Author Archives: Anak

Era Vella, my first 9a!

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In the beginning of April my parents and I left Belgium for a 2-week climbing trip. We first visited our friends Seb and Bélinda in France where Seb gave me all the bèta of an 8c named J’accumoncelle la Fatigue. It was his project in Les Auberts, a quiet and beautiful area near the city of Valence. I worked it out during the first climbing day of our trip and the next day both Seb and I were able to clip the chain!

J’accumoncelle la fatigue (pic by Sébastien Richard)

Seb and I satisfied with our climb

Then we travelled on to Margalef in Spain where I wanted to try Era Vella, a very famous 9a. There are often morphological moves in hard routes, but since Sasha Digiulian had climbed Era Vella, I thought all the moves had to be alright for women. I was excited to give it a try!

I started working out the moves very carefully as I realised that memorising all of them would be a real challenge. I spent some days finding my way through the conglomerate rock and searching for the best methods. After several hours of trying, hanging and trying again I could finally start doing real attempts. My first tries went well and I fell a few times in the last part of the crux. The route did not feel impossible for me to climb and I hoped to be making more progress when I kept on trying.

On my 5th attempt I fell at the last hard move near the top. It was physically exhausting, but the mental part seemed to be at least as difficult. As time passed by, I could feel the pressure increasing. Every time I did an attempt I had to find the balance between hoping for a top and the reality of a failure.

Era Vella (pic by Sébastien Richard)

After a rest day I gave it another try. I felt like I had difficulty breathing, but I still passed the crux. After a relative rest, where I stayed way too long, I climbed on but quickly felt that I was extremely tired. I was too pumped to climb properly and I fell a few moves further. I wasn’t sure whether I had to try again the same day or come back the day after, but my father encouraged me to do one more attempt and then go back to our van.

So that is what I did. I decided not to take such a long rest again after the first crux, but instead climb a little faster. I felt more confident while climbing and didn’t try to be too much in control. I passed the second crux and tried to be as focused as I could be. And finally, I arrived at the chain. It was done!

Era Vella (pic by Sébastien Richard)

During my nearly 23 minute ascent there was a lot of thunder and lightening, as if a battle was going on in heaven. I was hoping it wouldn’t start raining since the top part catches the rain, but luckily it didn’t.

After another rest day we went to the sector Raco de la Finestra. It was our last day and I wanted to try Aitzol-8c. I had no bèta and it was not easy to find the best method to do the crux move. I worked it out twice and after that I was able to top the route!

Aitzol-8c (pic by Patti Schockaert)

Just in time before we had to start driving back home, a 20 hour trip. I’ve had great holidays and I am very grateful for the teamwork which was necessary so that I could climb my first 9a. I am definitely blessed with a patient dad who lovingly belayes me hour after hour and my sweet mum who encourages and comforts me with every new challenge I face. Thanks to Seb for the pictures and to Johan for being a part of our team. Thank you Jesus for being my rock forever.

Era Vella – Margalef (Pictures by Sébastien Richard):

J’accumoncelle la Fatigue – Les Auberts (Pictures by Sébastien Richard):

MAD in France 2015!

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Half a year ago I had been asked to come and participate in a christian youth congres in Valence, in the south of France. And what an awesome time I’ve had during those 3 days!

MAD in France is held during the turn of the year and about 1000 youngsters from all over France gather to celebrate New Year’s Eve in a safe and alcohol free setting.
But more importantly, it’s a chance for them to hear about God’s love for everyone of us. About how we are all lost and seperated from Him due to our sin and how Jesus came to this earth to die in our place. And it’s a chance to make the biggest decision of your life: following the One who loves you more than anyone else and surrendering to Him who is perfect and wants the best for you.

It was just a huge privilege for me to be able to go there and I was super excited when I jumped on the express train from Brussels to Valence. On my own! It was my first time ever being at such a big youth event and I already got to see everything happen behind the scenes! I stayed with a French family who were so kind to me that I immediately felt at home. The Richard family: Sébastien and Bélinda with their 2 sons Samuel and Jonathan (6 and 7). They organise adventure camps with canyoning and rock climbing and started Vertical Horizon. Their house was beautiful and situated in a French dream village, just like the ones I have always admired. And of course I was submerged into the French language (and food, yum!) and forced to speak it every day, which was exactly what I had been dreaming of since a long time. Wonderful.

