Tag Archives: sports

Blue is the hardest colour

Do you know that it actually is true that blue is the hardest colour to see? It’s a physics thing, for real. It’s no surprise that I have a beef with the colour blue. Not like. the color itself, but the blue bouldering routes.

I’ve started bouldering almost half a year ago, after being introduced to it by a friend. I’ve always enjoyed climbing and fondly remember my experiences with the activity in the Belgian Ardennes and secondary school gym classes. Now, climbing high walls is cool, but it requires a partner at all times, so bouldering felt more fitting.

For those not familiar with bouldering, it’s a sport that focusses on the technical aspects of climbing. Short ,technical routes that go up to like max. 4 meters on a straight or overhanging wall. Difficulty is shown in different colours of the routes, to make it easier for you. You climb with just your wits, body and a pair of climbing shoes that fit so tight you feel like a ballerina. It’s funny how that colour thing works When you start, you just see the colour of that level and slowly you find, while your skill advances, your eyes shifting to the next ones…

Very close to my home is a boulder gym, named Monk, which has 3 locations in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven). The staff is friendly and laid back, there’s usually some cool jazz, triphop, hiphop or electronic music playing while you climb. Some people come in groups and chat a lot, but I often go alone and enjoy the solitude of my efforts. There’s a moment between starting the climb and tapping of on the top grip (usuallly there’s an indicated start grip and a finish grip), where sounds fade away and there’s nothing but you and the wall. It’s your physical efforts versus nature in a way, it’s a moment of complete focus and tranquillity.

So for me the name Monk seems fitting, because it’s not about your fancy outfit or cool shoes, not about impressing others (I really think there’s little of the ‘gym flexing’  going on in general). It’s about you and that challenge, which makes it very pure for me. It’s not about succeeding, there’s no points to be handed out, it’s a very solitary, mental thing to me and that’s probably why I enjoy it so much. It cleans away my thoughts.

But still, blue is the hardest color, it’s the wall you hit when muscle and ability have gotten you as far as it can. It’s no longer easy or doable, now it becomes harder to progress. I will have to ask for help to move forward and that is also a lesson, because it breaks that solitude open again. I imagine that climbing in this form (or any form) isn’t for everyone, but I recommend it anyways. It shapes your body and mind, strengthening both. Facing your limits is not always pleasant, but it gives you the chance to break through them. That’s probably what I love most about this sport.

So I am certain I’ll start liking blue at some point.

The picture is not me, it’s a stock photo. Since I really don’t want to offend anyone by misusing their work, I use stock photos.

Hockey Night in Krefeld

This was a lovely weekend to see some hockey and since it’s not that great in the Netherlands, we headed to Krefeld in Germany to see the Pinguine play ERC Ingolstadt. 

Source: Eliteprospects ‘Logo Pinguine’

I think it’s a good oppertunity to say something about how awesome German sports fans actually are and the insane atmosphere in the Königspalast in Krefeld. It’s about an hours drive from where I live and well worth the ride. Funny enough, from Eindhoven on it’s about 70 kilometers straight on, take a turn and drive 7 more and then it’s like around the corner.  It’s a nice drive so enough time to chat.

I went down there with a friend and my long suffering girlfriend (just kidding, she likes the hockey too), taking enough time to get a good taste of what it’s like. German fans are well dedicated to the sport and ofcourse their beloved team. Normally they might just as well hang out in the old rink across the street to watch another team, but the amount of people already present during the warm-up is a sight of dedication.

It kinda sucked a bit that Ingolstadt scored two goals in the first period, which started to diminish the fevered chanting of the Krefeld fans. Tirelessly they keep chanting and shouting, during the whole game. During the game there’s also space for some activism, which has a lot to do with the future of the team. I must say I’m hard pressed to fully understand what’s happening, but it seems a political game has started to be involved. Signatures are collected and ofcourse I signed for the Pinguine. Let’s be fair, it’s good to have a funteam on driving distance. Comments with info would be much appreciated. 

Game in progress
Game in progress

So the game starts to be quite a downer, when Krefeld gets the third goal against. The team plays wobbly and confused at times, but gradually builds up to some momentum and scores a brilliant goal. Suddenly the crowd is roaring again, and the last ten minutes of the game feel super intense once more. It’s a shame that the Pinguine did’nt manage to get a goal in against the champion of the DEL. For us, it was still a great experience that we can talk about on our way home from Krefeld. Go Pinguine!