Rock Angel

The Tyrolean Angela Eiter is a daredevil in disguise: Since 2004 the 21-year-old blonde is sitting on the top rung of the freeclimbing contest ladder. Her most recent peak victory: defending her WC title.

A compact 154 centimeters, a delicate 45 kilos: Standing opposite Angy Eiter on even ground you wouldn’t assume that the XS size of her clothes could also stand for “Xtra Strong.” Encountering her in Osp (Slovenia), in Massone and Terra Promessa (both Italy) or Baltzola Cave (Spain), on the other hand, you’d probably know. These places are Angy’s favorite climbing areas, where she leaves Spiderman looking like a lowlander with vertigo – and where she finds an equalizer for indoor contests with fun climbing.

Challenge 11-

“In Italy I’ve climbed ,Claudio Cafe', my toughest route to date, with a difficulty level of 11-,” the sports student from Austria says. “Something like that gives you a very different sense of satisfaction than with any world cup victory. You know, you have to occupy yourself with the route for a long time beforehand, and you often get the point where you think, ‘I’ll never manage that!’ But then you conquer this tough stretch you thought was impossible before – a fantastic experience!”

WC title defended

Yet competition climbing is still Angy’s great passion “Because I’m at my best when I’ve got a concrete goal in mind.” Angela’s success story is marked by an impressive sense of purpose: she’s been climbing in the top league since she was runner-up at the Youth World Championships in 2001. She repeated this success in 2002, and a year later was ranked third in the World Cup, which she went on to win three years in a row. Additionally, Angy won the World Championships in 2005 and 2007, the World Games in 2005 as well as the Rockmaster in Arco four times.

Victory over Belgian climbing legend

Defending her WC title in Aviles, Spain, at the end of September was a huge highlight in Angy’s career: Following her top-outs in the qualifiers, the semis, and the finals, she had to compete against Belgian climbing legend Muriel Sarkany in a super final. Until Angy’s breakthrough, Sarkany dominated the world cup - and on this day likewise topped out in all stages. Just before midnight, Angy won the duel: she climbed two-thirds of the men’s route, surpassing Muriels best mark by twenty holds - and thus clinched the victory.

“A route is like a book”

Competitive climbing is demanding for the whole body – including the brain, says Angela: “A route has to be read like a book. Just like an author has a plan, the person who laid the route had a certain idea in mind, too. That’s what I try to find out. When I’m able to find it out, then I’ve almost already won.” Climbing is a question of “climbing intelligence”, as Angela calls it. Either you have it, or you don’t. You can develop it through hard work, just like you can develop your concentration. “When I’m on the wall, I don’t think about anything else. The wall is my opponent, not the other climbers,” Angela says.

Climbing or football?

Her first attempts at climbing weren’t so successful: “I was one year old, wanted to climb over the chair onto the table, fell off and promptly broke my ankle,” she recalls. Even afterwards Angy always had ants in her pants and because of that got a place in the sports school in Imst, Austria, where she had to decide between the free subjects football and climbing. Fortunately for the climbing scene, she didn’t pick football, although she confesses that “sometimes knocking the ball around with friends can be a lot of fun.” That’s also true for other sports: snow-shoeing, running, skiing and, of course, climbing a rock wall under an open sky – always secured – are the challenges she pursues when not competing.

Long-term goal Olympic Games

Despite her success, Angela remains well grounded. She knows the source of her success. “I train up to 30 hours a week. Climbing, running, meditating.” Most of the time she spends in the climbing halls in Imst and Innsbruck, in Dornbirn and Salzburg. What motivates her the most in training: “At some point to stand right on top of the podium at the Olympic Games,” she says. The dream route to the Olympic top of course still has to be opened: climbing isn’t an Olympic discipline (yet). But Angy is confident that the nomination for 2016 could be passed. “Then I’ll be 30. That could still just work out ...”