Rabensteinäs Ice Fight 2010

Rabenstein Ice Fight 2010
1/30/2010
Go Time in Rabenstein

The amount of stress was quite low to begin with, but I also knew that this competition had pretty much the same players as the other World Competitions, it’s just not as well known or attended…yet.

The event held here is a very well run event. They have a good isolation area and have good routs set on an impressive structure. They have jerseys that we got to keep as a memoir, there are heated buildings to re-warm up in, and they made wooden slat platforms for the spectators to stand on to keep their feet warmer. They have a bar with espresso for only 1.5Є and serve great food. There’s also an ice skating rink for kids to play at.

Many of the women have black hair, and facial piercing seems to be the norm, whether it’s a nose or lip piercing, it seems that it’s vogue. The people speak Italian and German, but everyone communicates in English as the common language. That seems to be the common thread around the world.


The climb:

I came out of a quite bout in isolation (it could be up to 3 hours) and tied into the rope. The holds are a mix of granite and plastic holds. The granite holds are tricky to stay on. The ice axe must be place just-so and not waver from that position or it will pop off and you’re done. The starting wall was a mere 45° overhanging by my rough judgment. We have to start with two axes on the starting hold then bring both feet off the ground. Easy enough, but the next moves become harder and further apart. You must be able to find the next hold’s “sweet spot” that the axe will settle in on while holding your body weight on one locked-off arm in a static position. You only get a certain amount of time to climb the route, 12 minutes in this case, so you don’t have time to gain recovery by shaking out an already burning forearm pump. Moving fast is mandatory and is almost preferable to keep the “pump” at bay. Breathing is also mandatory but is easy to forget to do when you get focused on a climb and in a situation like this.

The climbing to start was actually not too bad. I’d rate it at about M9+/10- to where the ice roof started. Each hold presented a different technique to get to establish and maintain body position on. The flow from one hold to the next is a continuum of understanding not only the holds, but how the axes behave on those holds at the angle they present themselves in. In addition, you must be able to understand your body, its position on the climb, subtle motions and foot placement that so defines how the next movement will be. In a way, it’s like playing a game of chess. You have to sleuth out what the moves are in advance, pace yourself, make sacrifices when needed, and double clutch into high gear when its time.

Filled with good energy and not feeling too pumped yet, I made a move to the second to last hold before getting to the first ice roof. I was looking forward to the series of figure 4’s and figure 9’s across the ice traverse as I had gotten pretty fast at these moves and have it figured out. It was going to be a pump fest, but there was a rest on vertical terrain at the end of the traverse. I raised my left tool to place it in the last hold and my right tool popped off. I was lowered to the ground and two guys were trying fervently to untie my figure 8, the only knot allowed in competition here. I told them that “that was an American fall,” meaning that I was a mere 92kg, the biggest and heaviest ice climbing competitor they had ever seen. These small men of 60-70kg don’t set a knot that hard.

The route setter, Mario, was there as a judge and told me that I should have not set my entire tool how I did and proceeded to educate me on some of the finer points of how I should have placed it. It’s a good thing too, since that’s why I’m here, to learn and get better. We laughed together and I told him “thank you for setting the routes and inviting us to compete and that I will be back next year.”

I made it 3 slots away from qualifying from the Semi-finals, so I’m getting better in some way. Maybe I’m not as nervous and scattered, I’m finally getting over my illness that I picked up in Kirov, or I’m learning the medium, or maybe it’s some combination, but the more experience I gain it just makes me a better climber.
Leigh came between the difficulty and speed competition. She flew in and Justin set her up with a bus schedule and I was able to get someone to pick her up in Moos, Italy and bring her directly to us at the B&B. I greeted her in the bar and gave her a hug. Jet lag yet? Hmmm. Maybe tomorrow. I took her bag upstairs and Justin was quite happy to see her. We all got ready and went down to the speed climbing competition.

It was dark and they allowed us have one practice run. They clipped me in with one carabiner and I told them that we needed two. With great reluctance they produced another carabiner and clipped it in to the rope, but not to me. I made sure it was fixed and then carried on. Speed climbing up 25m of slightly overhanging ice on technical terrain of undulating ice features is not an easy task. It’s easy to piff an arm or leg with flying axes and crampons. The breaking ice is also hazardous as well as skating through and banging shins on the ice itself. “What the heck, I’m only doing it twice tonight and I’m out fo the difficulty competition” is what I told myself. Justin told me to “just have fun,” so I did.

I climbed / ran up the tower and I nearly blacked out by the time I got to the top. Our inefficiencies compared to the Russians is evident by the great time discrepancies between us, but we were there to have fun and so we did! We screamed and yelled at each other to “go faster,” “move those feet,” and whatever else we could think of. People got on our band wagon and started to cheer as well. It takes good energy to get things rolling.

After the speed competition I grabbed hold of Harold Klammer from Italy and told him I would buy him a bier (beer). He had a van and took us all back to the bar at the B&B and we had a round of Forst Bier. Somehow he manages to keep buying the beer. I don’t mind Markus Bendler buying the beer because he keeps winning the competitions and making money, but I owe him some beer too.

Both Justin and I have invited the Euros over to go climbing in the USA. We even managed to get Alexi from Russia to open up and speak a little English with us and invited him to come as well. I guess the Russians have to obtain visas in order to go anywhere outside Russia pretty much, so it’s an ordeal for them to go. There’s still a fair amount of Patriotism there too however, and most of the Russians find it a bit difficult to talk with the guys from the USA for some reason. It seems to be getting better as we are climbers, but because of the nature of the competition being just that, a competition it harbors the competitive attitude and spirit to a certain degree.

Angelika Rainier is our tour goddess behind the scenes. She had given us really good information on how to get around and has offered to take us from Rabenstein to Milan where we will be able to catch our flight to Romania. She took the first Women’s World Cup in Kirov and is a strong climber. She also works in the Department of Epidemiology in Merano, Italy full time and is able to be a strong competitor on this circuit. She trains often here in Rabenstein so it goes to figure that she has solid climbing ability.