Career Highlights

  • Spanish national champion multiple times at Lead, boulder and Speed.
  • FFA of Madiba 8c/8c+ 
  • FFA of 'El Calvario del sicario' 8c/8c+
  • First female ascent of a 9th grade route in Cuenca and third Spanish Woman to climb 9a with ‘Cordia Maleficarum’
  • FFA of ‘El intento’ 9a
  • Sur les traces de l’histoire de l’escalade sportive : Ana Belén et Simon Padin dans le Jura franconien
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      Interview

      • Climbing

        When and how did you get into climbing and what kept you interested / fascinated in the sport?

        When I was 5 years old, friends of my parents made me discover the sport. There are many reasons why climbing fascinates me, if I choose one, the will to overcome my limits. 

        When and how did you get into climbing and what kept you interested / fascinated in the sport?

        When I was 5 years old, friends of my parents made me discover the sport. There are many reasons why climbing fascinates me, if I choose one, the will to overcome my limits. 

        Who was your childhood hero and do you consider yourself a role model now? Does it influence you at all that other people look up to you?

        In my childhood I really enjoyed watching the USA national comps. Alex Puccio's style and her strength was very inspiring for me.

        Making the FFA in Cuenca it’s like opening a new way to transit, and if this could inspire other girls to try the routes that would be awesome.

        What were the most important miles tones in your life so far, both in climbing and in everyday life? Did you immediately recognize them as such or only later on?

        Sending "Cordia Maleficarum". 

        Since I was a child I always said that some day I wanted to do 9a (At that moment I even had a minimal idea of what it was that jajaja.) And doing it with Cordia, it’s a dream come true and an inflection point in my career.

        What were your greatest failures / setbacks / injuries? How did you cope with them and how did you come back from them?

        One of the greatest injuries was in 2019 during the Bouldering World Cup in Vail, In the third boulder I fall and partially broke my cruciales ligament. Since then I have never got back 100% and for example I’m not able yet to bouldering at the gym.

        What is your favorite climbing related story / experience?

        My favorite story is when I sent Cordia Maleficarum. We don't have a vehicle to get to Cuenca as a “distracted” driver hit our van from behind months ago and it was at a mechanical workshop.

        So Simon asked his cousins to let him use his cars the days they didn't work, so on days that were completely random we got one chance to go to Cuenca in the day and return at night as we needed to return the car.

        The weather and conditions were terrible, even on one of those days we got to Cuenca and it was raining a lot and the wall was completely wet and we had to come back to Madrid without climbing. 

        We needed to put absolutely everything we had to make this project real, it was very difficult to handle everything so the memories are very intense.

        Javi Pec joined us during those days and an amazing video will drop soon. 

        In my childhood I really enjoyed watching the USA national comps. Alex Puccio's style and her strength was very inspiring for me.

        Making the FFA in Cuenca it’s like opening a new way to transit, and if this could inspire other girls to try the routes that would be awesome.

        What were the most important miles tones in your life so far, both in climbing and in everyday life? Did you immediately recognize them as such or only later on?

        Sending "Cordia Maleficarum". 

        Since I was a child I always said that some day I wanted to do 9a (At that moment I even had a minimal idea of what it was that jajaja.) And doing it with Cordia, it’s a dream come true and an inflection point in my career.

        What were your greatest failures / setbacks / injuries? How did you cope with them and how did you come back from them?

        One of the greatest injuries was in 2019 during the Bouldering World Cup in Vail, In the third boulder I fall and partially broke my cruciales ligament. Since then I have never got back 100% and for example I’m not able yet to bouldering at the gym.

      • Training

        Do you have a strict training schedule for when and how you train throughout the year?

        My training schedule depend on the projects. So depending on the route I have in mind the training focus on some aspects or another.

        For example if the route has a hard boulder problem, I will replicate it at the gym and work on that type of specific movements.

        Rock climbing and trying the routes is training by itself, but all year I do some pull-ups, dead hangs, TRX etc…

        What advice can you give to somebody looking to improve their training routine?

        I will recommend looking for someone who could prepare a specific training regime for him. Not every training suits everybody, as every person has different areas to improve.

        What do you think of indoor climbing gyms in relation to climbing on actual rock?

        I will say that they are almost like two different sports. The Climbing gyms are a place to socialize, doing exercise and the rock is more painful. It's cold, sometimes very hot, the hands hurt, the quick draws are far…

         I love both!

        Are you able to do a one-arm pull-up? How about a single finger?

        I was able to do some one-arm pull-ups when I was a little girl, but now I struggle doing the first one with a strict form. 

      • Psychology

        Is it possible for anybody to eventually perform a one-armed pull-up or get to the top of the Eiger/Matterhorn, or do you really have to be born for it?

        To do great things is very important to work hard and be dedicated. Some people will have better genetics than others but it is not enough without work and dedication.

        How important is it to set goals in professional sports? What are your goals / targets you are working towards in climbing and in life?

        Setting goals it’s crucial to be motivated and knowing why you are doing what you're doing. This year I want to go to Margalef in autumn.

        How to you deal with extremely hard climbing problems? Do you ever get frustrated and give up on them or do they motivate you even more?

        When I’m dealing with a really hard project I try to have little goals to achieve to keep the motivation high and keep going forward step by step

      • Future of climbing

        Is there anything you would like to change about the current developments in climbing?

        The pressure on the little kids from federations, parents, coaches… in the end they are just getting frustration to the kids, who suffer and never enjoy the climbing.

        Where do you think sport will go in the next few years? What will change? And what role will you play in it?

        Climbing will be more and more a recognized sport and that would be nice for the professional climbers. I saw myself climbing a muerte on the rocks, enjoying and fighting to achieve my goals.