On the road

Tuesday Dennis and me left for Italy. Really late (thanks to the brilliant Dutch train system) but we didn't really care.
We drove through Austra with a little sleep stop somewhere in Germany and a emergency stop after the Fernpass (the brakes started to complain).
Dennis' van is brilliant. With two sleeping compartments, heating, good music and loads of fun movies. We watched Planet Terror and laughed our ass off.

Off to Italy!

I drove around half of the Netherlands yesterday. Picking up iceaxes (thanks Tim!), picking up a Barryvox and then iceclimbing with the dudes in the Globe. And luckily we climb for free Skabbi...
We did some speed climbing with the Icelandic Hedinn axes and they actually work quite ok. Still have to get used to them :) But even with girly pink tape they still look like brutal meat-crooks. I was pretty satisfied with my climbing, 10.7 seconds (see video) to get up. I could do better with more practice, but for a first time... I fell a lot, looked at my shoes every time and had difficulties reading the route which resulted in my axes popping out. Here also a little video of Jurgen doing good, with 6.8 seconds he was the fastest of us four today. (Knowing that Dennis just came back from Kirov with just 6 hours of air plane sleep over the last 48 hours...)
Dennis and me will drive off today around 11/12. I hope, now packing all my stuff, which looks impossible!

One day left in Holland

Today I guess will be the last day in the Netherlands before I'll leave for Daone.
Really exciting. I'm still very very insecure about my iceclimbing capabilities and train as much as I can. But for my feeling, one month for changing from sportsclimber into world-class iceclimber is a bit too short...
Luckily I got some great advice from a couple Duch iceclimber who've joined World Cups before.
(Thanks Dennis, Niels and Fedor!) Now I know better how to figure-of-4 and what moves I can expect in a World Cup...
Before I had my Icelanders, who were always willing to go iceclimbing with me, especially Siggi was a good reference. He is stronger, very fanatic and doesn't treat me like a 'weak woman' and expected me to do just the same as the guys. I like that attitude, that attitude that is often missing I find when you get to a climbing hall. Most people just watch you climb, stare and don't even dare to talk to you. Which can be very annoying. I just need people to train with!
At the moment one of the Dutch climbers, Dennis is on his way back from Kirov, Russia from the World Cup there in -25 Celcius.
He's just started a blog as well, you can read his adventures on http://dennisvanhoek.nl/
Here some video's of us training at Niels' drytool cave.

IceSurfing

In the Netherlands it's rare nowadays to have so much ice and snow. But when there is ice, the whole country get's crazy for iceskating on natural ice. Even if the conditions are not good, they still try to get on the ice.
So, my brother and me as well.
Only this time a bit different. The Dutch Championships Icesurfing were cancelled so we tried out old-fasioned method at Muiderberg.
In the morning we searched for hours and hours to find a 'pollepel' (big soup-serving spoon). It took us a drive to three different shopping centers and a massive search on the attic before we found one. Just one...And we're with 2. But we just went!
The whole day we stood on the ice with wind and snow and enjoyed ourselves with the most simple icesurfing system ever: the pollepel.
We got many reactions from "levensgevaarlijk", to "natural born inventors". And best of all was, that we went much faster then all the kite-boarders with their ski's and snowboards and that whilst the ice was really snowy. The video is my brother showing how to be fast on the ice (me filming).

Boreal late Christmas package

Finally, after e-mailing, calling, more mailing and waiting. I now have my new shoes. The Ice Mutant fits perfectly and I tried them straight away in the Globe in Den Haag. Here a little movie on my first first try with the shoes on really really hard ice in the Globe "ískápur". (Diederik filming)
My brother went with me and had his first real iceclimbing experience.
Though, the climbing shoes are a bit too small :( so I have to change them somehow/somewhere. But that's ok, at least it's all here now (after more then 3 months)

Sinterklaas-Christmas-New Year-Birthday-Surprises

Sometimes my family is a bit strange, but that's fun.
We celebrated all big yearly feasts two days after new-years. With surprises and a poem. I drew my brother and had a brilliant idea for a surprise-creation and on the way, with a bit of help from some friends, created a funny poem.
I got a poem from my dad, very sweet and personal and a car-surprise with a new flash-card for my camera. My dad can make poems like no other, exactly grabbing my feelings and even make it in a rhyme.
And of course got some other things, even from Iceland. The best was the little Anasazi rock-magnet (not the 5.10 shoes, a real piece of rock I mean).
Here the pic's.

