Here is a film from Directa open your mind 9a in Santa Linya. Thanks to Kristoffer Thorbjørnsen for film and edit! This film is only filmed from the ground, though Henning Wang has footage from above that will be used in a bigger production later on.

Before I left Spain I got to try Neanderthal 9b, which Chris Sharma put up back in 2009 and hasn’t seen an ascent since. It’s a super intimidating line going straight through the Santa Linya cave. I went through it one time, and could do all the moves. Though, putting all the moves together is a different story on this 50 meter long route. 9a into a hard boulder problem without any rest, followed by an 8b.

Photo: Henning Wang

This 9a took me slightly longer than expected. I got really close some days ago, but underestimated the top section and fell there a couple of times before I sent the route yesterday in the sun. The day before that I did what people tell me is the first on sight of Codigo Norte 8b. Really nice route! Tomorrow we are climbing at Oliana. Psyched to try some hard on sights.

Pictures and video will be posted soon…

Today I surprised myself by sending fuck the system 9a. I tried the route briefly when I was here two weeks ago, and then it felt like it would take me a lot longer. The time I spent at home resting seems to have helped. Now I’m ready to try something harder! And congrats to my sister for doing Fabelita, her first 8c!

Here are some video stills taken by Henning Wang:

Hello all and my apologies for not writing in a while. I tend to loose motivation for writing when my climbing isn’t going well. Though that is perhaps exactly when I should write. This competition season started off amazing, but ended terrible. I have been reflecting on what I could have done wrong and I am afraid I don’t have an answer. Normally at this time of year I like to take a break, but because I feel like I haven’t preformed, I’m feeling restless. So I will not take a break yet.

After the World Cup in Barcelona I stayed there with some good friends of mine; Jakob Shubert (Austria), Daisuke Konishi and Sachi Anma (Japan). I tred a few hard routes, which confirmed my lack of endurance, though made me really psyched to get in shape again. Therefore I’m flying back to Spain in only a week from now!
We spend some time in Oliana and Santa Linya. Being back in Santa Linya brought back a lot of good memories. In 2008 I slept in the cave for a week, to do La Novena Enmienda, which was my first 9a+. Since then a lot of hard routes has been put up. And when I go back to Spain now, that is where I want to climb the most. I just pray the weather will be good. At this time of year I have experienced weeks of nonstop rain in Spain.

After the world cup I managed to do couple of pretty hard routes, as well as many easier routes:

- Maroncita 8b On Sight

- Picos Pardos 8b Flash

Both of which used to be 8b+.

Here is the short version of the La Novena Enmienda Video from 2008.

Venga!

Over new years I will be working for Frictionwalls as a wall designer. I have always been a big fan of their walls, and I have known the people behind this company since I first started climbing. The unique way of building these 3D walls have over the years been developed, and made easier and more accurate. The state of the art CNC computer program provides accuracy down to each millimeter, which means no material goes to waste. That’s why Frictionwalls from next year will be available as a build it yourself set!
Once the walls are designed putting them together is easier than building a piece of furniture from Ikea. The steel frame is put together like Lego, making any sort of modification at a later point easy. You can easily modify the walls in any way possible either by extending them, or make changes to the frames length and/or angles. More info to come soon!

Here you can see some of the walls already build by Fricitionwalls:

This fall has been a busy one, without much time to train. Over the past three months I have felt my shape gradually getting worse. Now I got 10 days before my next World Cup in Kranj. This week I will be training as hard as possible, then to take it more easy the last days in front of the comp. I will be doing two sessions a day. I’m super motivated to train again, though I wish I had more time. The competition in Kranj is followed by a World Cup in Barcelona (one of my favorite cities), which is the last world cup this year. Hoping to spend a lot of time in Spain this winter!

Here is a photo from last the last world cup in Barcelona – summer, 2009:

 

 

 

 

Been feeling like crap all yesterday and today. Don’t know what is happening. Had a fever yesterday, so as soon as I got to the hotel I went straight to bed and slept for 12 hours straight. Felt better when I woke up, but climbing today I felt like shit. Worst qualifiers in a very long time. Been a while since I didn’t make semis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Nicolas Delaleu

Results

Last weekend I was back in my hometown, Bergen for the Norwegian Championships. The comp turned out a lot better than I had expected. A lot of people showed up to watch the finals. And the little gym in Bergen was stacked! Allthough I won, I was not happy with how I climbed. I need to step it up next weekend in France, otherwise I will get spanked. On Thursday I’m leaving for Valance. One of my favorite places to compete. Such a good atmosphere! Watch the video of a younger version of myself back in 2007.

