This weekend I took the
long trip up to Sheffield to compete in the
British Bouldering Championships. I went up on the Saturday to check out the
wall and it looked sick, not too steep but technical, and the senior problems
looked awesome!
I came back on the Sunday
to a very muddy GravesPark, with the section
below the warm up wall being a muddy puddle! The problems looked good, and as I
was in the second qualifying group I watched the first group to get a bit of
beta on the problems. They all looked doable to reasonable and after warming up
our group were called and I got straight in, being the first to climb. I got on
the second easiest problem to warm up, and got up it easily. The second problem
I went on was one of the hardest, and getting on it so soon could have been a
mistake on my part, falling off 3 times in reasonably quick succession. I was
frustrated, so forced myself to rest, but again I got on a grey problem and
fell on my first attempt, despite it being a reasonably easy. This attempt was
the difference between making the podium and not in this competition, and
although I dispatched it easily on my next attempt, the frustration was there
so I moved on to some easier problems to boost my confidence and bank some
points.
My second go at problem 6
I got up the rest quite
easily (apart from a shaky top on a black press problem) and was drawing with
Pete for 3rd place, but he had all 3 attempts on the final problem
that I also had goes left on. Despite him coming off low down on his first 2
goes, he just stuck the bonus on his final attempt and that pushed my back a
place to 4th. I had a final attempt, in which I very nearly topped
it, but greasy hands and a small sequence error kept me off the finishing hold.
Very close, but extremely far.
Overall I placed 11th
(Against Youth A, B and C) and in Youth B I got 4th.
Doesn’t matter, bouldering
isn’t real climbing anyway… ;)
Not been on for a while,
been training so much recently there just hasn’t been the time…
This weekend was something
I’d been waiting for essentially since I started climbing: my first European
competition. Due to my poor performance at the assessment day, this was my
first one for a while so I needed to make it count.
We flew up on Thursday (on
a flight that was more going up and going down than anything!) and arrived in a
rainy Edinburgh
late afternoon. The hotel was extremely dull, so after 2 days of that I was
happy to be climbing again!
Saturday morning started
early with a 7:30 wake up, breakfast then off to the wall. Our routes were
being demoed by video, something which was new to me, but that wasn’t due to
start for another hour so we set about reading our 2 qualifying routes. The
first, a hard green on the old comp wall which began with a technical start
that moved into some powerful spans and then an endurance-fest to the top,
looked doable, but the long moves in the middle were likely to be the ones that
threw me off. The second, a pumpy, technical roof with lots of heel hooks and
some big spans looked far more my style, which was good as I was on there
first.
This comp they had decided
to split our category (as we were the largest) into 2 groups, running the 2
qualifiers simultaneously with some people doing route 1 first and the rest
route 2. I disagree with this on the basis that this is applying 2 different
groups to 2 different set of circumstances, which isn’t a fair system.
After we’d seen our demos,
I was 11th on our first route. The first straight up section looked
fairly simple, with most coming off on a spanny traverse across the steepest
section of roof onto a volume. I got to this section not too pumped, and moved
through relatively easily, although I was now pumped out of my mind. I got a
small rest at the volume, although wasted a huge amount of energy trying to
clip a draw that was just too far away. I tried swinging the draw but it was
still too far. I gave up on the clip and went for the move around the lip,
something that lots of people had been falling on, and stuck it, although only
just and got a toe hook on the volume. I was now beyond pumped, stuck one more
move, and just couldn’t get my heel up for the final move. I slapped, touched
the final hold but I didn’t get the best bit of the hold and was so pumped I
couldn’t stick it. I was happy, but one more move could have topped me my first
8a flash! I was placed 6th on that route, getting the furthest of
anyone who didn’t top it by 3 or 4 moves.
I’d managed to pull my
quad on the first route, so got it taped up before my second route. This looked
much harder, and I got to a good rest on the volume and could feel a flash pump
coming on. This was bad. I have a problem where after a short session of 6 or
so routes, I seem to flash pump on absolutely everything. It doesn’t matter
whether its 6a or 8a, I just can’t hold on. This time it just seemed to happen
quicker than normal though, and I made the next hard move, a long, powerful
reach into a thin crack before my arms just stopped working. I came off without
having moved enough to warrant a + point on that move.
I was livid for coming off
so quickly, but figured I still had a chance, as many of the climbers had come
off a reasonably hard move much lower down. When the results came in I was
gutted. 11th, one place off a final and even worse I was just a +
point on my second route away from coming in 6th. Such a small
margin, and due to the way the scoring worked I’d actually climbed further than
many of the climbers in the final, but they beat me on position by making it
that one + extra.
