Munich World Cup

I came about going to this competition by pure convenience

My friend Meagan informed me about it and it made me start to think what if I competed in it?

It would only bring me more experience, and since I had taken a little break from competing I felt more compelled to do it. 

Since I had planned a trip to Poland to visit my grandma around the same time, I thought what the hell, let's get a flight to Munich for the weekend, it's not far (only an hour and half flight) 

So I did, and i'm really happy with my decision! 

It was a great event and I ran into a bunch of people that I have met over the years climbing at different outdoor areas! It's crazy to think how big the world is, but yet the climbing community is so small!

I've complied a small video of myself climbing on all the qualifying boulders.  I feel as if they were all in my reach and there were a few I should of completed.  But that is the competition setting and it makes everything just a little bit harder.  

Munich World Cup from Kasia Pietras on Vimeo.

It was very impressive to watch all the other competitors, male and female, throughout the weekend and try to learn from them.  After this weekend, I have decided that competition climbing comes down more to your mental head game than it does to power.  And I think I was able to overcome that factor at this event.  I was able to treat each boulder as it's own individual problem.  I was able to forget about the previous climbs and calm myself down in the 5 minutes in between each boulder.  I would concentrate on my breathing and my heart rate which helped me overcome the pump and stress of the whole event.  

Even though I think it is more mental than physical does not mean I do not need to get in shape! Haha

There are many things I need to work on to be able and do better in the future! But for now, I'm on vacation.  So i'm going to enjoy Paris and the rest of my stay in Poland.  

When I get back to the states I will have my hands full for a week with setting for The Heist competition with fellow friend, Sydney McNair, and others.  Hopefully we can get more female competitors to make the trip out to Boston and make this thing better than ever! 

Europe, before the World Cup

I have recently moved to Colorado! I still can't believe it!! It took several days to get the place in order but it now feels like home!!

 RMNP 

I've only been in Colorado for two weeks and now I am traveling to Europe for the next three weeks.  My first stop was Warsaw where i'm visiting my grandma.  We have already gone to visit a few places.  

Church in Warsaw

But now i'm in Munich, Germany to compete at the Final World Cup event.  I haven't competed in a competition over 9 months.  This will be very exciting but i'm also very nervous! I haven't competed in a World Cup event in many years, so in a way i do not have any expectations because i don't know what to expect.  I just need to keep a good attitude and it will be a great event! Can't wait to compete!! Wish me luck!!

Boarding my flight to Munich! 

Been busy...

I have been very busy these last few months... 

Jimmy and I celebrated our five year anniversary on May 1st. I have had an amazing time with him and I can't wait for our ten year anniversary! I feel that we compliment each other well and have  taught each other many important things!

 

In may I drove out to Richmond, va to help set and forerun for dominion river rocks. It was one of the best competition experiences that I have had in a long time. I was able to hang out with all my friends but also climb all the boulders without the stress. Don't get me wrong there was still some stress because we had to make sure everything was going to work out as planned and with the rain interfering with the event a little we almost were not able to show case all the boulders but luckily there was a break in the weather and all the competitors were able to experience all the rounds and boulders we had set up for them.

 

Following this event I drove to Fayetteville, NC to participate in a route setting clinic. This was for the level 1 certification and I was really happy to complete it. The best part was that I had to set some routes which I had never set before. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do the level 2 clinic. 

I came back home for a short while because I had plans to take the climbing team to the Red mid June. I was really excited about this trip because the team hasn't gone in two years and we had a couple new members. Overall it was a great trip and all the team members we able to accomplish amazing things. I'm proud to have coached these kids. 

When we got back from the red it was time to get ready to fly out to South Africa and go climbing in the Rocklands! But before we left, we decided to reset the whole gym and have a summer competition! It was awesome with a great turn out! 

Here's a link to my post on the five ten website about the trip to the Rocklands! 

http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14199-rocklands-bouldering-trip-kasia-pietras

All in all it was amazing and I can't wait to get back!!

When we got back from South Africa jimmy flew to salt lake for the trade show where he did amazing at the deep water soloing competition. I stayed home and took care of some minor things because jimmy and I decided to move to Boulder, CO. I had a lock in for the climbing team to wish them farewell but not to worry I will be seeing them in Hueco this winter!!  Everything happened so fast and before I knew it we are at a going away party hosted by the climbing gym. Thanks to everyone that was there, it meant a lot to me! 

And here we are now driving out to Colorado in a Penske truck. It all feels so surreal!! Can't believe it's actually happening. These past two weeks went by so fast that I'm still catching up.