2001 season started before the New year. In december Austrian championship was held on the seracs of Pitztal Glacier. Wild stuff. To climb grade 8 and 9 on ice...
Bridge, made of ice. Pitztal seracs provide a great pre-season training spot. We go there every year, usually after we screw the qualification for the semifinals at the IWC comp down in the valley.
The ice is hard, and pre-made hooks are a big help. As it is the pre-equipped protection.
The Chamonix boulder comp was a great event for all of us. Some new techniques were added to spice up the comp: huge dyno moves and jumps.
F... the red lines. Colour rouge became the most notorious dye since the Cold war. You better watch the lines or Big brother the Judge will have to cancell you.
Val di Daone boulder competition was a demonstration of those who can against those who can't. I had to start chewing on my axes to get some extra nutritious substances... Didn't help much.
Russians did a great job again. The tower offered great and difficult ICE climbing.

Just look at it.

You can look but you better not touch!
Going horizontal soon.
The arena in the Locomotive sports park in Kirov is usually packed with spectators. In the best years some 10000 came to see the spectacle on ice. You get this funny little feeling like you are an exhibit in some kind of a frozen zoo. But it's positive, the felings are absolutely posititive. You don't just learn about climbing, you learn about others, and you teach. It's a two-way flow of positive thoughts.