Without a rope, it hangs diagonally in the wall. Not exactly the most comfortable position, but the "boulder problem" doesn't allow it any other way. The hands, completely white from the chalk, grip an elongated black handle. The left foot finds the necessary support further down on a round grip, with the leg bent at 90 degrees at the hips and knees. The right leg hangs down. All the muscle cords, tendons and veins come out, and the fingers start to cramp. Just one more grip to the top grip. "Allez, Alma! Allez!" the teammates shout. Their gaze wanders upward to the right to the one gray, bullet-shaped handle, the final hold. Hanging on the wall, she gets the last of her strength with a swing and suddenly everything happens pretty fast: she jumps away upwards, reaches out her right hand for the handle, touches it for a short moment, a loud bang and Alma is lying on the mat. Her teammate Leonie encourages: "That was really good! There wasn't much left to do."
Visiting the bouldering training of Alma Bestvater and Leonie Lochner at the Olympic Training Center Bavaria in Munich, shortly before the European Championships Munich 2022. Alma Bestvater and Leonie Lochner are both teammates and opponents. Both are united by the sport. Through bouldering they are often training together, in addition they both study sports sciences at the Technical University of Munich.
Again and again Alma tries this last jump. Leonie also got some routes from her coach, which she trains today. "We have project bouldering on the schedule today, which are bouldering routes that are so hard that we have to project them a few sessions in a row before we get up there," Alma explains. That takes some motivation and perseverance. Two hours of Project Boulder training means: Climbing, falling on the mat, getting back up, cleaning the holds with a brush for a good grip, rubbing the hands again with proper chalk for the necessary grip, and then climbing again until you eventually make it. Alma and Leonie are passionate about sport climbing, of course you can see their frustration when they just can't manage a boulder problem, but they always get back up to try again and maybe make it the next time. Alma's enthusiasm for climbing came through her school. On a class trip to the Thuringian Forest, she dared to try climbing on some rocks for the first time. "I enjoyed it so much that I joined the DAV youth group afterwards," Alma reports with a big grin on her face. For Leonie, there has been nothing else since childhood: "Climbing was in my cradle, my parents and my big brother climb. It recently occurred to me that this year, for the first time in 22 years, I'll be taking a vacation with my parents that isn't a climbing vacation."
Their love of climbing is also evident in their skills. Both train with the German National Squad and the next competition is not long away. Both will compete in the bouldering category at the European Championships Munich 2022. In addition, medal decisions will also take place in the disciplines Lead, Speed and also for the first time in the new combined format Bouldering and Lead. In the middle of Munich, on the Königsplatz, the climbing competitions will take place, "so I think more people will come," reflects Leonie and Alma adds: "At the Quali there is also free admission, there will certainly also be a running public who just happen to come by. This will probably also make the Quali a bit more crowded and we'll get a bit more atmosphere." "This is just going to be a super competition, here in our hometown. That's already very, very cool," Leonie is pleased.
Both have the goal at the European Championships to climb into the semifinals. What comes after that "they'll see." Leonie hasn't felt so good in training in recent weeks and "the preparation didn't go so great either," so she just wants to climb a very good competition for herself and not raise any big expectations. For her teammate Alma, it's not particularly easy right now either. In February of this year, she dislocated her left shoulder and tore the labrum (a fibrocartilage in the shoulder joint that enlarges the socket and helps stabilize the shoulder joint). She then could not avoid surgery. A long rehab and statements like "you won't be able to compete again for another year" were the result. But Alma did not let it get her down. Not being able to compete again for another year was too far away for her. "It just didn't work as a goal for me," Alma said, "so I set myself, almost like wishful thinking, the European Championships as a goal, just to be able to stay motivated. Apparently it has really worked now." A smile of joy crosses her face. She last competed internationally eleven months ago, which is why she can't really assess her performance right now. "It's going to be a grab bag with me," Alma jokes.
Then all you can say is, "Allez, Alma and Leonie!"
The women's bouldering qualification starts on Friday, August 12, 2022, from 11 AM on Königsplatz in Munich.
Text: Melanie Langenwalter
Photos: Melanie Langenwalter & Laura Kimpfbeck