Another lead 8c and bouldering in Swiss

2 Weeks ago I was in Mišja peč after quite long time, and as I didn't have any project there to climb I went to try Talk is cheap! 8c. Slovenian youth team was climbing it and route seemed quite hard, I wasn't sure if I would be able to do the moves at all. They showed me beta and I was surprised how fast I did everything, in first try of the route I got all the moves. Route is hard first 4 bolts, then big rest and easier to the top, which I like. I did few tries in it that day but didn't send it.
When I returned few days later I did it in my first try of the day, all together in 5 tries! I didn't expect to do 8c that fast. Same day I sent Missing link 8b+ which I tried last year and didn't climb it for some time now.    That is my best score for now -  8b+ and 8c in a day.

Talk is cheap!

 This is now my 3rd 8c, because after doing this route I had finally something to compare The Time to, which I FA'd and now I think it is also 8c. They are both similiar in the way that they have short hard sequence, and both fit me well. Still, I'm waiting for some repeats on The Time to confirm the grade.
2 days after and I was already on the way to Cresciano and Chironico to do some bouldering!

Chironico and Cresciano 2016.

 This time Split (Nikola Kramarić and Luka Kivela) and Zagreb ( Karlo Čubrić and me) teamed up for the trip. We had 5 bouldering days.
As always when going bouldering, I was happy to feel the granite and send some classics!
We started searching accomodation too late, and as a result we didn't have comfy stay as before. Rooms didn't have kitchen and dishes, but we quickly adapted and bought paper plates, forks and knives and cooked on gas. It was cool to find solutions for what we needed. Also I was happy that my bad Deutsch finally served me in communication, I managed to ask : Ist this Preis nur fur Schlaffen oder mit Fruhstuck? :D
Weather was kind of too warm, we expected much colder weather. Still, climbing was on the level and I'm happy with my sends.
 I took new Ocun Oxi climbing shoes with me to try them,  and they showed extremely good on boulders so I climbed whole trip in them.

First day Chironico, started off with 7B+ flash and then sending roof beast Willenberg dach 8A. A roof with big holds, but it needs quite some power. For the end of the day went to flash Vitruvian man 7C, but I accidentally did it with chipped hold for foot, so I went for 2nd go.

Second day we went to Cresciano and headed for La Boule 8A, a real classic. There I flashed La boulette 7B which is really nice, and started trying La Boule. It seemed quite hard, a lot of tension and small crimps which hurt for skin. But I liked it very much. After trying the moves I went for the try, I didn't expect to climb it in that try as I barely managed to pull off moves alone, but in a big fight I managed to do it. I was sooo happy, my dearest send ever.

La boule 8A

 On 3rd day I took rest to prepare for last 3 days.

Fourth day we were shortly in Cresciano where I did XP 7C, and then to Chironico where I finally did Worthless everything 7C+ thanks to the new beta from Nikola. This boulder I was trying last 2 trips and couldn't do it. After it I also did Tricky 8A, which now seemed pretty easy with right beta.

XP 7C and new Ocun Oxi

Day 5 going to new sector in Chironico where I flashed The pocket problem 7C+ , which is my hardest flash for now.  Congratulations to Karlo who also did it and pushed his limit!
A long beauty Second life 8A+ caught my eye and I went to try it. It looks so good, alone on the block, and has some more than 15 moves. Sadly, I fell few times at the end because it just squeezed power from my arms. This will probably be first thing to send next time. Next I wanted to try Boogalaga 8B, but I still wasn't strong enough for it. :(

Last day was real rampage for me. First I did Serre moi fort 8A which I like really much, so good moves. Shortly after it I sent Le vent nous portera 8A, reachy dynamic line with move which takes away feet quite high, exciting to climb. Then I flashed The real shield 7C, one hard move for start then easy to the top. Next I flashed Brechstange 7C,  which has 2 moves on crimps. I felt so solid in it. After it, when night already fell and we climbed with 2 headlamps, I did Salut a toit 7C+ on second go.

Le vent nous portera 8A

Almost all of the routes I did are real classics and amazing lines. I could climb them over and over again.  I'm satisfied with my score, 5 8A's in 5 days and enough 7C's, mostly on flash.

Now training for competitions, and perhaps another boulder trip if I will have time.

