Red Bull.com

Bernd Zangerl hails from Flirsch am Arlberg, a small village in Tyrol and his love for the mountains stemmed from early childhood.

In 1994, the "natural born freeclimber" started climbing. Initially it was more alpine climbing with a Peter Grisseman, a mountainguide from the local village. The "big walls" in the alps was their goal. When he was 16, Bernd climbed the "Grand Capucin" (Mt. Blanc, France), and was probably the youngest person to reach the top of this mountain at that time.

In 1999 Bernd found his true passion... bouldering. He likes the more relaxed boulderscene and was fascinated by some Fred Nicole boulders, where he wasn’t able to hold the holds. With a complete focus on bouldering it didn’t take long before he was one of the best.

His first ascents, "Viva La Evolution" (2003), "Memento" (2005), "Anam Cara" (2007), are still seen as some of the world’s most challenging boulders, and have been highlight of their time.

Bernd has left his footprints around the world and influenced and endorsed this young sport. In 2003 he was honoured for his achievements by CLIMBING magazine and has been the first European climber to achieve the title: "Boulderer of the Year".

"Bouldering is much more to me than just crimping on small holds," says Bernd Zangerl. "It's being outside in nature and enjoying a beautiful piece of landscape. I'm always looking for new boulder areas, the perfect boulder, the most aesthetical line. Bouldering just simply is fun. Best thing is you try it out yourself!!"