Dutch Championships Sport and Ice Climbing

Completely forgot to write something about the two main Dutch competitions for me of the year: the Dutch Championships Sportclimbing and the Dutch Championships ice climbing. Hereby a small recap.

Fridaynight I arrived back in the Netherlands after three months living in Vienna. Just in time for the National sportclimbing championships! I was tensed, feeling fit after all training in Vienna and very eager to show everyone what I was capable of. Also I was stressed, because moving all my stuff and finishing my internship in Vienna took more energy than I expected. When I woke up Saturday I had musclepain due to carrying the luggage, but fortunately the stress was less. Later that day, in the isolation, most stress was gone and I mostly wanted to climb a nice route and enjoy it. But when I saw the route we had to climb, doubts came into my head: a bouldery route, starting with a jump was set; completely my antistyle. I tried to talk to myself: "you are prepared for this, this is exactly where you trained on in Vienna, you can do this!". It seemed to help and when it was my turn to climb, I smashed the jump, continued climbing, every move felt terrible as if I was doing the move wrong, but I kept on climbing til the middle of the route, where I really didn't saw the sequence. After some up- and downclimbing and wasting a lot of energy, I finally saw what to do and fighted for another couple of moves before I fell.

Photo by Sytse van Slooten

Disappointed about that I was not able to show my skills and strength and happy that I manage to continue climbing this high despite that it was completely not my style I went back to the ground. It turned out to be enough for the third place. It was impressive to see Nikki van Bergen dealing with the high expectations of the public and taking gold again, and it was even greater to see the progression of Tiba Vroom, cruising through the final route to the second place!

Photo by Zout Photography

The National ice climbing championships where hold one week later. This was for me the first time this season I was holding ice axes in my hands again, but I knew I am strong and I think that is one of the most important things for ice climbing. Very happy I was to top both qualification routes, making my expectations for the finals high. Unfortunately, a long move already in the beginning of the route I did not controlled enough, after which the final was over for me. A disappointing 4ht place was the result. Hopefully I can improve my skills in Tromso!

Photo by Sytse van Slooten

Geyikbayiri, Turkey 2016/17

I just came back from a well-deserved 2 weeks holiday in Turkey. After the internship in Vienna and a (too) busy week in the Netherlands with 2 Dutch Championships and meeting up with many friends and family, it was time to relax in Turkey.

The last few months Turkey was often in the news for attacks and the regime of president Erdogan. However, I remembered Turkey from my last trips as a beautiful country with some of the friendliest people I ever met. During this trip the friendliness of the people struck me even more. Turks are always happy to share everything they have with you, they smile at everything you say (even though they couldn't speak a single English word) and are always there to help you out if you are having any problems. Hopefully this country and its people will keep their smiles and hope during this period!

Together with Noël I flew to Antalya, from where we went to the village Geyikbayiri. The quality of the rocks and the great number of routes here is astonishing. The walls are futuring big tufa's, pockets, slabs, crimps, slopers, overhangs, everything a climber can wish for. Together with the weekly market on Sunday on which you can eat delicious gozleme and buy all fruits and vegetables you want, this place is a paradise.

The first two days the weather was fantastic; a clear blue sky and a warm sun made the beginning of the holiday a dream. But the next day we woke up in the middle of the night because our tent was collapsed, and a thick pack of snow blocked the opening of the tent. Good excuse for a rest day! The rest of the holiday it stayed cold and clouded, making the sportsclimbing a real wintersport!
The first week climbing went great, I felt strong and hard routes went down easily. Then, tiredness hit me and I decided to focus on climbing easier routes. In the end, I am very happy with my ticklist and feeling ready for the cold climbing in Norway!

Pictures are coming, for my ticklist please visit my 8a.nu account.

Vienna and expedition academy

After the great vibe at the world championships in Paris, training was on! I moved for my internship to Vienna, which made that I was not able to compete in the last two qualifications for the national championships. Luckily, with climbed only one of the four qualifications, I managed to qualify for the nationals! If you haven't done already, mark the 10th of December in your agenda and be there :D.


