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.

IFSC Bouldering World Championships 2014 in Munich!

There is only one day left before I will fly to Munich to compete in the IFSC Bouldering World Championships 2014. I am in shape and ready to try as hard as possible to reach top 20. I have been adjusting my style for the past 2 seasons now and I am getting closer and closer to my goal.

With 40 countries and 200 climbers it's going to be super tough! 

For this competition I will be supported by my very good friend Kim Nilsson, the man behind Schimproductions.com. I am very grateful for all the help I can get no matter where it comes from. Remember to check out his Vimeo page, home to some of his very nice climbing movies! 

The competition will be live streamed from saturday (semi- and finals) on:

http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/

and 

http://live.redbull.tv/events/426/ifsc-boulder-world-championships-2014-munich/

Look for updates here and on my Instagram profile!

Now I will tune in and focus on my climbing. 

B.

IFSC Boulder World Cup Laval!

Here we go again!

I just finished the last training session before flying to Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris tomorrow. Next World Cup competition is this weekend in Laval, France, and Katrine Vandet Salling and I are competing.
This is the 3rd world cup in this season for both of us. We are ready to try our best and try to make up for the mistakes we made last time.

I have been training intensively for the last month and I feel in better shape than at the last world cup. I hope the competition day will be perfect for me and that I can make it to semifinals this time.

There will be live streaming from semi finals and finals. Lets hope there will be two danish competitors on the screen this time!

Here is the program for the live stream:

Follow THIS link to view the finals saturday 20:30!


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.

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.

La forêt update!

Den sidste uge blev tilbragt i Fontainebleau. 

Turen startede få dage efter DM var overstået. Jeg havde ekstremt slidt hud og tog afsted med bekymringer om at det kunne begrænse min klatring. På mirakuløs vis kunne jeg holde huden kørende alle dage uden blod. 

Tiden blev brugt på at forstå skovens mysterier og på at finde nye områder med endnu mere klatring. Her er klatring nok til 10 liv så det er bare om at komme ud og prøve nye blokke hver dag. Jeg var så heldig at komme op ad nogle problemer som har stået højt på ønskelisten lige siden mine første ture til la Forêt. Et par højdepunkter var mit lyn ascent af Michel Ange 7C. En super klassisk shoulder-breaker blok sat op af J. Godoffe i 1990. Michel Ange består, for en tilskuer, af meget simple bevægelser, men det er ekstrem komplekst hvad der sker med vægtoverførslen i kroppen - genialt. 

En anden god dag bestod af et flash af Dosage 7C i Buthiers. Lige efter rykkede vi crashpads til Controle A 7C som jeg klatrede forsøget efter Dosage. 

Ticks for 7 dage: 

- Multipass 7B

- Diversion 7B

- Bifurcation 7B

- Le Kraken 7B+

- La Fosse aux Oreilles 7B+

- Arabesque 7B+

- Le Kraken (droite) 7C

- Dosage 7C

- Controle A 7C

- Nouvelle Vague 7C

- Eclipse 7C

- Michel Ange 7C

- Welcome to Tijuana 7C

Det er super inspirerende endelig at tage hul på disse "umulige" linjer. 

Tarjei Hamre - 7B+ slab i Bas Cuvier

Tarjei Hamre - Welcome to Tijuana 7C

Tarjei Hamre - Welcome to Tijuana 7C

Bjørn Arnel Iisager - Michel Ange 7C

Katrine Vandet Salling - La Rampe 7A

NM i Bouldering 2013

NM i Stockholm er veloverstået og jeg er kommet hjem med en fantastisk 3. plads!

Jeg har virkelig brugt mange uger på at evaluere min tilgang til konkurrence klatring. Jeg har forsøgt at finde så mange svagheder for at få dem rettet. Man kan altid blive stærkere, men det gavner ikke særlig meget hvis man ikke har styr på hovedet. Derfor har jeg fokuseret ekstra meget på min mental træning og hvordan jeg forbereder mig op til konkurrencen, samt hvad der er i hovedet lige inden jeg skal på. 

Jeg har i dette efterår meldt mig til så mange konkurrencer som muligt. Meningen var at jeg ved hver konkurrence kunne stille op med et slags mind-set og så få feedback på hvad der virkede og hvad der skulle ændres.

Fra EM - Big Guns -Bloc Comp til NM....  Kulminerer det på lørdag? 

Jeg ved at jeg skal have gjort noget ved mit hoved til konkurrencer. Jeg skal være mere i kontrol og kunne fokusere på de rigtig ting på det rigtige tidspunkt. 

