Taking a break

Hey guys :-)

After the bouldering comp in November, I returned to my normal training routine. From 7am to 5pm I was at my working place and  later on I usually went to the gym and trained for some hours there. Unfortunately, I never managed to climb outdoors. During the week I wasn't very motivated to drive to one of the bouldering cracks which are situated around Graz. The idea of climbing alone in the dark and the cold didn't seem promising at all. On the weekends I ended up in the gym as well, so I didn't touch any rock except for one bouldering session in Waldstein, which is a fine area if you like crimps :D. The prestigious "Peter Strom" (8a) was wet, so I just did some easier problems and tried one 7c which was reachy as hell. From the 22th on I stopped training, in order to  relax and regain energy and motivation. I had a good time, visiting my relatives, taking some pics and thinking a lot :D. Today I was in the gym again and I was surprised how good I felt, as I usually feel like a sponge after a break^^. This time climbing was great and I easily did a new 7c, falling off the last move of an 8a+ route half an hour later :-). Well, my fingers are a bit sore, but I think they will get used to the plastic holds again, otherwise I feel strong and motivated to push myself to the next level. Maybe I'll do some more rock climbing before I really restart my training. Let's see... I wish everyone out there a happy New Year! Enjoy yourselves, have fun, be thankful and keep climbing! :-)

Some impressions from my climbing break:

                               

  

  

 

 

The 6th Bouldernightcup

Hey guys :-)

Two days ago the 6th Bouldernightcup took place in my homegym in Graz. I was very psyched for this comp, as it's always great fun to climb at home and the atmosphere usually is at best. Let's concentrate on the comp itself, in case you would like to get more information about the format and my personal relation to this competition series, just check out my blog about the last BNC in March (http://jakobgreistorfer.blogspot.co.at/2013_03_01_archive.html). The qualification round was great fun. I topped all the problems which were quite technically but not too hard.

Funny starting position with a BIG foothold

CRIMPING in one of the most technical problems

 Pinching hard and getting in the ZONE ;-)

Nevertheless, I needed 18 tries to get all the 8 boulders done. I made quite a lot of mistakes, which cost me roughly 6 tries, actually I was pretty nervous and felt a bit shaky. Anyway, I was 4th after the qualis and relatively pleased with the result. After a decent rest I felt physically fresh and strong but somehow I was not in the perfect mindset for the final round. When we were previewing the problems, they all looked pretty obvious, but things got a bit awkward for me. I began on the 4th final boulder which started in a stemming position leading to a some delicate moves on a vertical wall. The crucial point was matching a big purple hold which I knew pretty well from my training sessions. It's a challenging hold, as you can grab it in many different ways. I managed to match it at my first try but then I couldn't do the next long move to a small orange crimp. There was just one small foothold and I always slipped off the purple hold when I tried to carry on. 

The purple hold which gave me a hard time

I didn't even get the bonus at that one. A bit disappointed I went back to the iso. The next final boulder was set in a very steep wall. To keep it short, it was the hardest of all four problems and no one topped it. Again, no bonus for me, I fell one move before. 

Compression moves on the second final boulder

Not so easy, right away from the start

Now I was frustrated. The first half of the final was over and I didn't get one single bonus. Nonetheless, I tried to concentrate on the next boulder, which started with kind of a mantle, leading to a stretchy move to finish with a jump from a bad crimp to a big jug. I touched the jug three times, once I even grabbed it, but I didn't hold on. To be honest, I don't really know why, probably I was simply lacking the last bit of motivation (Strangely enough, I did the problem at my first go when I tried it after the comp ^^).

Nooo I didn't stick that move although it was a BIG jug, such a shame!

After that boulder I knew that I was on the last position so I didn't really care about the result any longer. I just wanted to climb well at the last problem. It was a very easy jump to a jug, followed by four moves which were not really hard. It was definitely the easiest one of the four final problems. I went out and flashed this boulder. Although I knew that I finished last out of the 8 finalists, I had a smile on my face. 

The hardest move of the last boulder

Of course, I was not so pleased ending up last in the finals (full results: http://www.wettklettern.org/index.php?BewerbId=203&Mode=ShowErgebnis&KlassenID=2&Detail=1) but I definitely enjoyed the comp and I learned a lot. Once again I realized how much I like competing :-) and that I need to work on my mental fitness, which is not always that easy, especially when things take an unexpected or unhappy course :-/ but hey, be thankful for the things you have and smile :-). By the way a HUGE thank you goes to my dad who took all the pics! I hope you like my recap of that event. Just one more remark: I added a new rubric called "climbing friends" to my blog. It's a link list, just check it out, I'm sure you'll find some interesting and inspiring stuff about climbing :-) 

peace!

Jakob

Good Memories

Hey guys!

The autumn held introduction now and the nature becomes yellow colors. Maybe that's an opportune moment to take a look at some pictures of the summer holidays. Here they are, the best pics of our 10 days sailing and climbing trip to Croatia, which is already 5 weeks ago. Time flies and as I'm not really in the mood to write something I'm just going to post the impressions below. Sometimes a photo is saying more than 1000 words.  

 

 

Hope you liked the pictures :-) 

Bye Jakob

Rocksession

Hey :-) 

Just some short news about my rocksession today, I did my project (Phallus Dei, 8b) which I described in a preceding post about my rock projects in the Arena (link: http://jakobgreistorfer.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/update.html). I felt really in shape, probably the hard training pays off. Now I've done all three routes that I wanted to climb but I've already checked out another really interesting 8b :D. 

