Probably the best bread in the world

Cooking and baking have always been big interests of mine. Since I have been at home for a while now and not away on any trips, I have had the opportunity to spend some time in my kitchen. This is one of my favorite recipes - a bread that is very simple to make but so delicious! It is also a great training snack!

What you need and how to do it:

1 dl mixed nuts and seeds
1 dl linseeds
100 g dried apricots
2 dl oat grains
5 dl flour
2 tea spoons of bicarbonate
1 pinch of salt
1 grated apple
3 table spoons of honey
4 dl plain yogurt
1 tea spoon of cinnamon
1 handful of sunflower seeds for garnish

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Place a baking sheet in a baking pan and pour in the dough. Garnish with sunflower seeds. Bake in owen at 175° C for 60-80 minutes (depending on the size and shape of the baking pan).

Voilà, super easy and super tasty!

London and more training...

I was very tired (to say the least) after finishing the period of basic training. A much needed week of recovery and easier training awaited. Thus, I took the opportunity and went with my family to London for a few days to visit my sister and some friends. I guess restdays could be spent a lot worse... 

After three lovely days in London I was back in Stockholm and back to training again. The feeling I have had since then is that I am regaining and - more importantly - improving my strength and fitness. In other words, training is going according to plan... Tomorrow I am changing training facility, from plastic to rock. I am going to Spain for some climbing outside, vengaaa =) 

Route setting in between sessions! Third time setting ever (!), I should start preparing for Tierra Boulder Battle... 

Training mode!

I had a really enjoyable trip to Turkey and being back on the rock again felt great! It was fun and very relaxed, just climbing routes that looked nice and appealing. In addition, I always find it exciting and interesting visiting a new country, encountering a different culture and climbing new fun routes. All I could have wished for was a little better (warmer) weather as it was actually the coldest winter in Geyikbayiri in 8 years..! Since I would not be there for too long and I was just back to climbing after my break over the holidays, I decided to just try as many routes as possible onsight or flash. I did some routes in the 8a+ to 7c range that were all very nice! 

I went back home to Stockholm with new gained motivation and ready to start training! After my return I have been doing a lot of basic training, in terms of strength and endurance, in order to gain more fitness and be able to endure more training further on. At the moment the focus i on core training, finger strength and endurance. During this period I am supposed to get very tired physically. However, I believe that listening to your body to maintain high quality in training is significant.  

Last year I really learnt the importance - and the difficulties - of finding balance in training and everything else in life. Bearing that in mind, I think that in order to optimize the training, it is more about training smart and listening to your body rather than following a program to the letter. And of course always remember to have fun...  

Also, I recently did an interview for EpicTV which you can read here =)

❄ Christmas break ❄

... Is over and it is time to get ready for 2013! I took some time off from climbing during Christmas to let my body (and head) recover. Despite being rather restless some days it was definitely good to charge the batteries and gain some new motivation. But, I have not been completely idle during my little break. Winter in Sweden this year has been cold and we have had a huge amount of snow. Eventhough I am not a big fan of cold weather, I enjoyed being outside, going X-country skiing and just having fun in the snow!

A part from all the winter activities, I also attended the opening of a new exhibition at the Swedish National museum of sports. Climbing is actually fairly big part of the exhibition, with a big boulder wall and really nice photos. Pretty cool! Climbing as a sport has grown a lot in Sweden recently and it has been getting more and more attention and exposure in media, which I really believe is great.

It feels eally nice to be back climbing again. Now I am heading to Geyikbayiri in Turkey for one week of climbing outside! Wohoo =)

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