With a full measure of optimism into the new competitive season

After last year's barren season in sport climbing, the girls and boys can hardly wait for a proper competitive season. So far, it seems that international competitions will be held to a greater extent, and given the great desire to measure strength/endurance on the wall, we have no doubt that the competitors will bring home numerous medals this year as well. In the summer, we are particularly eagerly awaiting the first appearances in sport climbing at the Olympic Games, when we will keep our fingers crossed for Janja Garnbret and Mia Krampl.







During the epidemic, sport also suffered a major blow, and last season was consequently very curtailed. But our gaze is still directed towards the top, and with the new competition season, we are turning a new page. “This year, the way competitions are held is already much better than last year, so we do not expect major cancellations, but we are aware that traveling to other countries around the world will also bring additional conditions for the competitors. The presence of spectators will be significantly reduced, so fans will convey positive encouragement to the competitors via television and internet broadcasts of the competitions. In the summer, we eagerly await the first appearances in sport climbing at the Olympic Games, where sport climbing will be included for the first time. We keep our fingers crossed for Janja Garnbret and Mia Krampl, who will represent the colors of Slovenia. After Tokyo, the eyes of the world sport climbing community will turn to Slovenia, where we will host a World Cup competition the first weekend in September. We still hope that the situation will calm down to the extent that live viewing and cheering at the competition will be possible. Special thanks go to our sponsors, Telekom Slovenije, Lapis, and of course the general sponsor of the sport climbing national team Prva osebna zavarovalnica, who recognize the importance of sport climbing and support us even in these difficult times,” announced the rhythm of the season the general secretary of the Alpine Association of Slovenia Damjan Omerzu.







In good times and bad, in more or less competitive seasons, we at the PZS are very happy that the general sponsor, Prva osebna zavarovalnica, remains with us. We have signed a cooperation agreement with Prva for another four years and together we will cheer for new victories. “At Prva, we advocate a healthy and responsible way of life, because only then can our tomorrow be safer and better. Three years ago, we were looking for a way to best present our mission to a wider audience. We found our voice in dedicated, passionate and promising young sports hopefuls who inspired with strong will. With a string of constant successes, they actively take care of the development of climbing sport in Slovenia. And we are glad that the popularity of climbing sport is growing and that there are more and more enthusiastic young climbers. Three climbing seasons later, after steep ascents and a total of 54 medals collected at various competitions, we are richer for a truly beautiful view from the top. In the period of the next four years, new challenges will appear, one of the bigger ones will certainly be the attack on Olympic gold. All this is just new exceptional opportunities for the team of Slovenian female and male climbers to solidify their position as the FIRST in the world. We will certainly keep our fingers crossed throughout this season and hope that the FIRST appearance of sport climbers at the Olympic Games will happen, and we are also looking forward to the September World Cup competition on Slovenian soil,” said Nataša Hajdinjak, member of the management board of Prva osebna zavarovalnica.







The 2020 sport climbing season was very different from what we were used to so far. Due to the epidemic, most international competitions were canceled, so the competitors could not show all their qualities. Due to the epidemic, even the Olympic Games in Tokyo were postponed. The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) managed to organize only one World Cup competition, where Janja Garnbret and Domen Škofic took second places.







This season, the Slovenian colors will be represented by female sport climbers Janja Garnbret, Katja Debevec, Mia Krampl, Julija Kruder, Vita Lukan, Lučka Rakovec, Urška Repušič, Lana Skušek, Tjaša Slemenšek and Lucija Tarkuš, and male sport climbers Martin Bergant, Matic Kotar, Jernej Kruder, Anže Peharc, Luka Potočar, Milan Preskar, Zan Sudar, Domen Škofic, Gregor Vezonik and Žiga Zajc.







The International Federation of Sport Climbing has published the competition calendar, and the first one is scheduled for April 16 in Meiringen, Switzerland. From the end of July to the beginning of August, there will be the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the first week of September will be the competition in Slovenia, and at the end of the same month the World Championship in all disciplines in Moscow. The competitive year for climbers ends in mid-October in China. This weekend, March 28, the first national championship competition will be held on the bouldering wall in Log-Dragomer. “Given the situation with covid-19, which unfortunately has been going on for more than a year and has almost stopped our sport at the World Cup level, I can say that the first goal of the national team is participation in competitions. Currently, we are completely focused on the first World Cup competition in Switzerland, how it will go further, we will unfortunately have to arrange on the go, as the next two competitions have already been postponed to the fall. The main goal of the season and the desire for an excellent result are certainly the Olympic Games in August and the World Championship in September. Until then, we will train according to the planned schedule and hope that there will be as few competition cancellations as possible in between. The Olympic Games in particular will not affect the work of the national team, of course they affect the training program and competitions for Janja and Mia, but the others will not train differently because of that,” announced this year's competitive season the selector of the Slovenian national team in sport climbing Gorazd Hren.







