I climb.
Preferably every day. Every evening. Every morning.
And in between I sleep and I eat.
Eat > Sleep > Climb > Eat > Sleep > Climb > …
I think I’m addicted to climbing.
Hiking and exploring in in the Himalaya
Most people specify their addiction. The only take methadone, only marihuana, only hash.
I do them all.
In climbing I mean.
I like bouldering, iceclimbing, sportsclimbing, alpinism, competitions, scrambling, and I’m even into rope access.
Sometimes people ask me; “so what do you like so much in the climbing?” Or they ask; “why do you climb so much?”
And actually I have just one answer, and it’s not the ‘classic’ answer you know from the books, from Sir Edmund Hillary. It’s not ‘because it’s there’.
It is, because it makes me happy.
It’s not always that easy to get happy because of climbing; like when you have hot aches.
Often people don’t really understand why I take so much time on just doing my sports.
They ask me; “so when do you go and work again after your sabbatical?” Or they say; don’t you think you’re a bit too old for doing competitions, I mean, soon you won’t be able to compete anymore. And then what?”
Even people close to me ask me those questions. Almost daily.
I don’t ask respect for what I do. And I see understanding my decisions might be difficult.
But then, when I do get understanding, respect, recognition; it just feels so amazing!
This weekend the Dutch Alpine Federation, NKBV, organized for the second time the National Mountain Sports Day, in Dutch we say ‘Bergsportdag’. Of course this was the Winter-edition (in March they have the Summer edition).
They asked us to host a drytooling competition.
We already planned to compete at the Usine (Grenoble) drytooling contest, but had no choice but to cancel that. Even at the last moment I thought of just telling the NKBV I was ‘sick’ and secretly travel to my favorite drytooling area, Usine. Also we planned to go hiking with friends.
Double planning… Eventually I decided it was good to promote the drytooling and host the little contest on the Bergsportdag…
Drytooling at Usine
The proces of building the structure was kind of complicated; the ‘wooden-icicles’ were a lot smaller than what we asked for, the place to hang the icicles changed, we didn’t have enough ropes to secure the structure, and…the mattresses didn’t arrive…
We thought we had to cancel it all.
Meanwhile climber Ueli Steck held two lectures, attracting a huge audience. I also ordered a ticket for the morning-lecture.
As there weren’t any mats, we couldn’t climb anyway. Would there be time to attent the lecture after all?
The chairman of the NKBV told me I had to attent the lecture. And others told me too to be there at 10:00 latest.
I forgot to print my ticket, didn’t have my NKBV membership-car with me. But just thought; I just smile and blink and can wal through.
I got through surprisingly easy, so easy I was wondering why…
A friend, Rob, told me I had to sit a little on the side so I could get out easily. I had no idea why he said that. But I thought he might be right as I had to help Dennis with the drytooling later on.
Instead of introducing Ueli Steck the director of the NKBV introduced Katja Staartjes.
Katja is the first Dutch woman to climb Mount Everest. Also she climbed Gasherbrum 1, Cho Oyu, and she’s a big Nepal ambassador helping with all kinds of projects in Nepal.
Katja is quite an important figure for me, an example, having done so many expeditions, so much experience!
Katja started her lecture with the title ‘Overdracht Jenny Visser-Hooft pickel’.
At first I thought ‘oh, gosh, the feminist-club’. There’s a movement under the name of Cima Immink (named after Jeanne Immink, a pioneer, alpinist in Dutch history) who promote women to climb. In groups with just women. As they are in the opinion it is often better to have women together. Less pressure on performance, more about how it is scary to lead-climb and more stuff like that.
I don’t think I’m much of a feminist. I like to climb, the fact I have some different body features compared to my climbing partners doesn’t bother me at all. I hardly climb with women actually.
But that is more because there are hardly any female alpinists in the Netherlands.
The talk went on, with a short view on the woman herself, Jenny Visser-Hooft. Jenny was born in 1888. In 1914 she walked and climbed up to 5033m in the Kaukasus, later she did four expeditions to the Karakoram of which one took two years to complete! She summited peaks up to 6500m. Quite impressive for the time, and that for a woman!
