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! 🙂

Chamonix and Briançon

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I have many reasons for being grateful for my results in the last worldcups. This season I hoped to do as well as last year, but this is much more than I expected!
Briançon will stay in my memory for a long time. It was so special. Heavy rain, a shower of hail while warming up, flashes of lightning and no more light in isolation. That’s why the finals had to be cancelled. All of a sudden I realised how small we as humans are.

It was so nice to go to the worldcups with my friend Celine, who climbed her first worldcups and first semifinal. We had a great time training, swimming and relaxing in between the competitions.

My final route in Chamonix (1 hour 32 min 28 sec).
My semifinal route in Briançon (2 hours 30 min 30 sec).

 

Worldcup Haiyang, China!

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The night before the semi-finals I was lying in bed overthinking all the possible scenarios that could happen the next day. It was so hard to just stop thinking. I hoped to reach the finals, I knew I could, but there were so many other strong climbers, and… so on.
So typical, but so wrong. 😉 I think every competition climber and maybe every athlete knows these kinds of thoughts. But it doesn’t help, on the contrary…

The next day in isolation it was quite hot and a little humid. While warming up I felt so much better than during the qualifications. I’d been tired of the long journey and the restday had been really welcome!
The women’s semi-final route had lots of small holds in it and it looked as if it would be hard from the start.
When I started climbing it was indeed very difficult and a little risky.  It felt as if I did every move the wrong way and I was relieved when I arrived in the roof. The vertical part had been pumpy, so I tried to rest as much as possible. I managed to come out of the roof, and I did some more moves on super bad holds.

When I came down I thought that most of the climbers would have fallen higher than me. I just didn’t dare to hope it would be enough for the finals. But then I was told that I was placed 1st at that moment! It was quite hard to believe that I had done really well. 🙂

After the semis everyone went back to the hotel (I’d never seen such a luxury one before!) to have a little rest and a meal. Some hours later I was back in isolation, so happy that I had the privilege of being in the finals again. I always love the observation, and the possibility of discussing a new route with the best climbers in the world. 🙂
Our route was incredibly complicated, escpecially one sequence in the roof. None of us totally understood it and we just guessed what the routesetters could have meant.

When I started the route, I was glad that the beginning was easier than expected. But when I arrived at the complicated part, I had no idea of how to do it. I tried different options, always coming back and getting more and more pumped. Then I just did it like I had tried it at first and I thought ‘I should have done this immediately!’. I was close to falling, but was able to grab the hold and go on. Whew! After some searching I managed to find my way through the volumes and the route started traversing to the right. At that point I hadn’t much power left and after some more moves I couldn’t hold on anymore.

I had the same feeling as after the semi-finals. But then I heard that it had been as hard and complicated for everyone and that I was in 1st place! I watched the others climb and I thought I would become 4th, which would be amazing. But… I became 3rd. As I realised this, I really couldn’t believe that it was true. 🙂
I had never hoped to be on the podium. I thought it was a far dream and something I hoped to reach after some years.

It was truly unbelievable. But what I loved most of all was the contact with all the other climbers. People I had admired and cheered on during their competitions, were now congratulating me! The climbers world is such a special one. Although competition is meant to give athletes a rank, it’s so special how our sport brings friendship and kindness instead of arrogance or jealousy.