Trip to Brione.

A few days ago we came back from Brione. I was surprised by the quality of the rock- really smooth granite, much smoother than for example Chironico or even Cresciano- and by the amount of blocks that seems nobody has tried to clean or climb.

The team spirit was great and we were climbing four days on without a rest.

Iztok climbing Frogger

Jernej Kruder, General Disarray 8b

Not so many climbers visit Brione. We met some 10 climbers in all 5 days. There's no guide book, you just go and find boulders you heard about or saw on the video clips. That's also one of the reasons why it's so beautifull. But you have to have a standard and a good eye for lines. Next time I go to Brione I would like to clean some new boulders and put up new problems.

But the place is not deserted - we met one local, hahaha:D and a helicopter that blew our pads into the river.

Cellar door

Cellar door

Bizi flying high

Magic Wood

We went to Magic Wood two weeks ago. I was very excited to go, because I had a project there that felt I was very close to doing it. This time around I was really psyched; I knew and felt all the moves, everything.. The first day I warmed up but then I headed straight to my project, I couldn't wait any longer, I had to face it.. however two days before I made a deep cut in my index finger. When I came there the sun was still high - it was too hot. All in all something didn’t feel right. After a few tries the cut in my finger just opened up with no mercy.. It was obvious, the move and the hold demanded good skin... nothing to do, so I decided to leave the project for a while.

Muttertag on a warm sunny day

I decided to open up a new project, something that didn't have a supercrimp for the right hand... I wanted to try Deep throat for some time. It seemed an interesting boulder coming out of a cave, with long moves.

Deep throat

On the first day I already  did all the moves except for one long move before coming out of the cave.. I knew that when I will be able to hold onto the crimp it I would climb the boulder. I thought, 8b+ is my limit and what I'm trying now is my limit. I imagined that the move had to be hard, an '8b boulder move', nothing less....

Voigas

But everytime I go to MagicWood I can't help myself with all the nice rock and great boulders around me not to climb everything that attracts me. I cannot just pass by, but that's my nature I take everything I can... or at least I wish to. My wild wish is to climb every rock on the planet but the lifespan is my enemy in this war with time:)
Unfortunately the weather was working against me, we had too many sunny days. I would need storms to keep me off the rock and I didn't rest enough. Despite the sun, the humidity in the air was high.

Deep throat

I was working on my Deep throat project and getting better every time. I felt this was it, this was the beta. But only on the third day I figured out I could change the foothold and the move became manageable. After that I did the move every time. But because I didn't take any rest for three days I wasn't able to close the project the last day.
I just never learn!

Still I learned a lot on this trip:)

A few days ago I went with with my friends to Rogla to visit a place called Jurgovo and some other spots nearby, the names and pictures of which I will not publish, because there is still some debate going on with people who want these places to remain secret.

 The tonalite rock is very good, boulders are great and it is a shame that some climbers want to keep these places just for themselves. I think that letting others to come and put up new interesting boulder problems, is the right thing to do, and the place could become one of most important bouldering areas in Slovenija. It  has a lot of potential and just needs more cleaning hands and people with creative minds.

I personally like it a lot.

Le belanca 8a, spot by Izidor Zupan.

This is not Izidor Zupan and Urh Čehovin dancing tango. The boulder in the back is called Toleranca 7c+, made by Izidor Zupan, FA by B.W. The picture speaks for herself and needs no comment.

Izidor trying Toleranca

A new nice and hard project. A riddle that still needs to be solved:)

Having fun with my friends but also started working on a boulder problem The End, in Zalog Slovenija. 

 Urh Cehovin climbed The End in 2007 and he proposed a grade of 8c. Since then nobody was willing or able to repeat it.

Photographs by Ursa Florijancic

Finally, after two years of trying, I managed to climb what was the hardest boulder problem in my life. I named it Nexus10.0.
 

Nexus10.0, 8b+

 The rock is located in the Hubelj riverbed and most days of the year the rock is to humid to climb. Luckily- thanks to the extremely hot weather this summer- it was really dry but it was too hot. Last few days of august the temperatures have dropped and I tryed it again. I realised I could do it. But I had a few days of trying. The last day I knew that It's now or never, because heavy rain was supposed to begin the day after. The last two days before the realisation I was fully focused. I was repeating the moves over and over in my mind. Before I set off for Hubelj that day I was nervous, too nervous, and that was obvious, since I didn't make it on the first try, I kept falling off the rock. I was angry at myself and couldn't calm down. Then I jumped in the ice cold Hubelj and then I finally managed to cool down and calm down and close the problem. Thanks Hubelj! 
The first move is not that difficult, but the second move on a pinch has to be very precise, the hardest is the third long move to the left followed by difficult footwork, the rest is more or less a question of powerindurance.
My trainings have certainly prooved efficient, I'm feeling strong and ready to close some more open projects at home and abroad. An Alpine-tour is my wish for the near future:)

Silvapark, located in the Austrian part of the Silvretta mountain range is a relatively new bouldering area where one can find perfect climbing conditions even in the hottest summer days. It's a place with plenty of good solid granite rock to climb, plenty of good problems, a place with great potential for more boulders and it is located high in the Alps among pure nature and with great panoramic views over the surrounding mountain peaks.