The start of the final route during the second qualification

Without having any competitions here in Vienna, I could focus entirely on training. However, in a new city it takes some time and effort before knowing where to go and finding climbing partners. So far I have been in four climbing gyms (of the five Vienna counts). Two of these are pretty close to the university, but unfortunately these are the shitty gyms. Good enough to do a strength training, not sufficient for a good power endurance session or just fun route climbing. The other two gyms are really nice, but pretty far from both my home (close to where I live is nothing but hills, which are great for running). So beside training for climbing, I have been training for cycling as well in order to get at the climbing gyms.
Despite that the climbing here is so far a bit disappointing, I am really enjoying my time in Vienna. The internship I am doing is at the university, in a research about (in short) the influence of biomass on landslides. My specific subject within this research is the influence of the roots. For this, we excavated two trees in the region of Vorarlberg and measured the whole rootsystem. From this I made a 3D model. Now I am working on statistical analyses of several root characteristics to see if there is a relation between these characteristics and if relations could be influenced by the slope (and vice versa: what the influence of the roots are on the slope stability and thus on landslides). I am learning a lot about many different subjects and programs, which makes this research (at least for me) very interesting.

Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna

As it seems to be impossible for me to stay for a longer period than a few weeks in one place, I went to Orco a week ago for the selection week of the expedition academy of the NKBV. It felt incredibly good to be in the mountains and climb some rocks again, and the granite/gneiss rocks of Orco felt like a heaven. In the beginning I piazzed all the cracks which took quite some effort. During the week I learned how to jam, and at the end of the week I enthusiastically jammed my way up. Besides learning how to jam, I slept in a portaledge, learned how to aid climb climbed many beautiful routes and had great fun with the group. And the nice thing is: I am selected for the expedition academy! This means that the coming two years I will learn all the different aspects of mountaineering and get to know all the ins and outs of an expedition. We will finish these two years with organizing our own expedition. Already looking forward to it!

fissura pannetonne 6c+, photo by Carlo

Noel getting ready for a night sleeping in a portaledge

Line in Fessura della Disperazione 6b

Me, Carlo and Noel on top of Cornflakes 6c

World Championships 2016, Paris

More than 500 competative climbers all over the world, over 20.000 spectators and 5 days of comptition in the prestigious AccorHotels Arena in Paris, that is in short how the biggest climbing event in the world looks like. Four years ago the World Championships were held in this Arena as well, and the routes, atmosphere and videos of that championships overwhelmed me. From that moment I knew: if I ever get the opportunity, I will grab it with two hands. This year, that time had come and on Tuesday the 13th I found myself in Paris.

These world championships were my first encounter with an international sportsclimbing competition. For this fact, as well as for the fact that I did not had the chance to train a lot before the competition, I setted my expectations on zero and promised myself to just experience and enjoy my debut in the international competitions.

After arriving at the campside at the border of Paris (much cheaper and less busy/noisy than an hotel, definately recommendable) with my mother, we went into the city centre to have a look at the Arena were the competition is held. On big screens at the exterior of the building the programme of the Arena was shows. Big events like concerts of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Justin Bieber and the sportevent BNP Paribas are in this Arena. That the world championships climbing are hold in this place marks the increasing popularity of climbing.

Wednesday was the day of my qualifications. I woke up early and was surprised that I was not that much nervous. Just little after thinking about whether that was a good thing or not, the nerves arrived and at the time I was in the Arena standing in front of the big wall I was pretty stressed. There were two starting groups and both groups had to climb two qualification routes. I was in group B and had to climb the two routes on the right side. All four routes looked like real beauty's, starting on a slightly overhang wall, then continueing a heavy overhanging wall and ending in another slightly overhanging wall. Especially the heavy overhanging wall part looked like great fun to climb. After warming up and watching some other girls climbing, it was my time to climb. I tied in to the rope and while walking to the route I enjoyed the feeling of being on this podium, on which so many famous people performed. I hoped I was also able to have a nice performance here. Then I started climbing. The beginning was easier than expected and before I knew it I was in the heavy overhanging part. Surprised by how easy that first part felt I was not awake enough when I had to make a far move and before I knew it, I was back on the ground. I was frustrated that I could be so stupid and even more frustrated because I didn't wanted to be frustrated but just enjoy the competition. Luckily, there also was a second route.

