Back in Paradise
Each time I leave Rocklands it feels like time passed way too quickly and all I want to do is come back as soon as possible. This year was no different. We spent another wonderful month in this magical place but I just can’t get enough. Checking out some of the newer areas didn’t make it any easier to leave either. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this place. It’s not just the climbing, it’s the beautiful sunsets, seeing the milky way and countless shooting stars, eating delicious food and of course meeting so many amazing people from all over the world. Can’t wait to come back! As for the climbing part, here’s a little video as well as my 3×3 from this trip:
Rocklands 2017 from nat on Vimeo.
Top 3 climbs I’ve done:
Macho King (7C+)
I had already tried this line for a bit on our last trip two years ago. Although I had climbed to the lip several times, I couldn’t get myself to commit on that last move. After getting scared again this trip, I kinda gave up on it. On our very last day and my 4th day of climbing in a row my friends talked me into trying it one last time and I couldn’t be more grateful! I just cruised through the whole problem and didn’t even cut my feet, so happy!
No Late Tenders (7C+)
A finger injury kept me from trying this thing during our last trip. This year it turned out to be the perfect project. I checked out all the moves on our first day and managed to climb it in two parts. Second session on it I just wanted to check out the beginning again and all of a sudden I found myself on top of the boulder!
The Stimulator (7C)
One of my favorite new sectors is called „The Section“ where we stumbled upon this gem. A horizontal roof with lots of toe hooking and a big cut loose in the end, can’t get much better than this!
Top 3 projects to come back for:
Black Shadow (8A+)
This was the first problem that came to my mind when I thought about projecting something hard. I didn’t expect too much, I just wanted to try and see how it feels. To my own surprise, I could do all the moves but one on my first session. After working on it some more, I could climb it in three overlapping parts and started giving it some serious tries. Unfortunately we were already more than halfway through our trip and there were so many other things I wanted to try. In the end, I wasn’t patient enough to invest all my time and energy into one single problem but I can’t wait to come back and try to finish it!
Foto: Franca Schmid
Amphitheatre (8A)
Although it’s about a 45 minute hike to get there, I didn’t regret my choice, this climb is so worth it! After spending most of last summer bouldering (or mostly hiking) in the alpine of Colorado, 45 minutes didn’t even seem that far, at least it’s all flat. I felt pretty close on sticking the crux move but after trying for several hours I had to admit to myself that I was simply too tired. Unfortunately I never made it back this trip, hopefully next time!
Foto: Tibor Varga
Cape Town
When we first arrived, we had the opportunity to spend two days of climbing around Cape Town and it completely blew my mind. There’s a huge amount of immaculate white sandstone right next to the ocean with world-class boulder problems and we had it all to ourselves! Big thanks to Zoe and Cliff for taking us out, we’ll be back for more!
Foto: Franca Schmid
Top 3 ascents to witness:
Whole in One (7C+)
Although I wasn’t there in person, seeing the video of Nico crushing this problem made my day! After just climbing his first 7B this trip, he skipped a few grades and went straight to 7C+, so impressive!
Black Shadow (8A+)
It was the only time we went there in the morning and it didn’t take me long to realize why people usually climb there in the evening. The sun was burning and conditions were less than ideal. We still tried for a bit and I even managed to link the middle part before deciding it was way too hot. Ishan wanted to give it one more go, just for training purposes. I couldn’t believe my eyes when he got through the crux and took it all the way to the top, hell yeah!
Guest List (8B)
We went to check out the Eland sector on our very last day. It was rather hot but luckily this problem was still in the shade. After a short warm-up, Remo checked out all the moves, gave it a go from the start and sent, just like that!
World Cup & European Championships Munich
After only one session back on plastic it was already time to head to Munich for the last bouldering world cup of the season. I felt quite strong and most of all I was really psyched to compete. The world cup in Munich is always a highlight for me and I’ve been looking forward to it all season.
This year was a bit special because they were also doing the European Championships in the same competition. On top of that, it was the biggest world cup in history with 292 athletes registered, which made for an incredibly long day of qualification. Luckily I was out 34th in my group which meant I got to climb in a bit cooler temps and I finished right before a big thunderstorm put the female qualifiers on hold for over an hour. Regardless, the organizers and routesetters did an amazing job and I enjoyed every minute out there.
Unfortunately I fell off the top on my flash attempt of the first problem which cost me a place in the semi final of the European Championships. I also got painfully close on the last problem which would’ve been enough to make the cut for the world cup as well. Oh well, that’s bouldering and I’m still pretty happy with my climbing which got me a 23rd place in the European Championships and a top 30 placement in the world cup. It felt so good to actually enjoy competing again instead of getting totally stressed out by it. I’m looking forward to compete again soon at adidasROCKSTARS next month, another one of my absolute favorite competitions!