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

La Sportvia Legends Only

This Saturday the La Sportvia Legends Only event will take place at Klättercentret in Stockholm! It is an international invitational competition and the contestants are the best of the best - Adam Ondra, Jakob Schubert, Sean McColl, Dmitry Sharafutdinov and Guillaume Glarion Mondet. I definitely think anyone who is in town should check it out. I am certain it is going to be a really cool event and a spectacular show!

If you cannot make it to Klättercentret on saturday, the event will be broadcasted live on the web by Swedish television. More information in Swedish can be found here!

Hope to see you on Saturday!

No Kranj WC this year either...

I had really been looking forward to the last World Cup in Kranj, Slovenia. The wall in Kranj is definitely one of my favorites and it was also the final World Cup of the year. In addition, the flu prevented me from going last year so therefore I was even more eager going there this time. After my return from the US I had been able to train pretty well and I was feeling fine. Until one week before departure... November illness struck and I got a bad cold and a fever. Despite my massive amount of vitamin C boosts it lasted all week and I had to stay at home this year again.

So instead of competing in Kranj, I was at home trying to get rid of the stupid illness and occupying myself with baking - a lot. Cookies, cupcakes, muffins and saffron buns..! In retrospect, I can definitely say that not going was the right decision. Nevertheless it is still very frustrating, especially since I felt all better again on Tuesday. But, there is always next year - third time's the charm, right? 

Home sweet home?

I am back in Sweden after an amazing month in the US ♡

The last stop of my trip was New York City! After spending two weeks in Boulder I left Colorado for some city life, and to visit my good friend Sasha DiGiulian for a few days. Even though my time was slightly limited I still got to do quite a lot of things - sight seeing (of course), some shopping, training at Brooklyn Boulders, homecoming at Columbia University and watching my first American football game ever. Plenty of fun and I certainly had a fantastic time in the incredible city. But, too little time and too much to do, so I hope I can go back again soon!

In one way it feels good to be back home. I really enjoy seeing my friends, spending some time with my family and getting some structure in life. On the other hand I tend to get kind of restless when i am at home, I love traveling and seeing the world! Anyways, now when I am at home I have (besides recovering from the heinous jet lag) mostly been training and trying to prepare a little for the final World Cup in Kranj, Slovenia, which is coming up in a little less than three weeks! =)

Here are a few pictures and impressions from my trip!

Climbing gyms, Movement in Boulder and Stone Summit in Atlanta!

Caterpillar in Rifle and a dog in a... stroller (!) in Boulder.

Homecoming at Columbia ✌

Prime Time To Shine

Yesterday i did my second 8c, Prime time to shine, in Clear Creek Canyon!

 Photo by Scott Clark

Back to sport climbing! After two weeks with lots of bouldering in the gym and outside and only a small amount of endurance oriented training, I was very excited to climb some routes again. Primo Wall in Clear Creek Canyon was on the agenda and my plan was to try Prime time to shine.

The route is about 18 meters long with super fun and cool climbing. It has two obvious cruxes, one in the beginning and one almost at the very end, which both consist of quite powerful moves. I spent five tries figuring out the sequences, messing up the sequences several times and getting more and more tired after every go on the route. Even though I felt rather sore, I decided to make one last try... And managed to climb all the way to the anchors and sent the route! Wohoo! Thanks to Gabor for the perfect beta and the perfect belay and thanks to Scott for the photos!

 Photo by Scott Clark

I have come to the conclusion that often when I try to project a route, I just find a sequence that works - not the best one for me. As a result, I almost always have tries where I mess up the moves or forget my beta, which of course waste a lot of energy. I have to become more accurate when I am working the moves and I will definitely try to improve this!

Now I only have two days left in Boulder. On Friday I am flying to THE BIG APPLE to visit my friend Sasha DiGiulian, train and just travel as a tourist in the big city (I hope I don't t get lost...) =)