Dutch Youth Bouldering Cup - 1.

Today was the first Dutch Youth Bouldering Cup in Bouldergym Graviton in Sittard. The Youth cup consists of 4 qualification matches followed by the Dutch Youth Championships.

For the first qualification our Regional Talent Team received new shirts, sponsored by AXIS round edges. Dressed in Blue instead of Magenta we hit the boulders, 10 in total.

In my category the boulders were a bit too easy. That made for a very stressful 2.5 hours of bouldering. One mistake would mean you would be out of the race for a place on the podium. I managed to flash 9 boulders and was frustrated that I needed two attempts for the 10^th boulder. Luckily enough it turned out to be good enough for the gold medal. It is my first 1^st place in the national boulder competition so I am very happy with this result.

Our regional Talent Team was very successful today. We won 3 gold medals in three different age categories, Vincent in the junior, Don in the A and I in the B category.

In three weeks’ time the next qualification will be in my home gym Delfts Bleau. We can all already feel the pressure ;-). 

Some pictures can be found using this LINK.

NIHIL Team meeting Stuntwerk

Last Sunday was the official opening of the Udo Neumans bouldergym “Stuntwerk”. NIHIL decided that was a great opportunity for a NIHIL team meeting so off we went all the way to Koln.

It was great to meet all the NIHIL hotshots and see them sent difficult boulders.

The boulder gym is quite large and the boulders well set. It was very busy so I had to stand in line to be able to do a boulder but I had great fun.

The most exciting part of the gym is the power and balance section. It is great to swing from one ball to the other and to traverse the balance boards.

It was a great day, thank you NIHIL.

More pictures can be found HERE.

MOVIE Stuntwerk

One move too much

I just returned from a two week Christmas holiday in the Costa Blanca in Spain. 

We had beautiful weather for most of the time and visited some very nice crags.

As posted previously, I found a very nice project to work in. I spend 5 days in it but to no avail. 

The route consists of a couple of very far powerful moves on relatively good holds followed by a crux consisting of an awkward jump from two crimps. 

The crux was simply too hard for me. By the end of the holiday I figured out a new method using a high heel hook that seems to work for me. However, two weeks of climbing had taken its toll and the juice was gone to link all the moves together.

My friend Don who is a bit stronger managed to climb the route. That was kind of frustrating to me but I am very happy for him that he sent it.

On the bright side, I have something to come back for next year.

Spending so much time on a project does not leave much time to do other nice routes. I on-sighted some 7^th grade routes and flashed a 7b. So, not much to add to my tick list during this trip, but I had a great time.

I did my first multipitch called “The Magical Mystery Tour” on New Years day together with my dad and friends Don and Tiba. The climbing was very easy but great fun and the view was stunning. Below is a link to a YouTube movie.

YouTube movie - Magical Mystery Tour

I am already looking forward to the next trip which will be in 7 weeks’ time, again Spain but this time bouldering in Albarracin, so stay tuned.

I wish everybody a very good 2015. 

May all your climbing dreams come true.

Here is a LINK to some more pictures from the Costa Blanca.