Up and down on bouldering WC's

First, I would like to apologize, that I did not posted regularly last times, as I maybe should.

The reason is clear and simple – before start of the season and up-coming WC's I have been focused and busy with training and later, the competition schedule was quite hard and intensive. So, I have decided to wait until the month and sum it up all together. Well, it is maybe a bit harder task, because many things happened.

Training at home before comps. Foto: @sloveniaclimbingteam

Maybe for the beginning, I would start with feeling and motivation, which drive me on those 4-weeks package of WC's. I believed, that I have trained well and am good preapared, but was also awarded, that there are still weak points and/or moments of my climbing. And sure, that rest of the world probably did not sleep either :). But, I was very excited, to go on the first comp and see what happens.

1^st stage - WC Chongqing, China - GOOD START, BAD FINISH

I have started this one with good feeling and after first round also get some 'confirmation' that my feeling was right and I am well prepared. I have continued to semifinals with provisional 3^rd rank. Ok, I know that rank after qualifications doesn't mean nothing and it is important what you get out at the end. Well, next day thing swent pretty different and after falling from some almost finished boulders and missed out double dyno, I took 18^th place. Definitely not satisfying and also disappointed about climbing and not finished boulders.

When I think back, I realize, that I wanted to have moves too much under control and in opposite of that, I finished on mats instead on top(s)... Well, I know it is hard, but with climbing like this I saw the future won't be as I would prefer. But ok, I said to myself, that I still have a chance to change things and put them on place when they should be. Next week!

2nd stage- WC in Baku, Azerbaijan – FINALS (and 5^th place :)

After some travelling complications we arrived at Baku. Interesting city and interesting place. I like the vibe when it comes to different places and cultures. The competition was placed near the sea and weather was not so friendly. From qualifications I remember just one thing – that it almost blow me out from the wall – luckily that there were some holds to garb hard to keep myself on the wall :).
Next day, I went into the semifinal with much less confidence as I would prefer.Semifinal boulders were interesting and felt kind of different than on last comp. I managed to finish 2 of them and was also very close to the third top. It turned out that boulders were set quite hard and it was enough for final! After little doubts that performance in China has still left to me, I get back confidence and were excited to climb next round.

Boulders in final looked hard, but at the end it turned out that they just looked alike. I know, I could finish them all. Yes, If I would attend them with just a little less 'respect'. But, at the end, I was happy with 5^th place and not so good, but even not so bad climbing. Very excited to go back home and crush the next comp in Swiss's Grindenwald!

3^rd stage – WC in Grindelwald, Swiss - JUST ABOVE THE 'FINAL LINE' - 7th

Foto: @thecircuitclimbing

On this comp, Slovenian team was little bigger and it was really nice to have a company of young and strong team-mates. Also concurrence on this comp was much wider than in China and Azerbaijan and there was already a big elimination in qualifications. Honestly, I did not put any attention to it before comp, just wanted to climb as I know and finish all boulders (if possible quite soon:). It worked quite well, and also next day I started the semifinals with this feeling. But, unfortunately messed out a bit in following boulders and just missed the final for one place and finished as 7^th. Not really happy, but said to myself – ok, if I am well prepared and strong, there are still the chance next week, right?

4^th stage – WC in Innsbruck, Austria –  NOTHING TO SAY ...

Foto: @lukafonda

Well, there was no chance for me on this one :(. Ok, it was, but I didn't use it. I have no excuses for my worst climbing and comp result since I have started bouldering. I finished 2 boulders and left out of semifinals. Honestly, I don't remember when/if this had happened before. I still don't know exactly why, how and so on it happened - maybe it is 'just bouldering', maybe I was tired, or maybe all the things (including shoulder pain :S) came up together at wrong moment.

Because honestly, I can not believe, that it was result of my preparation. One week you just can't be one of the strongest on the world and next one stay far from top 20 semifinal quote. It just can't be.

After all …

Well, this month was definitely a month of big up-and-down swings for me. For my believe, confidence and also results like. But looking backward, I can say and sum up, that with my physical preparation looks like everything is very well based, but climbing sometimes unfortunately just don't reflect it.

all foto (if not specified diferent): @sloveniaclimbingteam

Now, back on training an see you soon! :)

I am new member of adidas outdoor team :)

I would like to announce, that from this year on, I am very happy to be part of strong and great adidas outdoor international athlete team. I believe, that it could be start of very interesting and successful story and hope, that we will combine our strengths in future for a while. Looking forward for new experiences!

Bye, mina

CWIF 2014 and climbing in Sheffield

I have wanted to attend the Climbing Works International Festival at Sheffield already for couple of years. This year, I finally got the opportunity to climb at this special event.

