Anna Liina Laitinen sends her first 9a, Escalatamasters

Anna Liina Laitinen, who previously has done several 8c+', has sent Esclatamasters (9a) in Perles & Canelles. The Fin did her first 8b+ in 2016 at age 26 and since then, she has pretty much been a full-time climber also having done an 8b onsight as well as an 8A+ (B) boulder.

Can you tell us more about your first 9a?
Last year after my trip to Albarracin, I wanted to come and see the Escalatamasters route, which had been on my mind for years. The route was even more amazing and better than I could have imagined, and the 1.5-week trip felt like a short tease. The route stayed on my mind and I climbed all routes in Finland and abroad keeping ”Escalatamasters” in mind. I focused on developing myself throughout the year, especially in bouldering, to gain more strength. In the fall, I returned to Spain to improve my endurance after recovering from COVID-19, but I didn’t try the route seriously and instead climbed other routes and areas as it was very rainy. However, I wanted to recall the beta for the coming spring.

In the spring, I got sick again, so I couldn’t go on the trip at the desired time, and after regaining my basic fitness, I had to finalise my shape by climbing on the route as the weather was getting warmer. I focused mainly on being more strategic than usual on 8c+ routes, as well as on focusing on flow state, stress tolerance, having enough rest and focusing more on quality, and taking care of my fingertips, as the long crux of the route has small, sharp holds. I also went to the indoor gym twice a week to maintain my strength, and I believe it helped a lot, even though it initially felt strange to climb indoors when I finally had the chance to climb outside!

I exceeded my own goal for the trip at the end of the second week when I got my first one-hang, so everything from there on was just a bonus. I believe my mindset had the most impact on climbing the route. I was happy with every attempt, and I had fun. I didn’t feel the same pressure as I had felt in previous years when climbing a difficult route. I have worked on my mental side as best I can, and having a positive attitude and friends has a great impact. It’s normal to fall even on a difficult route. On such a good route, it didn’t matter to fall because then I could climb on it again.

What's your next plan?
I’d love to go to Rawyl in May but if it’s challenging to drag my sausage dog on the ledge I might visit Ceuse or go bouldering in Swiss. I’m more motivated doing sport climbing now so I’m doing everything I can so that I could do that :). Another option would be to go to Flatanger in June. Red River Gorge in the fall will definitely happen!

Can you say something about how you train?
My training schedule is a bit of a ”controlled mess”. I emphasize either bouldering or sport depending on what trip/or goal I’m having but I don’t leave either one of those! I just start doing some of those more. Sometimes I climb 4-5 a week and do other gym stuff plus cardio (I know it’s a bit too much and now I’ve been trying to focus more on quality 🙈). It’s been hard to stay away from the gym, especially if I’m not working. Sometimes when I’m trying to gain power I might just have 3 really good sessions a week. If I’m also route setting I’m trying to have 2 rest days on the week. My session might vary from 1.5h to 4h

Sounds like chaos 😂 But that is why I have to mark everything in a Google calendar. To help me to have some kind of an idea and plan what to do. It’s also really helpful for seeing correlations, especially when overtraining. Now I’m a bit older, ”The old keys don’t open new doors”, so I can not compare my training weeks to the ones I did when I was in my 20s. So now my goal is to focus more on quality.