From via ferrata to bouldering

Finally a business trip again. Even to South Tyrol. Perfect. We're going to the Boulder World Cup in Brixen. For me, this brings back wonderful memories that almost seem to be from another time. I was still a young man with big dreams. Sports student, enrolled at the Technical University of Munich. Active sports and lectures about sports every day. Every minute was an experience, apart from the exams at the end of the training. Swimming, athletics, football and handball. By the way, thanks to good turns, I also got the first step to becoming a ski instructor.

As a former, somewhat hopeful and ultimately hopeless artistic gymnast, I naturally chose gymnastics as my main subject. Huge rims, double somersaults, screws and circular sides were no problem. The tennis elective, however, was a challenge. But after three years with the best teachers, the backhand (one-handed) and volley also worked satisfactorily. I still need to work on the serve. It remained more of an objection. Then I lost the sewing machine So many things are still as present as if they were yesterday. This particularly applies to the South Tyrol experience. It was mandatory to go on a hiking tour during the semester break. Different levels of difficulty were offered. At the top of the scale were via ferratas in the Dolomites. It's clear somehow that I signed up for it. And so I got to know the “Oskar Schuster Climb”, the “Pisciadu Climb” and the “Pößnecker Climb”. After studying, I circled the cima Brenta.

I still remember today how one of my study colleagues recognized that I initially didn't feel particularly comfortable on the exposed iron ladders. And in many cases only a rope was possible and you had to climb on the rocks. “Sigi, far, far below you is Italy. I would advise you not to let go.” So they joked around while the sewing machine was running (meaning more fear than love of country) and a lot of it. Luckily, things improved day by day and at the end of the week at the foot of the Sassolungo, every step and every grip was a pure blessing, combined with a previously unknown feeling of happiness, almost euphoria.

Michael Piccolruaz is South Tyrol's most successful climber. © POOL / -

Unfortunately, my emerging passion for the mountains fell victim to career advancement, which I still regret today. I was all the more thrilled when, on July 14, 1990, shortly after the founding of Eurosport , was selected to comment on the broadcast of the 125th anniversary of the first ascent of the Matterhorn. The broadcast lasted seven hours. Since then, Ulrich Inderbinen has also been a household name for me. At the age of 90, the Swiss from Zermatt climbed the Matterhorn for the 370th time, accompanied by many cameras. Climbing gyms are springing up like mushrooms Tourists he led up Switzerland's national mountain once said: “If you want to go slower, look for an older mountain guide.” Inderbinen was 104 years old. He would certainly have been happy if he had seen how young people continue to be enthusiastic about climbing, even though it is no longer always necessary to climb a wall. Climbing halls are now springing up like mushrooms. They are usually designed to be architecturally appealing from the outside, such as the vertical one in Brixen. The interior then turns out to be an almost unmanageable tangle of handles and so-called “volumes” made of fiberglass or wood.

Climbing (like here at the World Cup in Salt Lake City) is becoming increasingly popular. © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / ANDY BAO

We climb under a hall roof. In “lead climbing”, also known as lead climbing or without ropes and hooks. Only 4.50m high, although the legs cannot be higher than 3.50m. We “boulder.” Translated from English, a boulder is a block of rock. Since climbing became an Olympic discipline, the bouldering variant has experienced huge popularity. During a walk around Brixen I saw that the playgrounds no longer only have the usual slides and scaffolding, but also small climbing walls with plastic handles. The young people accept the offer, supported by the teachers' insight that bouldering is a perfect whole-body workout. The shot put ring, always unavoidable when building new school sports facilities, has had its day. Parallels to the Biathlon World Cup in Antholz In Brixen, visiting the vertical is already part of physical education lessons. That is exemplary. And now all climbing fans have the chance to observe the world's best athletes in this profession up close. The strong Japanese (Tokyo has the highest concentration of climbing gyms) or the almost unbeatable girls from the USA: the world elite is almost completely represented.

In terms of the quality of participants, the Boulder World Cup in Brixen is on a par with the Biathlon World Cup in Antholz or the ski races in Val Gardena, Alta Badia and Kronplatz. South Tyrol has gained another high-class sporting attraction with the Boulder World Cup. It remains to be hoped that it will not be a unique experience in the country whose mountains are a world cultural heritage site. There can hardly be a better place for the climbing elite.

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From via ferrata to bouldering

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