This year's training season is in full swing. The national team had its first training sessions already in January. It trained mainly in Koper and Ljubljana, and the members also did one training session in Austria. “The current preparedness of the national team is not bad, but it is difficult to make a comparison, especially because of the long period of stagnation during the epidemic. International competitions start at the beginning of next month, namely with the European Cup in bouldering. Immediately after that, the first World Cup competition in bouldering in Swiss Meiringen awaits us. The training sessions in this period were dedicated to bouldering, we also did quite a few simulations and selection training sessions for the upcoming appearances. The last selection will be this weekend at the domestic national competition in Log,” said assistant selector and coach Luka Fonda.







The youth national team under the leadership of Anže Štremfelj also remained almost without a competitive season last year. First, most competitions were postponed, later also canceled. The only competition that was held was the European Youth Cup in Augsburg. As many as 7 of our competitors performed in the final, winning 3 podium places. Lucija Tarkuš and Luka Jerman won, Lovro Črep took 2nd place. “The main goal of this season is the World Youth Championship, which will be at the end of August in Russia. We want as many final placements as possible, both in difficulty and in bouldering. I estimate that we also have some individuals who are capable of podium placement. The second most important competition, the European Youth Championship, awaits us in just over a month. Our goal is to repeat the successes from the previous championship in difficulty and improve the results in bouldering. Especially in the latter, we want final placements in different age categories. Medals are also achievable. At the European Youth Cup, the competition is somewhat smaller, so it is important for us that a larger number of representatives gain competitive experience at international competitions. Of course, good results are not possible without quality training and preparation. We hope that the conditions will allow training abroad. After last year, we are all eager for competitions, so we hope that the season will run smoothly,” summarized Anže Štremfelj.







The best Slovenian sport climber Janja Garnbret took second place at the only World Cup competition last year and took gold medals at both national championship competitions. Since the World Championship in Japan a year and a half ago, she also has a ticket to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in her pocket. “In last season, I learned a lot about myself, about training, and for this season I have a new plan. The Olympic Games are my main goal of the season. There is no lack of motivation this year, the goal is clear, and the training is going according to plan. In February, I wanted to travel to Japan with my coach and do two-week preparations there, but we did not succeed, so the plan changed a bit. Otherwise, I am very satisfied that everything is going as we imagined. Of course, I train all three disciplines, there is also a bit more speed training. The Olympic Games are the dream of every athlete, and appearing in them is an exceptional honor. I am looking forward to finally experiencing the thrill of the biggest sports competition this year.”







Another Slovenian has a ticket to the Olympic Games. That is Mia Krampl. Last year, she remained without any international competition, and this year she can hardly wait for them. “I don't know when was the last time I trained for so long without competing. I still train speed once a week, the rest of the training is dedicated to endurance. Although the original plan was to train boulders for a longer time, due to a knee injury, my coach and I decided to start training long routes earlier, as they are less aggressive for the knee and so I can train without interruption. Because of the Olympics, I don't want to put additional pressure on myself. It is like all other competitions, and my goal is to climb as best I can. If I succeed, I will be satisfied.” But even though she missed many things that were taken for granted last year, 2020 was still not that bad. “I used the year as best I could for training and worked on my weaknesses. Besides that, I spent a lot of time with my family. I am grateful to them for understanding each other so well and supporting each other.”







Jernej Kruder, a specialist in bouldering competitions, became European champion in this category last year, but later lost the competition for an Olympic ticket at the championship. For this year, he mainly wants the World Cup season to offer all planned competitions. His training is very similar to previous seasons. “In addition to climbing in Spain, I further charged my batteries on a trip through Italy and Switzerland, which means that I dedicated the 'training' mainly to boulders and physical strength. In between, I often jumped into some finger strength training and of course attended all mandatory national team training sessions.”







