DAV Sektion Fulda triumphs with four Hessian Vice Champions
The climbing group of the DAV section Fulda once again demonstrated their climbing strength at various competitions and can now rejoice in having four Hessian Vice Champions in Lead Climbing. In addition, the climbing youth also competed on a European level.
At the kickoff of the Western German Cup ranking for youth in Lead Climbing on July 6th in the DAV Climbing Center in Darmstadt, the youth classes from Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland were eligible to compete in the two 17m high qualifying climbing routes. The demonstration videos of the routes specially set for the competition already hinted at the high technical and physical demands of the routes. Despite many participants being early in the starting field and not being able to observe many tricks and ideas from the competition in the first qualification routes, the Fulda team with eight athletes in the youth D and C classes (both male and female) found a good start in the competition.
Promising climbing talents
Despite the challenges, Sara-Sophie Hopf demonstrated a technically clean performance in the youth D category. Likewise, Franziska Hau and Jonathan Pollmeier climbed very high and positioned themselves well for the further competition. In their first Lead final at a regional championship, both already showed a good understanding and effectively solved many of the tricky climbing sections. Franziska ultimately lacked the necessary strength to overcome one of the key moves in the overhanging terrain, and Jonathan fell after slightly missing a volume grip with his hand.
But even in the youth C category, the Fulda athletes were at the forefront in the qualification round, even though Maja Detig fell earlier than expected onto the safety rope during a move, as did Franziska Englert. Cara Bachmann managed to climb a bit further but struggled with a good body position for a particular move, preventing her from approaching the following wide move with enough dynamism.
Cara Bachmann celebrates fifth place in the daily ranking
In her final route, Cara impressively demonstrated her climbing skills not only in bouldering and speed disciplines but also in lead climbing. With a technically and tactically clean ascent, she set a benchmark in the route that was only surpassed by the eventual winner. After combining with the preliminary round, she rejoiced in a 5th place in the daily ranking.
In the Hessian ranking, the team had more reason to celebrate. With Franziska Hau, Jonathan Pollmeier, Hannes Leinweber, and Cara Bachmann, all four Hessian Vice Champions in the youth D (m/f) and youth C (m/f) categories come from the Fulda DAV section. This impressive result already makes us look forward to the upcoming Lead competitions in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate after the summer break. (pm)
Young climbers get a taste of competition at the European level
Some of the young climbing talents of the DAV section Fulda also participated in the Youth Color Climbing Festival in Imst, Austria, on June 22nd and 23rd, a European KidsCup format for the U12 and U14 categories. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of this multicultural event, up to 50 participants per class from various European countries, ranging from Great Britain to Romania and Spain, demonstrated their skills in the six competition routes, experiencing a taste of the World Cup atmosphere. The up to 22m high competition wall in Imst, also serves as a venue for major climbing events.
The routes in Imst placed high demands on endurance and climbing technique for the Fulda climbers, who managed to hold their ground in the middle field. However, they also acknowledged that there is an enormous level of competition at the European level, surely providing an additional motivation boost for training. Jonathan Pollmeier (23rd place), Franziska Hau (24th place), and Sara-Sophie Hopf (29th place) narrowly missed the top 20 final in the youth D category. In the C youth group, Maja Detig (33rd place), Franziska Englert (40th place), and Hannes Leinweber (37th place) placed in the middle field. (pm) +++