Jakob Schubert and the Goldene

When Jakob Schubert competes, it's to win. This is also the case at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris - how do you deal mentally with such immense pressure? How do climbers train for the Olympic Games? And have they already had a lasting impact on climbing? We met the exceptional Tyrolean athlete for an interview.

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He has climbed a 9c route, which is the highest on the difficulty scale; there are only three routes in the world in this high-end league. He also climbed a boulder rated 9A, which is as difficult as it gets in this climbing discipline. He has six gold world championship titles, which is a unique record, as are his overall World Cup victories. Jakob has to think about how many exactly, he can't even remember the number. "Twenty-seven? Something like that," he says. Oh yes, he also has an Olympic medal hanging in his cupboard at home. In short: Jakob Schubert is one of the most successful climbers of his generation. Or is he perhaps even the most successful?

The 33-year-old from Innsbruck is an all-rounder, and his goal at the upcoming Olympics in Paris 2024 is pretty clear: gold. No more, no less. Jakob wants to win. The fact that he is now one of the oldest in the starting field is one thing. However, he recently proved that he is still in top form when he won his home World Cup in Innsbruck in June 2024.

With his world championship title in Bern in the summer of 2023, he was able to secure one of the coveted Olympic tickets early on. "That was a huge relief, especially because I was then able to dedicate myself to my rock projects in a much more relaxed way," says Schubert. But relaxed at most in mental terms, because Jakob wouldn't be Jakob if his ambitions on the rock weren't at the very, very top. In concrete terms, this means that he wants to climb one of the most difficult routes on the entire planet for the first time and belong to the exclusive "9c club".

He achieved this feat in September 2023, when he cracked an Adam Ondra project in the gigantic Flatanger Cave in Norway, christened it "B.I.G." and rated it 9c. And the whole world could be there live. As an experiment, he quickly set up a live team on his YouTube channel with Hannes Mair from Stubai(alpsolut pictures). Wouldn't that create a lot of additional pressure? "Not really in this case, I just wanted everyone to be part of the process, and failure is part of that. But of course the livestream was something I won't do on every route, but in Norway everything just fell into place," says Jakob Schubert.

And because there will also be a medal in the combined competition - lead and bouldering together - in Paris 2024, Jakob thought that a bit of bouldering on the rock couldn't hurt either. And what does he do? In December 2023, he quickly cracked a 9A boulder with "Alphane". Despite not being quite 33 years old for a top athlete, Jakob says: "I'm in the shape of my life!"

Mr. Olympia

All in all, good conditions for this year's big goal: a medal in Paris, preferably a gold one. In contrast to the Games in Tokyo, where climbing celebrated its Olympic premiere, there are now two medal decisions and no longer just one. What does Jakob think? "That's definitely a big step forward, because the combined competition in Tokyo was pure chaos, you simply can't compare speed and difficulty climbing at all. It would be like combining downhill, slalom and ski touring in skiing. That's why it's good that speed now has its own rating. However, we climbers can only be really satisfied when we have three independent medal decisions: Lead climbing, bouldering and speed," says Jakob Schubert.

 

There is just so much amazing rock to discover everywhere.

 

As much of a competition machine as Jakob is, he is just as happy when all the Olympic hustle and bustle is over. Because then he'll really have time for his projects on the rock again. "And that's why I love climbing so much: it never gets boring because every move is different, no two holds are the same, every muscle in your body is used. And there is simply so much amazing rock to discover everywhere."

Climbing with respect also applies to Schubert!

But this is also one of the biggest challenges for the sport of climbing: "In the last 20 years alone, in which I have been climbing intensively, the number of climbers has exploded, especially indoor climbing. Many people used to go to the gym for two hours, now they just go climbing for two hours because it's even more fun. On the one hand, it's great that more and more people are getting into this great sport. At the same time, I can also see out on the rock that all these people are having an impact on nature. More people, more influence." This is exactly where the "Climbing with Respect" campaign from Climbers Paradise Tirol comes in - because climbing can only continue to grow if it is done in an environmentally friendly way.

"It is very important to teach all new climbers our unwritten rules: To leave nature as you find it, to stick to the access routes and not go cross-country on your own, to respect the designated parking spaces. But the most important thing is definitely common sense," says Jakob Schubert. But if this works, then nothing stands in the way of the transition from the hall to the rock. Jakob Schubert believes it is important to have an experienced mentor during this process who takes you along and shows you the world of rock. So that you can find out that sport climbing on rock is also relatively safe.

Is there a 9c in Tyrol?

Although Jakob travels a lot, there is still plenty to discover in his rock home, the Climbers Paradise Tirol. With "The Flame" (9b), he was able to open one of the most difficult routes in the country last year, "one of the most beautiful routes I've ever climbed", he recalls. But is there also 9c potential in Tyrol? Jakob is not so sure, because "an incredible amount has to come together for a 9c to be climbable at all. But who knows, maybe there is one somewhere! Especially in the lowlands, you keep hearing about new top areas that are only just being developed."

Only one question remains to be answered: Limestone or granite? "Granite," smiles Jakob, "the holds are so clearly defined, nothing breaks out, it's simply an aesthetic rock." His favorite climbing areas in Tyrol are therefore in Ötztal and Zillertal, the granite valleys of the country. But, Jakob continues: "If there is a 9c in Tyrol, it's probably in the limestone". It will be interesting to see what the future holds.