All the boulders I did in those 5 days :
7B+ Party boosten (flash)
8A Willenberg dach
7C Vitruvian man
8A La boule
7B La boulette (flash)
7B+ Voci dalla cantina (flash)
7C   XP
7C+ Worthless everything
8A Tricky
7C+ The pocket problem (flash)
8A Serre moi fort
8A Le vent nous portera
7C The real shield (flash)
7C Brechstange (flash)
7C+ Salut a toit

Climbing in Greece

Beginning of winter holidays I spent with my family in Greece for 10 days. I did a lot of sightseeing of archeological monuments which quite impressed me. But most importantly,I was climbing on some of the best crags around Athens and on Peloponnese. Most of them have medium long routes of around 25-30 metres with many tufas, so endurance is a must have.
I was climbing in a more relaxed fashion, not going for some hard sends with many tries, so I was mostly sighting. I wanted to get some endurance so I can send something hard in Croatia when I get back.
Sectors are really good for climbing and sighting if you like tufas. Since I'm not fond of tufas, on some sectors I went to try some of more bouldery and less climbed routes with less tufas which turned out to be awesome. For example my favorite route which I climbed this trip, What 8b, which has maybe 3-4 ascents for now. I also climbed Sugar loaf which was put on 8b? in guidebook and is basically a 5 move boulder after really easy climb, but nevertheless it was cool for me as I'm in boulder shape. Since I couldn't get any data if it was climbed before it could also be a FA.
Beside this, I sighted Delirio 8a on sector Chaos that is actually a big sinkhole in the ground,
sighted 1 7c+, 7c and bunch of 7b+'s and easier.


This year was pretty successful for me both on rock where I did many sends to remember, and on competitions where I greatly improved in comparison to last year.
Next year is my last in juniors so I hope I will do really great on competitions, and I also want to push my lead grade limit.

Happy New year everyone, have a great year full of good health, great climbing and unforgettable moments !

Chaos, sick looking sector

8b What

Athen's acropola

Poseidon's temple

sunset at the Poseidon's temple

really good sector Hada

sighting 7c+

The Time !

Last week I missed 1 day in school to go climbing in new sector in Istria called Rock n Roč.
When I first went there, there were couple of projects and one caught my eye. For my dad it was the ugliest one, but for me the opposite. Short, bouldery overhang with hard power moves which are pretty attractive. At first I didn't even know if it's possible for me because I couldn't visualize moves at all. After projecting it for 2-3 days I got all moves and was ready to send it.
At the end there is one move where I need to let my legs go in the air, and usually I was falling there because I was too pumped to hold only on arms.

When we got there everything was covered in fog and I thought conditions won't be good for climbing, but it turned out it was good day.
I fell few times on move with legs in the air, but in the last try in day I sticked everything and sent my hardest FA! I wasn't sure how to grade it, but it felt hard even though I'm in really good form for such bouldery routes so I graded it as 8B+. It seems I didn't miss as Jakob Schubert sent it few days after me and said it's hard and grade can't be lower, and that maybe it could be 8c.
I named it ''The Time'' because under the route there is some old clock around starting tufas.
I'm really proud I did FA in this route. I think it is an amazing route.

Thanks Luka Tambaca for these awesome photos :)

Chironico 2015 2nd time

Boom!
I spent 9 days in Cresciano and Chironico with happy crew from Zagreb and Split : Luka Tambača, Karlo Čubrić, Ivan Pevec, Nikola Kramarić and Luka trumbić.

These were 9 days of perfect weather, much fun and a lot of hard boulders.
It was such nice mental rest and relaxation. Nature was beautiful, no snow yet and everything was in autumn colours. We had awesome house high on the hill and beautiful view.  I would easily stay there for a month or two without a problem.

 After first day of climbing in Chironico I knew I'm stronger than last time. I did pretty easily Souvenir 8a/a+ with which I struggled to do any moves earlier this year. I added Komilator 7C flash and cool jump start 7C Vanillasky.
Next day we went to Cresciano, it was my first true time bouldering there. I did 7C La grotte des soupirs and tried some 8a's.

Now when I got feeling for granite,I took rest on 3rd day in order to prepare for my main target of the trip. It was Einfisch Kleinfisch 8b in Chironico which I had unfinished business with from earlier trip this year.
I was really syked for this one and wanted to do it before my fingertips get bloody because this boulder is damaging skin pretty fast. At first it went okay, but I wasn't sure if I will be able to do it, and then suddenly I came up with some changes in beta which fit me better. After some tries with new beta, I managed to climb it. Woohoo! With it I have highest boulder grade climbed in Croatia, together with Boris Zokić. Now I could dedicate to other boulders without having to spare skin.