I know 11th is
good for a first European, but its just frustrating that it was by such small
margins. On a positive note I ate lots of food that evening, won a trip to Spain for a week and am now training hard for my
next European in Imst, Austria in August. Good timing, as
I arrive back from Ceuse the week before, PSYCHED!!!!
It’s been a while since I last wrote on here, but I’ve had no good news to talk about! However, I do now, but we’ll start with the not so good stuff…
On the 3rd of March I had an assessment day for the British team, and this has been my focus for the last few months. The idea was that we had 5 routes to attempt, a 7b, 2 7b+s and 2 7cs. Completing 3 would qualify you for selection to European events this year.
The day started well enough, a bit numb (because of the cold!) on the first route but got up it, and the second route was fine, although I was pretty shaky (not sure if it was nerves or excess caffeine…). Then it started to go wrong. The third route started up a steep wall, before turning a small lip and moving into a technical corner. I started off up the first wall fine, but as I was moving through the steepest part I got the worst flash pump of my life! It was incredible, my arms just didn’t work! By some ridiculous fluke I managed to pull the last few moves before the no hands rest in the corner, but it was very close! In the corner I had a rest and a breather, and moved on into the technical, crimpy, slopey corner. It was fine up until one move, where it turned out you had to use the feature screw-ons (which were a different colour to the wall and all chalked up!) which I thought weren’t in! Even without these, I managed the move with difficultly and cruised to the top!
Then it went really badly! After a good long rest, and some exercises to clear the remains of the pump it was time for our4th route. This one was all about endurance, but on the crux, my foot slipped going for a good hold. I wasn’t happy at all… The worst part was I did the route the next day all the way to the top (we were only going to 2/3 height) with no pump at all, very frustrating!!
My final climb was even worse, I was frustrated about the 4th route, so didn’t rest long enough before my attempt, and as a result I once again flash pumped at around ½ height. This time there wasn’t a no hands rest to save me, so I was off within a couple of moves! A lesson to be learnt there somewhere…
After the day I was selected for the Ratho EYC in May, along with the Imst EYC in Austria in August (just after Ceuse so should have some good endurance!). Then after that there’s the European Championships and the Kranj EYC that haven’t been selected for yet, so I better get cracking!
CWIF and Peak
A week later, I took a train up north to Sheffield to compete in CWIF. I’ve always seen this comp online, but this year was the first time I actually got a chance to compete, so I was pretty psyched! Looking at the problems, they all looked hard, with just one that I could confidently say I could do every time, although most of the rest looks like they were do-able. I started off on some of the slightly easier ones to begin with, but quickly moved on to some of the harder ones before they became too crowded. Apart from the occasional route with a long move, it went quite well, and I ended up scoring 156, putting me in 58th place overall and 4th (I think) in the under 18s! I must be better at bouldering than real climbing…
On the Sunday it was looking really nice, so we headed out for a bit of a boulder at Stanage. Turns out it may have been a bit TOO nice, as the rock was really greasy! After a bit of a mess about on the pebble we moved on to the only problem we knew would be in the shade, Brad Pit. I looked at it last year when I was up there, but never had a go, so this time was my first session. The beta is generally match the rail then heel up to the left of the rail, then go left hand up to the bottom of the sloper and then match with the right. From the sloper, hand up to a rubbish crimp then slap or just dyno off the sloper. Might as well start with the tall beta!
My first attempt seemed pretty promising to me, and I managed to touch the sloper. The next was even better, and I managed to get a bit of a hold on the sloper! After a few more goes, I stuck the sloper with the left hand and then in a few more I managed to match the sloper. Then it started to get really hard! The next move was huge! Even with the top crimp I couldn’t even slap for the finish! I worked out the problem was it was so warm, meaning my hand was slipping off of the sloper when I got to the crimp, so I had to readjust it so it was back on before the slap.
By this point, I was about to miss my train home, so after a couple of incredibly close slaps (almost holding it) I had one final go:
Will defiantly go next time if it’s a bit colder!
Cider Soak
Finally some success!
On Sunday, I went up to Ansteys Cove for a bit of a play, and the draws were up in Cider Soak, the classic 8a of the crag, which I’ve wanted to do for ages, but this was my first real go. On my first bolt to bolt I surprised myself, getting every move either first or second go! I had a few more bolt to bolts that day and was getting mot of the moves first go, apart from the move off of the resting jug. I was getting worse, so decided to call it a day, so took the draws out determined to come back soon.