The competition itself is made by special 'open' qualifications format. Everyone can choose and climb 30 qualifications boulders within a 3.5 hours time limit with  3 attempts available for each. Results are calculated by achieved points. The top  20 female and 20 male climbers continue into the next round. The semifinal and final is made by classic IFSC competition system (4 problems, with isolation and 5min/4min+ time limit).

I really enjoyed the qualification format. The boulders were very nice, a lot of technical, slabby and overall interesting climbs (set by local setter including Percy Bishton and others)... Also climbing the problems together with other team mates was great and really fun! But still, there was a bit of pressure with only '3 tries'. It's really interesting how sometimes little restriction like this can create a big change in your climbing. First go, you put (or try to put) out your maximum. Ok, if it doesn't go or you slip, you still have another try... But then, only one chance is left. Now, you HAVE to do it! Otherwise, it's gone ... :( While it is stressful, I really like the point of system and have found it very valuable for competition and mental training. Definitely something to try and do more of :)

Next day it was time for semifinals and evening finals, and a switch back into 'classic' competition system. Warm up, prepare and set myself back into 'competition' mood, but for first time in this year - uhhhh :)  I was excited, but kind of worried about keeping it all together. So, in the semi-finals I did not start really well, but managed to catch up in the later problems, and got into evening finals with 3 tops in 5 attempts. It was also really close for Katja Kadič and Domen Škofic, who both showed strong climbing and good performances, but because of some little mistakes and too many tries unfortunately just missed the finals.

Evening finals went pretty well for me. I was happy to compete again and to have a chance to fight for CWIF's crown of 2014 among other 5 strong girls and cool looking problems. At the end, I finished all 4 problems, just missed the win in last boulder while spending too many tries at first move. But still, I was satisfied with my performance and feelings during comp and climb.

Congratulations to everyone for their strong performance and 3^rd CWIF's title to Shuana Coxsey and for 3^rd place to another Mina, Mina Leslie-Wujastyk. In the mens category, the win went to Tito Caleyron with 4 flashes - congratulations!

After the comp, we did not head home, but stayed for another couple of days. We spent a day or two climbing outside on the local classics and great gritstone of the Peak District. I did not try anything very hard, but it was a very good experience and am definitely looking forward to come back soon and also try some harder stuff there.

all (and more) foto at: Slovenija climbing team FB page (here and here)

Other days we spent at the Climbing Works gym, training together with other teams (Netherlands, UK, ...) on problems set especially for us. It was very pleasant experience and for sure, good training.

At this point, I would like to thank the gym, the route setters, coaches and all others involved for this great opportunity and climbing week! :)

New Slovenia climbing team gym and first training camp

At the beginning of March, we received a new and incredible gift - our own, new and very good Slovenia climbing team training gym! :D

It is the result of the work of few a committed people and of course, strong sponsor support. So, right away, I would like to thank to all who made this project possible and helped to realize it.

Soon after opening it was time to put the  gym to a 'serious test' with team training camp week. This time, thanks to the new gym, we didn't need to go abroad, but could enjoy all the benefits of hard training and working out together, just a few kilometers away from home. I have to say, that I enjoyed this training camp very much, maybe most of all the that I have ever done (which is quite a lot).

I have recognized the benefits of bouldering gyms in past years, when after some time at such gyms my performance and climbing on boulders usually made a big leap in a few days. Sometimes just playing on larger amounts of already set boulders was enough to get a feeling of 'open' and high wall, bouldering on slabs or other similar styles to competition walls and conditions.

I was definitely very pleased when I got an opportunity to have it near home. And not only this, but also to have chance to cooperate with great coaches and setters who know how and what to do and have desire to help and share it with you. With working on boulders, sometimes set specially for you, you can definetly target your weaknesses and points which you may work on. Really incredible achievement for improvement! I am also very happy for all youngsters, who will have chance to enjoy it right from the start. I just hope we all will use it and keep it at its best! :)

All (and more foto) from here: Slovenija climbing team FB page (part 1 and 2)

I am really looking forward to spending many nice, quality climbing and fun days at this place. Can't wait! :) 

Training in January, February, ...

