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?? ;))