Semi-finals Saturday August 26th

Since I finished 19th out of 26 in the qual routes yesterday and semis running order is reverse, I was the 8th climber this morning. That translates into getting out of bed at 5:45 am, getting into isolation by 6:55 am, and warming up my freezing body by 8 am. Iso was very cold and verrrrrrrrrrrry crowded. I couldn't walk without stepping over (and on) people. Our group got to see the route for 8 minutes (precisely) at 8 am and I climbed at 8:55 am.

Our route today started with a vertical, intensely hard (lousy hold after tough hold) wall and by the time I reached the absolutely horizontal roof, my arms were pumped and the route continued with completely unreadable sequences. I gave it all that I had and finished 23rd. Many of these climbers were not at Worlds in Beijing last year. 8 girls advanced to finals which was held this afternoon. Most of them flashed all 4 routes! It feels like to really compete in this age group in Europe, one would have to train here with a European coach, team, AND 92 foot long climbs.

Finals are this afternoon and Speed is tonight in the town square.

I am taking a break this afternoon and will ride TWO charilifts up to the top of the mountain, hike down to the midstation among the belled cows, and then ride the rollercoaster to the bottom. What a rush!

Tomorrow, Sunday, is the Speed finals and Awards ceremony. I think we are going to drive to Innsbruck in the afternoon.

Happy Climbing!

Sierra

Qualifiers-Day 2 Friday Aug 25th

Saturday August 24th Qualifier Day 2 Imst

Precisely at 8:00 this morning, two forerunners, including Angela Eiter, demonstrated (climbed quickly) three routes each and made them look sooo easy! All 65 Youth Female A climbers got another chance to score points for entry into semifinals.

I ran 9th in line and was at the gym at 7 am, climbed at 9:15, and felt great about the climb. The route was vertical with mostly natural feet and then it crossed over to a huge horizontal roof. These Europeans use their feet much better than the Americans and seem very comfortable with their pony tail hanging upside down. I got to the last huge stalagmite-thing, one hold from the end and that was all I had. I finished 19 th and moved on to semis on Saturday! I was so grateful!

After leaving the sportstadium, we rented bikes and rode flat paths along the Inn River and through hilly Imst. The apartment we are staying at has no phones and no internet sevice and no salads...but we have a kitchen!

Qualifiers-day 1

Thursday August 24th
The comp began!! Precisely at 8:15 a.m, as scheduled, six UIAA forerunners climbed the routes for the six age group divisions. The Austrians are so precise with time. There are 65 girls in my age group and I climbed number 41 at approximately 1:15 pm. At first I felt so intimidated by the walls and the huge crowd, but settled down quickly once I started climbing. The route was long (92 feet long) with two major cruxes and many lousy holds along the way. I was very pleased when I made it over the second overhang, with the top only 8 feet away! I felt like I could go further but my arms were so pumped and that was all I had. There were many ties today(see the results on the “World Youth Championships website” link from my blog home page) and I ended up a very close 17th place.
Tomorrow is the second preliminary route and I will climb 9th after the forerunner.
(in this picture I am in the white shirt on the left)

Opening Ceremony

Wednesday Aug 23rd.

The day before the comp started, we took it easy but hiked around the mountains and enjoyed the wide vistas and magnificent views. We took the Hoch-Imst chairlift up the mountain and then hiked further up the mountain with the cows! Every cow had a huge bell around its neck and they made quite a din. When we were ready to come down, we again rode the awesomely fast rollercoaster! What a blast.


Opening ceremonies were held at the Imst town center and all the teams marched like at the Olympics but it was difficult to see and take pictures

Training in Innsbruck

The US Team took a big commercial bus to the olympic Training Center in Innsbruck today, Tuesday. The gym was a huge complex with lots of steel and glass. The climbing gym had a pretty small floor area but was very TALL.

This was a great route and fun to climb. I am the climber in blue.

The routes were not taped but marked by holds of the same color....it was confusing when a light yellow route was next to a white or dark yellow route. Their rating system is 4-9 and with no relation to our 5. system.

It was a great day of training.













Every morning starts out wet and foggy and usually clears by pm.


In order to write this blog, I go to the very smoky
restaurant in the Hotel Neuner and use the internet. It is slow and not always cooperative with font and pictures. We are looking for a better connection.

Bye for now!

First day Sightseeing

Team members were knocking on our door early this morning, urging us come on and ride "The World's Longest Alpine Coaster." While riding the ski lift up to the top of the coaster, breathtaking views were revelaed of the Imst Valley. The attendant assured us that we could go as fast as we wanted down the track and the sled would not crash off, so we ignored the brake and flew down the track! What a blast.

In the afternoon we drove to the Bavarian region of southern Germany and waited a long time to tour the exquisite Disney-like castle, Neuschwanstein. The views out of the castle windows exposed greeen fields, crossed by tree lined roads leading to red roofed villas. It all looked magically beautiful.

Tomorrow our Team climbs in Innsbruck from 3-6 pm at the Olympic Training Center. It will be interesting to meet some of the other climbers.

Wednesday night is the Opening Ceremony and on Thursday the Comp starts. I can't wait!

We made it!

Austria is so green and bequtiful!
We arrived into Munich at 9 am on Sunday and drove the 90 miles to Imst, Austria in three hours! Both mapqwest and Michelin's maps were totally incomprehensible. At least three different l o n g names are used for the same road and then they don't match the sign posts! Sierra was navigator and was sure we'd end up in London. But we made it fine.

All of Imst is closed today because it is Sunday and naturally everything is annoyingly written in German. Our hotel hosts are very kind, even after our power converter failed and blew the room circuits!

We drove by the gym today but of course it was closed for the comp. The setters must be inside working like mad to get ready for Thursday.

Some of the other USAClimbers have arrived and are here at the hotel. It's so nice to see familiar faces.
Here are a few pictures:
The Gym
The Alps!!!



















A pretty church Attempting to drive from Munich to Imst!

Getting Ready

We leave Saturday morning bright and (way to) early and arrive in Imst about 20 hours later, assuming no delays. I am finally almost done packing and have an entire suitcase stuffed full of food because I don't want to be forced to try some weird German dish before the comp.
My mom and I tried to plan this week so that there would be nothing to do today(Friday) and we could relax...but of course there are about 10 last minute errands to run and things to get.
I climbed at Rock'n and Jam'n one last time yesterday. This is a picture of some of the "RJ Crew" sending me off.
I will post some pictures when we get to imst...if I survive our 14hr flight and 3.5hr drive :-)

Thank You!

This blog was created to share my experiences at the world climbing competition in Austria with the many people who donated time and money to support me on this trip. I promise to post updates and photos whenever we have internet access. Once again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who showed interest in my endeavors and helped me make this trip possible!