After I came back from Jordan I did not hesitate to start climbing and training back on plastic again. The first few days were interesting and quite hard, but I adapted easily and started to enjoy  working out every day and made progress soon.

at 'DEŠ' - photo by Marko Bratina

Foto by: Slovenia climbing team

Most of the time, I spent with my coach (Roman Krajnik) in Škofa Loka. I also climbed with the Slovenija climbing team, meeting twice per week at different places and gyms all around Slovenija to train together. It is really a pleasure to try hard with good company, nice routes, walls and people who know what to do! :)

Foto by: Slovenia climbing team

Some of the places we were at, included Climbing Center Ljubljana, UrbnRoof, Prestranek, at Domen Škofic's place, DEŠ, ...

more fotos at: Slovenija climbing team FB-page

In-between I also spent some days at Plusclimbing gym in Sežana, appeared on a talk show on national TV, received a reward for best sportswoman of my region and did some other not-just-climbing stuff :)

at 'Poločni klub'

Jordan project video

Short video clip from Jordan exploring and climbing ... Enjoy! :) - LINK

https://vimeo.com/86175078

About: ''adidas athlete Klemen Bečan and his crew spent December and January climbing and bolting new routes in Jordan. They visited Wadi Rum on the south where repeated routes and tried to find new lines. They found them, so now you can enjoy there even harder routes. They also visited areas in the north, where helped locals climbers developt new climbing area near Ajloun. They made 16 new routes and one of them is also new hardest route in Jordan - Same same but different, 8c.''

Outdoor experience and climbing in Jordan

For last 5 or 6 years I have been spending a week or two around New Year's climbing outdoors and exploring different places and crags. For the first few years, I have chosen Spain, but recently I am more interested in new, more foreign or 'unknown' locations.

My main purpose is to visit the place, meet with locals, share my knowledge, experiences and knowledge about climbing. I also try local routes hoping to promote the place and help the local community to develop its own climbing and culture.

I'm doing this to make a switch from competitions, to experience new places, adventure, and all the kinds of happiness that climbing, travelling and being outdoors can offer . I visited this country two years ago for the lead world cup in Amman (2011). I have very nice memories from this trip, not just because of winning the comp in Climbat gym, but also the unforgettable experience of visiting Petra and seeing so many cliffs and the climbing potential in this area.

I really liked the atmosphere of this country and how kind, open and generous people are there. I am happy to say that my first impression was not wrong and I am glad, that I got the opportunity to join Klemen Bečan (plus his wife, photographer and my boyfriend) on a second trip in Jordan.

We all have experienced many wonderful things that climbing and spending time outdoors can offer you (and also, how adidas outdoor collection can make it much easier and comfortable :P ).

We spent the first week of our trip in the southern desert area 'Wadi Rum'. This climbing place offers an unimaginable amount of climbing with much potential for new routes, from trad to sport multi-pitch routes, sport climbing and bouldering on all kinds of rock (from sandstone to granite).

Here we did some all-around exploring bouldering, and exploring the place and its uniqe environment. We (Klemen) also bolted and did (FA) of one sport route on granite and we found and climbed the hardest sport multi-pitch route in the area (Glory 8a+; 6a,6c,8a(+),7c,6c), I also tried 'trad' climbing (-it was the first time for me and I really enjoyed this experience!) and much more .. Sleeping in the desert, driving with 4x4 Jeeps, cooking on an open fire and talking with the very friendly and open local Bedouins is just something more to add.Later we moved further north, to the capital city Amman and the climbing areas around Ajlun (ca. 1 hour driving from Amman). We were kindly accepted and hosted overnight at the local bouldering gym and main meeting point for hiking, canyoning and other outdoor activities in this area, the office of Tropical Desert Trips (thank you Hakim Tamimi :).

There are many sport climbing areas around Ajlun, some of them are already bolted and cleaned, and many more are still waiting for that. We wanted to do some sport climbing, bolt new routes, explore the area and connect with Amman's sport climbing community to share the experience, knowledge and our views about climbing.

We spend many days outdoor, sleeping in the cave, bolting, cleaning and climbing during the day . (OK, I have to admit, that I did not bolt my own new route, but Klemen, Anja and Luka did so).

We worked on bolting and climbing from sun-up to sunset. When we were done it was time to build a fire to prepare tea and our dinner, as we have learned from the locals ... I really want to give a big thanks to the local people for helping us during this stay with bringing water, fresh fruit, bread, batteries other supplies during our stay in Ajlun.

At the end of our stay, we left the area with a 'little new crag', some projects and also some new routes. Maybe I should mention also a very nice new line, Jordan Express (8b) of which I did the 2nd ascent (and Klemen the FA)...

The rock in the north is very solid and high quality, the routes are very well bolted and offer sport climbing experiences and challenges for all levels of climbers. I think that here in Jordan everyone can find a challenge and a new unforgettable outdoor experience! :) At the moment, as I am writing this, I am already) beginning my training and preparation for the new season ... So, there will be more news and updates coming for sure :)