EM var første konkurrence efter en lang sommer med massere af sjove oplevelser. Jeg skulle samle erfaring til de kommende World Cups i 2014 og forsøge at komme ind i konkurrenceklatring igen. Jeg elsker de store konkurrencer. Her har jeg mulighed for at studere verdens bedste konkurrenceklatrere helt tæt på og forsøge at lære af dem. Det er en hel videnskab at kunne styre nerver, spænding, styrke og svagheder i de 4 x 4 min. 

Jeg fik massere af erfaring med hjem og før Big Guns konkurrencen nåede jeg at ændre på mange ting i min forberedelse og hvordan jeg styrer mit spændingsniveau. 

Ved Big Guns i Pløks var jeg godt kørende i træningen på ruterne. Jeg følte virkelig at jeg kunne klatre ruterne med lethed. Jeg holdte slet ikke tilbage. Stor fejl. Det resulterede i at jeg ikke havde respekt for bevægelserne, glemte kropsspænd i en ellers "let" sektion på ruten og faldt alt for tidligt. Resten af konkurrencen forløb på samme måde. Jeg holdte igen ikke tilbage og faldt for tidligt i finalen.  

Så mellem Big Guns og Bloc Comp havde jeg fået justeret lidt mere. Nu vidste jeg hvordan spændingen ikke skulle være. 

Jeg gik i gang med kvalen til Bloc Comp 4 med en lidt mere afslappet tilgang. Det fungerede og jeg gik videre til finalen. Jeg forsøgte samme tilgang, men efter første blok begyndte jeg at tænke på resultater. Det er altid en stor fejl at tænke på udfaldet af noget der ikke er sket endnu når man skal fokusere på at være i nuet. Så fokus røg og jeg blev unødvendig nervøs. Det påvirkede mig meget mellem 2. og 3. blok i finalen. Så på 3. og 4. blok var jeg ude af fokus og toppede kun 4. blok. 

Endnu mere feedback og endnu mere justering før det var tid til NM i Stockholm. 

Jeg tog til Stockholm med en indstilling om at NM ikke var vigtigt. Et svært udgangspunkt som jeg tacklede ved også at håbe på at jeg kunne nå at komme ud og se nogle af de vilde boulderproblemer der ligger i Stockholm-området. På den måde kunne jeg glæde mig til at komme udendørs og bruge den energi i konkurrencen. Det virkede.

Jeg havde et fint spændingsniveau og fokus lå perfekt på min stil. Jeg lavede en masse småfejl som skal justeres inden på lørdag. Jeg glæder mig til at se hvordan jeg kan holde styr på alle disse ting og forhåbentlig klatre perfekt på alle boulderproblemer.

Jeg har før haft svært ved at gøre konkurrencerne vigtige for mig. Min passion for bouldering og sportsklatring udendørs vil altid være størst, men jeg har efterhånden lært at jeg kan lære mig selv at blive bedre til f.eks. projekt-klatring og onsight klatring ved at klatre konkurrencer. 

Så derfor har målet til konkurrencerne for tiden været min stil. Altså forsøge at klatre perfekt på alle boulderproblemer. 

Det er begyndt at fungere hvis jeg glemmer at tænke på at det er en konkurrence. Og snarere tænker på hvordan jeg kan klatre som jeg gør når jeg er udendørs. For jeg vil vove at påstå at jeg kan klatre bedre udendørs end på plastik.  

Søndagen efter NM tog vi til Jumkil nær Uppsala. Jeg klatrede Volt og Ampere henholdsvis 7B+ og 8A i -1 grader-perfekt-skyfri-himmel-velcro-stick vejr. Hvad graderne angår så betyder de ikke noget for det var den bedste måde at slutte 4 super sjove dage af!

En lille sjov info er at de internationale regler er ændret så man ikke behøver at have 4 startpunkter på boulderproblemer. Så i fremtiden vil det give rutebyggerene flere muligheder for at lave funky show-problemer. Forhåbentlig bliver DM på lørdag et show uden lige - jeg glæder mig ihvertfald!

B.

Dagen der på..

Pakker igen for at tage til lufthavnen. Denne gang skal flyet bringe os hjem fra EM bouldering i Eindhoven. En veloverstået konkurrence med spænding til det sidste blandt favoritterne.

Jeg havde nogle nye ting som jeg ville prøve af. Eksperimentering med elementer i forberedelsen. 

Ingen kaffe var første eksperiment. Jeg havde skåret det væk 1 uge op til konkurrencen. Ideen var at det kunne blive lettere at afstemme spændings niveauet. Det resulterede i at jeg ikke kunne komme op i gear. Jeg kunne ikke finde tændingen frem. Jeg var slet ikke spændt da jeg sad i isolationen og havde 1 min tilbage. 