In Norwegian: På tirsdag 20:15 kan du se meg på NRK1 i min idrett.

Nordic flower is sent and done! Have had some wet and cold days in Flatanger, however the cave has stayed dry, except for a few places where the water seeps through.

Tried the first 1/3 of the route one time in May on my first visit. This trip I only went through it one time to put chalk on the holds and fix the draws. Next try I surprised myself by sending the first part, without even trying the last part (my rope wasn’t long enough). Next try I did the whole thing. I’m not sure about the 9a grade, but on such a beautiful route I don’t thing the grade even matters. Without doubt the most beautiful route I have ever done!

I also tried my project today, and I did the only move I hadn’t done. That means next year I can start trying to link it. Though I have done all the moves it feels like I’m miles away from actually doing it.

It’s time for my third big competition this year – Puurs, in Belgium. I haven’t had any big comps since Chamonix and Arco, and I feel ready to compete again. Since I got back to Norway I have had a lot of time to train, and I feel pretty strong. Though, sometimes when I feel really fit, I get extra nervous. So I just hope that won’t happen. Like most people, I always climb better when Im not too nervous. The wall in Puurs is steep and long, like a cave… my favorite!

You can watch the event online at ifsc.tv and more info at worldcuppuurs.com

 

 

After Puurs I have a pretty busy schedule. Directly from Puurs I fly up to Bodø to set for a competition. From there I fly a little south, down to Trondheim and from there drive to Flatanger for the 3rd round!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo from 2007

Driving up to Flatanger tonight! Will get two days of intense bolting. My goal is to get started on a route throughout the whole cave. So around 300 meters. I think I would like to do it as a multi-pitch. I haven´t tried many really hard multi-pitches before, so that will be a new experience for me. Normally I only need to focus on one pitch. But in order to do a long route like that, I need to be able to work and to memorize maybe up to 10 pitches. I’m excited about it, and I think there could be some really hard multi-pitches up there. I have also thought about doing a route Alibaba-style, clipping in and out different ropes. That way you can climb 300 meters without hanging. But it takes a lot of work to fix the ropes in the wall, besides climbing 300 meters in one push, might be a little overkill. Any suggestions on how to do it?

Anyways… first the routes need to be bolted.

 

Hello everyone. After almost two months on the road I’m back home. Need to recharge my batteries and train for the upcoming World Cups. I have decided to only take part in the World Cups in Europe. That means I will get a pretty shitty overall result, though that’s not important to me. I rather do well at the places I love to compete, than travelling around like a mad man between continents. There are four World Cups left for me this year. Starting off with Puurs, Belgium last weekend of September. Followed by Valence, Kranj and Barcelona. After a great start of the season, Im really psyched to train even harder. Its sad to say, but at this point comps are only fun when I do well. So I just need to do everything I can for that to happen.
The attention around Flatanger just seems to increase. In October I will go back there for round two of bolting. Might be a little cold, but at least the cave wont get wet.

Photo: Chilling on the beach in Denmark, waiting for the ferry to arrive.

Just got back to Switzerland from a wet event in Norway. Great fun! Before going I was a little worried about the cold water, and falling without control from 12 meters. Luckily I didn’t fall. However though I topped I had to jump in the cold water for the show. It all went down in one day (saturday). Two qualifying routes and one final route in the evening.
Climbing was a lot of fun. A new experience! On both our qualifiers we got big moves. One of which was a double dyno. The final route was around 8a+ and I felt pretty confortable climbing it. A double dyno half way up, then endurance-climbing to the top. The men climbed around 11 o’clock, followed by a spotlight. When falling in the water we were picked up by a water-scooters and brought straight to a jacuzzi from where we could watch the other climbers climb.

I hope for many more of these comps in the future!

Hopefully I will get some pictures to post here soon…