Karina Kosiorek

When and how did you get into climbing? What keeps you interested? What fascinates you?

During my studies, I became fascinated with mountain exploration, but trekking alone was not enough, so I wanted to learn mountaineering and climbing. For this I needed to join a climbing wall and just after that I became a fanatic sport climber rather than an alpinist 😀 However the mountains remained in my heart and I climb multipitch or alpine style from time to time.

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?

As a child, I spent hours playing the computer game Tomb Raider, transforming into Lara Croft and experiencing thrilling adventures, fighting monsters and solving archaeological riddles. Only virtually back then, but I visited many countries and interesting corners of the earth with Lara, including the temples of Angor Wat in Cambodia or the famous zone 51 in the Nevada desert… Lara impressed me with her agility and beauty, but what I liked the most was the constant thrill of the game and the amazing and engaging game locations and scenarios. Inspired by Lara's athleticism, I started training acrobatics and dancing myself, and this passion for sports (especially outdoor sports) with traveling simply stuck with me.

I think my optimism and enjoyment of climbing can be contagious in a positive sense. I love climbing and I always see more positive aspects in a given moment than potential obstacles or worries. I like challenges and I approach them constructively, even when something seems very uncertain or distant at the beginning.

What have been the most important milestones in your life so far, both in climbing and in everyday life? And did you recognize them immediately as such or only later on?

Climbing itself was a great milestone as it changed all my lifestyle and gives me constantly a lot of fun, confidence as well as great adventures and amazing travels.

What I recognized actually later is that I'm glad I studied computer science. It was before I started climbing and now the possibility of remote work for me as a programmer is a great advantage to my climbing lifestyle.

What I also feel was in favor of me is that before climbing, I tried various sports: acrobatics, dancing, skateboarding or figure skating. So I started climbing already quite fit and it certainly helped me avoid typical injuries for a beginner climber.

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

Fortunately, I didn't have any serious injuries that would exclude me from climbing for a long time - after just two or three weeks I was able to climb again, of course it always should be in a controlled and safe way. I would like to wish myself and others to come back from every obstacle or injury stronger and richer in important experiences!

What is your favorite climbing related story / experience?

It was more like an experience and it was completely unusual for me. I was onsighting 7c Priapos in Grande Grotta in Kalymnos. The route was like 30 meters long, nearly in the roof with tufas all the way long - and the sun had already almost disappeared below the horizon. In the beginning I was taking advantage of every rest in the route - hard sections were divided by some good kneebars or even no-hand rests on hanging stalactites. As it was getting dark, in half way up I realized that I need to climb faster -  so I decided not to stop wherever possible. Finally, I reached the chain so pumped, that in the first moment I thought that I won't be able to lift the rope and clip into the anchor. Luckily, I managed to do that and immediately I felt so exhausted and destroyed, that when I hung on the rope, I had to scream for a few moments just to get my breath back after so much effort! It was so wild and peculiar that it reminded me of a cry of a newborn baby to catch his first breath…Apparently it was a good fight! 😀