It was Sébastien who had asked me to come and do a workshop about extreme sports and faith. It was extremely encouraging for me to meet other christians, especially other athletes and to be able to tell about my climbing and competitions and how Jesus takes the highest place in my life. I really enjoyed meeting other young and enthusiastic people who speak another language, but have put their lives into the hands of the same almighty God.

And it took place in Valence, so yes… in the exact same building as the worldcup last year! Amazing to be on the same spot again and remembering all that had happened there.
Sébastien and I also participated in the opening show with a giant swing over the public. I just loved doing that! And I also got to do a demonstration on the climbing wall during the show on the 31st of December. It was just lovely.

Thanks to the organisers for making such a great event happen and to Sébastien and Bélinda for their warm hospitality during my stay!

Pictures by Sébastien Richard.

 

The last competition of a long season

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Kranj in Slovenia!

It was quite hard to end the season with a dissapointment. After the qualifications I was sure that my body was ill and it was a big mental fight to climb the semis the same evening. I almost couldn’t believe that I still made it to the finals!

I had a lot of time to rest since the finals were only the next evening. I hoped that my body would be recovered by then, but it was not the case. I still felt weak and I had lots of difficulty warming up in isolation. It was as if I was living in another body which did not have the strength to perform. I had never felt like this during a competition before, but I had no choice and I did my best to do what I could. I fell quite early in the final route and I became 7th, but I am happy that I was still able to climb the finals although I felt really bad. Already before this last competition my body was feeling different and during trainings I never felt really strong. After a bloodtest I now know that I was ill indeed and that I had an infection on my lungs. It’s time to rest! 🙂

It has been a long season with joy, pain, smiles and tears. I have loved the contact with the other athletes and the border-crossing friendships where nationalities don’t matter anymore. I would like to thank my parents for all their support and mental coaching and all those lovely people who cheered me on during the season.

Imst 2014 (Heiner Schmidl) 2

 

 

Korea, China and Japan

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It was an incredible experience to compete in 3 different Asian countries in 3 weeks! I am so thankful for an amazing 2nd place in Mokpo (Korea) and a 2nd place in Wuijang (China). The worldcup in Wujiang was probably the one with the most terrible routes ever for the female category. 😉 When I became 6th in Inzai I was quite dissapointed since I knew that I could have done better. On moments like that it is hard to accept, but I hope I will be able to learn from my mistakes. I really enjoyed being in Japan for the first time, but after 3 weeks of competing it was nice to be home again. 🙂

 

World Championships Gijón – Spain

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It was over so suddenly.
I did not have the chance to fight and give everything I had.
Why?
This remains a very big question mark.

Qualifiers were tough, much harder than I had expected, but I was able to top both the routes together with 5 other girls.

The semi-final route looked very risky in the beginning. While climbing I thought: This is one of the worst competition routes I have ever climbed. But the higher I got, the more relaxed I could climb. I felt so fresh in my forearms and although the last moves were really hard, I topped out! It was awesome. 🙂 And one of the happiest moments so far.

Finals would be the next evening, so there was a lot of time in between. But again, I experienced that I was not relaxed, but rather focused on what was to come. That would be good while climbing, but not when you are trying to fall asleep!

The finals became a sudden nightmare. I fell being still fresh and I almost couldn’t believe that it was over. Had I been too relaxed or maybe not focused enough? I don’t know. I really love to keep on going and to hold on as long as I can, but this was not what happened.
… as I was writing this post my father called me to have a look at the video, at the place where I fell. I saw that my right foot had slipped while doing the move…
I had no idea that this happened, only in a fraction of a second. Knowing this makes it a little easier to forgive myself!

I ended up on a dissapointing 6th place. I know that it is quite a good result, but I had really hoped to be on the podium.

The next day I woke up with a feeling as if I had been knocked-out in a boxing competition the day before. 😉 Mostly mentally.
People tell me that I have still a lot of years before me, but at the moment that doesn’t really count. I knew how hard I had trained for it and what would have been possible. But I hope to come out of it as a stronger person, even if this might take a lot of time.

Congratulations to Jain Kim with an amazing climb and a deserved gold medal! 🙂 Mina took the silver medal and Maggi the bronze.

 

the Ultimate Sacrifice…

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After the worldcup in Imst I was looking forward to a 2-week rock climbing holiday! Together with my parents I discovered Gorges du Loup, a beautiful place in the the south of France. The first days I was longing to climb, but I was still tired and even a bit ill. So after some more restdays I could finally begin!

