The start of the World Cup season
After a very long and intense training season, which for me had already begun in early January, the time had finally come again on July 11/12: The first World Cup of the season (which was also the European Championship) in Chamonix, France, was set to mark the start of the World Cup season, as it did every year. With over 90 male competitors, the challenge was to hold your own in a very large, but above all strong field of athletes. But with the confidence of an almost optimally executed training preparation, I was able to make my way to Chamonix on Friday, July 10, feeling motivated. After a smooth journey, I arrived at the hotel with the rest of the German team around 4:30 p.m. The sun beat down relentlessly on the planet at over 30°C, making any movement difficult, and there was no sign of relief in sight for the coming competition days either. Conserving energy and avoiding the sun was therefore the motto. After a relaxed dinner, followed by the opening ceremony and athlete presentation, I tried to find some peace and quiet despite the heat, although I had only moderate success.
The next morning, however, I had quite a lot of time, as I was the 37th competitor in my first qualifying route and the 82nd in the second – so I had to prepare myself for climbing in the full midday sun. Shortly after the start of competition at 8:30 a.m., I set off for the competition venue, where I found one of the very steep walls this year, with highly physically demanding routes.
After thoroughly inspecting my first qualifying route, I finally went into the warm-up area to begin my "warm-up". However, due to a muscle strain in my chest and biceps, which unfortunately I had picked up during my last training session, the feeling during the warm-up was rather mediocre. I tried not to let myself get unsettled and started qualifying 1 around 11:00 a.m., although a little tense, but still focused. The first moves went smoothly, and even the slightly harder athletic sections did not cause me any problems. I climbed rather controlled and safely up to the roof edge on about 3/4 of the wall, also managed the moves that followed, and only fell 3 moves before the top, where I grabbed a hold in the wrong place. With this solid height, I initially ranked 6th and was thus able to go to the next route without stress.
Now, however, I had a long wait ahead of me, during which I tried to avoid the sun as best as possible. Approximately three hours later, after trying to briefly activate myself once more, I went back to the wall in the full afternoon heat (34°C). Despite the unfavorable circumstances (strain, heat), I was able to deliver a solid performance in the second qualifying route as well and climbed quite controlled up to just two holds below the top mark of the longest route, which secured me a 7th place and thus easily secured my place in the semi-finals among the top 26. I tried to spend the rest of the day relaxed in the shade to save as much energy as possible for the next day.
This began for me after a relatively restful night with a relaxed breakfast on Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. Motivated and in good spirits, I then went into the isolation zone around 8:45 a.m. Although the semi-final round did not start until 10:00 a.m., I had quite a bit of time due to my good qualifying result, as I only had to go to the wall as the 19th competitor. After the route inspection, where I found a moderately starting, increasingly difficult endurance route with a steep power endurance route, I could gradually begin my warm-up program. My feeling was now significantly better than the previous day. Muscularly almost without complaints, lively and fresh, I was motivated after the warm-up to show a strong semi-final – GO.
Accordingly, dynamically and aggressively, but without wasting strength, I climbed into the route. The moves felt consistently easy, and after a good 2 minutes I was already halfway up the wall, while I still felt completely fresh. A few sequences later, I began to reduce my climbing pace a little, as I was waiting for "the hard part" from move to move. However, this tactic proved fatal for me at about 3/4 of the semi-final route, as my hand unexpectedly went up while "chalking" (reaching into the chalk bag) on an actually too small ledge, and I barely found myself in the ropes with almost no pump. The disappointment was huge, because I knew that one of the six following semi-finalists would still have to fall below my height for me to get into the final – which I did not expect, as I could have climbed significantly further. Minutes full of anxiety and frustration passed… but it really happened! Actually, one of the last competitors completely fell out of the wall two holds below my height, thus paving my way to my first final entry at a World Cup ever. My eternal curse of ninth places was finally broken!!!
Relieved, but also full of exhaustion, I now tried to quickly replenish my energy with a noodle soup, so that I could rest a little afterwards. Since I fortunately had almost 6 hours until the next trip to the isolation zone, I managed to fully regenerate and above all recharge my mental battery.
At 7:00 p.m., I finally set off one last time towards the Iso-Zone with renewed freshness and full confidence. After a short wait, I finally began my final warm-up program shortly before 8:00 p.m. Already after a short time, I felt fit and lively on the wall and, to my positive surprise, even significantly stronger than before during the entire competition. The final could begin!
At 8:45 p.m., the final round was finally opened with the presentation of the finalists: Over 12,000 people applauding enthusiastically, combined with the magnificent backdrop in the sunset below the Mont Blanc massif – truly an indescribable feeling!
During the subsequent route inspection, I found a rather understandable, rather endurance-heavy route with an athletic exit boulder. Although I actually prefer relatively short and hard lines, I was absolutely motivated and convinced that I could climb really far in the route. The few minutes after the inspection remained for me to make the last preparations and to focus one last time. Punctually at 9:00 p.m., I could finally begin my final appearance:
Absolutely risk-taking and completely focused, I climbed the first meters and reached the first small rest position on about half the route after less than 2 minutes. After a short rest, I climbed the coming moves in the same style, which felt significantly easier than expected, and also managed the first supposed crux without problems and without wasting strength. Thus, shortly after, still physically almost fresh, I reached the last rest position on about 3/4 of the wall, which I used to collect myself one last time. Now it was time for the decisive exit passage: Even these slightly more difficult moves went smoothly, almost by themselves, the top hold was getting closer! Four more moves, three moves, two moves! Penultimate hold!!! … But unfortunately my right hand suddenly slipped and I fell just before the top.
Nevertheless, I was satisfied with my performance, because I (apart from the "hand slip" on the penultimate hold) had a perfect GO. Now it was a matter of waiting to see what my height would be worth. However, even the strong competitor behind me (Ramon Julian Puigblanque -> multiple-time world champion, European champion, World Cup winner) caught up and beat my best mark by attempting the last move, which he also could not climb. Personally, I assumed that the final was set significantly too easy and expected several tops. But with the course of the final round, I was taught a lesson: One after another, the following finalists fell below my height, and only one more competitor (Adam Ondra -> World Cup winner, World Champion) managed to attempt the last move.
Thus, to my great surprise, I landed on the podium already in my first World Cup final ever and won the bronze medal at this World Cup in Chamonix, which was also declared the European Championship. Although I also found it a little unfortunate in hindsight to have slipped so close to victory, the certainty of finally having arrived at the top in the adult category brought me the long-awaited self-confirmation. The hard work had paid off!!!
With this feeling, I was highly motivated to show everything at the World Cup taking place just a little over a week later (July 17/18). However, a cold with severe bronchial congestion cut me off, which hit me exactly two days before the start of the competition. Despite the adverse circumstances, I still managed 12th place at the competition and was myself very close to making the final entry.
After a short break, I am fortunately recovered again and highly motivated to start at the upcoming World Cup in Imst (July 31/August 1) in my old form and freshness.