Her (late) son Frans Visser donated the pickel of Jenny to the NKBV as an award for Dutch female alpinists.
In 2006 Frederike Bloemers got the award for the first time for her achievements including her climb with her full-female team to the Chamlang summit (7290m).
Katja Staartjes had the pickel since 2011. Frederike Chose Katja to be the new holder of the award.
Katja told it was time to hand over the pickel now.
And suddenly the lecture changed.
It was a picture of me of the screen.
My heart did a jump and got stuck in my throat.
Me?!
Zout Photography captured my face just when I got to know it was me, who would be the next holder of the pickel…!
Katja told the audience of my performances in sportsclimbing, bouldering, iceclimbing worldcups, but most of all what I’ve done in alpine climbing.
No-one ever summed up this all together, gave a lecture about it all and spoke so many great and flattering words of my climbs…!
I was astonished, so surprised!
Katja hads over the pickel and a small roll; Tibetian player flags, blessed and all.
Suddenly it was me on the stage.
With a beautiful old pickel in my hands.
I was still trying to get myself together, so surprised by this huge gift from this amazing climber.
I felt more then proud, not sure how to translate the word in I feel ‘apetrots’!
The only thing I could say was “thank you” and tell the big 500+ audience of how important it is to just have fun. It doesn’t matter what you do, what you climb: have fun.
Right now I can think of a thousand words, a thousand thank-you’s to all people who made it possible for me to climb. And a few good words, my life-motto, and much more :)
The drytool contest
At the end of the day we celebrated it all with a few Julbo athletes at an Indian restaurant and looked back on still a successful drytooling day (yes, we got mattresses).
Jenny Visser-Hooft troffee
I climb.
Preferably every day. Every evening. Every morning.
And in between I sleep and I eat.
Eat > Sleep > Climb > Eat > Sleep > Climb > …
I think I’m addicted to climbing.
Hiking and exploring in in the Himalaya
Most people specify their addiction. The only take methadone, only marihuana, only hash.
I do them all.
In climbing I mean.
I like bouldering, iceclimbing, sportsclimbing, alpinism, competitions, scrambling, and I’m even into rope access.
Sometimes people ask me; “so what do you like so much in the climbing?” Or they ask; “why do you climb so much?”
And actually I have just one answer, and it’s not the ‘classic’ answer you know from the books, from Sir Edmund Hillary. It’s not ‘because it’s there’.
It is, because it makes me happy.
It’s not always that easy to get happy because of climbing; like when you have hot aches.
Often people don’t really understand why I take so much time on just doing my sports.
They ask me; “so when do you go and work again after your sabbatical?” Or they say; don’t you think you’re a bit too old for doing competitions, I mean, soon you won’t be able to compete anymore. And then what?”
Even people close to me ask me those questions. Almost daily.
I don’t ask respect for what I do. And I see understanding my decisions might be difficult.
But then, when I do get understanding, respect, recognition; it just feels so amazing!
This weekend the Dutch Alpine Federation, NKBV, organized for the second time the National Mountain Sports Day, in Dutch we say ‘Bergsportdag’. Of course this was the Winter-edition (in March they have the Summer edition).
They asked us to host a drytooling competition.
We already planned to compete at the Usine (Grenoble) drytooling contest, but had no choice but to cancel that. Even at the last moment I thought of just telling the NKBV I was ‘sick’ and secretly travel to my favorite drytooling area, Usine. Also we planned to go hiking with friends.
Double planning… Eventually I decided it was good to promote the drytooling and host the little contest on the Bergsportdag…
Drytooling at Usine
The proces of building the structure was kind of complicated; the ‘wooden-icicles’ were a lot smaller than what we asked for, the place to hang the icicles changed, we didn’t have enough ropes to secure the structure, and…the mattresses didn’t arrive…
We thought we had to cancel it all.
