16 August 2017
8c+ trad hybrid by Bernd Zangerl after big injury
Bernd Zangerl, one of the pioneers of Magic Wood and a leading boulderer some 15 years ago, took a very bad fall in 2015. (c) Ray Demski
"I landed hard on my back on my crash pad, followed by a somersault into the forestโs stony ground. Conscious again, I was sitting on my knees looking up at the project five meters above me. There was only little pain in my neck, which I didnโt give much attention to, and I went back home.
The next day I went to a spa, relaxing. I didnโt think the fall was anything serious, until a few days later when the pain became unmistakably severe.
After a MRI, the doctors explained to me that I was very lucky, but Iโd badly injured the 5th and 6th vertebra in my neck.
When I woke up a few days later, I couldnโt feel my thumb and index finger anymore. A funky feeling. A few hours later my muscles on my back (terres major and serratus anterior) started vibrating. That was the moment when the brain stopped sending impulses to the muscles. The atrophy started slowly. I didnโt know what was going on. I felt the results eight weeks later back in the gym. I wanted to hold on some jugs, but I couldnโt do it anymore. My arm straightened without any resistance. I totally lost the two most important muscles in climbing, the terres major and serratus anterior!
After a 1,5 year of physical training indoor and specific mental work every day, I was super happy to be outside, to climb on the rock again. Into the Sun (8c+) starts with a six move 8A+ traverse into Fred Nicole's old top rope boulder Murgtal Tag & Nacht 8A+ (where gear is placed) and tops out with a 7b link.
After this injury, it is not the grade which is important to me. It never really was. The way back to bouldering, to climbing, to what I love can not be measured with numbers. Words can't tell how happy I am to be back on the rock. I still have some more projects which I want to climb in future. I am still not as strong as before my accident but I am getting there:-)
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