Drytooling

Here in Holland theres loads of ice now. But it's all pretty horizontal. Good for iceskating, bad for iceclimbing. So we went indoors and enjoyed the hospitality at Niels' place.
Valdi even did better then most of us with hanging on axes! I was just jealous!
Here further not much to train, loads of things to do every day, climbing gyms far away and actually very very expensive. I climb 5 times a week, sometimes 6. It costs between 9 and 12 Euro's per person to climb, Let's say 10 Euro per time makes 50 to 60 euro's a week! Do that for a month and it's more then you're monthly rent or fee at the campsite of Siurana (where the climbing is a lot better then here indoors)
But well, we'll leave for Italy this Tuesday, hopefully more ice, boulders and fun there :)

Happy new Year!

So, 2009 is gone and we're already more then a week in 2010 (weird number) I've been busy iceclimbing, drytooling, bouldering and climbing all around in Holland. And of course enjoyed the nice weather here: really cold and snowy.
Do you have any good plans for this new year? Loosing weight, climbing even harder, find a girlfriend...?
I'm pretty simple and just try a lot, try a lot of climbing, do a lot of travelling and just have loads of fun! No real plans so far. But I'm sort of lucky: I don't smoke, I'm not fat, I already do sports so don't have to start them up :)

More sportswoman of the year awards?

Gosh, got a phonecall, actually, Valdi got a phonecall. If I'd like to put together a little presentation with pictures of me. For the Sports-woman-of-the-year-awards in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland. That's the town where I always teach climbing.

So, does that mean another price?

Would be really cool...I'm almost nervous now :)

Too bad though, I'm in Holland now and the awards-thing is tomorrow, in Iceland...

Here the presentation (not much though, I feel a bit arrogant, putting pics of myself together...)

Snowy Christmas

Here in Holland there is snow. Even much more then in Reykjavik now. (Weird)
A couple days ago I went for a walk with my dad, we talked a lot and practised our hobby (and my dad's addiction). Photography. We saw some classical Dutch winter-views and took some nice pictures. Here some "raw pictures", with an edge around it and some adjusting they look really nice...I'll show them later on the website zoom.nl
Afterwards we went for a climb in the gym in Bussum. I was proud of having my dad as a belayer!
Now, Valdi is in Holland too, so we can have some fun together.
He's been really lazy today though: slept till 12 'o clock. I hope he'll be active enough to go for a climb :D or at least play belay-bitch, tryggjatik, zekerteef.

Petzl picture

So sweet: on the Petzl website there is a nice competition. You can win your own weight in Petzl gear.
And of course I'd love to get a new headlight or some! And actually I really do need a new headlight (lost mine, guess somebody borrowed my light...hey dude, could you please give back my light?)
So...please all vote on my nice northern light picture :D
Ow yes, and there is copyright on this picture, so don't use it yourself for any commercial shit...

Byebye Iceland, hello icy Holland

Yesterday around 10 local Dutch time I finally arrived in the Netherlands!
I left 7 o clock in the morning from Iceland after a short but fun stay in our Van at the Reykjanes peninsula.
Due to the two flocks of snow in London and the two and a half in Holland, it took me a record time to get to Holland.
The pilots of IcelandExpress were joking about the 2mm snow layer in Icelandic, but were really serious in the English comments about the landing times and possible cancellation of the flight.
I was lucky and could get my flight to Amsterdam, but on the screen I saw more and more canceled flights.
My parents and brother we so happy to see me again. The last time I visited the Netherlands was more then 9 months ago. So I really had to catch up a bit.
Today I went shopping with my mum in a close by town called Bussum.
We bought a pair of trousers together, yes together. We apparently have the same size, so we share.
And of course we did some Christmas shopping. Getting more and more presents under the tree.
After that all we went to Albert Heijn, my favorite Dutch supermarket. They just sell all the food you need and it's tasteful, much better then most Icelandic vegetables, bread and diaries.
Be bought the ingredients for 'boerenkool' (farmers cabbage) a dish made with a green lettuce likely cabbage cooked with mashed potatoes, brown sauce from meat (not the fake tasteless stuff from a package) and a 'rookworst (smoke sausage). I loved it!