Jernej Kruder and Janja Garnbret were selected by the Sport Climbing Commission of the PZS as the most successful climbers of 2020.







Anže Peharc only participated in the European Championship in Moscow last year, where he took seventh place in the difficulty competition as well as in bouldering. During the longer absence of competitions, he focused on training and especially improving his weak points. “This year, in the first part of the season, I will focus on bouldering, then in the continuation I will also aim for some difficulty competition. This will be the start of my difficulty training for the 2024 Olympics. My goals are high, but I don't want to rush things. My goal for the first competition is a final placement. Since there was almost no competition last year, it is really hard to say whether I am well prepared or not. Still, I want repeat final appearances and reaching for the highest places.”







Vita Lukan performed at the only World Cup competition in France last year, where she took fifth place. She had to cancel the European Championship due to a positive coronavirus test. “Only last year did I realize how much competitions mean to me and how much I enjoy them, so this year I can hardly wait for the start of the season. In general, I am satisfied with the preparation period, so now I can only polish the last little things. The introduction to the season will first be the national championship, which I think is great, so that after a long break from competitions, each of us at least feels the competitive rhythm a little, which will certainly contribute to greater relaxation at the first international competitions. Since I did not qualify for the Olympic Games, the highlight of the season for me will be the World Championship in Russia, which is scheduled for September.”







Katja Debevec did not participate in any international competition last year, she was third at the national championship in bouldering. “Despite the fact that 2020 was unusual, it brought me a lot of beautiful memories. This year, my focus, as it has been for several years now, is the bouldering season. With the new year, after four years of independent training, I started cooperating with coach Klemen Kejžar. The training is going according to plan, in the national team we are finishing the last selection training sessions, and of course I can hardly wait for the season to start. I mainly want to climb relaxed at the competitions and achieve some good result. And of course, that the season is without injuries.”







For Lučka Rakovec, difficulty remains the primary discipline. “Although I am currently more focused on boulders, because difficulty competitions start later in the season, I have higher goals in difficulty. The goals themselves are high, I want to improve the achievements of the previous season. Of course, first I hope that we will manage to carry out the season as normally as possible.”







The priority training and competition for Urška Repušič remains bouldering, her basic goal is to qualify for all bouldering World Cup competitions, as well as for the World Championship and thus secure even more opportunities to show her good climbing. “At the competitions, I will be relaxed and focused on the performance as always, because only then can the results come by themselves. After a long time, I will again experience competitive adrenaline, so I can only say that I am happy and grateful that life is slowly returning to normal rhythm for us climbers as well. I am extremely looking forward to the upcoming season and hope that all competitions and travels will be carried out without complications.”







Domen Škofic, who took second place at last year's first international difficulty competition in Briançon, only wants to maximally enjoy the competitions he will be able to attend this year. “My main focus remains the difficulty discipline, and the training for it remains the same. But I have a great desire to improve my bouldering, and therefore some novelties in training are needed. In the last year, I learned to respect the little things that I previously took for granted. I learned a lot of new things and look at the world from a new perspective.”







Gregor Vezonik did not significantly change his training during the coronavirus period, except for the period between the first quarantine, when he trained at home in the garage. “From June onwards, I train normally like every season. The only thing that is different is that, except with co-climbers at training, I do not socialize with anyone else. For competitions, I think I am physically well prepared and that I trained well from December. In this last month, I just have to work on details so that the form transfers to competition climbing as well. If the period until the competitions goes according to plan, I think it will be a good season.”







The epidemic also stopped the Slovenian para-climbing caravan. But positive changes are expected this season. “The para-climbing season starts on June 22 in Innsbruck. This season will be very interesting and demanding for us for several reasons. In addition to the old members Matej Arh, Grega Selak and Tanja Glušič, Vid Vačovnik and Manca Smrekar have joined us, and in addition, the competition system and categorizations at the IFSC have radically changed, which we have been pointing out for several years and hope that now the competition will be fairer to all competitors. Of course, we have to wait for the first competitions to see how it will be in practice and what the competition is like this year, as we have not seen each other in the competitive circle for almost two years. Although most members have been in training mode since January, fortunately we were able to train on private walls, we will be more focused on further preparations at the first competitions. The main result goal this year will be the September World Championship in Moscow. We strongly hope that the epidemic will not dictate our plans this year either,” said selector Jurij Ravnik.