At first sight, Aušra
Volkaitė seems the shiest person in the world. Until you get a bit closer and realize how full of life and courageous she realy. She tried many sports s before bouldering, that she started just five months ago.
Other sports before
climbing:
I have done a lot of things:
english folk dancing, ballet, tap dancing, art lessons, ice-skating, singing,
playing the piano and guitar, swimming for about 2-3 years. For six succesfull
years I did street dancing, but after some time I felt in the wrong place. I
also did track and field for over a year.
How did she start climbing:
I've been wanting to climb for
a very long time, I went to my friend’s birthday about 3-4 years ago, and I
really enjoyed it and wanted to go there ever since, but I was doing other things
and didn't think of quitting. When I did quit, my first wish was to come here -
I'm completely obsessed with mountains, so the thought of combining that with a
sport seemed perfect. When i finally came, I knew I was going to stay here for
a long time.
First weeks:
In the first two weeks and
especially after the first trainings I remember my arms would hurt so much, and
I couldn't do a lot of routes, the easiest ones were hard, but with time it got
better. Now I'm still struggling with not having enough strength to climb some
routes, but I hope with time I'll get stronger.
Why climbing:
Climbing makes me forget about
all my everyday problems, it's almost like a meditation. My mind clears and I
only think about what I'm climbing, that's why I always come back from
trainings happy and positive. I never knew it's possible to love doing anything
this much. The thought that I can become stronger makes me want to keep
climbing too. Everyday at school I wait for when I can finally get back home and
go to the gym.
Entering the world of
competitions:
I was wondering how everything
works, so I wanted to come just to watch a competition, but then, in the last
minute I decided to compete, and I'm glad I did. It was fun to try out a
different wall, but mostly I love watching other people climb and gain
experience that way.
First competition:
It was about three months
after starting I think, in Riga. We needed to write ourselves on the cards what
we climbed, so i was happy judges didn't have to watch. I would've been very
scared, I don't feel confident enough when people are watching.
Trainings:
Training in groups is definitely
better, when I’m training with other people, they can help me out with the
route and push me to do a certain one. The best thing in training is simply
climbing. I love it when there are new
routes, but making our own routes is great too.
Best climbing moment:
Probably the best moment was
when we went on a two day trip to Riga to a competition. I was very scared and
didn't do good, but it was so inspiring and motivating to watch great, strong
climbers climb and made me want to get better and stronger.
When she grows up:
I can't imagine myself in
one place, I'd want to do something with travelling. I want to study tourism,
but I don‘t know what profession I want to have exactly.
Before competitions:
I try to calm down, but it
didn't work last time, I need to work on that. And I make sure I'm hydrated or else
I can't do anything right.
Hardest route climbed:
I climbed a 6a in a competition once and a couple of times in the gym, but I
think it really depends on what kind of route it is.
Best support prize goes to:
I‘d say Monika Šadauskaitė, because she
inspires me and always pushes me to climb routes that I wouldn’t
think I could do. She believes I can do it.
Parents:
They don't understand why I
like it that much, but they're really happy I'm doing what I like and support
me.
Climbing plans for 2014:
Get much stronger and gain
experience that i really need, also get more confident with myself and be less
nervous in competitions.
Favourite world climbers:
Sasha DiGiulian because
she's an amazing climber and very inspiring and I love her positivity, also
Alex Honnold and Lynn Hill.
Bouldering in the gym versus
rock climbing:
Climbing without mountains
seems normal because we‘re used to it, but like I said, I'm obsessed with
mountains so I‘m hoping of living in a country with mountains in the future. I haven‘t been on the rocks,
but I‘m saving up money for a long time to go on a trip to Thailand in summer
where I‘ll be travellng for nearly a month and found climbers that will be
there and would help out, so I‘m hoping for that to work out. I think I‘d like
it more than the gym.
Aušra Volkaitė is15 years
old, 9th grade in ‚,Ausros‘‘ gimnazija.