blocs set by a group of route setters including my good friend Jamie Cassidy. 

I am looking forward to 2012, competing in the bouldering circuit and making inspiring trips like this one.

Here are a few images from the trip captured by Heiko Wilhelm.

Ski Touring

2011

2011 has been a great year full of highs and lows. I am looking forward to 2012, it's going to be an interesting year trying to live new adventures in my life. I'll be doing a few comps in Europe, trying projects at the local crags, dipping my toes into the World of alpine climbing but most of all making big changes in my career. I have big decisions to make to progress and this is the year to make them.

Have a good one guys.

UK Trip: Day 1

I woke up in Manchester this morning to the sound of rain tapping on the window. This was typical, I thought, we'd planned a day up at Stanage and it was raining!

I checked the weather forecast for Sheffield and it looked hopeful. We set off and travelled through the rain until we were greeted by the sun in the Peak. This was going to be a special day.

We climbed Deliverance and started trying the Ace. I have always wanted to climb this bloc. We first climbed at the Plantation a good few years back and I always admired how the boulder stood on the hill so proud. I climbed the Joker a few years ago and, since moving to Austria, I have always hoped to find it in good conditions when I returned on short visits.

Today it felt great.... I had to wait for the sun to hide behind a cloud before the best conditions arrived. With Mart and my Dad spotting, I climbed the bloc after a good few attempts. Such a good feeling!

Mart was looking so strong on the Joker, so we'll be returning to the bloc in the next few days.

What's next?

Since my trip to Spain I've been taking it easy. It's not been easy though, the weather has been unbelievably good and there are some incredible projects in Ötztal to be climbed. I have been trying a project of Hansjörg's with Lukas. I have not committed myself to trying a route of this difficulty since I climbed Mordor 2 years ago. It is almost as though I have been intimidated by the commitment involved. It feels really good to have this focus again and I am looking forward to the journey.