The IFSC Bouldering season is over

It's been a while since I came home from the IFSC World Championships in Munich.

I have been thinking a lot about what to write after this competition. It feels like I have to explain my results.

Instead I have decided to give you my thoughts on this bouldering season and explain why I'm still motivated to try hard next season.

This season I was really motivated to participate in as many IFSC bouldering comps as possible. I wanted to learn and progress.

I decided to only participate in the european comps because I did not have any permanent financial support. So first off were Grindelwald and Innsbruck back-to-back. I knew that I had to get in the game again. It would take at least one competition to get used to the whole atmosphere and mental pressure. I felt in really god shape at the competition, but nothing really clicked.
The same happened in Innsbruck. It felt like you were a climber from Earth, but had to climb moves from Mars..

Then I had 2 months during the summer where I could evaluate my climbing. I thought about every little detail and tried to train my weaknesses.
I did a lot of jumps and coordination and I started to feel comfortable in that style. I tried to get stronger by doing harder strength exercises, but I know that I still have a long way to go, so it was not my main focus.

Then next competition came close: the IFSC Bouldering World Cup in Laval. I felt like I was stronger than I had been in a long time. I felt in balance, and most important; I felt super motivated to try to climb as good as possible.

The competition in Laval is special. It is held on Entre Prises big prism walls. They are placed on a big stage in the venue with spotlights all over. So it gets really hot and there is absolutely no friction left at the end of the day. Therefore I hoped that I would be one of the first (bip-nr. 20-40). But instead I started as the second last climber.

I already knew what would happen: I would have to try to climb 5 boulder problems that would feel like 8B.

I still felt motivated, I tried to think positive and gave it my best shot.
It was super greasy, but I fell close to the top on every boulder problem! I was frustrated because I got spanked again, but what the result on the paper didn't tell was that I had just taken a huge step forward. I was doing the moves even though it felt impossible.

Then the season was over leaving only one competition left: the IFSC Bouldering World Championship in Munich.

The last world championship for me was in 2012 in Paris. I did 2 tops and almost flashed the 3rd one. That would have given me the top-19 ticket and a spot in the semifinals. Instead I ended up nr 49.

So this year I had great confidence when I came to Munich.
I was surprised that nothing went wrong in the last 3 days before the competition. I felt super good right until I had to climb. And then I don't exactly know what I did wrong. I could not even get to the bonus holds. I was just totally lost in my own climbing.
I ended up as nr 93. Of course I was disappointed, but at the same time I knew that this competition was just another lesson.

This season really made me think about what I am doing when I am on the wall. I have thought a lot about how to start executing a move and where to end in order to be in the perfect bodyposition for the next move. Its all about where you focus when you do the move.
I have also spend a lot of time trying to work out how to get the biggest momentum when executing a move. For instance now I can do moves almost as far as I can reach, where as before I was limited because I didn't start the moves with straight arms.

It is funny small details that changes the whole picture, and I think that this season made me look for those details much more.

These boulder competitions are more like gambling. You have to be lucky that the routesetting suites you and that you have a perfect day.
I have learned that more than anything this game is mental. I have to really want to do the moves in order to get to the top. I can't just try 80% and hope that it will be enough to do the next move. And when you find out that you are not pulling hard enough, or that you are not twisting your body far enough, you let go.

I need to practice climbing with 100% power in every move and in every decision on the wall. It is not like a training session where you try the move over and over again. In the comps climbing with 100% confidence, that I will do the next move, also makes it easier to do the boulderproblem in less tries.

Now the season is over and I can concentrate on outdoor climbing again. I am looking forward to climb as much rock as possible.
I will participate in the boulder cup again next year and I think that it will be interesting to see if these things, that I find hard now, will get easier by time.

One last thing to close this steady stream of self studies I have to keep it simple. Even though there are 1 thousand small details I still have to do only one move at a time. I have to keep it simple, it's just climbing.

B.

Up to date!

A lot has happened since my last post!

I spend one weekend in Stockholm, together with Tierra Ambassador Katrine Vandet Salling, to be there for the Tierra Boulder Battle. We were lucky enough to get the chance to be co-commentators at the event. It was a great experience and a new way for me to watch a competition.
Afterwards we dropped by the Tierra Headquarters. There is some really nice people behind all this and it reminded me of how much I enjoy being a part of this company!

Watch the stream if you missed the event. Some very cool boulderproblems set by the participants!

