A SPECIAL day !

The day started somewhat different on that certain friday...

Somewhat unlike my nature, I was quite nervously expecting a message... a phone call, SMS... anything & at any comming minute. Any specific news would have made my expectations easier... but it somehow just didn't (want to) reach me just yet.

The best remedy seemed a winter moutaineering meditation, a climb to the highest peak of our country...

We were the first people on top of  Mt. Triglav (2864 m) on that day. I was the happiest uncle in the world !!

Protective bandaging

I got a pretty fair history of (luckily mostly) minor injuries. Most of them were a result of my exerting physical efforts in various sports activities that I got to taste, some perhaps also to my sometimes explorative and temperate nature... who could tell in cases like that, right?

The usual 'punishment' was usualy a loooong non-willing time out form my favorite activity. Until I realized and learned the problem could be coped with otherwise as well. As a student of Physiotherapy I decided to choose a different approach.

Giving my sprained left thumb enough time and direct tactile stimulation to heal on its own to some extent - then directly protecting it from repeating injury with a carefully fitted bandage.
I was missing from the courts & climbing walls for only a few days, untill the acute injury faded somewhat - in such cases, the RIGHT training is SAFE, FUNCTIONAL training !

LIFEguard

Presented with an option to furtherly enhance my knowledge and future options in the area of first aid and direct rescue work, I took part in a comprehensive lifegueard training & education programe.

As I haven't been training swimming specifically in the last couple of years it has been quite a rough start for me, after the first couple of sessions though I got the needed hang of it and progressed with ever greater 'ease'. The 3 week intensive training program proved to be a really physical challenge, followed by a series of exams and rescue swimming tests, that made us truly give it our BEST.

The past weeks have been a rewarding experience for sure, especially considering the 'competition' of more or less natural born swimmers. After the surpassed first aid and legal exams, I'm more than happy to be able to work and positively use the knowledge of a nationaly certified and licensed Lifeguard.   

Leap of faith...

Not being a real fan of the modern POP-music, I get pleasently surprised from time to time?!!


 
A fresh way to express and look at things. The truth & knowledge lies in the details...

Trail bike leader

In the fall of 2007 it was time for some additional 'real life' education. A worthy class was that of the  International trail mountain bike leader course.

An incredibly practical course that had our focus from the very begining, gave me some good pointers on how to move and guide more efficiently. Two thumbs up to the American guide that kept us on our toes!!



Mountain biking never seemed so logical until this point - which resulted also in an international CTC trail mountain bike leader license.

Mind game(ing)

Having set myself a goal, I was directly on a path towards settling some waiting scores...

My summer consisted of getting my mind and body into shape. Finishing my slightly prolonged study schedule
was the task at hand.

I jumped onto it, literarly. Covering all the fundamental areas of medicine - from physics, biochemistry, histology...to my actual favourite - anatomy. It was a strenous path to walk at times, but without that same insight my story wouldn't & couldn't be the same today.

Suspended in... Meteora !

With the winter well behind us, it was time for some lingering in the warm mediteranean sun. Or at least I thought it would be only that.

In May 2007 we boarded a ferry to Greece. I heard and read about the amazing & picturesque rock formations of Meteora ever since my early days of climbing.

The rock and the climbing were my focuses then, but it took some first hand experience to see that my expectations were hardly correct.

The true meaning of Meteora namely lies in the term 'suspended in the air' - which reffers to the manny monasteries, built on top of the mighty conglomerate rock pillars that actually made this area world famous.

These high sanctuaries were a cradle of the orthodox Greek religion in the historic day, defending their inhabitants from repeating Turkish invasions. Quite a large number of them was either destroyed or got slowly degraded through time, but about 24 still stand proud until the comming day.

What I didn't realize at first was the interesting energy this area contained.

We came as turist - climbers, but after a couple of days (of preety hard whole-day climbing of course ;) I seemed too relaxed and far too energized not to notice it.

The feeling grew amongst our whole group and acompanied us untill the day of our departure.


The experience, the people, all of the routes we climbed - this one time setting - will stay with us !!

The World Cup TOUR 07'

Italy. Switzerland. Romania. These countries hosted this years ice climbing world cup competitions. 3 nations, 3 languages, 3 completely different civilizational settings.