Og spændingen er det vigtigste. Jeg plejer nemlig at glæde mig til at komme på - til at skulle løse gåderne. 

Jeg bliver nogle erfaringer rigere og kan tage det med til næste World Cup. 

Her kommer lidt om kvalifikationen:

Isolation: 

Alle er her. Verdens måske stærkeste samling fingre. Vi mangler kun USA og Canada, men de må vente til VM. 

Russerne pendulerer mellem træner -hans lægetaske med energipiller og gele, og opvarmningsvæggen hvor de mindste greb bliver flået i stykker i en kombinationen af campustræk. 

Østrigerne i samme tempo, samme overskud. Gui-Gui er stærk. Han skal forsøge at hive guldet hjem til Frankrig og jeg ville skyde på at han kommer rigtig langt (han varmer op på det samme som de andre, bare uden fødder). 

Resten af feltet sidder og venter. Vi har et par timer der skal slås ihjel. Et par energiske gutter forsøger at huske favoritternes opvarmningsproblemer. Det giver bagslag - lussinger uddeles allerede i isolationen - ikke en god måde at varme op på. 

1 blok. 

Jeg er slet ikke spændt. Kan ikke finde det rigtige mind set frem. Har gået rundt i en tåge af træthed og nu skal jeg forsøge at kvalificere mig til semi finalen i EM. 

01:20 min tilbage. Der er tryk på musikken og publikum er tændt. Folk toppe problemer her og der, men det er et stykke tid siden vi kunne tælle 5 publikumsbrøl pr deltager. Altså er de stærkeste allerede færdige. 01.00 min tilbage. Jeg tager sko på og kalker op. Jeg kan ikke finde ud af hvordan friktionen kommer til at blive. En lille vind blæser i det store telt, men kommer nok ikke til at hjælpe mig. 00:00min, to kasser, underclings og en stor sloper før slutgrebet. En icebreaker. Den lette blok som skal få brudt isen hos de nervøse. Jeg er ikke nervøs, men ville gøre alt for at jeg var. 

Første træk, andet, tredje, sloper og top. Flash af første og hurtigt tilbage til iso. 

2 blok. 

Crimps. Guf for mig. Jeg ser en god flash mulighed, men ved at hældningen kommer til af snyde. Første træk lidt ude af balance. Andet træk. Zone. En incut crimp jeg får godt fat i. Næste greb er smør. Jeg kan slet ikke få fat i det. Flere forsøg går med at prøve at holde grebet. Det er så tæt på slutgrebet at jeg overvejer at gå direkte til toppen. Tiden løber og jeg når ikke at afslutte..

3 blok. 

Dynamisk og tungt tema. Her skal de fleste skilles fra. Et flash er nødvendig for semi. Jeg får ret godt fat og kommer let forbi det dynamiske træk. Et heelhook og jeg har zonen. Igen føles det som smør. Kan slet ikke trække i grebet. Friktionen er ikke eksisterende. Har efterhånden opdaget at de ikke kan børste de højeste greb på problemerne. 

Må gå tomhændet derfra. Stadig ingen tænding. Irriterende når jeg nu står her. 

4 blok. 

Crimps og kryds på egen akse. Burde være noget for mig. Første indtryk er at det er ret let. Langt kryds, crimp, høj gaston og lockoff mod slutgrebet. Smut! Foden ryger af. Min sko er så slidt at gummiet ruller når jeg lægger vægt i det lille fodtrin. Normalt en bevægelse jeg er super komfortabel i. Prøver igen. Bunden er super let nu. Langt kryds til en crimp, gaston med højre og venstre fod endnu engang på fodtrinnet. Smut. Samme problem. 00:20 sek tilbage. Ikke tid til endnu et forsøg. Den top skulle jeg bare have haft. Super ærgerligt. 

5 blok

Slab. Plejer at være heldig på slab problemerne. To slopere som start greb, en god højre fod og en super dårlig venstre. Den havde et tykt lag gummi efter alle de forrige sko der er smuttet af den. Og kalken på madrassen hjælper ikke. Kunne ikke finde balancen i mantle-bevægelsen til zonen. Følte det umuligt at rejse sig efter omstændighederne. 

Kunne mærke at dette heller ikke ville blive min 2 top. 