______________________

COPENHAGEN BOULDERS CUP pt. 1

In Copenhagen Boulders we held Copenhagen Boulders Cup part 1 out of 3. I was in charge of the routesetting and wanted to set something different. We all agreed in the team that we wanted to present some boulderproblems that would challenge the climbers in all aspects. But I also wanted to top the last competition.
What is really impressive is if a routesetter can match the level of the boulderproblems with the level of the climbers, give the crowd a cool show and have the climbers climb some very funny boulderproblems at the same time.
I think we did a good job. We risked a bit with some big swings, but I wanted to make sure we had a great show and that part went really well. Unfortunately we set the last female boulder a bit too hard. If there were just one top on the last female boulder the competition would have been almost perfect.

I think it is possible for us to have such a good indication of the level of the climbers, because we see what they can do in the gym on a daily basis. Without those informations it would be much more difficult to set the perfect level.

We had a qualification with 29 boulderproblems. I did not have so many volumes available, so we used around 30 volumes for the 6 final problems and set the whole qualification without a single volume. It was a great challenge and we were very satisfied with the result.

The video from the event is soon ready to be released, so watch out when it drops on the blog and on facebook!

_________________________

MAGIC WOOD

 Magic Wood

Foto: Katrine Vandet Salling

After the competition I got on a plane to Zürich. The climbing destination was set on Magic Wood. I had heard so much about the place, but never been there myself. So now it was time to chalk up and climb some of the best granite boulders in the world. 

When I first got to the forest I was very humble. The whole scenery was very overwhelming. I got so much energy just from being in the forest, breathing the fresh air and being close to the strong river. There is really something magical about this forest!

Jacks Broken Heart 8A+

Foto: Katrine Vandet Salling

After a couple of hours I slowly found out why this forest is magical! 

There is something in the air! The atmosphere, the nature and the people are so friendly. And it makes it so easy to enjoy the climbing even more. 

I wanted to relax and enjoy the nature so I did not have any expectations or specific lines I wanted to try. But after a couple of days it became clear which boulderproblems I had to climb! Some of the lines in the forest are the most beautiful pieces of rock I have ever seen. It is no wonder why the place is so popular. 

One thing that really surprised me was how beautiful the forest is. There is no trace of people, no trash. It is really good to see and it makes me enjoy the place much more. I have to return as fast as possible, to experience more natural magic. 

Sofa Surfer 8A+

Foto: Oliver Sahl- Madsen

I did climb some boulderproblems on the trip. As I wrote earlier; I wanted to relax and enjoy the forest, so I only tried things I cold do in a single session. So most of the boulders I did very quickly. 

One day though, I tried New Base Line 8B+. I did all the moves and linked the crux after 30 mins of play. I could do the line in 3 parts, but did not want to invest too much time in one boulder when the forest was full of beautiful lines!

After the trip I realized that I can probably do some of the really hard lines if I invest some more time. 

Super Nova 7C 

Foto: Mikkel Lima

Here is some of the beautiful lines I managed to climb: 

Intermezzo (flash) 7C

Samurai Tango (flash) 7C

The Gift (flash) 7C

Jack the Chipper (flash) 7C

Höhenzone (flash) 7C

Super Nova 7C+

Piranja 7C+

Muttertag 8A

Unendliche Geschichte pt 2 8A

Octopussy 8A

Intermezzo left 8A

Sofa Surfer 8A+

Jacks Broken Heart 8A+

I will hopefully return to Magic Wood again this year and maybe it is time for some harder tries ;)

Super Nova 7C

Foto: Mikkel Lima

Now I am back in Copenhagen and focused on preparing for the Boulder World Cup in Grindelwald 10-11 of May and Innsbruck 16-17 of May.

B.

National Bouldering Championships!

This weekend the best climbers from the whole country were attending the National Bouldering Championships in Blocs & Walls in Copenhagen. I was there to try to win the title and I felt really good just before the competition.

It has been 5 months since my last big competition. I knew that I had to get back in the game. So the qualification round was my "warmup" for this years competition. I had to do well in the qualifications to get one of the 6 prestigious spots in the finals. And I knew that if I got to the finals I would try as hard as possible to succeed.

In the qualifications I had to climb 5 boulder problems. I did very good on the first 3 problems. But when I got to the last two boulders, I did not choose the right beta and therefore I got no tops. I should have topped at least one of them. They were very straight forward, but I was stuck in the wrong sequence.

It is very good feedback which I have been thinking a lot about. I want to improve as a competition climber and this is clearly something I have to train more.

So - I made it to the finals and was super psyched to try hard. The 4 boulders looked super good. I saw that two of the boulders looked harder than anything else and that I had to climb well on those to win.

