Melting ice & drippin' candles

February 2006.
With all the 'competition hassle' & excitement behind us - with all mental conclusions asside - we still couldn't quite say goodbye to this years winter, as it somehow just kept calling us in. Inviting and promising sweet rewards. Just like a tempting cone of ice-cream on one of those hot summer days...

And though, at first, I didn't quite know how to respond to it's calls, I quickly managed to switch my attention as I found out that one of the true pearls of slovenian ice climbing has formed in a reasonably climbable condition. The very next day, a small bunch of us 'ice-addicts' were already burried into knee-deep snow, just pushing to get to the tempting candles as soon as possible...

A couple of cold mornings and warm(ing) afternoons
- accompanied by a series of really amazing and pictueresque ascents (the famed 7th grades of Membrana and Super slap Kosobrin in the valley of Tamar being just the most outstanding ones!!) were a really great conclusion to jet another winters bout.

Good-bye (at least for now ;)) my trusty axes and cramp's - HELLO, colourful spring!!

Competition season - FINAL outcome(s)

The weeks just rushed by, as we were trying to catch the most of them and the good climbing & outdoor conditions they were offering. It was also a time to slowly conclude my list of organized climbing events for yet another winter.

The first 'gauntlet' of decision fell during the last competition of our national CUP, held in a 'one-of-a-kind' (quite unique for European and even world standards!!) artificially frozen gorge near Mojstrana, Slovenia.

I managed to climb consistently on the roots of my growing experience and finished with the 3rd (yes, a HATTRICK!!) national victory in a row in the difficulty alignment!! After (also) winning the over-all championship title for the first time (!!), climbing to a final 3rd place in the speed-category was one of the best ways of concluding another thrilling weekend!

Yup, it was a fine season indeed... one that will not be forgotten so fast!

Ohh, but not so quick... since I promised to a couple of my foreign friends, I couldn't complete my 'competition voyage' just yet?! ;) Departing for Zagreb (the capital of Croatia) a couple of weeks later, finally put a lot of the things in the rightly-earned perspective for me.

Another nicely-organized event, this time held in a non-operational street tunnel, was another icing on the cake after a looong and (sometimes) tiring season. Final outcome: 2nd place in difficulty... with a lot of warm memories to accompany me until the next winter's 'rush'. I wonder if that will suffice?? ;))

Competition season 06' - part 'deux'

When writing about all the previous events I have already witnessed this year I felt kind of strange. Somehow I just couldn't seem to shake the feeling I was capable of doing a lot more with my current state of fitness and over-all climbing preparation. Like I was missing some great opportunities?!!

Feeling a bit uncertain at first, it was exactly those feelings (although being far from negative) that later allowed me to stop and reflect a little about my wishes and realistic future possibilities. Realizing the 'pros & cons' I was calm and relaxed again... just an evening away form one of the biggest ice-climbing events of the year... the WORLD CUP competition in Saas Fee, Switzerland.

Driving there with my climbing friend Tanja, I was having a true blast. Passing through snowy mountain-passes we seemed to be ready for just about everything. But then... just once we drove into the Saas-walley... DISASTER?!! My stomach started acheing, my head pounding and I knew I was in trouble. I seemed to have caught a late 'fragment' of stomach-flu, that my sister had just conquered a couple of days back?!! And this REALLY needed to happen right here... in one of the world's most expensive places?! I was in for a great weekend...

But I seemed to pull through somehow... sleeping perhaps 2 short hours, eating one and a half biscuits and two bananas, altogether mixed with 2-3 small cups of bitter tea... all of this while all the other competitors were 'lingering' on all-you-can-eat pasta dinners and a good nights sleep?!

Still determined, I tried... I warmed up slowly, drank some more tea, ate another banana-biscuit-mix... and waited for my number to be called. When it was I was in a zone of my own. Climbing slowly, but surely... no unneeded movements and no serious fatigue... untill the time finally ran out on me.
I made it through the qualifying with a solid performance. And that's when I realized that anything was possible... if only my 'medical state' would co-operate with me.

Luckily it DID and together with the newly found 'knowing' & relief came also the long awaited burst of energy. It was time to ENJOY competition climbing at it's best once again... the fact that there was a wast competition of the world's best climbers still waiting for me, didn't seem so important at this moment. It was time to have FUN!

And I did... finishing 13th in the speed-event and advancing to the 12th place over-all in difficulty was more than I could have ever bargained for just 2 days prior.

The evening finished with a glorious final-event and an even more special (and already legendary!! ;)) climbing-PARTY... one that you don't get to see just every day.

Eventhough we wanted to do some more climbing in the coming days (Tanja got sick as well - caught a 'heavy' cold, after making a great WC debút?!), we felt content and kin'da fulfiled when driving back home...