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“There is a moment while trying a route when a certain move seems impossible. At that moment you just have to persevere to make the impossible possible,” says Anak Verhoeven, 25, the first woman to do a first ascent of a 9a+ (5.15a) route.
With an 80-foot extension to Sang Neuf (9a/5.14d), in 2017 Verhoeven set up a 9a+ line called Sweet Neuf (9a+) in Pierrot, France. She sent in 2017 and became the second woman in history to climb 5.15, after Margo Hayes. Since then, she has ticked off four more of the grade.
Verhoeven likes exploring her limits, but finding efficient beta is a challenging task for her. “The 9th-grade routes are mainly opened by men and their beta is often not feasible for women or shorter climbers like me,” she says. Verhoeven is 5’3”. “My first hurdle usually is figuring out the beta. It is fun but exhausting.”
“There is often that one sequence which seems difficult no matter how much you try,” says Verhoeven. “It is not easy to decide to continue trying or to say enough is enough. You just have to believe somehow and keep going. Only then you might succeed. I remember lots of times when my patience has paid off. That’s one of the greatest satisfactions of rock climbing!”
Born in Belgium, Verhoeven was introduced to climbing at age 4. Being an only child to parents who are climbers themselves, Verhoeven’s childhood memories are shaped by the sport. Both her parents started climbing when they were in their early 30s and still climb today with great admiration for the sport. They are also judges in climbing competitions and her father is an active international jury president.
Verhoeven thrives under the policy of ‘train for gain.’ “I must say I wasn’t always fond of climbing, but I enjoyed training for climbing,” she says, “I realized that with a dedicated training program, techniques can be learned and performance can be improved. That was encouraging for me.” Coached by her father, she loved the climbing exercises her dad would design for her, which ranged from repeaters to locking off on holds. “Most of my training was through climbing only,” she says. “We didn’t have a competition-oriented gym in Belgium, just a commercial one. But we made the best of it by innovative exercises.”
Before her prolific outdoor ascents, Verhoeven competed internationally for the Belgium Team. She won 10 back-to-back European Youth Cups. In 2014 and 2015, she became Junior European Champion and World Youth Champion, respectively for Lead. Joining the Open circuit, she ranked first in 2016 for Lead and won the 2017 World Games and IFSC European Championships.
In 2017, however, her right arm began to affect her performance. Tightened muscles would turn into hard strings from her hand to neck, affecting her coordination and strength. According to her, “Climbing had become a matter of pinching hard and deciding not to let go.” Several doctors, specialists, hospitals, surgeons, physiotherapists and professors asked her to do a lot of tests and therapies followed by ultrasounds, PRP injections, MRI scans to check the blood vessels, EMG to check the nerves, compartment syndrome tests, ECG, blood pressure tests during training, and even shock wave therapy. But nothing worked or even diagnosed the cause of her injury. She remembers, “Time and time again I was told by yet another expert that they knew for sure what was wrong and that their particular therapy was going to solve my issue. Every single time I was hopeful only to be disappointed.”
Despite her arm not being fully recovered, she was given the all-clear from specialists and returned to climbing in 2019. Verhoeven placed fourth in the Lead World Cup, in Kranj, Slovenia that same year. And then she sent yet another 9a+ (Joe Mama in Oliana, Spain). People thought it was her comeback after a break from comps in 2018. But the truth lay in her struggle.
Her arm got worse as the pandemic hit in 2020. On the hard, the uncertain recovery process was draining her mentally. She sighs, “During one of the examinations, a world-famous shoulder expert told me that nothing was wrong with my shoulder and I should maybe just go see a psychologist to learn to deal with not having a perfect body. Ouch, that was hard to hear. By that time I couldn’t move my arm freely anymore.”
Her hard-hitting injury subsided in February 2021 when a physiotherapist diagnosed the cause of the tightened muscles. “I hesitantly told yet another expert about my arm, knowing that this could lead to another disappointment. I figured it was worth it, because not asking would certainly mean no progress. This time, I went to the Netherlands, the country north of Belgium, with my long list of therapies that had not worked. I started yet another rehab program and can you imagine… It did work!”
The cause of the problem turned out to be a huge lack of mobility in her right shoulder which constricted the blood flow to the arm as soon as she grabbed a hold above her head. She discovered that for years she was not able to do certain moves because of that. A series of mobility sessions and strengthening exercises showed its effects and around June 2021, her arm got better. Her arm is still not 100 percent, but it has improved greatly.
Verhoeven had always been climbing outside in between comps. But her preference for rock over plastic grew over time. “Funnily enough, my love for the sport has grown slowly,” she says. In 2021, Verhoeven announced she was bidding goodbye to the competitions—now heading to the crags with a singular outdoor focus.
As fun as it may be, the adventures on rock come along with the challenge of self discipline. Verhoeven is still getting used to being a full-time outdoor climber. She says, “Although there are off seasons and training cycles for outdoor projects too, I have to plan everything now myself. I have to choose my own projects. There is no timeline, unlike competitions where the calendar is fixed. It is not easy, but I like the challenge of it.”
Talking about her dream project, she adds, “I haven’t trained specifically for my rock sends so far. I had the strength and endurance from competition training. I am looking forward to redpointing a super hard route which will only be possible after some specific training.”
While goals are important, Verhoeven wants to keep a healthy perspective for her outdoor climbs. “The route is not the boss,” she emphasizes. One should not be obsessed with a route in a way that it rules over the mind and life. A balanced mindset is a must for her.
Only time will tell us what lies beyond 9a+ for Verhoeven. She has a huge bucket list of objectives, like opening spectacular lines, getting involved in trad climbing, and climbing harder.
She says, “I would love to one day bolt my own projects and then try to climb them. What seems impossible at the moment can become a reality in the days to come.”
Nutan Shinde-Pawar is a climber, freelance writer and social media manager. She writes for outdoor companies like UKClimbing, ExplorersWeb, Rock and Ice, Gearjunkie and other companies. She manages Social Media for Moja Gear and Trek the Himalayas. She is now either hiking, climbing or writing all the time – each day living her outdoor dream.
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