Until the end of the trip I sent 8a+ Kirk Windstein (Cresciano), Miss schweiz 8a (Chironico), Electric ant squat start 8a+ (Chironico) and a lot of 7C's and 7B's.
As a most beautiful boulder I did on the trip I have to point out Kirk Windstein, I really enjoyed it.

I wasn't the only one to raise personal record this trip though, Pevec did his first 8A+ Kirk Windstein, Karlo his first 7B+ Dr. med dent and Nikola 8a/a+ Souvenir

On our way home, we agreed this trip was sooo good and started forging plans for our next trip :)
 

Electric ant squat 8A+

La grotte des soupirs 7C

Einfisch Kleinfisch 8b

Village on top of the hill where we chilled on rest days

I like this one :D

Kirk Windstein 8A+

 All these photos are from Luka Tambača.
Other pics of the trip you can find on: http://lukatambaca.com/ticino15

Summary of recent events

I didn't write for some time now. Mostly forgot or didn't have time to write, so I'll put short summary of what happened since last post.


Firstly, there was European youth cup in Langenfeld where I managed to get into my first boulder finals and finished 5th.
Next, on European youth championship in L'Argentiere I got into finals and finished 5th again. This made me 4th overall in European youth cup. These 2 finals were sign of my big improvement from last year where I was mostly around 12. place.
I was on my first senior's boulder competition, World cup in Munich where I finished 63. out of 121 competitor.
At the end, I became national senior champion in boulder, lead and speed!


This year is 25 years from first croatian 8a, Cocomo in Costiera, climbed by my dad. At that time climbing 8a was a real deal. For the anniversary I went there with him as I never actually tried that route before. I was surprised how bouldery and short route my dad chose for first 8a, because now he likes only endurance and long routes. I sent it on 2nd go, and sighted one other 8a there.

Dad and me in Cocomo (pic was taken on same day)

Sending some projects

Now when school is over I had some time to finish some of my projects.

So last week I sent pumpy route Katakombe 8b+ in Kotečnik which I was trying some time last year. It felt really easy on sending try.

Few days later I went to Paklenica to do some bouldering, did 7c By the way in few tries which was hardest boulder in Paklenica until then. After it I went to try a long time boulder project at the entrance of park which always caught my eye when passing by because it's on the road so everyone notices it when going in canyon. I really wanted to see if it's possible for me. I realised it's actually beautiful boulder.  It has 2 power moves and easy top-out and is actually quite high, about 6 metres. After studying it that evening I managed to send it next morning with good friction and graded it 8a. I named it Corona because it is really nice and it kinda crowns all of the boulders in Paklenica. I'm glad I also did significant boulder achievement in Paklenica together with Maratoneta.

video link - https://www.facebook.com/zagrebclimbing/videos/1020878024624255/

Same week I went to Pokojec to finally do  Kill Bill 8b which is pretty tricky route with few moves which are kind of lucky because you need to hit a pocket nicely. First time ever I managed to do the crux, and I was really happy I'm gonna send the route and then big foothold broke under my foot and I slipped off. Next try I didn't do it and my fingers began to hurt me because of the pocket, but as usual in last try of the day I sent it. It's 3rd ascent of this route for now.

Pokojec

Soon boulder competitions are starting for me, hoping to be strong.

European championship Innsbruck

Last week I was on my first seniors european bouldering competition.
I went with Ivan Pevec, Krešo Morić and Luka Kivela and I was happy I have some company at last.
I had no expectations, I went to gather experience. I didn't know how hard boulders are on such competitions, and now I know.
I got 1 top and 3 zones from 5 boulders. Not too good, but okay for first time. Most often the problem was I couldn't hold on such small holds. I need more finger power for hard boulders like that.
I ended 69th out of 86 competitors, Kivela on same place and Morić and Pevec sharing 77th place.

On same day after competition Pevec and I went bouldering on some nearby spot and I sent 2 7c's, one of them on flash, and a 7b+ on flash.

Despite the results we had nice trip and a lot of fun and I look forward to more such trips.

/I have no photos of me climbing because noone could photograph as we were all in the same time in isolation/