The first route I did was Hot Chili X, a nice 8c, which I knew was possible for girls. I really wanted to try the 9a which Muriel had done, Punt X. With the help of the locals I tried working it out. The second time I tried it, I was able to do all the moves, exept one. I was surprised and happy that it went that well. But the next day I woke up with painful fingers which hurted when opening a quickdraw. I think the guilty hold was a 2 finger pocked named ‘la fourchette’ (French for ‘the fork’) by the locals which tells quite precisely how it feels. 😉 I decided not to try the 9a anymore, in order not to get injured, and I took another restday.

In the following days I was able to sent ‘Last Soul Sacrifice’, an 8c which begins with an 8b. In my first attempt I fell very high. I had past the hardest sections and I had been so close. That afternoon, after the sun had gone, I did another attempt. This time I felt so much worse than the first time, but I knew exactly what to do and I did not want to give up. It was so hot and I was thirsty while climbing, because the sun had been warming up the rock. I had to fight really hard, but then I finally reached the chain! 🙂

The locals supported me to try Ultimate Sacrifice as well. This one begins with a very short bouldery 8b and then joins the 8c. I worked it out a few times and then I did an attempt. I managed to climb the start and arrived already quite exhausted in the route I knew. But because of what I had experienced the day I had done the 8c, I knew that even when I was tired I was able to do the moves. This helped me a lot and gave me the confidence to keep on going. It was the same kind of fight, but I knew I could make it and I did! My first 8c+, so great!

For me this is a very special name. It reminds me of the one who gave Himself as the Ultimate Sacrifice for me: Jesus.

A holiday is always too short and I really began loving the place, but we had to return home.
On the last morning and in the very last hours I climbed an 8c named ‘Qoussai, les Maux de la Fin’. I had worked it out a few times before and I wanted to give everything, because I knew that it was possible. I almost felt like a competition! I was so happy and relieved that it worked out well. 🙂

Thanks to my parents for the hours of patiently belaying and to the other climbers who gave me such useful beta! 🙂

Worldcup Imst

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A heavy start, a battle in between, but good in the end

A warming up like I have probably never experienced before. Once I started climbing I felt so dizzy and weak as if my body just protested with every effort I tried to make. But in the middle of a competition there is no way back. So I tried to keep on warming up and keep focusing on the first route. I had to stop watching the screen of the video demonstration because somehow it made me sick.
I was not warmed up as usual, but I felt quite calm, because all I could do was my best. I was trembling a bit while climbing, but it made me happy that I was able to move upwards. I finally fell doing the last move! 🙂

I think this bad physical feeling made me able to let go of my stress and the desire to have everything under control.  It was at the same time an obstacle and a help.

After the qualifications I longed for a rest, as the semi-finals were already the same evening! Back in isolation I was getting more and more nervous as  time passed by. Something I find really hard is sitting in the call-zone, waiting for your turn to climb, and then come out and stand before a whole new route. Everyone knows how far you have to climb to reach the finals … exept you. 😉 But it is not impossible and as you start climbing, fear is pushed away and you have to be confident.

The first vertical part of the wall was not too hard or risky. In the overhang it became harder and less logical. I was glad when I reached the last part of the wall, but there I decided to do it differently as I had read it, which was not good and I fell.  I was not totally happy, because I knew I could have done more, but I was relieved that it was enough to be in the finals.

The finals would be the next evening, so there was some time to relax. Well… it is hard to relax when your head tries to be alert and focused on what is still to come. 😉

Enjoying Austria's beautiful nature

Enjoying Austria’s beautiful nature

As we read the final route it looked a bit confusing. No one was really sure about how the route was meant to be climbed. The first straight part was less hard than expected, but the roof was indeed confusing. I had no idea how to climb it. Suddenly I saw a little arrow on a volume. Turning? I was so relieved when I found a method and passed this point. Then I decided to clip a quickdraw, although the rope was behind my legs. While doing that I realised that I was loosing all my strength. Then I put the rope right again by moving my legs. I knew it had been the wrong decision. I couldn’t move anymore and I fell making a plus to the next hold.

It was a double feeling. I was happy about the first part, but I knew that I had made the wrong decision by clipping the quickdraw.

It had been a hard competition that felt like a real struggle, but I think that I have learned a lot in those days. In the days that followed I saw myself making that move over and over again. But I know nothing in my life happens accidentally and in the end I was happy with my 4th place. 🙂

Congrats to Maggi, who won her first worldcup! And to my age group-friend Jessi who became 3rd! 🙂