Meanwhile climber Ueli Steck held two lectures, attracting a huge audience. I also ordered a ticket for the morning-lecture.
As there weren’t any mats, we couldn’t climb anyway. Would there be time to attent the lecture after all?
The chairman of the NKBV told me I had to attent the lecture. And others told me too to be there at 10:00 latest.
I forgot to print my ticket, didn’t have my NKBV membership-car with me. But just thought; I just smile and blink and can wal through.
I got through surprisingly easy, so easy I was wondering why…
A friend, Rob, told me I had to sit a little on the side so I could get out easily. I had no idea why he said that. But I thought he might be right as I had to help Dennis with the drytooling later on.
Instead of introducing Ueli Steck the director of the NKBV introduced Katja Staartjes.
Katja is the first Dutch woman to climb Mount Everest. Also she climbed Gasherbrum 1, Cho Oyu, and she’s a big Nepal ambassador helping with all kinds of projects in Nepal.
Katja is quite an important figure for me, an example, having done so many expeditions, so much experience!
Katja started her lecture with the title ‘Overdracht Jenny Visser-Hooft pickel’.
At first I thought ‘oh, gosh, the feminist-club’. There’s a movement under the name of Cima Immink (named after Jeanne Immink, a pioneer, alpinist in Dutch history) who promote women to climb. In groups with just women. As they are in the opinion it is often better to have women together. Less pressure on performance, more about how it is scary to lead-climb and more stuff like that.
I don’t think I’m much of a feminist. I like to climb, the fact I have some different body features compared to my climbing partners doesn’t bother me at all. I hardly climb with women actually.
But that is more because there are hardly any female alpinists in the Netherlands.
The talk went on, with a short view on the woman herself, Jenny Visser-Hooft. Jenny was born in 1888. In 1914 she walked and climbed up to 5033m in the Kaukasus, later she did four expeditions to the Karakoram of which one took two years to complete! She summited peaks up to 6500m. Quite impressive for the time, and that for a woman!
Her (late) son Frans Visser donated the pickel of Jenny to the NKBV as an award for Dutch female alpinists.
In 2006 Frederike Bloemers got the award for the first time for her achievements including her climb with her full-female team to the Chamlang summit (7290m).
Katja Staartjes had the pickel since 2011. Frederike Chose Katja to be the new holder of the award.
Katja told it was time to hand over the pickel now.
And suddenly the lecture changed.
It was a picture of me of the screen.
My heart did a jump and got stuck in my throat.
Me?!
Zout Photography captured my face just when I got to know it was me, who would be the next holder of the pickel…!
Katja told the audience of my performances in sportsclimbing, bouldering, iceclimbing worldcups, but most of all what I’ve done in alpine climbing.
No-one ever summed up this all together, gave a lecture about it all and spoke so many great and flattering words of my climbs…!
I was astonished, so surprised!
Katja hads over the pickel and a small roll; Tibetian player flags, blessed and all.
Suddenly it was me on the stage.
With a beautiful old pickel in my hands.
I was still trying to get myself together, so surprised by this huge gift from this amazing climber.
I felt more then proud, not sure how to translate the word in I feel ‘apetrots’!
The only thing I could say was “thank you” and tell the big 500+ audience of how important it is to just have fun. It doesn’t matter what you do, what you climb: have fun.
Right now I can think of a thousand words, a thousand thank-you’s to all people who made it possible for me to climb. And a few good words, my life-motto, and much more :)
The drytool contest
At the end of the day we celebrated it all with a few Julbo athletes at an Indian restaurant and looked back on still a successful drytooling day (yes, we got mattresses).
Now focus on the next things:
– the drytool wall in Utrecht is open
– soon on December 12 we will have the Dutch Drytool Event in Bergschenhoek
– this weekend I will climb the Nationals in leadclimbing.
Learn about Katja and what she does on her website here: katjastaartjes.nl
A full impression of the Bergsportdag can be found on picture-website Flickr. With a small report of the whole day on the NKBV website.
Pictures are all by Reinier Rijke, Zout Photograpy.
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