Bouldering is a ropeless style of climbing onto boulders. Its focus is on individual moves or short sequences of moves. Boulder routes are commonly referred to as "problems" because the nature of the climb is often short, curious, and much like problem solving.
Yesterday Chloé Graftiaux died in the mountains. Late last night I finished this short clip about route setting during the 2010 Boulder World Cup with interviews of all the top competitors and was struck what a inspiring and spirited person #3 ranked Chloé is when I learned today about her tragic accident. The reason for the video, "route setting" is trivial by now of course, but it gives a glimpse of what a great human being Chloé was. Very sad!
The Petrohradské PADání 2010 again was a wonderful event! Taking place in the newly developed "Mlynsky Vrch" area we also the had the weather gods on our side. Some complained that it was too hot, but this didn't keep Adam Ondra from doing the FA of "Stix, sd", 8B+ and three 8Bs as well as several 8As over the weekend! Also starring two times lead world champion Tomáš Mrázek...
above: Adam Ondra, first ascent of "Stix, sd", read on for our reports of the 2006 and 2009 PADanis...
Being a wimp, I couldn't quite get myself to paddle around in the freezing waters of our beloved Brittany for the first surf trip of the season. Instead we opted for the Côte des basques, the birth place of European surfing. Unfortunately (no, not really ;-) the surf was pretty good, so we just visited two of the many high quality bouldering areas of the region. Let me tell you, Laxia and Jaizkibel are incredible! Check out the pics for now and stay tuned for more soon ...
Think Climbing in China - think Yangshuo - think again!
Rockclimbing in China has gotten a lot of media exposure over the last months: From blogs and other well known internet resources to magazines and climbing flics everyone seems to have covered the topic. All these reports had one thing in common: The phrase „Climbing in China“ has been used synonymously with sportclimbing on the steep limestone cliffs of Yangshuo, situated in the beautiful southwestern province of Yunnan. While planning our summer vacation in China due to different reasons it was soon clear, that Piaʼs and my route wouldnʼt go any near the Yunnan province and therefore we wouldnʼt be visiting Yangshuo after all. We didnʼt want to give up on climbing in China though, so we started doing some research on other possible climbing – or even better bouldering – spots. After a long time of searching we found a short information about an obscure granite bouldering area right on the ocean at the city of Qingdao in between Shanghai and Beijing. There was no topo yet, but bouldering right on the beach sounded really inviting. We got in contact with some local climbers and planned for a longer stop in Qingdao.
Im Supersommer 2003, der ja für Kletterer gar kein Supersommer, sondern einfach nur unerträglich heiss war, „entdeckten“ wir die Bretagne. Praktisch die ganze Küste besteht aus beboulderbarem Granit und die Surfspots sind fantastisch. Beim Bouldern sticht besonders Kerlouan heraus, das man sich über 14 Kilometer wie Hampi am Ozean vorstellen muss, eines der ganz großen Bouldergebiete Europas, aber merkwürdigerweise weitesgehend unbekannt.
So viele Möglichkeiten hat man in Europa ja nicht, bouldern und surfen unter einen Hut zu bringen. (Portugal wäre auch eine Möglichkeit) Aber warum sollte man dass überhaupt wollen? Warum nicht in irgendein Bouldergebiet und ein anderes Mal, wenn es vielleicht eh zum bouldern zu heiss ist zum surfen fahren?
Warum eigentlich immer wieder Kochel? Und warum immer dieser kleine überhängende Sektor rechts an der grausigen Atlantiswand? Gibt es denn nichts anderes für die Münchner-Highend-Boulderszene?
Nein, denn das Wetter lässt oft über Wochen nichts anderes zu, als das Bouldern an dem vielleicht staubigsten Eck des Alpenvorlandes. Staubig deshalb, da immer trocken - und da wären wir auch schon wieder bei DEM Grund, warum immer wieder hier neue Kreationen entstehen.