The first qualification route, photo creds to Bram Berkien :-)

After a small break and encouraging some of the other Dutchies, my mindset was good again and I started focussing on the second route. Again I warmed up, this time with extra focus on far movements. Again I watched some other girls, tied in at the rope and enjoyed my walk to the route. in contrast to the first route I was not stressed anymore, but just motivated to enjoy the route. And that is exactly what I did: Fluently climbed through the first part, enjoying the holds, the moves, the atmosphere and the climbing. Then I reached the heavy overhanging wall and out of nowhere, the pump was in my arms and it felt like I couldn't do anything anymore. A kneebar made it possible to have a bit of a rest and with all willpower I had I jumped to the next hold, grasped it and made the next move. At this point the lactic acid in my arms won in from my willpower and I fell off. Happy to have climbed in this route untill I was pumped and happy that I was able to enjoy the climbing I finished the qualification round. My scores were not good enough for a place in the semi final (best 26), but I was really happy that I managed to chance my mindset after the second route. Furthermore, I learned a lot about how it is to compete in such an event and it made me very motivated to train more, harder and better so that next time I can show more!

One move before I fell in the second route, photo creds to Yanne Golev

Thursday and Friday were qualification rounds and some semifinals of the different disciplines (lead, boulder, speed and paraclimbing). As the weather was good, I made these mornings a morning run, followed by a visit in the city centre to see the things Paris offers. Saterday I was in the Arena again, for the openingsceremony and the finals of the man bouldering and women lead competition. As the flag bearer for the Netherlands, the openingsceremony was a special one for me. Together with the flag bearers from all other participating countries I marched in a line towards the podium while waving with the big flag. From the podium, I was looking straight into the Arena, which was completely filled with about 10.000 spectators. The flag bearer next to me was Niraj from Nepal, someone I got to know when I was there. It was really great seeing him again and it made us realize how small the world is.

A part of the flag bearers, photo creds Noël

After the openingsceremony, the finals started with the men boulder final. Four really diverse boulders were served to the climbers, and it was amazing to see how the men climbed them. A big congratz to Tomoa Narasaki who won this final with his elegant and spectacular climbing. Then it was time for the men visual impairment. Admirable to see how these guys can climb without seeing anything: their final route was about 7b and the old Japanese Koichiro Kobayashi almost topped the route! The women lead final was the last final on Saturday. I really hoped that the Belgian Anak would win the competition. She did really great and without having any trouble she topped the route! However, Janja also topped the route, and as she had a better score in the semi final, Anak became second. A true pity that the final route was too easy, especially because all other routes and boulders at the competition seemed to be perfect.

Janja Garnbet climbing to the titel of world champion, picture by Aniek

All the semi's and finals are streamed on the youtube channel of the IFSC, so if you were not able to see them live, get your chance and watch the competition! The spectacular routes, immensively strong climbers and the great Arena filled with people encouraging the climbers are definitely worth a look.

Now, after the competition, I am still full of motivation and energy caused by the amazing experience. Training modus is on, and hopefully I can become stronger and better than ever for the next international competition. Paris tastes like more!

Movie of my first route, film creds to Aukje :-):

Summer holiday 2016

The summer holiday 2016 was characterised not just by lots of climbing but also by pushing boundaries, learning many new things and making great tours. I was so lucky to have two months of holidays, enough time to make a small trip in Europe!

Together with Noël and José, I started the holidays in the Frankenjura (Germany). A few weeks ago was my first trip to this area and I climbed my first 7c+ (more about this trip here. This time I was really motivated to climb an 8a. The first few days I used to climb a lot and get used to the pocket climbing style of the Frankenjura. I managed to sent quite some nice 7c's and a 7c+ in the second go, so decided it was time to try a 8a. José suggested Strandcafé, and on the warmest and sweaiest day of the week I gave it a go. Despite the weather it felt doable and I finished the route in my 3rd attempt. Whooo! My first 8a!
Since it didn't felt that hard, I pushed myself into an 8a+, Verbindung. This is a combination line of the 7c+ I climbed on my first Frankenjura trip and a 7c. Also this route fell down pretty easy in the 3rd attempt, so I started dreaming of an 8b. My eye fell on Riesenslalom direkt, a long route with a mono crux and a tricky end. I managed to do the mono crux pretty fast (in the second attempt),but had some trouble with the last hard move. I fell 3 times in the last part of the route, which made this route not just physically hard but also mentally. In the end I climbed it in my 6th attempt. I am very surprised and amazed that in only one week I climbed my first 8a, 8a+ and 8b!

