Monja Kraner
Where are you currently located?
Living in Styria which is located in the southern part of Austria
Hometown
Graz
What is your main sport?
Hiking, Mountaineering
Other key activities and hobbies? What you are doing when you have some down time.
Climbing, mountain biking, yoga, skitouring, snowboarding, content creation, photo- & videography, basically anything thats fun and outside.
Monja Blog Post
Tell us about your background. A general overview for people on the site to get to know who you are and how you ended up where you are today.
Playing outside and doing sports has always been a big part of my life. I always dreamed of travelling the world to break out of the „normal life“, go on adventures, learn about other cultures and to grow as a person. Mountains have always been totally fascinating and inspiring to me but once I set off for traveling the world with my first stop in beautiful Canada, I fell in love with mountains more than ever before and so I finally found my true passion and what fulfills my heart the most. I ever since then grab every opportunity to go out adventuring in the mountains. Especially when the pandemic hit in the first place and I couldn’t travel much, I started to appreciate my home Austria so much more, feeling so incredibly blessed to live in a country surrounded by so many beautiful mountains. Certainly a point in life where I realized that you don’t always have to hop on an airplane to experience amazing things. That’s when I have found the greatest joy in life‘s simple pleasures while I was able to focus on my mountain game.
Craziest adventure or experience so far?
I indeed had loads of crazy adventures and experiences so far, mainly while climbing some of Austria’s highest peaks and a lot while being out exploring some parts of the world - traveling through the Australian outback on my own or climbing into the crater of one of the world’s most toxic volcanos in Indoensia to see blue lava, just to name a few.
Bucket list or dream trip?
My bucket list is really long to be honest - I definitely want to climb some big mountains, explore the Himalayas, go on a road trip through Europe with my van, travel to South America to explore the mountains there, backpacking through Alaska and the list goes on
Why did you want to become a Haglöfs ambassador?
I can identify a 100% with Haglöf’s values and that’s what’s really important to me - a brand that not only creates great gear for my adventurous needs but also cares so much for our planet in an absolute honest way - that’s all I could wish for, so it’s definitely a win and an honor to work together and I’m super excited for all the upcoming adventures we’ll have in the future
Favorite Haglöfs gear?
Vassi
A quote you live by! Could be made up by you or from someone else.
Less comfort - more life
"The best way to prepare for death is to live life to its fullest" - John Bytheway
“Life’s better outside your comfort zone.”
Monja x the Queen of the Dolomites: a climbing story
The Italian Cortina d’Ampezzo, aka the “Queen of the Dolomites,” is one of the most visited regions in the world, famous for its picturesque mountain landscapes. When climber Monja Kraner went, she set her sights on one of the most unknown mountains of the region: the severe, 3,152 meter Piz Popena.
Together with her team, consisting of two mountain guides and a photographer, Monja headed off on a two-day adventure which would take them over a demanding UIAA IV route on the south ridge.
We started our tour early in the morning from Passo Tre Croci (1,805 m). The weather was great, not a single cloud in the sky.”
“At around 2,450 meters, we put on our climbing gear, ready for the actual adventure to start. It was a truly fascinating climb over the exposed panoramic south ridge, passing by several narrow and aerial ledges, chimneys and walls.”
"We took our time and reached the first peak, at around 3,050 meters, just in time for sunset.”
“As we had to go a bit further down the north side, which was covered in snow, we had to put on our crampons. It took quite a while until we finally reached our spot for the night, which was perfectly located under an overhanging rock face at around 2,930 meters.”
“We couldn’t have wished for a more beautiful sunrise while climbing up to the final summit the next day. It took two hours until we finally reached the top. It was definitely worth all the effort—we got rewarded with fantastic views overlooking the neighboring Monte Cristallo, Hohe Gaisl, as well as the whole prominence of the Sexten Dolomites and the super small looking Drei Zinnen.”
“The climbing, the scenery and the adventure of it all left me speechless with a strong desire to go back—proving, once again, that life is so much better outside your comfort zone.”