Backwards to go Forwards

The past month of this year has been crazy. Getting everything that has happened down on paper would be unrealistic but also a bit dull to read so I'll try to keep things brief...ish

L'Argentiere - EYC R1.

Things started off pretty  much a month ago with me jumping on the train from York to stay in the welcoming home of the Phillips' in Huddersfield. After an amazing set of fajitas it was a relatively early night before being whisked away at the ungodly hour of 5.30 to get to Stansted to fly to my first ever EYC. Touching down in Lyon we were met by some poor weather, a long drive ahead of us and a car that could not be understood by anyone but Lexi Basch who helped Clive figure out how to use the satnav but also whether the parking brake was on or off. Several rainy hours later we arrived at our accommodation, an amazing chalet just a few minutes up the road from L'Argentiere.

The next day the weather had perked up and we took a walk down to the town to get food, register for the comp and scope out the wall. Upon first glance it was mayhem. So many problems were set on the wall trying to figure out which ones would be ours was near impossible but everything seemed to look hard. Without a slab, the majority of the wall was slightly overhanging with more holds being used than volumes. This would mean that sequences were more easily read and so execution of the bloc in few goes was essential.

(Crazy scenery behind the comp wall)

Comp day. We (juniors) woke and ate late on comp day as we would be the last group to compete. Mooching on down to the wall in no rush we arrived in time to watch and support every category but Youth B.

Walking into the warm up area for me was a daunting thing. All the best athletes from each country, dressed head to foot in their national gear warming up by pulling crazy moves on the wall was both impressive and scary. We stuck to the game plan and warmed up as a team. Feeling psyched and ready we headed for the blocs. The qualifiers are done in scramble format with 8 blocs and 5 attempts each for every athlete with about an hour and 40 minutes to complete them.

(A photo with Mr CAC - John Ellison)

My first bloc was a simple crimp fest with super shiny holds for hands and feet. As I pulled my second foot from the floor to start, my first foot showed me just how slippy these holds were and pinged off. With a bit of squeezing hard I put my feet back on and wandered to the top. A shaky start, but a flash all the same. The second bloc required an awkward footless catch of a pinch which took me 2 goes to get, but from there it did not feel too bad until the match of the last hold where I felt as though I would barn door off until I slammed the other hand on to counteract the swing. From here on I got 2 more flashes of relatively easy problems and decided it was time to approach the harder ones with no queue.

 I chose one where I could only just reach the start hold - a slopey pinch. It then required a dynamic mantle by followed an awkward press onto the bonus. To my surprise I flashed to the last move and fell more from shock that I'd got there than the fact I couldnt do the move. Back on the ground I assessed my options and decided to give it another shot. I dropped the mantle. Tits. Third time lucky. I fought my way back to the last move and mustering all the body tension I had in me, I flicked to the last hold and stuck it. This gave me 5 tops in 8 with 3 problems still left to try; a big second gen dyno, and horrendous looking tiny crimpy thing, and something that in a word, just looked nails. I chose the crimpy bloc as again it had no queue. It hurt. And i didnt flash it. Which meant I tried it again. And it hurt more. And I fell off. This happened three times until Nath yelled "Throw your hips in" in his squeeky Huddersfield accent and I stuck the tricky move and found myself at the top. 6 in 12.

Dyno time. Dynos are mean. Its not often a question of can you get them, 90% of the time they will be doable for you, but having to do them in five goes... I find it hard. I hit the jug past the sloper 2 or 3 times but just couldn't seem to stick it. Even though I knew I could get the rest of the climb, the dyno evaded me. Feeling slightly deflated I made my way to the last bloc but with little time left I only had one go and got shut down. Overall I was pleased with how I had climbed (other than on the dyno) and popped out in 12th place. To our delight Hamish had also made finals and so we would return the next day to cheer him on with everything we had left.  Seeing the finals was truly inspiring to watch and a big congrats to Hamish for smashing 2/3 problems to secure his place on the podium.

 (Hamish flying on M2 in the finals)

London - JBBC R3

Touching down back in Stansted after a day of swimming, barbecues with the Canadian team and watching Nathan in the Tout a Bloc, I headed to Essex to stay with a friend Millie and her family before proceeding to London for the third round of the Junior British Bouldering Championships. A big thank you to Millie and her family for putting me up and looking after me!

Upon arrival at The Arch climbing wall I was disappointed to see that there were only 5 people entered into the junior category when previously at the start of the year there was more than 20. This meant that whatever the qualifying results we would all make finals. Feeling exhausted from the trip to France I started to warm up in the muggy heat. Feeling super hot but not really warm to climb, qualifiers started. With 2 and a half hours to do 8 problems, with 3 attempts on each this was ample time. I made a good start with 4 flashes and one silly second go. I then tried what appeared to be the hardest boulder, falling at the lip of the roof and then dropped the top hold twice. Moving from here to the boulder that had least tops on it, I secured a flash. 45 minutes in with one easy boulder left at the end, I dropped it. All three times. Idiot. Still with 6 tops in 7 I was in third place going into the finals.

In the finals again I feel I did not climb my best, with 1 top in 2 attemps on a slab I got nothing else. Not even a bonus. Though after the comp I did one of the problems by simply matching on the move that I got shut down on before. Showing that maybe I was just tired from being away and not thinking straight under pressure...

The results came in and it turned out that I had placed second to Hamish which meant that overall I had won with a 4th, 1st and 2nd place across the three rounds even though Hamish had only entered 2 and won both of which he had entered. A good end to an average day but an amazing week that I will never forget.