Keep climbing! 

The Training camp in Judenburg

Hey folks!

This post is about the training camp which took place in Judenburg from Tuesday to Thursday. It was a camp of the Styrian climbing team. Without exaggeration I can say that we all trained really hard and gave our best. After our arrival on Tuesday we did some warming up with our coach David, then we started with project climbing. As the gym in Judenburg is one of the best in the country, we all found a challenging route. I jumped onto a white 8b+ which worked its way through the steep main wall. At my first go I checked out all the moves and on my second go I came really close to the top, in fact I fell three moves before the final jug. 

Pinching hard on the first section of the 8b+

On my next go I managed to climb one move further, but unfortunately I was too pumped to continue. To finish the first day I climbed a couple of easier routes. 

Me on an endurance based 8a

Concentrating on the next clip

Fighting hard in the transition from the roof to the headwall

The next day began with some balance training then we focused on technique. I received a bunch of useful tips from our coach. Afterwards I tried the white 8b+ again. Sad to say that I couldn't do it because I felt a bit tired after the first day. Nevertheless I was quite pleased with my performance, almost climbing an 8b+ at my second go is not a bad effort for me :-). In the afternoon we did a competition simulation which was a really good training. To round off the day I did some campusing exercises and one arms. I slept quite well that night xD. 

Next day we did some running in the morning in order to rid ourselves of tiredness and exhausted forearms. Afterwards we concentrated on stretching. Then I climbed ten routes in two and a half hours to improve my basic endurance. After that I felt completely wasted. Actually I almost fell asleep after lunch xD. In the afternoon I just assisted David a little bit because I didn't feel capable of doing any exercise ^^. 

To sum up I think it was a great camp which was pretty intense in every respect. We focused on technique and balance training as well as on competition simulation and pure strength exercises. I really tried hard and absolutely need a restday now. On Saturday I'm going to drive to the Arena again to try my project. Let's see if the hard training payed off... 

Some more pics (many thanks to David who took almost all of the pictures, thumbs UP man, you did a great job :-D):

Trying to unlock the sequences from the ground

Tired but happy :D

Update

Hey guys :-)

It's time for some news :-) I spent the last days mostly with climbing outdoors and on my restdays I was routesetting in my home gym. Since I have my driving license I feel way more motivated to try hard routes outdoors because I can return to the crags whenever I want. Recently we often drove to the Arena which is a phenomenal spot close to Graz. I can highly recommend this area to anyone who wants to climb hard :-). A few weeks ago I chose three routes there to concentrate on. Trainingswahn is the first one, it's an 8a+ which starts with a 7c followed by two more sections of 8b routes, in fact, the easier parts of the 8b's. It's a real pumper, the single moves are not so hard but altogether they are tiring. I already did the route :-), so there were two more left. One of them is called Hobkobold (8a), it's a completely different route compared to Trainingswahn although the start is the same. Hobkobold turns to the right after the start where a tricky boulder problem waits. I found a pretty fine beta, and did the route yesterday after falling once at the second to last move which is a nice stretch from a good tufa. Unfortunately the whole tufa was soaking and I slipped off pretty badly. Anyway I did the route on my next go :-). The last route is called Phallus Dei (I know the name is kind of weird ^^) it is an 8b with a bouldery start followed by pumpy climbing with a crazy crux at the end where you have to twist your hand kind of unnaturally to grab a two finger pocket. I already came very close to the top, once I even passed the final crux but fell on the last moves because I was so pumped ^^ but I'm really psyched for that one. Today I had a nice restday, spending almost twelve hours in my home gym doing some routesetting :D and tomorrow I'm heading to Judenburg in order to take part in a three days training camp of our Styrian team. I'm really motivated to train hard with a bunch of strong guys :-) and next weekend I'll be out in the Arena again :-), so stay tuned for news and pics!

Keep climbing!

Change and Greece

Hey guys :-)

It's time for some news. Since my last post happened a lot^^. The most profound change in my life was that I finished school which definitely gave me a new feeling of freedom :-) although I had a great time at high school. After a memorable week on a sailing boat in Croatia with my schoolmates I stayed some time in my hometown Graz. Then I I travelled to Kalymnos with my girl :-). We spent 3 awesome weeks on the Greek Island. Apart from some great climbing we took many pictures and checked out several beaches. Moreover we were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the locals. Especially Stefanos, the guy who owns the apartments where we stayed, and his family made us feel very welcome. In case you ever plan a trip to the island I can highly recommend staying at their place. The family is exceptionally friendly and accommodation is cheap (http://www.climbinghouse.gr/).  On one of our rest days we  went to Pothia which is the capital of the island. There are plenty of interesting things to see, including a very stylish museum of Kalymnian history. 

The harbor of Pothia

The climbing was outstanding and we did some great climbs. My girlfriend climbed routes up to 7a+ mostly onsight or second go. I climbed routes up to 8a+, some of my best ascents:

Punto Caramelo 8a+ rp.
Sardonique 8a/8a+ rp.
Daniboy 8a rp.
Angry Bird 8a sec. go
Ourania 8a sec. go
Angelica 8a rp.

If you are interested in my whole ticklist just visit my 8a.nu page :-) I also tried the prestigious O'draconian Devil (8b) but I couldn't do it although I came pretty close. Never mind now I have a reason to return ;-). Some more pics (unfortunately there are hardly any climbing pics as we usually climbed only two by two):

 

Peace :-)