Eva Hammelmüller climbs Omen Nomen (9a)

Eva Hammelmüller, who previously in 2025 has done a dozen routes 8c+ and beyond, has sent Omen Nomen (9a) in Arco. The Austrian tried it four years ago but could just barely do every move in isolation. This year, the 25-year-old sent it in just four sessions and she moves to second position, after Laura Rogora, in the ranking game.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
A dream of mine that first took shape back in 2021 became reality last weekend. At that time, my big objective was to climb 9a, and I thought ‘Omen Nomen ’could potentially fit my style perfectly; the route is not too steep and really technical, and can be split into three sections with rests in between. However, to be honest, I think I just didn’t have the level yet. The cruxes require a huge amount of body tension, biceps, and finger strength - which I definitely lacked at that time.

Several years passed and finally, I returned this season with all my homework done. While I struggled to do the moves in isolation in 2021, I quickly linked both crux sequences this year. Four amazing days in Padaro with good friends later, and the anchor was clipped. Knowing how far I’d come since those first sessions, was an unreal and incredibly rewarding feeling. Huge thanks to the crew for hyping me up and sharing the psych!!

How can you best explain your great outdoor progress in 2025?
Over the last few years, my motivation for outdoor climbing outgrew my thrive for competitions. I enjoyed being out in nature with good friends so much more than competing, especially because I always experienced competition venues as really stressful and nerve-wrecking. While I felt energetic and psyched after a long rock climbing day, competitions left me feeling drained and tired. Therefore, I reckon that my decision to focus on rock climbing plays an important part in my performance improvement. If I feel relaxed and nothing but motivated, I simply perform way better. In addition, not having to focus on comp schedules and training cycles enables me to listen 100% to my body - if I am psyched for climbing, I climb, if I am tired or have many other things to do, I rest; that makes my training more effective and productive. Plus, I think my mentality is more the one of a team player - and outside, climbing is exactly about that: working together to find the best solution to succeed in a route, with the only 'opponent‘ being the route. After all, I guess it comes down to not take everything too seriously and make the most of every climbing session you get to spend outside with friends.