Bouldering in the west

The short weekend trip to the west of the country was one of the best spontaneous ideas lately. Two days of sampling the bouldering in this region. The scene is small but lively, the locals active and enthusiastic.

Limestone bouldering is soo funny and different. Different friction, types of holds, holds everywhere actually - there's always something to grab, depending on your fingerstrength. Trnow with its river polished blocs is actually surprisingly smooth and monolythic and thus really, really cool.

Big thanks to Karin and Tjaša for being our guides and letting us stay at their place :)
also shoutout to fellow blogger Ajdbloc for the endless syke on developing and giving the scene a character. I've always been watching clips of new FA's, wondering a bit if I'll ever get to climb on them. Now it was so cool to touch and climb those rocks we've heard about :)
Boštjan Weingerl is the man-machine behind most of the hard FA's in Trnow land. In his blog there's also a topo containing the basic must-do list.

For the local record, let me comment on the grades - I've felt everything to be a grade easier than given. We probably chose the best days to climb there, most of the stuff was put up in the summer when I imagine friction must SUCK compared to today. Today was actually really good. Plus, the style suits me - lots of compression stuff. And I wore great shoes that made heelhooking feel great.

onwards amongst the trees. most of the boulders here appeared only after an earthquake about 10 yrs ago

Polog warm up slab

Bor on El Paso (7B?)

Tjaša on the small-but-tricky Sitko Nalič :)

Polog, frozen in time

Soča and its blocs

me on Sršenov ples 7B+?

rasta man on the attack. Črnica 6c, tricky one

Dave trying The Shield (7B+?)

Tjaša on The shield

Fear of forest, exposed and exciting

Grahu showing some hooking skills on Sladica 6B+

me on Neon forest 7C, pure gold

Boulders climbed:
Trnovo ob Soči
Javelina assis
The Shield
Neon forest
T-Bone overdose
Sršenov ples
Sladica
Črnica
Fear of forest

Polog
Maroko
Berlin
Tokio
El Paso
Tomi boy
+some others

percentage of time with no phone reception: 50%
average sleep statistics: 10 hrs per night
other activities: attempting playing hacky sack, using a hand-driven lift to cross the river
weather: always sunny
stress level: none

Ain't no better thing than some fresh bouldering to re-learn heelhooking, appreciate rock in all its subtle detail, have fun and enjoy life. We'll be back for sure *****

ghetto footage deserves a ghetto vid. actually it's my computer that won't take any more complex video editing :(

Medveja in full HD

The long anticipated return to rock has happened in grand style. After wrapping up the exams I teamed up with some friends and we hit some crags in Istria. There was a spell of good weather, no more real life things-and-thingies to worry about, endless psyche stemming simply out of the wish to move body over rock:

Climb difficult stuff, get challenged and give your best, engage fight mode and step into the zone of heightened awareness. Finally it was time to see and climb at some new places, attempt some new routes.

Scale steep terain, the more overhung the better. Screw "classics" in popular crags that everyone does, I'd almost forgotten how fun it is to onsight climb routes with NO chalk, no tickmarks. 

Crystal clear sky, a light breeze, hanging at the crag with no one but a few friends. What better place than Medveja.

The contrast with previous weeks is so strong. As if someone flicked the switch from black-and-white into colours. Life is now full HD.

the full hd :)

The Croatian super-crag has obviously impressed me the most. Criogenetica 8a+ is a masterpiece climb with a style I like so much, pumpy tufa climbing into the top crux where everything boils down to knife-edge precision footwork and crimping on small edges, barely recognizable amidst the blank white wall. Some classic testpieces of Siurana come to mind comparing to that top slab...

thin and delicate... don't screw up

tufa paradise. Mario on Criogenetica L1 7b+

Indeed I had to get on The Core. I had only one working session on the lower part before it got dark, but that was enough to justify its position on my tick-list (it's been there since always) and get me totally psyched on it.

in Kompanj, on "Grenouille" 8a, a beautiful mix of tufa pump and techy roof tackling

Juki on the return to rock!