1. boulder:

Slab - The first boulder was the icebreaker. A nice start: feeling the body, the crowd, the situation.
Super easy moves, but with very high risk. I would say that it could be graded around 6A. So the boulder would be divided into 3 parts. First part was very balancy, second part; two transport moves: tricky-but-not-tricky, and the last part where you were standing nohands on the slab. One very slippery foothold kept me away from flashing the boulder.

2. boulder:

Vertical terrain with climbing on friction holds and the hardest move on the boulder being the campus swing to the bonus hold. I had so bad skin on right hand. It meant that I could not hold on when launching to the bonus hold. A few more attempts and the friction just got worse.. I really thought that I would top that boulder.

3. boulder:

The 3rd boulder was in the big roof. It was long and it was clearly meant to steal as much power as possible from us!
Once again I saw myself climbing the whole thing, but when it came down to holding the swing to the bonus hold and jumping to the next sloper, I was executing the moves too fast. I think I should have slowed down and focused on sticking the individual crux moves perfectly and not letting go with 5-10% left in my arms.

Another feedback which I will try to train..

4. boulder:

The final show-off boulder. The winner would be the one who would flash this beast!
This was a perfect final boulder - with a running start to a fairly good hold I was super confident that I could pull off a flash.
I was standing in front of the boulder knowing that it was possible to run from left to right, but that would require a very coordinated catch and result in a big, uncontrollable swing. Therefore I believed in running from the right side. I remember that the DJ was playing some very nice hiphop beats and it was perfect. I was in the zone.. Emptied my mind.. looked at the top one last time and started running..

I executed the moves perfectly and won the title:


Boulder DM 2014 #BJØRNENSOVERALDRIG from Lasse Arnel Iisager on Vimeo.

The routesetting team did a very impressive job pulling off this event. They had been setting for Youth A, Youth B, Juniors and Seniors in both male and female!

It was the biggest and coolest National Bouldering Championship ever. I would like to thank everybody there for the best atmosphere I have ever experienced in a competition! Lets hope next year will be even more crazy!

Now I will look forward and start preparing for international comps! Hopefully I will be able to find/raise enough money to be able to represent Denmark in the World Cup.. Stay tuned!

B.

January: Spain!

I just came home from a one month long trip to Spain. Spain is really something special for me and thats why I return every single winter to try super hard routes and hang out with my friends.

This trip we climbed mainly in Margalef.
I did not have any expectations. I went to Spain to enjoy climbing, and if I found something I wanted to dedicate my time to, I would allow myself that. But no goals set. Just the idea that, as a result of being way stronger than the previous winter, maybe I could climb something in the 8c- range.
In Margalef there are so many hard routes, so you just pick the one that works for you and try hard. Therefore I spent a lot of time trying different hard routes to try to find a project to dive into.
























After a couple of weeks I found out that L'espiadimonis 8c was a good route for me.
The route can be divided into 3 parts. The first, lower part is climbing on small, sharp, 2-finger pockets. Even tough there was some hard moves I found out I could climb the first part very fast. In this way I could save a lot of energy for the hardest part.
After the first part comes the crux. It revolves around a series of four holds. Either you skip a small, sharp mono with right hand and go directly to a good hold. This beta makes you very stretched out and you have to do a kneedrop-smear on a very bad and slippery foothold. That did not work for me. Therefore I worked out this different beta. My new way of solving the crux involved going with the "wrong" hand to the first hold, so I ended up crossing to the mono pocket.
I found out that I could fit the back-2 fingers into the mono. So instead of trying to cross to a small mono I could suddenly put a lot more power onto the hold with two fingers.
I had to jump from the back-2 finger pocket and take the swing, but it did not feel as hard as I thought.

 
It took me some time to force the fingers into the small pocket. It meant that I had to be semi fresh in right arm to hold on until the fingers were in place. As a result I worked my way back down the route to find small transitions between holds where I could rest my right arm. It was essential to make sure that the right arm had as much power as possible for the lockoff.
After the crux you get two bummer jugs and after there is around 10 meters climbing left on good holds. On the paper the route is over, but some of the moves are a bit tricky so you could definitely make a mistake at the end.

I went to Spain with good power and bad endurance. So the big deal on L'espiadimonis was to climb the whole thing..

As the redpoint battle unfolded I got some bad cuts. So with tape on my fingers they got thicker and it became more tricky to fit two fingers into the crux pocket. My hope of succeeding with this beta disappeared a bit, but the fight continued. Unfortunately I did not manage to put it all together and send the route.

