Author Archives: Anak

Sang neuf 9a – First Ascent

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This 15 meter project in Pierrot beach (Vercors, France) was bolted by Quentin Chastagnier.
I had first tried the route in April 2016, but had had to abandon it due to extremely cold weather. At that time my mother had filmed me while I was climbing, so that in case I came back, I would remember the movements.
And the hard work I had done last year payed off! I came back this year and did the first ascent on September 4th.

Climbing Sang neuf – 9a

World cup Arco

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The world cup in Arco (Italy) on August 25th and 26th was a very disappointing experience. In the final route I didn’t think about moving my left toehook a bit higher on a volume and I couldn’t reach the next hold. I fell there, having lots of strength left, but realizing that the comp was over. I became 6th.

Jain won the competition, Anne-Sophie was 2nd (her first world cup podium!) and Janja 3rd.

Photo by Sytse van Slooten

 

San Ku Kai, 8c+

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Right after the world cup in Briançon, I had a little time to enjoy nature and climb on rock for one day. I went to the beautiful crag of Entraygues and chose a route named ‘San Ku Kai’ as my project.
The circumstances that day weren’t perfect, but since I had only 1 day at the crag, I wanted to do my very best to top it. And it payed off!
I was able to climb the route in my very last attempt of the day! ?

I’m not sure about the grade of San Ku Kai.
I’ve been told that it was a 9a before, that it has been downgraded to 8c+/9a and that it might be an 8c+ now, due to a broken hold (which has created a better hold).

World Cup in Briançon

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2nd place for me during the 3rd Lead World Cup of the year in Briançon, France.

The qualifcations and semifinal went well for Jain Kim (KOR), Janja Garbret (SLO and me since we topped all 3 routes.

The final route was nice and pumpy and I was glad I smoothly passed the overhanging section. Clipping the last quickdraw before the top cost me a bit too much energy and I couldn’t grab the next holds as precisely as I would have liked. I fell one move lower than Janja who won the competition. Jain became 3rd.

Congrats to Romain Desgranges, Sean McColl and Stefano Ghisolfi for being the male medalists.

Worldgames in Poland

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On July 23th I won the gold medal during the Worldgames in Wrocław.
The podium with Janja Garnbret (SLO) and Julia Chanourdie (FRA) was decided by countback to the qualification round, because the 3 of us fell at the same move.

When I fell I wasn’t tired yet, but the way I tried to go on was just impossible. I knew this, but I could’t change anything about it since I hadn’t noticed a hold on the left. It was placed on a big volume and was impossible to be seen by the climbers from underneath during the 6-minute observation time.

But it turned out to be enough for the victory and I’m grateful for that! 🙂

It was a nice experience to be at such a big event and to meet other top athletes from non-olympic sports.

2 bronze medals

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  • The first world cup of the year was held in Villars, Switzerland on July 7th and 8th.
    In the final route I missed the top part of a slopy hold and fell before I was tired. A very disappointing way to end a competition, but I’m glad I was still on the podium.
    Congrats Janja for topping the route and Mina for taking home the silver medal.Replay of the finals (I climb at 1h 52min 18sec): https://youtu.be/VjOL83RGvDk?t=6738
  • The next world cup was only a few days later and was held in Chamonix, France on July 12th and 13th.
    In the semifinal I fell unexpectedly while turning my hand around – probably a little too careful and slowly and thus slipping off the hold. I was still qualified for finals on a provisional 7th place.
    –
    The final route turned out to be way too easy.
    I topped it and so did Janja and Jain. The podium was decided by countback to the semis.
    The scenario of the men’s final was very much the same: 4 tops and the athletes being split either by countback and even by their climbing time for gold and silver.This not what I’ve been training for. After 6 months of dedicated training and preparation into every detail, I am longing to be taken seriously.
    Lead athletes train for hard lead routes.
    –
    Please allow us to fight against the pump, climbing higher and higher, not giving up and holding on even when hanging on only 2 fingers, resting very little, but still resisting and doing another few moves even though our brain says we can’t – until we finally fall down, completely exhausted, but fully satisfied because we have done all we could have done.
    This is hard. Physically and mostly mentally.
    But it is what we’re training for.
    –
    Replay of the semifinals (I climb at 2h 34min 04sec):  https://youtu.be/lA01mvGkfe8?t=924
    Replay of the finals (I climb at 1h 47min 59sec): https://youtu.be/h54_akkODQY?t=6479
Photo by Eddie Fowke (thecircuitclimbing.com)

Photo by Eddie Fowke (thecircuitclimbing.com)