Anja in the warmup slabs

Kompanj warz

After a last day in Kompanj we returned to Ljubljana. I was feeling super sore after 3 days on. Still, I couldn't say no to another two days. Saturday in Mišja was just great times. A well psyched crowd of friends, sending atmosphere and good vibes. There was no more soreness and I got stuck fully on working Človek ne jezi se, some less often climbed routes I haven't done yet (Godla 7c+) and finishing training laps on Mrtvaški ples. We ate a ton of pasta and pancakes and drank wine in hope of a good recovery for Sunday.
Sunday welcomed us with shitty rainy weather, but people were still motivated. Thank god Mišja Peč is so steep.

I don't think I've ever seen or even heard of anyone climbing Klobasa, 8a+. It's and old route by Tadej Slabe, apparently overlooked due to it's bouldery style and a much more prominent neighbour, Preobrazba 7c+. I suddenly realized I was really curious to try it. It really has a hard crux involving a horrible slopey crimp and some desperate stretches from undercut to undercut. Maybe a 7b+ route into 7A boulder problem? I did it on third try, not having worked it more than actually trying it, so it can't be any harder? Anyway, I was happy. This one is not about the grade, it's about the name :)
The complete low-down on sending in Mišja&around can be found @Climb Istria. Congrats to Jurica and Rok on finishing their projects! Yet we all know this satisfaction always lasts surprisingly short... onto the next!

Shout out to crew; Ana-Anja-Jure-Tilka and Jarm-Bizi-Petra-Mojca-Ajda-Grega, plus the international team in Mišja, it's so good to see friends from everywhere in a home crag. Also many thanks to Mario and Nino, the Medveja locals, for the belays, kindness, infectious psyche. And pomegranates :P

Nino on Venga Vecchio 8a. do it man, aLe!

BIRTHDAY!!! Thanks friends for the cake! ahh the sweet 12 yrs old!

The LIST

Hey all!
The blog is experiencing its usual winter-exam-period downtime and so am I, gutted to be inside studying with so many nice days offering great climbing everywhere. But hopefully things will work out and I'll be back to the rock in a few weeks.

Spain was awesome. I love how going on a trip gives you a fresh perspective on your life at home. Climbing all the time only thinking about projects you want to climb and having fun, enjoying the vibe at the crag - makes you reconsider what's really important. It comes down to simple things...

I've had a few moments of contemplation like that while in Siurana and despite returning home sore and lacking sleep, I felt energized and psyched to get some things going. New years resolutions seem a bit phony to me, but anyway I felt this time I'm too psyched on many things to just let them plain float around and wait for them to happen. I sat down and wrote a TICKLIST of routes I want to climb in 2015. This is my holy grail now, an important note to remember - just because I don't want to miss out on any of them. It holds some of my nemesis routes in local crags, old, new projects, big wall climbs... can't wait to get the first ticks in! I'm a daydreamer type of guy so I suspect it may prove too big to handle, but even ticking some of them would be great.

Pati noso, 8c in Siurana - one that would evade sending in a annoyingly stubborn way. It's getting to deserve an honourable mention on my ticklist!

GOALS are AMBITIONS and being too ambitious can lead to serious disappointments. The importance of an assertive approach towards your goals (in climbing or life in general) is something I think a lot about. Just speaking of it shows that there is a slight doubt, maybe I am aiming too high. But I feel calmed and think that I have matured enough (climbing and not-climbing wise) to take it on. I have an interesting topic to elaborate on here regarding how commitment in climbing can totally warp your world - a topic that's regularly brought up in this blog in different forms. I'll work on that post for now and hope you will enjoy it. Keeping this blog alive and going is also "on the ticklist" as it has become very dear to me, all thanks to the positive feedback I've received and that I am so psyched on! Thanks to anyone stopping by and ever taking a glance at it.

But I'm now facing some obstacles. I wanted to restart training (also in a more structured way than ever before - curious to see how this will work) but I needed to take a longer than expected rest. I'd tweaked a tendon pulling hard on a two-finger pocket in Siurana.
Right away when it happened, it hurt a bit but I could keep climbing as long as I avoided two-finger pockets.
As obsessive as this must sound, I think I actually have a favourite kind of hold and pocekts must be it. I'm pretty gutted about the injury especially since I don't really know what to do with it.
Now after 10 days of rest it seems to have healed up so to allow training as much as I want. I'd got the first sessions done following my "1-5-9 by 2020" programme and it's been all good. Yay! The A muerte syke for training is kicking in!