This summer was unusually hot and I was trying different bouldering areas but everywhere I went the conditions for climbing were far from perfect. I trained indoor a lot, but I needed to go out, I was missing rock. Gašper came up with the idea of going to Silvretta and since then the name Silvretta came up at least five times in every conversation I had with Urša, Gašper or Katja. We wanted to go there, badly. But every time we checked the weather we were disappointed. It was raining all the time. We were delaying our departure from day to day from one week to another and in the end it looked as if we were not going to get there. We were utterly disappointed. But after every rain comes sun, even in Tirol, also gehen Wir nach Tirol!!!:)

Thomahawk

We borrowed a Kangoo from our dear friend Andrej Čotar and we were on our way, crossing Italy, through Innsbruck and Galtur. During the trip my mind was full of questions, wondering whether all the hard work and training I had done in preparation would yield any results. When we arrived to Galtur it was raining and we were a bit uncomfortable - you do not want to have bad weather 2000m high in the mountains. After that we reached a really nice looking camp by the lake, just a few minutes drive from the bouldering area. When Helga the boss saw us she told us the camp was full, but then something changed her mind and she eventually showed us where we could place our tents.
I just couldn't wait for the next day to run up the mountain. Nothing else mattered anymore, for a moment I even forgot about my acking knee. Let’s sleep so the next day comes quicker!

Day 2
Next day- perfect, no rain at all.

That Helga had in mind an up to cm2 precise plan of where we can be became apparent the next day when Katja and Gašper had to move their mini tent. No joking around: Ordnung und Disciplin, this is Tirol! But the morning didn't start as fine for me, my knee was still acking. I was lucky my darling was armed with painkillers. So first thing - a pill and after breakfast I could already feel it working,.. great! Time for action!
After a few minutes drive to Silvapark, we parked the vehicle, picked the pads and begun some 15 minutes walk to the sectors.
After a short warm up I decided to try Nivuk 8a which I managed to tackle in 4 tries. Thinking about the grade I would say it was rather a 7c.

After a rest I decided to try Nevio 8a and I flashed it. My oppinion? It's rather a 7b+. While I'm resting, Urša told me she was going to try a highball Too young to dye 6b and I got a bit tense. She was fighting a little bit but she managed to get to the top, and I could finally ease up. When she got down, she said she wanted do it again for the photo,.. Oh no, here we go again:)

We then headed towards another sector, in search for a nice boulder called The British Airways 8a. We found it and two Austrians standing nearby gave me the beta. I flashed it... Grade? I would say it is a 7c.

British Airways

My impressions from the first day of Silvretta? Quite nice! :)...
We headed towards our camp. My knee hurt quite a bit, but it was working.
After dinner and a few beers we became a bit noisy, too noisy for Helga and she made that clear immediately:) Yes-yes, we promise to behave;) it was only than that we realised we were standing out from the rest of the crowd a bit, but it was ok, everybody was really nice to us.

Day3
While having breakfast we were discussing where to go and Gasper suggested Tumpen, a bouldering spot not so far from Silvretta and close to Imst where the worldcup in sportsclimbing was going to take place that evening and we wanted to see it. It sounded perfect. After an hour’s drive we reached Tumpen, a mini magic wood, but the difference in temperature between Silvapark and Tumpen was obvious, it was too hot for my taste and my skin. Nonetheless I decided to have an active rest day:) After a short warmup I climbed three 7c boulders. I like the rock there, I think it's good, maybe a bit sharper than in Magic wood but the rest is very similar: trees, river and moss. We had a great time there and in the evening we headed for Imst to see the Worldcup. On our way there we were so hungry we decided to stop at Bosna Burger-I should warn anyone not to do the same mistake. Worst hamburger I ever ate, the bread was hard as a rock and the meat as if plastick. We arrived in Imst on time to see the finals, but watching the finals I got bored quite fast and I was already waiting to leave.

Crocodile

Day4
I was climbing for two days on and I wasn't sure if I should make it three or I should rest, but when everybody said they're going up the mountain, I made up my mind quickly-I'm going too!, even though I felt a bit tired. Me and Urša went first to warm up in the first sector and then decided to go to one of the highest sectors and get a better view of the park.

When we arrived to Golden gate sector I immediately tryed Golden gate 8b but my enthusiasm quickly waned since I managed to stretch and hurt my knee already on the third attempt. After that even walking became difficult. I decided to climb some less demanding boulders in which the knee wouldn't suffer so much. When the day was over and I climbed a whole lot of 7b boulders, we began our walk back to the valley. I had to walk really slowly and it seemed the road was neverending. When I got to the car I knew then- I had to rest!

Baby Lama

Day5
Rest day: swimming in the lake by the camp, time for growing new skin.

Day6
Our last day of climbing. We decide to start at the highest sector. My knee is functioning ok and after 20 minutes walk we reach the top of Palm beach sector where we begin our warmup.

Thomahawk

After warmup I managed to execute 2xRay, an 8a boulder which deserves its grade, and after that one of the best classics of Silvretta, Shining 8a. We moved then to the next sector, Golden Gate because everybody wanted to try Baby Lama 7c but more like 7b in my oppinion but really nice boulder, good holds, jugs, overhang, long moves and nice surrounding. I didn't climb much more that day, I was exhausted and just waiting to get back to the camp and eat something.

Shining

Day7
Nothing much to say. We packed the bags and headed back home, but with a smile on our faces and plenty of good memories. We will be returning in Silvretta, for sure!