The Sitspins remix 8a+
Meet Rannveig Aamodt. Climber extraordinaire, photographer, author and adventurer at heart, Rannveig has been climbing professionally for over 10 years, and is not one to shy away from even the most dramatic of cruxes. While climbing in April of 2012 Aamodt broke her back, both her ankles, her pelvis, and elbow in a 15m ground fall that could have taken her life. Incapacitated for months by her injuries Rannveig, found strength and determination in her love for the sport and was able to overcome her injuries and return to what says is “the best shape of her life”. You have to admit, she does make it look easy!
Hull i hummelen, 5.13a, (Norway)
Not one to take adventuring lightly, in 2006 she spent four months crossing Norway from south to north on cross-country skis, a 3,800 kilometer distance! A lover of finger cracks, and big slab climbing, Aamodt is a big fan of Indian Creek,Yosemite, Rocky Mountain National Park, Red River Gorge and Zion….to name a few of her go to’s! Rannveig was kind enough to sit down for an interview with OutdoorEnd and talk about her adventures, challenges, and experiences she’s had climbing all over the world. For this special feature blog we’ll take a look at one of Norway’s most prolific female climbers and ask her some pertinent questions about climbing!
Art and Sport 8a+
Q: Which is your favorite: Bouldering, Sport Climbing, Trad Climbing or Aid Climbing?
A: “I like it all, though it goes in phases. In general I like free climbing more than aid climbing. Recently I´ve been totally focused on projecting hard sport climbs. It’s easier for me after the accident because there’s less gear to drag around. Also, I like the whole process of projecting: when the moves feel totally impossible until they magically come together after a mental and physical battle. A big part of the motivation for working hard sport routes is to open up the opportunity to be able to free climb longer, bigger stuff like The Rostrum, Astroman, Moonlight Buttress and so on. Even if it’s not the same style, a lot of the strength and fitness transfers over. Other times it´s good to go bouldering with nothing else than shoes, chalk bag and a pad after dragging around tons of trad gear.”
The Norwegian Trip
Q: What are some words of advice you could give for beginner climbers who are psyched on climbing and have big goals in mind?
A: “Take it slow but steady, and be patient. Try to go rock climbing with good climbers and study their techniques. Find some mentors and maybe even get a coach to help you make a training program so as to avoid injury and over training. If you want to get good, go climbing with people who are better than you…Face your weaknesses and (work on them), don’t rely on your strengths. Embrace failure and learn to love the struggle. …..If you want to be a good rock climber, go rock climbing. There are too many climbers who get caught up on campus boarding or one-arm pull ups or whatever. And one of the most important things to overcome to be a good climber is the fear of falling. We’re all afraid of it to some degree, and we should all work it as part of every training session. Above all, put pride in your belay skills and keep everyone safe!”
Moonlight Buttress, 5.12d
Q:Last year you took a pretty serious fall while climbing in Turkey. Is their any wise words of advice that you would like to share with fellow climbers about this experience? Or any lessons that might have been learned that might have changed your approach towards climbing?
A: “One thing that changed for the good is that the negative pressure I used to put on myself is gone. If I fail on a route and still tried my best, I don’t berate myself with thoughts like “I should be able to climb this because it’s so below my grade limit.” I now find a lot more joy and satisfaction in being able to try my hardest. In a weird way, it’s made me even psyched about trying hard routes. I am also so much more grateful for simply being able to move, and I don’t take climbing for granted any longer. So my advice is: focus on trying your hardest. Also, you can never be too careful about anything in climbing. Double check and triple check everything, and don’t be embarrassed to do it. And don’t be annoyed with your partner for doing it either. After the accident, I learned a lot about dealing with pain, being injured, and how to recover from injuries. I could write a book about it by now!”
Indian Creek
A: It was a little bit like packing for a big wall climb (except we were able to refill food along the way) — we packed as light as possible. We brought only the absolute necessities, but enough to handle the situation if something broke or we got stuck in bad weather. We stayed in a tent the whole way, so a tent, cooking supplies and sleeping bags were necessary.
We packed everything in one pulk (sled) and a backpack. That way one person could pull the sled and the other could carry the pack — and we could swap whenever we wanted to. We packed enough food for roughly 14 days at a time. We planned it so that every two weeks, we picked up packages that we sent out beforehand, or we stopped somewhere along the way were we could refill and refuel. We dried a lot of food before we started the trip. For days and days we dried vegetables and meat in the oven, and then we mixed it with rice to make premade meals so we could just add water and butter to cook a dinner. For breakfast we ate oatmeal-porridge with lots of nuts, seeds, raisins and butter. We also brought capsules of fish oil and vitamins. For lunch, we ate homemade bars stuffed with oil, nuts and dried fruits and chocolate. Basically, we relied on calorie-dense food. We packaged all our meals in individual bags, to minimize the amount of garbage and weight. We melted snow for water if we couldn’t find any open rivers along the way.
If you’re interested in following Rannveig,
Check out http://www.rannveigaamodt.com/ and learn more about Rannveig’s Latest adventures!
Friend Her At: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rannveig-Aamodt/1389197367994093
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