Its been a while since Ive updated, but lately things have been really hectic and I havent had much time for anything really.. but anyways, where did I leave off.. After climbing Inconformistas, I headed to the World Cup in Barcelona but the days before the comp I felt really weak for no reason at all, and finally the day before I woke up and realized I felt pretty sick.. The next day I also felt bad, on the day of the qualifiers, so I ended up climbing pretty bad. I had no power on the wall and on both routes, as soon as I got to a powerful hard move, I just fell off, no chance. ANyways I wasnt too dissapointed since theres nothing I could do, so after I figured I would head to Ceuse for a few days to hang out with my friends there and try to get back in shape before the World Cup in Imst. The weather ended up being really warm so it was hard to get good conditions at the wall. My friend Jon Cardwell was making really good links on Realization, 9a+ but kept falling at the last crux due to the bad friction. I ended up trying La Chronique, 8c for a bit but after ripping a really bad flapper on my left ring finger I couldnt try it any more, so instead I tried some onsights and also the first part of Biographie, 8c+. This is one of the best 8c+s Ive ever tried in my life and I am really syked to come back next year and get it done, hopefully with better conditions. Anyways, after staying like 10 days in Ceuse I was really syked for the World Cup in Imst, feeling strong again, but on the way there I had a problem with the brakes on my car and had to stop to get it fixed.. since they didnt have the part I needed, I had to drive all the way to Monaco without one break in hopes that they could fix it there. Once I got there, the Honda Garage also told me that they would need to order the part and it could only arrive the next day, so pretty much there was no way I could drive to Imst on time for the qualifiers. I could have taken a train and left my car there, but since I needed it for the rest of the trip and didnt have much time left, I decided to miss the World Cup and drive the next day with brand new brakes.. So I left the next day, but halfway to Imst I had another problem with the car, this time with the radiator, so I had to stop in Milano and try to get it fixed there......... Well, all I can say is that its pretty much impossible to get anything done in Milano within a day, so trying to get the car fixed was hopeless. At the Garage there they told me that the piece I needed to fix wasnt available in all of Italy at this time and I could only get it in a week, so theres no way I could drive the car to Imst. Since I didnt want to stay in Milano for a week, I decided to just park the car there, get my stuff, and take a train to Innsbruck and hope I can find the car part there instead. When I got to Innsbruck I met up with my friend Jakob and stayed at his house for a few days, trained in Tivoli, and got the part I needed for the car (I love you Austria!). The next weekend was the YOuth World Championships in Valence, so I needed to go back to Milano, replace the part myself, and hope it will make it to France without braking down again. Things ended up going well and I got to Valence, but I was really tired and hadnt climbed a lot in the past two weeks, so I wasnt feeling in my best shape for the comp. After the qualifiers I was in 6th place which was pretty good, but in the semi finals I ended up messing up a move near the end of the route and coming in 13th place... a disappointing result seeing as I could have done way better, but not every comp goes well all the time. I was really nervous while climbing and made many mistakes, so in the end I just have to learn from the experience and do better in the next comps. After the comp I flew back to the US and now Im back in Boulder, Colorado for a few months before heading back to Europe in November for a World CUp, then making a Spain trip in December. All in all I had a great summer and am really syked that I could achieve two out of my three goals for the trip (8b onsight and 9a redpoint), and most importantly had a great time with friends and my family. So for now, its back to training really hard in the gym and preparing for the upcoming trips!!
Photos of the trip coming soon...
