Frankenjura

I'm back in Sweden after a couple of weeks in Germany where me and my friend Erik Massih stayed and climbed in Frankenjura. It was my first time in this renowned area and it was truly inspiring to check out some milstones in the history of climbing. It is mindblowing to think of how far a head in the evolution of the sport pioneers like Wolfgang Güllich was, when climbing routes like Action direct and Wallstreet. I did unfortunetely not get a chance to take photos of these particular climbs, but I hope you will appreciate the once I actually took.

Johan Larsson looking for the right pockets to grab on an onsight burn on Entsafter 8+/7a+.

Scheufele und knödeln - A bavarian specialty perfect for poor climbingbums like us. Not only was it more than plenty to recover from a full day of climbing, it kept me full the entire next day. 

Erik taking precautions so that the exhaust won't be lost on autobahn.

Stefan Pettersson proving he's an excellent climber not only when bouldering.

In the week we where hanging out in Frankenjura I think I ate more sweet cherries than I had before in my entire life. 

 

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Morocco through my lens

I've uploaded more photos from the trip to Morocco. Although I didn't spend as much time behind the camera as in front of Matti's and Richard's sharp lenses, I still managed to get some shots of my own. For anyone keen on checking them out, follow this link or click on any of the photos below.

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Morocco

I've spent the past two weeks in Morocco with my friends at Röjk superwear. There was me and a group of six amazing people that went travelling across the country to gather photos and videos to show Röjk's next year's summer collection. Between riding camels in the Sahara, exploring old ruins in Ouarazazate, haggling at the local markets and chilling by the ocean in Essoueira, we also managed to fit one day of climbing in Todra gorge. A crag I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time.

I don't know if we were lucky or if local climber and author of a “guidebook” to the area, Hassan Mouhajir, is always around the corner. Regardless, he was the first person we bumped into when entering a coffeehouse in the village Tigui, at the entrance to the gorge. He sold me a topo that looks like no other and then showed us to a sector where we could climb in the prevailing heat. Although it was way out of season, I was really stoked to be in the beautiful canyon. Huge, red limestone cliffs are shooting up towards the sky on both sides of a winding road that goes along the river through the gorge. There are more than 600 routes, so obviously I only got to see a glimpse of what the area has to offer. 

 

Stay tuned for some excellent photos from Matti Rapila Andersson and Rickard Croy’s video from the trip. In the meantime, I strongly suggest you check out Rickards film from Röjk’s photoshoot in Indonesia last autumn.

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Wild thing 7C, Åkers

Daniel Andersson launching for the jug on Wild thing 7A+/7C at Åkers styckebruk.

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Ampere 8A

Johan Lundström working Ampere 8A in Jumkil.

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El toro 7C

Thom Hörnström working El toro 7C in Bromma. A three star climb situated just 
outside central Stockholm.

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Strul 7B+, Källbergahygget

Olof Norin working Strul 7B+ at Källbergahygget, Uppsala.

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Mad hooker 7A+, Linköping

 

Staffan Wahlsten climbing Mad hooker 7A+ in Knutby outside Linköping.

  

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Slaporama 7A, Bromma

 

Thom Hörnström sticking the first move of Slaporama 7A in Bromma, Stockholm.

 

 

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A-team 7C, Rörbo

Staffan Wahlsten working A-team 7C in Rörbo. 

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Underdog, Jumkil

Olof Norin trying Underdog 7B(ish) in Jumkil, Uppsala.

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The great hassel, Källberga

Staffan Wahlsten climbing The great hassel in Källberga outside Uppsala.

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Pasila invitational

Last week I visited my friends at Boulderkeskus in Helsinki. I was there to set boulders for Pasila invitational (Finish boulder league final) together with Tonde Katiyo,  Rustam Gelmanov and local setters Olli Antikainen, Anssi Venho and Marko Siivinen. It was a very good experience in many ways. I learned a lot working with these guys and gathered tons of inspiration for future work. Alvi Pakarinen put together a very nice video about the event. Check it out:

PASILA INVITATIONAL // BOULDERLIIGA FINALS 2016 from Boulderkeskus on Vimeo.

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Red hot 7B+, Uppsala

Fredrik Nilsson working Red hot 7B+ at Källbergahygget.

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Volt 7B+

Fredrik Sydstrand climbing Volt 7B+ in Jumkil outside Uppsala.

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Billybob 7B, Uppsala

Staffan Wahlsten climbing Billybob 7B in Focksta.

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2015

Another 365 days goes by and so it's time for me to put down some thoughts from the year. I almost forgot this little tradition of mine this time, as I did not reflect over the fact that a whole year already passed. Anyways, 2015 has been good. I enjoy everyday life in Stockholm, working as a routesetter. The possibilities there is for training is a major reason to why I really like it. It's been a great asset having all the well-maintained gyms around when trying to recover from the quiet severe finger injury I suffered last autumn.

In September I spent a weekend climbing in Västervik with my friends from Germany.

 

I spent most of the year climbing indoors, the first half focusing mainly on rehabilitating. I have come a long way from where I was a year ago, although there still is a long way to go. Carlos has given me great support and for that I'm extremely thankful. Without him I would probably still be injured.


The highlight of the year was off course the trip to the US with Said. There where many great experiences in cool places, and altough I climbed like shit, I still managed to drag my ass up some really awesome routes.

I've put down some goals for myself for next year. It's been a while since I had those so it's about time, and I'm really looking forward to working towards achieving them. I'm hoping to travel a bit more, maybe go back across the Atlantic. But I also want to do more climbing around Stockholm and Uppsala (on rock that is). The few times I made it out since I moved there, I always spotted climbs that I really want to get on.

Standing on top of Castleton tower was one of many great experiences from the autumn adventure in the US.

I always have a hard time dealing with how fast time is moving and I have to be careful not to put too much presure on myself to make things happen instantly. I think that having a strong will is a good quality, but focused in the wrong way it can be rather destructive. I'm constantly trying to be better at deciding where to focus my efforts to benefit from them, instead of letting my obstinacy make me counterproductive. A year ago I was actually not really sure if I wanted to do as much climbing any more. I could not enjoy it as my approach since several years, being way to focused on performance, had taken all the fun out of it. After getting that perspective and realizing that things had to change if I wanted to keep climbing, I started making some changes. This has by no means been easy, but seing how I seem to enjoy climbing more and more again, there is no doubts that I'm on the right track.

Bouldering with friends (and colleagues) in Orminge outside Stockholm.

Happy new year!
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Shoryuken 7C+/8A, Focksta

Fredrik Sydstrand trying to figure out the beta for Stefan Eklund's latest addition to the bouldering around Uppsala, Shoryuken in Focksta.

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Lucky pigeon 5.13c

Said having a go on Lucky pigeon 5.13c/8a+ in Aggro gully, Smith Rock.

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Oh, take me back

I used to quite like everyday life in Stockholm, but since I got back from the US I can't seem to get used to waking up early, being indoors all day and having a schedule to adapt to. Guess I'm lucky to at least have a job that I like and awesome people to work with, otherwise I would probably have sold all my belongings and jet the f**k out of here.

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