I managed to get into hard-core shape once again and attended all of them in a competitive frame of mind - this year for the first time as a member of the Slovenian ice climbing team.

The comps were brutaly demanding from the very start and I had to employ all my past experience and physical preparation to cope with the posted challenges.

All of them seemed somewhat easier this time round. Perhaps I was looking at them from a different perspective, relied on a more intense energy or simply managed to bond my experience and views with my friends & co-climbers.

The results weren't lacking as I progressed with every competition, finishing off with one of the best performances of the season.

It has been one fine adventure, another true voyage - with the "count Dracula'stic" Romania to fill up the jar.

We'll see what the spring will bring us...

Signs & footprints in the snow...

Steps... followed by some momentarily inspired writings in the snow. Combined with a handfull of good friends and positive energy, will make even the coldest winter moments seem like the coasiest summer breeze. End of quote.

Starting early...

Walking & climbing high...

...enjoying the magic... nothing more, nothing less !

The short, thuough mostly chrystal-clear days brought us some really great winter outings, intense feelings, freedom at our fingertips and nevertheless - some spectacular views. Here are just a few of them - hardly a convincing witness, but hopefully putting things into perspective...  ; )

RefleXions of the fall

The fall of 2006. After long periods of hard working rythm, especially if somehow mixed with personal issues and prolonged decisions of any sort, the body & mind just scream after some time-off and active relaxation.

The conclusion of this years summer definately wasn't one of the easiest for me. Trying to work all of the 'pros' & 'cons' into the right order took out quite some energy in the whole process, but a guiding light seemed to have shown me an optimal path ahead. A petty rugged one, but also one that I tend to appreciate most...

Meanwhile, a weekend resort at the sea-side seemed to be the right answer again. Together with some hard core rock-climbing of course. The canyon of Paklenica seems to do the job time and time again...

Goin' Sri Lankan !

In October I was given an opportunity to do something I haven't been doing (at least not in such a big extent ;) for quite some time before. As a part of a close co-operation with a well renowned and far seeing company from Slovenia, I traveled all the way to the far East to take over the co-ordiantion of a new partner company and help them in the designing process of a new line of high quality technical & mountaineering wear.

Sri Lanka was a term I knew from the school-books and some geographical documentaries. I was also aware of some huge tsunami damage and casualty-count
(the locals say it was higher then 40.000?!!) that resulted from a disastrous tsunami in 2002. But it wasn't until I started surfing through the internet portals that I also found out that the whole country was caught in a serious military situation and the risks of traveling over there were pretty big. "Strongly in-advisable" was the only information I got from any of them. I went anyway.

Soon after flying into Colombo (the capital-city) things really started to kick off. For the majority of the first week I was absolutely flooded with work and co-ordination between two major companies - all interesting and ingenuitive every step of the way.







Besides that 'project' I was caught into a new culture (mostly buddhist, partly hinduist and slightly catholic as well) with a whole different life standard than you could find in any of the western parts of the world.

Luckily I was able to start traveling around pretty soon. The elephant orphanage at Pinnawala was one of the first on my list.









The ainchent palace of Sigiriya following soon after was one of the highlights, as the royal gardens of the emperor kept me wondering and enthusastic until well after sundown...



...and things only started to roll-on from there. Seeing all of the mesmerising Buddhist 'dagobas' and Hinduist temples along the way...


...all of the rich, 'english' tea-estates
in the central part...


...and to top it of (surely ;), try to do some stream-line surfing along one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.











And though the whole area around Galle and the south has been pretty seriously damaged during the last tsunami... and the ongoing rivalries and terrorist attacks between the Sinhalese and the Tamil minorities keep lasting and prolonging (?!!) themselves - the people fortunately seem to have a strong will to live on and rebuild their natural gems & potentials.






It was one BIG experience for me, definately. A time to do some reflecting on the past few months of my life as well as a chance to open up and accept some new ideas and concepts that might have seemed a bit un-natural at first.



And though I came home a bit tired, I came home with a wide smile on my face - plus a collection of high quality clothing that will be serving their users technical needs for long periods of time.Untill next time to the 'pearl of the Orient'. Ayubowan Sri Lanka!