When climbing at your limit its important to get into the right mindset to be able to succeed on the route. On this trip I really struggled with my head. I could not find that will to climb my projects. And at the same time it felt right to just wake up every morning, no expectations, go climb, try hard and enjoy that rhythm. I felt like I was waiting until it felt right to climb the route, but it never felt just perfect.

When I sit back and think about it I tend to get a bit angry at myself. I was there, right in front of a beautiful route in the most beautiful setting. How could I not care about climbing this route? Well I know that I cared, but maybe I did not try 100% every time.. But why not?
I have told myself that I needed exactly what happened: I went climbing every day, tried hard and had fun. Thats a lifestyle and that is the lifestyle I am so closely related to.
Climbing can teach me so many things and on this trip I learned some important things that will make me evolve as a climber and as a person. I am very excited to have spend one more winter in the best sports climbing destination in Europe.

See what I think about the climbing in Margalef and some good burns on L'espiadimonis 8c right here:

I have left Spain with a lot of projects. I can see myself climbing them pretty fast if I get the opportunity. Now I am back to my daily routine with training and routesetting. The journey continues and I am looking forward to where it takes me next.


B.

TwoEights&OneSeven

Finally this short flick is done!
The video was shot during a two day trip to Kjugekull.

With a quick edit I have secured the sunday-entertainment!

Remember to watch it in HD on vimeo

Enjoy!


TwoEights&OneSeven from Bjørn Arnel Iisager on Vimeo.

Kjugekull 7-8 december

I just had what I would call the best day of my life on Kjugekull! Everything worked out, I played perfectly on the rock and had great people around me.

6 people, one Caravelle and only one place to go on a cold weekend day - Kjugekull! I have a long todo-list of boulderproblems that I need to do in order to feel like I am moving forward in my bouldering.
Some of the boulderproblems on the list were the targets for the day.

As we drove from Copenhagen we met very bad weather. Heavy snow and clouds. But 20 mins. before arriving at Kjugekull everything changed in our favor and the weather was perfect. Cold temps and clear blue sky with the sun warming these 6 diehard fools.

I warmed up on Store Bjørn 7B+. Felt very good, but the friction was not really great. I knew that I could do at least one of the problems on my list.

First up was the famous Lajfstajl 8A, put up by Carl-Ola Boström back in the old days. I knew what I had to do.. I went there alone with two pads and my camera. I chalked up the holds and went for a warm up try. I climbed to the final move easily and fell off the last, long move. I felt good, but the last crimp was so greasy. I chalked it up again.
This time I really crimped the hold. In the last second I changed my mind and went for another beta. Stupid idea that led to another fall.

Then something weird happened. I visualised my body climbing the problem, easily and with great confidence, in the next try. I was so convinced that I would do it next try that I felt almost relieved - it was like; "I have already done it so now I will just do one more try for fun!". I chalked up and climbed Lajfstajl 8A as predicted.

After the send I knew that I could do one more. So with two pads on my back and the camera ready I went to try Aerodynamite Low 8A. If I could do two 3 star boulderproblems, on Kjugekull, in this difficulty, in one day, I would be so happy!

I chalked up the holds. I remembered the moves from other tries. The boulder has one very awkward cross to a friction pinch followed by a lockoff to a crimp and then finishing off with Aerodynamite stand start.

I knew that I had to pinch as hard as possible to hold on. After two tries I found a small crystal for the right hand pinky. With that small detail I could squeeze super hard and suddenly the move felt easy. And after some controlled deadpoint catches on the top slopers I found myself on top of the second, hard boulderproblem that day!

So, now I started thinking.. What if I can continue this crush-mode through the rest of the forest?! What boulderproblem should be next?
On top of my todo-list is Huggsexa Sit Start 8B. It is super good moves on small crimps. Perfect compression testpiece.

My mind started to trick me.. I knew that I had tried the line with no luck before. I had fallen off the last move around 10-15 times. It is so mental for me. But I knew that this day would get even better with that tick. So once again I packed the pads and the camera. The whole group went to the boulder to climb Fin Areten, Sonic and Huggsexa Sit.
I got right on working the moves. Did some burns to remember the perfect sequence. I chalked up and tried from the sit. 3 tries later and 3 times rejected from the topout - falling of the last move.

I packed my stuff and accepted the fact that the battle should continue. I would be back the next morning to finish off this beautiful line.

The next morning we woke up to heavy snow. We went directly to Huggsexa, but the snow was everywhere and increased heavily every minute.. I warmed up on the first 5 moves, waisting no time. Rested a bit and knew that I would only have one good go before the snow would be too much. I started off. My skin was feeling sore from the day before - I did not want to let go, so I crimped a bit harder.

