In March 2019 a trip to the Red River Gorge in the USA was extremely successful, with Solveig ticking routes like Ultra Perm (5.13d/8b), God’s Own Stone (5.14a/8b+), Golden Boy (5.13b/8a) and a flashing both Omaha Beach (5.14a/8b+) and Kaleidoscope (5.13c/8a+).
“These are grades I would have never dreamt of climbing two years ago,” admits Solveig. “I developed a passion to challenge myself.”
In May 2019 Solveig climbed her first 8c, Nobody is Perfect, in Vorarlberg, Austria and quickly followed this with Battle Cat (8c/+) in the Frankenjura.
In the summer of 2019, Solveig, who is predominantly a sport climber, started dabbling in trad climbing on a trip to Bohuslan, Sweden and Lofoten, Norway. In the future she wants to learn more trad, focusing on harder single pitches.
“I climb for so many different reasons,” says Solveig, when asked about her motivations for climbing. “Climbing has brought me so much in life. It can simply be about movement, but it is also a wonderful vehicle for traveling, for finding a welcoming community, and experiencing new cultures.”
“I love the feeling of progression,” she continues, “how something, which can seem once upon a time so extreme as a goal, can be rendered achievable.”
Besides climbing, Solveig did gymnastics for seven years and found it has helped a lot for climbing and still really enjoys it. Traveling has also become a big part of her life: “I’m really interested in seeing different countries and experiencing new cultures and cuisines. I love going to new climbing destinations and learning to climb different styles of rock.”