That day came soon enough, the next day in fact, but I only had about an hour get it done (I should have waited really, I was 4th day on!)! I bolt to bolted it to get the draws in, then went for the redpoint! My first attempt was a flop, my foot popping while clipping the third draw.
The next go I was feeling strong, moving though the first section well, and was quite surprised when I latched the resting jug! The first section is the crux, but the section from the jug is almost as hard and entirely droppable. In my bolt to bolts I’d done the move off of the jug in a very powerful way, and when I was resting and had a couple of test go’s, I realised I wouldn’t be able to do it that way this time. I made up a bit of beta involving a match on a crimp, and I had the sloper. Right hand to the crimp, heel on, left hand to the sloper , heel up, slap to the crimp, slap with the right hand to the jug! I’d done it :D My first 8a outdoors, and come to think of it, about my 10th completed route on rock… Time to get some mileage in! Anyway, I have completed one of my goals, to climb 8a outdoors before I was 15!
A video of the assent is here:
In Easter I’ll be headed up north to Malham, Scotland and the Lakes! I’ll keep you posted!
Its been a couple of weeks of travelling for me, starting with a bouldering comp at TCA in Bristol. I really should spend more time there, it’s awesome! In the comp I was climbing well until a foot slip spat me off one of the easier problems at around halfway which really stopped any chance of doing really well. I ended up in 5th (would have been 4th within a couple of holds of the winner without the slip), fine for a bouldering comp against some really strong guys, including at least one 8a boulderer!
We then drove on up to Wales and stayed with Simon Rawlinson. We had some great ethics debates and our conversation reminded me how much I want to do The Quarryman groove pitch! Its such a great line and the moves just look so cool. I’d really like to get up there during the summer to try it, but it might be beyond me at the moment.
Johnny Dawes on The Quarryman
After a walk around Dinas in the morning (defiantly a place for the future!), we headed off for Dynamic Rock for the leading ladder. I always like the setting here, and this round was no exception. Up to 6c were awesome, but the 7a was really hard, and almost spat me off on more than one move! I got it though (after a proper fight), and moved onto the really nice 7b, which felt easier than the 7a. I then moved onto the 7c, which was fine up to a low footed rockover. The move was off of two rubbish slopers, low foot and a move out right to a rubbish two finger pocket at the edge of my span and then go again to a good side pull. This move was a real stopper for me, and after 3 or 4 goes admitted defeat and moved onto the 8a. The 8a was awesome, but the two days had got to me, and twice I flash pumped about halfway on really good holds, showing me that the session was all but over.
A good weekend, and a couple of reasonable comps.
This weekend we headed to Kendal wall to scope it out before the assessment day. Now there are a lot words that can describe that wall, but the one I’m going to go for is HUGE! It’s massive, just walking from the ground floor to the top via the stairs is tiring! The main wall is 24.5 meters tall, which means that it is almost 3 times longer than The Barn!
After a quick plod up a 6a I was pretty freaked, heights aren’t really my strong point but I got on a 7a on the main wall, and after climbing to the top and jumping off (which caused me to fall the length of The Barn!) I was feeling really good.
I started on the 7a which was fine, before moving onto the 7b which was relatively easy up until a big dyno off of a rubbish hold to finish, which I stuck and topped. I was a bit pumped by this point so had a bit of a rest, but the wall was so cold I had to warm up again on the 6a to get any feeling back! I figured that was a good opportunity to get on the easier routes and did the rest of the routes up to 6c, which included a terrifying trip up the corner of the main wall. 20 meters up, no hands on and rubbish feet is not really a time for thinking…
I then got on the 7c, which was a huge stamina fest up the main wall again. My first go had me stumped by what I’m sure was a crossover, which I tried as a crossover but the feet were too low and I came off. The next go I just monoed the right of the hold and matched, which worked and I pulled on up to about 2/3 height before I flash pumped after the long day. A quick go on the 8a and a few more on the 7c confirmed that the session was all but over, so we left before the snow got too deep! The journey was a bit sketchy in places because of the snow, but we made it to the services and slept.
Today we went back to Dynamic rock. We planned to go to Malham for the day but the snow the fact it would have been ridiculously cold put a stop to that one. At the wall I got on the 8a first, and after a couple of mistakes near the top that I put down to pure stupidity, I got it and added a whole 6 points to my score. That stubborn move on the 7c didn’t go for ages, but after deciding to not go for the 1 point I worked the move and eventually managed to do it, missing out the good hold and pulling hard off the rubbish 2 finger pocket. It would probably go next session but I was too knackered today.
