VIDEO: El Fustigador 8a+, Onsight

Filmed by Henning Wang, edited by Edvard Stokstad. I hope you enjoy it!

Matilda Söderlund, El Fustigador 8a+ Onsight from Edvard Stokstad on Vimeo.

I climbed El Fustigador in April, on my first trip to Spain this year. After being injured for over a month, I went there with no expectations and with the intention to just have fun and climb as much as possible. It turned out to be a crazy trip where I managed to climb routes that I would never have dreamed of! I had so much fun and gained a huge amount of experience. This route is certainly one of the best and coolest 8a+'s that I have done. Also, it is a rather memorable climb as it was such a battle at the top - both physically and mentally. Very happy and lucky about sending it! Venga, venga!

Towards the Olympics!

Today one of Scandinavia's biggest newspapers published an article about climbing possibly becoming an Olympic sport in 2020. Check it out here (in Swedish) and support the dream by liking Sport Climbing 2020 on Facebook!

A competition from a new point of view...

La Sportiva Legends 2012 was a great success! The strongest line up in a competition ever, super cool boulder problems and amazing atmosphere really made it a legendary show.

For me, this competition was a completely new experience. I hosted the event together with Kjell Eriksson! To be honest, I had never spoken in front of a big crowd, nor handled a microphone before. The tickets were all sold out, which meant there would more than 700 people in the audience. Considering that, I actually did not feel as nervous as I thought I would (or maybe should)... Preparing for my job as a host was in some ways similar to getting ready for a competition, a lot of focus and mental preparation. I am very happy I took on the challenge and did it. It was certainly a learning experience and a lot more fun than I expected!

Shauna Coxsey and the setters from Klättercentret did an excellent job with the boulders. The problems were of perfect difficulty, decisive and challenging in many different ways, making it very exciting to watch. It was all settled on the last problem, where Sean McColl could secure the victory!

Big thanks to Björn Pohl for organizing it all perfectly. It is still possible to watch the competition on SVTplay and Sandstones Media has made a really cool behind the scenes film, check it out here!

CAC - Climbers Against Cancer

© Mattias Kanhov