Full psyche ahead is about putting your heart and your soul into a goal. I need a climbing goal to keep me going. Sometimes it is a small goal, one that I can do quickly — like climbing a few hard boulders in one evening a the gym. Sometimes it is a big one, like my first 8A boulder.
At the beginning of the year I chose to set 3 big goals:
Boulder 8A
Onsight 8a
Redpoint 8c
I was able to do my first 8A boulder in Felbertal after two sessions on Sunshowers.
I’m proud to say that I was able to accomplish my second big goal while on my trip to Kalymnos. I onsighted Fun De Chichunne in the Grande Grotta. It was quite a journey, somewhere around an hour in a really steep roof, without a doubt one of my proudest climbing moments. It was great to be there with Roger Schaeli, he gave me a really patient, long belay and was the first one to shout out when I sent.
A quick selfie with Roger after the onsight of Fun de Chichunne
So, how did I find myself on Kalymnos onsighting a bunch of hard routes? I was motivated and psyched, I focused on power training and climbing a steep project. For a few sessions, I went to the Drachenwand with friends to work Hijacker Low Start, a 15m 8c that is really powerful with a lot of drop knees and a sneaky, core-intensive kneebar.
Finding the sneaky kneebar on Highjacker Low Start (8c).
Highjacker in not exactly a 40m monster like Fun De Chichunne, but it is so much harder and taught me a great deal about core and body positioning for these types of routes. How else did I train for Kalymnos? Bouldering. Lots of bouldering.
I focused on doing as many boulders in a day as possible, including hard problems
To some, this might be a little counterintuitive, but to me, this makes more sense than anything else. I’m essentially a weak climber, power is not my strength and I do not have that much power endurance. I know that Kalymnos is littered with tuffas and I know better than most how to use my knees. I LOVE KNEEBARS! Anyone who knows me can tell you this.
The tuffas are so big in Grande Grotta! I felt like I was on another planet
The trip was long enough to have a lot of fun…
The sunset from Aegean Travelers on our first evening
Riding around on our scooter! Whoop whoop
And then, of course, there is all the time in the sun, on the beach!
We even made some time to explore the caves… Claudia took some amazing pics!
Making our way downwards — Photo by Claudia Ziegler
In the heart of the cave — Photo by Claudia Ziegler
Claudia was a little unlucky, well, REALLY unlucky. She slipped on the second day we were there and hurt her shoulder. This put her out of action for most of the trip, not exactly what we were hoping for.
Overall, it was the most successful trip I’ve ever had. I onsighted my first 7c+ and my first 8a. List of onsights harder than 7b+:
- Fun De Chichunne (8a)
- Kaly Diva (7c+)
- Adam (7c+)
- Zawinul Syndicate (7c+)
- Sirene (7c)
- Priapus (7c)
- Aegialis (7c)
- Diralanda (7b+)
- Chin Juane (7b+)
- L’insoutenable legerete de l’etre (7b+)
Doing the climbing dance! Scoping out a route in Sikati Cave
Getting ready for a long onsight attempt on Super Lolita at Sikati Cave. Unfortunately, the finish holds were completely sandy. I was devastated. Thank you DMM and La Sportiva for giving my the tools to have so much fun!
What an amazing setting: hanging off the end of a tuffa, watching the sun go down behind Telendos
And of course, thank you to Roger Schaeli for the good company and long belays!
And finally, thank you Claudia Ziegler Photography, nothing would be as fun if you weren’t by my side!