It’s been a good couple of weekends, and a load of training is scheduled for the next month. PSYCHED!!!
It’s been an interesting week! TV appearances, articles, leading ladder and a nice day at Bonehill…
Last week I did the leading ladder at DartRock, and after onsighting all but the 8a in the last round there, I was keen to do better this time. The routes all looked crimpy, balancey and technical, my kind of thing! All the routes up to 7b were absolutely fine, although the 6a was solid for the grade!! The 7c looked to have one long move about halfway, and looking at the bolt spaces at the ground I knew that my feet would have to come off, so set off a bit apprehensive. When I got to the move I just committed straight away, stuck the move and got to the top. I’d matched last round, which would have been good enough. Looking at the 8a, it really didn’t look that bad, some rubbish holds at the top looking like the only problem. While I got 1 piece of beta wrong about halfway, I reversed a few moves and got it relatively easily, then on to the top! Technically my first 8a onsight, although I’m not going to count it because it felt a little bit easy for the grade, a great route though. My first 200 in the leading ladder, lets hope there’s a few more like this!
I recently appeared on Spotlight, and I don’t think I did that badly!! We got a call from the BBC on Thursday, and I missed the last 2 lessons of school to go for an interview at The Barn. We were expecting a 15 minute thing where he asked us a few questions, but instead we ended up filming for 2 and a half hours! It ended up coming together quite well, and I was quite pleased really!
Yesterday I had a nice little day up at Bonehill. I did Slopey Traverse and Rippled wall, both great problems which I’ve done before. I was bouldering with a few people and was told about some micro routes that were worth soloing, and thought that I’d take the opportunity of a few pads and spotters to give them a go. I did the E1 arête without a problem, so decided to give the E2 a go! It was defiantly good moves, but the top out was something I wouldn’t have done if it was on the ground, never mind 8m up! It was a horrible rounded thing with not a crystal to speak of, so I made the decision to traverse off, but the lower moves were hard and it was really scary, defiantly more so than the E1, so I’m taking the grade!!
You Cannot Be Serious V3 6a (E2/3 to solo) To the right of the arête is an obvious large hold. Start on this, go direct above, then move right at the top to finish steeply on big holds. Finish direct - scary and high. Wimps can finish direct into the groove (which is still scary!) or traverse right to step onto adjacent ledge.
This is my first blog post, so it may all go horribly wrong!!
I’ll start off by introducing myself, my name is Alex, I’m 14 and have been climbing for 3 years. At the moment I am on-sighting 7c and redpointing 8a indoors, and haven’t been climbing outdoors much!
My main interest is comp climbing, and I have recently been selected into the GB youth climbing team in my category. This followed a very successful competition at Sunderland wall, a HUGE wall that just goes on and on. The qualifiers were relatively easy, but pumpy for me, and I topped both, along with 6 others!
Isolation was interesting to say the least, a blue tarp tent covering a slab and a single fingerboard, and was really quite difficult to warm up on! When the first of our finalists went out I was really psyched, and it sounded like he didn’t top it, but the second and the third went out and by the cheers I could tell they’d topped the route. At least I knew what I needed to do…
The final route was a long undercut infested orange that was relatively juggy until the final headwall, where you had to dyno off 2 tiny crimps, really off balance to a rubbish hold. I stuck the move, but only just, a flag below my foot was the only thing that kept me on, and to the top. Good thing too, as 5 of the 7 of us topped it, meaning a big superfinal!
Our superfinal was the Junior male route, a 8a/+ red horror! In observation I really could have done with some binoculars, as you can’t see the top holds from the ground! Looking at the first move, I was a bit worried I’d drop that because it was quite a big move but in reality it was ok. You then turned a small lip into a slight slab, which was balancey but reasonable. Then the hard bit started, a big move off two rubbish crimps, then a move or two until a big reach from an undercut. I got all this, and then a long move out right to a sloper. I needed to clip but I just flash pumped on my right arm! I looked down at the draw, then up at the hold, and again, before dynoing for the next undercut over the top, hoping there’d be something there, there wasn’t, and I fell. I was annoyed about flash pumping, but when I came down and someone told me I was winning so far, I was so happy! There were only two left to come and that meant I was guaranteed a podium! The next climber out put in a good effort but came off just a few moves below, but the final climber, an Irish team member, clipped the draw and stuck the move, and beat me by just 2 holds. Frustrating, but I still had second, my first national podium!
It was on the Monday that I was selected to the 2012 GB youth team, PSYCHED!!!