Alt i alt føltes det "lettere" på blokkene. Jeg føler fremgang og at jeg har mere at trække med. På en god dag er jeg ikke langt fra 3 toppe. Jeg er glad for hvad udfaldet blev for jeg har igen lært meget om hvordan jeg skal forberede mig - og hvordan jeg ikke skal. 

Det er også fint at få sammenlignet mit niveau med Europas elite. De er ikke langt væk ;) 

Nu skal der spares op, så jeg forhåbentlig har råd til NM i Stockholm om et par uger. 

B.

European Championships Bouldering 2013

Det er efterhånden længe siden jeg er kommet hjem fra Bornholm. Jeg har lovet at skrive en længere beretning fra oplevelserne på øen - jeg har endda video materiale som gerne skulle blive til en lille film. Det kommer snart..

Nu handler det om at være stærk. At være præcis. Fokuseret. Afbalanceret og parat. Parat til EM, i bouldering, i Eindhoven, Holland. 

Jeg sidder i skrivende stund i toget med de sidste ting jeg skal bruge for at kunne pakke færdig. Kl 13 står jeg i lufthavnen sammen med Robin og Katrine. Og i morgen foran publikum til endnu en konkurrence i verdensklasse! 

Jeg har glædet mig meget, rigtig meget, men min forberedelsesperiode har været hektisk og stresset. Jeg har næsten ikke haft tid til at slappe af og fokusere indad. Derfor sidder jeg nu med en blandet følelse i maven. Jeg ved ikke hvordan det kommer til at gå, eller hvordan armene føles på dagen, men jeg er også lige glad. For det må ikke blive for vigtigt. Hvis det bliver for vigtigt kan jeg ikke fokusere på det legende element i min klatring. Og det er nødvendigt for at klatre rigtig, rigtig godt. 

Til gengæld har jeg fundet følelsen fra sidste års VM deltagelse: den nysgerrige følelse af at få lov til at prøve at løse boulderproblemer i særklasse. Den ydmyg og respekterede holdning til et sæt bevægelser som skal danses og udføres perfekt. 

Ligesom VM har jeg denne gang også chancen for at klatre på Jacky Godoffe blokke. Og det er helt klart et af de store højdepunkter! 

Lad de rød-hvide klaphatte akkompagnere samtlige livestreams fra Danmark og må den danske deltagelse række så langt som muligt! 

Live Stream program: 

Lørdag kl 9: Women Q

Lørdag kl 14.30: Men Q

Søndag kl 12: Men & Women Semi Finals

Der er rigtig mange som ser Live Stream samtidig så vær tålmodig med forbindelsen. Husk at opdatere siden hvis det går helt galt. 

God Weekend! 

B. 

Omar Galef.. ohh, Margalef!

Tiden flyver afsted og jeg har ikke fået skrevet så meget på bloggen den sidste tid. Det skal der laves om på. Jeg har gang i en masse forskellige ting som jeg er meget motiveret på at fortælle om.

Jeg har været en del på Kjuge her i det nye år. Jeg har fokuseret på linjer der ikke er klatret endnu, så jeg har ikke lavet nogle nævneværdige ticks. Derimod har jeg fundet både nye og gamle projekter som jeg er super motiveret på at klatre. De gamle projekter er jeg ikke den eneste der har forsøgt sig på, så lige nu er jeg fokuseret på de nye linjer jeg har fundet. Det af projekterne som er af højeste kvalitet står helt skarpt på et overhængende face som ikke har andre features. Det har ikke haft kalk på i de år jeg har besøgt Kjuge og det var ikke rigtig renset før jeg tog fat. Jeg har arbejdet de første bevægelser som er utrolig komplekse og meget anderledes fra hvad Kjuge ellers har at byde på. Linjen følger en gaston kant i midten af facet med en dybde på 15 cm. Kanten har altså plads til hele hånden, men vinklen er mere åben end 90 grader så det er nærmest umuligt at holde den frontalt. Desuden hælder blokken 20-25 grader overhængende. Langt fra er blokken og linjen meget flot, men også meget underspillet. Jeg havde ved første øjekast ikke set hvilke bevægelser der lå gemt i linjen. Den måde man skal bevæge kroppen og tweake på skulderbevægelser har jeg aldrig set før på Kjuge. Det gør ondt helt ind i mindten af brystkassen bare at komme ind i startbevægelsen - (det tager jeg som et tegn på at min krop ikke har været udsat for den slags bevægelser særlig ofte). Jeg er startet på den her linje fordi jeg kan mærke at jeg kan lave den hurtigt. Jeg ville skyde på at den vejer ind et sted mellem 8A og 8B. Dette projekt er det "letteste" af de projekter jeg er motiveret på at klatre.