The other obstacle is passing the exams. This is an objective bigger than a short-term training plan and I am intent on doing it. It's a bit hard at first but one just needs to focus and channel the energy into different fields. Now I'm going to go hide under a rock with my books, only going out to PCL for the odd training session, so maybe see you there :)

Thanks to Iglu šport and Treking šport - Petzl who will keep supporting me in 2015. It means a lot to me and I think not having to worry about getting all the gear will make achieving my goals just a little easier...

soon it will be time to revisit this one! The last great project of Čreta, here captured by Luka Tambača

Greetings from the sunny side

 Siurana has been treating us well. Weather has been perfect, friends are all around and psyche for climbing has been high. I imagined I could climb 11 days in a row, fueled by the A muerte mode and pasta. Now it seems we're forced into some rest and the amount of projects left to do has gathered possibly beyond what is possible to be done in the last two days. Anyway, we'll keep coming back. Enjoy the photos, see you soon back in Ljubljana :)

Felix pulling on the last climb of 2014. We did this 7c in Siuranella in the evening light, feeling worked but ready for the NYE party. So cool!

Montsant vista. They never get old even though you're surrounded by sights like this everywhere you look. I will keep coming back to these places...

with Felix, Julien's brother. We had a great time climbing together. Hope to see you soon my friend!

Anej cranking down on a 7b+ in Siuranella sud

drugs. when you're sore, add more

big ups to the youth team members who made it out on the trip! This is Sudi in the big hard classic "Migranya" 8b

the tools of the trade - thanks Iglu šport and Treking šport - Petzl!

starting on an 8c in Margalef

pumpy steep madness. 30 metres of persuading yourself to resist! Pal este will wait until the next trip

we just can't get enough of this... life is a beach :)

sister the crusher, climbing stronger every day :)

here on a 6c+ in L'Olla

THE line of Siurana, the crack of Kalea borroka, 8b. After a few tries I'm saving it for the last day, the cherry on top of this awesome trip. I couldn't rotate the picture o.O

Dios nidor, 7c+. jaaa a muerte :)

The 8c+!

it's only rock, right?

Histerija happened too quickly. After trying it last year I imagined one day that I would get to work on it, it would still be a major challenge. Two weeks ago, on my third day of trying it, things were aligning up. It kept feeling better and better with every try and having entered a great "zone" mindset, I was able to finish it off. It took a while for it to set in fully. I am definitely riding the wave right now! Each new grade breakthrough is only good to remind you of how it's all relative, depending on your perception. Impossible can go to feeling incredibly doable in a matter of tries, changing weather, changing attitude...

 I thought my climbing has matured past seeing only the numbers. But sending it felt great also because it suddenly struck me - nevermind suited or non-suited style, conditions, grades being subjective, whatever - climbing a grade harder is possible. On top of it, this route has character, and it is one of my favourites in Mišja - a true wonder of nature.

 Like we always seem to follow some natural flow of things, I love it when a new surge of motivation for certain climbing appears. Mišja Peč felt like home during the last month. We've made many day trips, trying to go as often as possible, coming back late in the evening, riding my bike back home through the foggy Ljubljana, studying late in the night. During the week, the crag is populated only by the committed, everyone feels familiar and there's a sending atmosphere. "A muerte" is the mode of operation. The sun down by the seaside is like a resort from the real life in Ljubljana. It's a privilege to be able to go climbing.

entering the crux in Popolni mrk

I'm now working on a new project. I got stuck into Popolni mrk, 8c, right after I finished Histerija. The line has a notorious reputation and it hasn't had that many repeats. It's crimpy, nails, and right at the limit of my strength. Face climbing normally suits me, but not when holds get that small.
10 tries into working it, its becoming a mind battle, and I like it like that. It's going to taste that sweeter afterwards :)

 I've been thinking a lot about how a general attitude towards life is reflected in your climbing, especially your redpointing. When it gets really hard, believing it's possible is the key. Depending on your patience, ability to contemplate and rationalise failiure, you will adopt a certain redpointing tactics and a "bubble" of excuses and reasons why you still haven't done the project. I'm finding out that with most of my hard redpoints that also give me a mindfuck game, it's all about taking a step back, stopping wishing to do it so bad and then doing it in a moment of perfect, clear focus. As if the world wanted you to slow down, stop being so damn obsessed with whatever it is you're driven by, realise it's all a product of your mind and then things becoming so much clearer and sensible.


