ANNA STÖHR JOINS THE SALEWA ATHLETE TEAM

We are strengthening our international Athlete Team by welcoming Anna Stöhr – one of the most ambitious and influential faces in the climbing world. The world-class professional climber has dominated the women’s international climbing and bouldering scene as a popular crowd favorite in recent years. The 30-year-old, Austrian-born and Innsbruck-based athlete is joining our team from January 2019 and is already lining up ambitious new projects to broaden her successful climbing career. In the future, Anna intends to focus on climbing and bouldering outdoors in nature and to head for high, spectacular faces, alpine crags and multi-pitch routes.

From competition climbing to getting more out on rock

With support from her parents, Anna started climbing at the age of six and quickly started to compete in the Austrian national team, notching up impressive performances at international events. Anna Stöhr has always felt at home on the competition scene. She achieved her biggest success on climbing walls, winning the legendary Rock Master in Arco three times, the overall World Cup four times and was twice world and European champion. However, her impressive boulder problems, rock climbing projects and first ascents all over the world, are less well known. In 2017, she climbed some of the hardest and most iconic boulder problems in the world. “New Base Line”, 8b+, Magic Wood, Switzerland, “Penrose Step” 8b+ First Female Ascent Leavenworth, USA and “Steppenwolf” 8b First Female Ascent Magic Wood, Switzerland. Anna says: “I’ve always tried to strike a balance between bouldering and competitions on climbing walls with climbing out on rock.”

High goals with new climbing partner

Anna has recently experienced both ups and downs. Following a climbing injury sustained while training at the start of 2018, she was forced to retire from competition climbing four months later. This led her to change her plans and seek a new direction. “Last year has had a big effect on me, both as a climber and as a person. I’m now ready to focus on new goals and am delighted to start out on new projects with Salewa as my new partner. There is a time and a place for everything. I want to keep moving and to continue to develop myself. I’m convinced that I can restore and rebalance my strengths in new ways. Out on rock, on alpine routes and big walls – where I will have to have to first build up more confidence to be able to tackle the grades I have been used to. It feels like climbing – in all its diversity – is now opening up to me in a way that I have never experienced before. This is why I wanted to find not just an equipment sponsor, but an alpine institution with an athlete team, who could inspire me and help me to continue to develop. I am really excited about working with Salewa.”