The try was almost perfect. Once again I fell off the lip. It was super wet.

The day ended in Copenhagen Boulders with a plastic session to "recover" from the snow.
I will return to Huggsexa Sit Start with regained psyche in the nearest future!

B.

Imperator 7B+?

This is the only video I could get from my iphone from yesterdays ascent. Its bad quality, but gives you the idea of the "new-new" beta.. With the heelhook and the left gaston crimp I can move statically to the lip!

Remember to watch it in HD on vimeo


After this burn I was all fired up and did the sit start right after a short break! Happy to have done such a nice classic boulder!

B.

Time for a change!

Time for a change - I have been thinking a lot about writing my blog posts in English, so from now on that is what I am going to do. More people are interested in what I am doing so its about time to do this in English..

To day I went on the seasons first one-day trip to Kjugekull. Its my home turf and I love the place!

Its always a battle with the weather trying to find the perfect velcro-stick conditions. So driving towards Kjugekull I looked for the signs that this would be a good day for climbing hard! Unfortunately the place was soaking wet. We tried to warm up on some easier boulders ("The four-layer man in the two-layer version 7A) before looking for some "dry" challenges..
Some of the unfinished projects were dry, but we decided to try Imperator ss 8A and the climbs in that part of the forest. I knew there was a new, easier beta for the huge deadpoint to the lip. With a high right heelhook I could move statically to the lip! I tried to get the ascent on video, but my iphone could not save the video. Therefore I had to climb the sit again - this time my iphone ran out of power! So only one picture survived the power shutdown..

Immediately after sending the stand start I went for the sit - only one go and great success! With the new beta it feels so easy. The season is on and I cant wait to climb the unfinished projects in the forest.

B.

Multipass, la Kraken, Controle A

Henning Wang tog nogle super fine fotos fra en uge i Fontainebleau. Tror det er mellem 5-10 gang jeg besøger skoven, men hver gang kommer jeg hjem med nye bevægelser i repertoiret og nye svagheder som jeg skal arbejde på.  

Super Classic highball, Multipass 7B

Store bevægelser på La Kraken (droite) 7C

Delikate bevægelser på Controle A 7C

 B.

Video fra Bleau

Henning Wang har klippet denne video sammen fra hans ophold i Fontainebleau i oktober. Jeg er med i videoen hvor jeg blandt andet forsøger at klatre Controle A og giver Dosage et flash forsøg.
Jeg var også på L'Æil de la Sybille 7C i det store Cul de Chien tag. Den ekstremt lange cruxbevægelse (154cm) var det eneste der holdte mig fra at klatre alle problemerne, i taget, i en session (jeg fik målt ape-index på turen og har "kun" 177cm at flytte rundt med).

Se Madskillz Media's video HER

B.

Flere billeder

Her kommer de bedste billeder fra mit Kran fotoshoot med Tierra og Singing Rock. Det var en super fin eftermiddag i solen højt over København!

Tierra Ambassadør!

Jeg er stolt af at kunne skrive at jeg er blevet en del af Tierra, som en af deres ambassadører.

Tierra laver unikke og gennemtestede produkter til et liv på det vertikale. Igennem hele deres kollektion er der et utrolig behageligt design som gør at tøjet både er godt til klatring og hverdags aktiviteter.

For 2 uger siden havde jeg Tierra Granite Shorts med til Göteborg. Det er allerede blevet min favorit beklædning over sommeren da de er luftige og giver plads til bevægelse samtidig med at der er tænkt over hvor lommerne sidder når man har en sele på.
I Göteborg blev det til en masse 7'ere i det gode vejr, et flash af Epicentrum 7c og endnu et sjældent ascent af Big Bang 8a+ på Tjörnbroklippan. Værd at bemærke (og efter hvad jeg har kunnet læse mig frem til) er at ruten vist aldrig er blevet klatret af en dansker før, og at den næsten aldrig bliver klatret i det hele taget. I hvertfald passede den mig rigtig godt, med lange, cruxede deadpoint bevægelser til slopede crimps. Under mit ascent styrtregnede det, så den kan altså også klatres våd hvis man har lyst til det ;)

 Foto: Jonatan Ørting

Foto: Jonatan Ørting 

Tierra samler også årligt verdens eliten til Tierra Boulders i Stockholm, så hold øje med deres bevægelser for deres events er værd at overvære!

Hvis du vil vide mere om deres produkter så kan hele kollektionen findes ved at klikke på tierra logoet ovenover.