L'Argenfeld - EYC R2

Back on the road again 2weeks after London, this time I was heading to Tom and Mich's in Sheffield to jump in the car to head back to Stansted to meet the team before flying off to Munch for the second EYC in L'Argenfeld, Austria.

The layout of the two days was different at this comp to the one in Argentiere. In Argentiere there were all the qualis on one day and all the finals on the next, though in L'Argenfeld everything seemed to be a muddle with some categories having qualis and finals on the same day but others having them on separate days. As it turned out the juniors weren't competing until the second day so on the first day we went down to buddy and support the youth b's and then the youth a girls. It was clear we had upped our game from last time with good results across the board even from 4young guns that had not done an EYC before and Tara making finals with 8 tops. Stoked for the next day, we went for pizza, came back stretched and watched a film and headed to bed.



Up and out the hotel by 11 we were down to support the youth A boys. I think the best part of being away with the team is the fact that we are a team rather than a bunch of scattered individuals. The passion and drive that each competitor gives to a team mates performance really pushes them to reach the next level on the wall and everyone is so supportive of one another and I think this makes a big difference. The youth A's finished with another great set of results and Willam Bosi securing a place in the finals with 7 tops.

(Cosi Bosi engages super crush mode in the Finals)

With an hour to go before qualification we began to warm up. Unlike the last trip, this time we had the help of Tim Cunnington the Strength and Conditioning coach for the team to help us with our warm up. We started as usual with self-massage and then pulse raisers, though this time for me there was a bit of a twist to the warm up. While doing a set of cross-legged squats my entire leg on both sides seized with cramp. The cause of this was a combination of having tight hips and being stood still on a cold day. The sudden demand from the muscles even with light work was too much. This had a big effect on my confidence at the start of the day. Knowing there was a couple of squeezey leg moves and jumps I wasnt sure how I would do. With the help of Tim we worked on getting my legs feeling as good as they could and I started to pull on the wall. With my fingers feeling strong I was really unsure of how I would perform.

Going out for the start I pulled on the hardest problem and flashed to the bonus. After another 2 attempts I gave up and moved down the other end of the wall to try an easier one. Miss-catching a pocket on my first go tweaked my middle finger on my right hand. Two more times of falling out of this pocket and my head went out the window. A mixture of anger and disappointment at myself set in. I trudged out to the back of the wall to have a word with myself. At this point in time you just feel you want to be alone but the help of the team around me really brought my motivation back up. Rachel, my buddy for the day and Tim came round to talk to me and get me back to where I needed to be. When all you can think of is the negative thoughts and whats gone wrong, having someone there to tell you that you're not actually shit and you have only tried two problems and messed one of them up but still look pretty strong really helps. I felt like I had gone backwards a couple of years in both competition experience and mental capacity to cope with it. I couldn't remember the last time I had had a tantrum and a strop in a comp, never mind being a big enough of a muppet to lose it at an international. With my finger taped and positive words of Rach and Tim ringing in my ears I went back out to try the easiest of problems. A pleaser. Flash. Thank god.

With one top on the cards and a small amount of confidence back in the bank I went to try a tricky jump on a slab. Failing 3 times but seeing 2 people flash the problem including team mate Max I knew how to do the jump. Securing it on my fourth attempt I used Max's beta to the top (cheers dude). Happy with the send, I went back to the problem with the weird pocket purely because I knew motivation was high and it had no queue. With new beta from buddy Rach and a better head to go with it the problem was easy. 3 tops and a bit of flow in my climbing boosted me that little bit more. Moving only one bloc right another queueless climb stood before me. With no beta in front of me to be observed I asked the team on the ground and fortunately Tim had the answer. Unfortunately, I didnt have the hips to execute. 5 goes up and a bonus was all I could achieve.

3 problems left to try and half an hour to go. This is where tactics for scramble format become really important. And although I got my tactics nearly right in L'Argentiere, they were far from it here. I topped a crimpy problem on the steepest bit of wall on my second go thanks to being kept there by the team on the ground and being told not to move on. 20 minutes to go and 1 problem left that I thought I could do but I had not anticipated the wait for this climb being this big late on in the day. Again I flashed to bonus but fell off adjusting my hand on the volume. 3 minutes to go and I get to make my second attempt, securing a dirty match in a pocket I reach to the arete and line up for the last move. Tired and rushing slightly, I didnt give the move everything I have left despite it being the last move I will be able to make this comp. I fluffed it, my hand moved right across the hold I didnt hit the jug. Devastated. My performance had not been good enough. I wasn't worrying about where I had come, just that I hadnt done myself justice on the problems that were put in front of me mainly because I think my head wasnt there on the day. Speaking with other people I learned that there were few people who had topped lots of the problems and also that Max had made finals and Hamish had just missed out in 7th place. Buzzing that we had another person to cheer on in the finals but slightly worried for my voice, we made our way to eat, before heading back for the finals.

(Happy Team)

 Everyone crushed in the finals with Tara getting one top but being very close to another. William topped 2 and got 3 bonuses, getting him second place and another silver medal. Max nearly flashed the first problem and flashed to the bonus on a very difficult problem number 3. Stella performances all round.

Looking ahead to Arco I have to take the positives from this competition. I have learned if its cold, to do a pre-warm up warm up. If I feel my head starting to slip how to prevent it and also to use the team on the ground. They were the biggest help this weekend, the support and help they give is amazing and I couldn't have asked for any more.

A massive thanks to all the team for making this week epic and to the management; Tom, Jo, Mich and Tim for driving us round, making it possible, so enjoyable and doing all you do for us!

Remember Tom, we got........


Thanks to Red Goat climbing company and beyond hope for all your great support.

Arco. Bring it on.

Thanks for reading and sorry for 3 posts in one.