Liebe ohne chance, 7c

After the Frankenjura Noël and me headed to Bergell (Swiss), where the NSAC camping took place. After arriving there we made the plan to climb the Badille, and we went up already the same day. We first wanted to climb the Cassin route, but people there told us it was wet. We changed our mind and focused on Another day in Paradise, but heard from many others that they also planned to do that route. Not willing to queue, we decided to climb the Nordkante. Unfortunately we went wrong somewhere and didn't reached the top, but for sure it was a nice first trip in which we learned a lot.

As the weather was good, we didn't waste time in the valley and went up again to climb the fiamma. Compared to the Badille this is just sportsclimbing multipitch and we managed to climb pretty fast.

Noël on the Badille

Since we had only a few days in Bergell, we had to drive to Courmayeur (Italy) for the CEAT camping after these two trips. In this week we went up to the Torino hut, bivouacked close to there and did some really nice trips. We started with the Tour Ronde (the rock face) with Rik and Jarron. The next day was 'restday' and we did the Entreve ridge. Then it was time for a big trip: the Diablo ridge with Court and Hans. The route definately deserved its name. The difficulty of the climbing is only 4c max, but it felt sometimes harder than the 8b in the Frankenjura, our rope got stuck everywhere and routefinding took ages. Hans and me were a bit slower than Noël and Court and it was dark when we reached the summit of the Mont Blanc du Tacul. As we couldn't find the way down and were tired, we had a bivouac on the top. The next day we went down to Courmayeur, but in our head were still many other peaks and climbs we wanted to do. Two days later we went up again to do some more stuff. Unfortunately bad weather made us failing to climb the Dent du Géant, but we managed to climb the rock pillar le Chandelle (even though it was ice cold). High on the wishlist was the Grand Capuchin, but tiredness forced us to go back to the valley again.

Hans on the Pointe Mediane, one of the 5 towers of the Diablo Ridge

After all these adventures we continued our journey to the Ecrins (France) were some friends were staying. Here we ate a lot (all fat was gone after the mountaineering tours), slept a lot and did some sportsclimbing and long multipitches in the area. Besides climbing we went mountainbiking, rafting and canyoning. It was good fun and a relaxed two weeks to finish the holidays with.

Noël climbing the second pitch (6b+) on the Ponteil

Thanks to Noël for having all the skills and ability to enjoy all of this with me, Green Monkie : ecowear for their great organic shirts and Five Ten for their climbing shoes that are excellent for so many different kinds of climbing :D

A summary of the hardest routes I climbed:
- Riesenslalom Direkt, 8b (redpoint), Frankenjura
- Verbindung, 8a+ (redpoint), Frankenjura
- Strandcafe, 8a (redpoint), Frankenjura
- Vögeln verboten, 7c+ (2nd go), Frankenjura
- Le combat ordinaire, 7c+ (2nd go), Rue des masques
- Du cour à l'ouvrage, 7c (onsight), Mont Dauphin
- Fear Factory, 7c (2nd go), Frankenjura
- Liebe ohne chance, 7c (2nd go), Frankenjura
All other routes graded 7a or higher are on my 8a.nu account

Alpine tours and long multipitches:
- Badille (not finished, 5a+ max)
- Fiamma (via Dente par dente and the 6c on the fiamma)
- Tour Ronde (6b max)
- Entreve ridge (5a+ max)
- Diablo ridge & Mont Blanc du Tacul (4c max)
- Dent du Géant (not finished, 6a max)
- Le Chandelle (route: Bonatti-Tabou, 6b max)
- Paroi des Lys (route: Le haut dans le gaz, 7a max)
- Tête d'Aval (route: Piler Rouge Hebdo, 6b max)
- Le Ponteil (route: Rôle en dalles, 6c max)

More pictures are on my facebook via this link