For hours you've fought with this problem. By the time you've figured out the sequence, your power is gone. You rest. Put the shoes back on. Uuuuh, that hurts. Your toes are screaming, the laces cutting through the battered skin of your fingers. A couple more alibi tries before you admit that you are done for today, defeated! Hiking back you wonder if you ever felt so wasted before. You get lost. This dammed forest! Every muscle fiber is begging for mercy... But wait, this arête really looks too good! Lets check it out for another day! It is so tempting, you might as well put the shoes on and give it a try ... By the time you've figured out the sequence, all your power is gone ... It's getting dark, you are stoked, before you fall asleep your body remembers the moves it did today ... There still isn't a place like Fontainebleau in the bouldering world, regardless what the hype says. That arête you've been trying might be only 5c, but believe me, there isn't a climber who never struggled with a font 5c! Nowadays, bouldering areas are developed by 8a boulderers for their 8a buddies, media hype very welcomed. Most of these areas therefore lack the diversity and spectrum that makes them enjoyable in any physical shape you might be in, with any friends you are with (climbers or not) and in any season.
This is Fontainebleau,
the place where 8a heroes are being lectured by middle aged housewives, inflatable monster pads don't make you dare to top out problems that were established 30 years ago starting on a little carpet and the hardest easy bouldering in the universe!
Fontainebleau, the place
where it all began...
Cuvier Rempart - impressive problems, even with crash pads!
Bas Cuvier - some of the most classic boulder problems in the world!
below: some new pics of Jonas Baumann and Tobi Reichert from a photo shoot for my upcoming 'Lizenz zum Bouldern' book
below some older (and some downright ancient pics from our many trips to Bleau
oben: Der Preisträger beim Filmfestival Moves‘n‘Movies 2008 "Daniel Pohl, Felsenbauer" dem "Porträt eines ebenso besessenen wie sympathischen Felserschließers aus dem Ruhrgebiet" ---Filmfestival Moves‘n‘Movies
Daniel Pohl hat im ganzen Ruhrtal klasse Bouldergebiete dort geschaffen wo vorher nix war! Die Felsen gab es natürlich schon, nur dass Gelände darunter war absolut grauselig. Daniel ist Steinmetz UND Diplom-Geologe in Personalunion und kann deshalb wunderbare Natursteinmauern bauen mit denen die Terassen befestigt werden. Das Ganze ist eine Mischung aus Landschaftskunst und dem, was BMXer und MTBler auch schon eine Weile im Verborgenen tun. Als Boulderer kann man davon ausgehen, dass überall, wo irgendwann mal die Ruhr geflossen ist, heutzutage auch irgendwas Gutes zum Bouldern enstanden ist! Das ist die gute Nachricht.
New clips from Toni Lamprecht's posse's winter 2008 and 2009 trip, including Toni's first ascent of the instant classic El Varano. Albarracin, set in one of Spain's national parks in the the Universale mountains at 3.400 feet and overlooking the Guadalivar River is quickly becoming one of Europe's premiere bouldering destinations. you find more Albarracin info and news here...
oder: "Die Saubayern sind immer noch die Kernigsten!"
nach der Arbeit treffen sich Münchener Kletterer im legendären Buchenhain. Auch im Winter. Wenn es regnet werden Planen gespannt, zu kalt gibt es nicht. Toni erzählt mir, dass die 22jährige Sonia Hofer kurz davor ist sein The bottle wins the battle again zu wiederholen. Als ich eines Abends im November 2007 im Buchenhain filme, habe ich unverschämtes Glück: Norbert macht kurzen Prozess mit Stein des Weisen und Sonia macht The bottle wins the battle again gleich zweimal für die Kamera! Vor Allem muss ich mir aber leider eingestehen, dass die Saubayern immer noch die kernigsten Kletterer sind! Neulich im Buchenhain ist der erste Teil unserer "Obskures Bouldern in D-land" Reihe...