Projekt: Dette er gastonprojektet. ca. 8A-8B

 Alt i alt har jeg udset mig 30-40 linjer som stadig er værd at åbne på Kjugekull, så det er bare om at komme i gang med knofedtet ;-).

Projekt: Fokus ca. 8A - en crimpklassiker når den bliver klatret. 

Projekt: Denne linje er ultimativt det sværeste jeg har prøvet på Kjuge. Bevægelserne er også nogle af de bedste i skoven uden diskussion! ca. 8C

Projekt: Giganten over alle giganter. Megaprojektet Tunn Luft ca 8B+/C

_____________________

Siden jeg kom hjem fra nytårs turen har jeg kigget på billetter til Barcelona igen og købte billetter for en måned siden. På mandag flyver jeg til Margalef igen og bliver der en lille måned. Nu vil jeg have tid og ro til at dykke ned i de rigtige ruter og ikke forhaste noget som helst. Jeg glæder mig rigtig meget og har forsøgt at tweake formen her inden turen.

Jeg har måttet give lidt afkald på min maks-finger styrke for at presse noget mere powerendurance træning ind. Det har irriteret mig grænseløst ikke at kunne trække lige så hårdt som jeg plejer, men til gengæld kan jeg mærke en fremgang på pockets som de fleste cirkler har indeholdt..
Jeg håber på at komme tilbage til Margalef stærkere og med større batterier end på nytårsturen.

Jeg har fokuseret min træning på powerendurance cirkler på 25-45 bevægelser. For et par uger siden klatrede jeg lidt på +60 bevægelsers cirkler, men jeg følte ikke at jeg kunne få høj nok intensitet. Jeg har forsøgt at putte mere og mere bouldering ind i træningen igen. De sidste to uger har jeg virkelig forsøgt at få trukket i de helt små greb for at genvinde noget maks styrke. Jeg har skåret længden af mine sessions lidt ned og forsøger at gå fra træning så frisk som muligt. Kvalitet frem for kvantitet..

Beastmaker har jeg ladet ligge. Jeg savner træningerne på boardet, men jeg tror også det bliver en fordel at have ladet det ligge og så vende tilbage til repeaters træning om en måned.

Jeg er begyndt på campus træning. Det er noget jeg aldrig har lavet særlig meget, men som måske kan gavne at jeg eksperimenterer med. Det begynder jeg også lidt på når jeg kommer hjem igen..

Når jeg ikke har klatret så har jeg fokuseret al min kreative energi som rutebygger i Copenhagen Boulders. Jeg har forsøgt at sætte komplekse, anderledes, akavede og spændende problemer i Copenhagen Boulders. Mit mål er at gøre folk bedre til at klatre på deres respektive niveau. I denne periode er jeg dykket ned i de lettere graderinger for at sørge for at de problemer der bliver sat, præsenterer nye klatrere for så mange situationer og bevægelser som muligt.
Jeg føler virkelig at det der bliver sat i Copenhagen Boulders er nogle af Danmarks fineste problemer.

Arbejd-arbejd..

I mit hoved er dette basen for en kompleks, sjov og lærerig linje: 

Macroer og store flader uden greb..

Før i tiden, i Danmark, blev blokgraderingerne opnået ved at sætte gradvis mindre greb, gradvist længere fra hinanden. I min verden kan det kort betegnes "Russerklatring" eller højre/venstre- håndsklatring. Det er en "kedelig" form hvis alternativet er blokke som er tilpas komplekse, så at du som klatrer ikke er helt sikker på hvordan problemet går, men at du er meget motiveret på at prøve fordi problemet også er visuelt inspirerende. Så får du skabt situationer hvor både øvede og nye klatrere ender op med at lære noget de ikke allerede har i deres bevægelses repertoire. Og forhåbentlig giver det mulighed for at gøre det sværere på andre måder en at skrue på grebsstyrken og morphoen. Det er præcis det som jeg mener er målet på væggene: at alle scenarier og bevægelser optræder og at der ikke skal køres død i en stil.  

Oh, Margalef er jo en kendt størrelse for mig. Jeg har før nævnt ruter som jeg ville prøve og de ønsker står stadig ved magt. Jeg ville gerne have været stærkere end jeg er nu, men det kan man altid sige, så jeg har en ide om at troldmandskortet skal bruges i de situationer hvor det bliver svært. Altså er jeg begyndte at tro at jeg kan stole mere på min teknik når styrken ikke længere rækker. Motivationen er høj og jeg glæder mig rigtig meget! Jeg forsøger at holde bloggen opdateret under hele turen.

B.