 However, the obsession is pretty strong with me right now. Spain countdown says 7 days. I don't want to jinx it, but I feel I could climb some pretty cool stuff :D

 I enjoyed hosting Felix and Maria last week. Felix is Julien's brother and it was great to have them over. I love sharing the psyche for our home crags and giving visiting people a tour. It was also great to see Lea and Quentin crushing big time in our and Istrian crags.

Felix and Maria sampling our classics

Thanks to all that made the last month in Mišja Peč feel so nice. Thanks to Luka Tambača for being there and taking pictures. Thanks for reading, keep the spirit alive y'all!

Pakla zauvijek

My new found psyche for big walls drove me to Paklenica again. I was well psyched for the upcoming extended week-end. I knew many people were going there because right now is a traditional period which offers prime conditions for routes in Anića Kuk. I jumped on the ride with Jerry who is a bit of my menthor when it comes to many things in climbing. Anyway, I knew this was going to be fun.

A visit to Kompanj on Thursday kind of set me up for the weekend. A close try in an 8b onsight (which I managed on redpoint later) and testing out a fresh pair of Miuras (this time a bigger size) made me look forward to Paklenica. Yaay, I'm still fit PLUS my feet won't fall off at the end of the weekend. Let's go then!

The scene was quite alive! There was a lot of people, but mostly mountain climbers who make a visit to  Paklenica for a change to the alpine climbing. It's a group of people equally as big as the sport climbers in Slovenia, but obviously a bunch of people I don't know so it was pretty cool to get to meet some. Mountain guides, 8k meter peak summitters, adventurers of a different kind than my sport climbing friends. They still have the same attitude towards partying, or maybe even a more hardcore one :)

The first day with Samo we climbed Kaurismakis mistake with, a "modern classic" route with nice sustained difficulties in the 6th grade with a crux 7a+ pitch. It was a nice warm-up for the weekend to come.

The second day I teamed up with Anže Klarič, my buddy from PCL. We climbed Zenit which must be one of the best routes of the whole wall. The three top pitches are incredible climbing on perfect rock with a finishing arete-and-mantle to top out that I kept describing to everyone willing to listen. Anže didn't free it but could easily do in the next visit, go for it dude!

Klarič seconding the top 6c pitches

setting off for the 7a traverse pitch

best arete pitch of the wall! right under the top

The third day I teamed up with my Croatian (actually a Slovenian undercover) friend and photographer Luka Tambača to try one of the routes on his ticklist. We aimed for Rumeni strah, a respected route with a crux 7c slab pitch.

Tambolina seconding one of the difficult and hard-graded crack pitches

 It stood its reputation, some of the pitches were nails given their grade, but somehow I managed to get that 7c pitch in the bag onsight. It wasn't over yet, next I climbed a 6a crack with a 20m runout (note to self: it's wise to bring gear sometimes) and got a bit scared, thus getting the full package! Ain't no better thing than topping out after a route like that!

me cleaning the 7c pitch after a successful onsight

shot with a cellphone - in the hands of a pro, thanks Luka :D

Climbing with different partners every day was cool. Each route was different in this sense, too. Big ups to everyone who was there, this was a weekend well spent! Also cheers to my Croatian friends, thanks for the hospitality :) I love to come back...
I'm dreaming up my next objectives, caught between short term plans and other things in life that need to be done, unable to come up with a big long term plan. Brid klina and Spider are on the all-time ticklist now, I'm only looking for somebody to join me! Verdon, the limestone slab multipitch Mecca is waiting, too... Waaaah too much to do! Thanks for reading, until next time, Pinti

the summit chill-out