íþróttakona ársins

Sweet, some already knew, but I really had no idea I was respected this much in Fimleikahusid Bjork!
I'm sportswoman of the year over all sporting departments located in FBjork! (Which is, gymnastics, climbing, taekwondo and the general department with adult-gymnastics, fit-kid and more)
I felt flattered by the little speech about me; a summing of the things I've done with climbing and for FBjork last year.
The real feast will be on the 29th of December, when all good sporters in the town of Hafnarfjordur will be rewarded on the sports gala of the year, organized by the town.
Unfortunately I won't be in Iceland on the 29th. I hope Sjofn will take the credits for me.
(Oh, yes, and I still have a blue eye...)

Blue eye baby

Went to gymnastics yesterday. (As I always do 3 times a week).
I did a flip, flipped too late, because my start was wrong and landed with my knee in my eye in the mattress.
The result is free make-up on one eye, beautiful...

Nailed tires

Changed the tires on my bike, but actually don't know why.
It's around 8 degrees (celcius) here, no snow, no ice, not even close to being winter :(
Luckily I have to study really hard now, so no time for outdoor ice anyway.
Can't wait till next weekend: finished with all studying and freezing cold!

Hedinn, metal-heroes

For iceclimbing you need iceaxes. For speedclimbing you need special weird little iceaxes (I don't understand the sports of speedclimbing)
So how do you get this axes. Option 1: buy them, pay a fortune and realise speedclimbing is not your thing...
Option 2: go to Hedinn and meet exactly the right guy at the right time.
They made me a new model, combined out of a Russian drawing (no joke) and some examples of other axes.
For me, for free.
Thanks a lot Hedinn!

Training

And I was thinking we only had Klifurhusid to train drytooling. (On ancient bad old climbing holds) but it turns out to be that HSSR has way better conditions. One of the Icelandic search and rescue organisations (Iceland doesn't have an army, so all helping activities goes through those organisations)
Here Robbi (one of THE Icelandic iceclimbers) leading on the M6-wall.
I now meet with the real iceclimbers here at least once a week.

First time outdoors

And yes, finally, finally I'll go onto real ice. Gummi, Vidar, Haukur and Ivar took me to Eyafjallajokull (drive inwards to Thorsmork) not the best conditions ever, because the were no frozen waterfalls at all, but it was something...
The glacier was moving a lot, big blocks of ice fell of almost daily and we were climbing in between them (with Hari Berger in our minds)
Gummi was so good to take some beautiful pictures of us all, and I was so lucky to get in the national newspaper! See the article on mbl.is
Thanks for the coffee Haukur!

Iceclimbing

Men, what a funny development here.
I'll go to the World Cup Iceclimbing this January!
I describe myself nowadays as pure sportsclimber who happens to do bouldering as well.
But last winter I got triggered again to go out for a colder climb: iceclimbing.
And now I apparently do so well that I get into World Cup's!
Time to forget my Moonboard for a bit (never leave it completely) and start hanging on my axes!

Iceland food crisis

You know, IceSave and more here in Iceland has quite a big impact. It's pretty irritating how everything goes here. People have massive loans, massive cars, but complain about the taxes. But on the other hand, people like me, no loan, no big car also have to pay those taxes. On the food for example we now have even more tax. So basic supermarket food for one day can cost you over 25 euros per person. Weekly I shop for at about 25.000 kronur just food (around 120 euro's) I don't even think about eating out, or buying other things like clothing. Quite worrying for Christmas though...
Eating out wasn't so good here anyway (except the Italian restaurant in Akureyri) even Mac Donald's has been changed into some sucky "Metro". Bad dry tasteless mini burgers for way too much (fries, coke, burger for 8 Euro's). I really think I'll go to Mac Donald's when I get to Holland.