Back to Lead Comps

After a summer of sport climbing I was pretty psyched for lead climbing and looking forward to the British Lead Climbing Champs (BLCCs). Being selected for the Puurs (Belgium) Lead World Cup was a surprise though as I hadn't really planned to start lead internationally this year. But because of being selected I thought I may as well give it a go and get an idea of the standard. I regretted my decision about a week before Puurs as I watched loads of videos of previous comps there and realised how flipping massive the wall was. I was feeling pretty good though and fitter than I had done in a while so slowly started to look forward to the trip.

It was nice going out to Belgium with a small team and Mechelen, where we stayed, was an impressive place with huge churches and big squares round every corner. The comp however did not really go well. Looking at the routes I was nicely surprised as the holds looked positive and none of the moves looked super hard, but unfortunately I still panicked when I pulled on and let nerves get the better of me. I fought on for a bit but was quite disappointed with my first route. I tried so hard to calm myself down for the second route I became too lethargic and forgot to pull. Again another disappointing result. It was hard to stay in mood too long with a supportive team who were all climbing really well; Molly managing to make semis!

After getting home and reflecting on the comp as a whole I'm feeling pretty positive. The routes weren't too hard for me, they were too long but I knew I hadn't done as much endurance as I would have liked. And I came 34th which isn't too bad for my first lead world cup.

The week after Puurs was BLCCs. Having got into the habit of one lead comp a year I wasn't sure how I was feeling about this comp. I think in the end that did me good, I felt very relaxed throughout the comp and managed to climb the routes how I wanted to, as fast as possible.

The field was stronger than it has been in years and I only just made it into finals in joint 5th (7 made finals). I came out first (as they'd randomised the bottom 3 joint qualifiers) which always suits me. I raced up the first half of the route, desperately trying not to get pumped, had a breathe, then kept going. The route was pretty long so I was so happy to still be on it through the roof. I fell going for a big move round a corner, which was the same place as a couple of others but my speed paid off and I came 3rd, my best result in a senior national!

BLCCs Final Video (vimeo)

Podium : Lucy, Molly and Me

I was super happy with my result but glad I could pack my harness away for the rest of the year and get back to bouldering.

The winter boulder comps started almost straight away with The Battle of Britain at the Depot Leeds the weekend after. Qualifiers didn't go that well for me as I still find a busy, 30 problem format tricky, but I made finals in 4th place. Finals went much better and I managed to get another 3rd place :)

Battle of Britain Final Video

I've got a few weeks before the next comp so proper training has started. I'm enjoying it so far!

I actually climbed outside this summer !

I've just moved back to Sheffield after a pretty mega summer. After the BBCs I mostly spent the summer away and actually got to do some sport climbing outdoors.

The British bouldering championships went pretty well this year. I was really pleased to make finals and get my best result of 5th place and 4th Brit.

Not really sure what do do in semis 

first problem in finals

Thought I'd got the bonus on the third problem

Maybe not ..

Eyeing up the dyno on the last problem

Cheers for the photos Colin Perkins of Peakography
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www.peakography.co.uk
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Next up was Poland for the first European Universities climbing championships. Sheffield entered a team of 4 which included: Sam Williams, Connor Byrne, Luke Dawson and myself. We had no idea what to expect of the competition but were hoping for a good result having won the British Universities Competition. 

I was the first to climb in the bouldering as we had all decided speed wasn't our thing (each competitor had to compete in 2 of the 3 events - speed, boulder and lead). The format was the same as the youth bouldering europeans with 8 blocs in 2 hours then top ten through to a final. I started well flashing 4 problems and got another second go but was a bit disappointed with my attempts on the roof bloc - definitely something I am going to work on more. I finished in a very annoying 11th place, just missing out on finals by attempts on a bonus. The boys were next in the boulders, they all climbed well with Luke managing to make finals in 9th which gave us someone to support in the finals in the evening, he did well on the super hard blocs to keep his position. 

Early the next day was lead qualifiers in a very sweaty wall in Katowice. Thankfully it was over quickly with all 4 of us making semifinals. I topped my first route and hit the last hold on the second putting me in 4th. We spent the rest of the day eating ice cream while slowly exploring the city. 

Semifinals went surprisingly well for me after feeling quite pumped early on the route and I managed to qualify for finals in 5th place. Connor was really unlucky with a foot slip not to make finals after qualifying for semis in joint 1st. 

It was obvious to me in finals that I had not been training routes enough as I rushed through the climb to stop myself getting pumped so fell because I had not placed my foot properly. I was still pretty happy with 6th place though, and was really pleased to have properly enjoyed a lead comp without getting too nervous. 

Poland was one of the best comps I have ever been to, it was great to climb in both disciplines and competing against students made it a really friendly and social atmosphere, and meant there was a great after party. 

Bouldering - flashing problem 3

Lead semifinals 

Lead Finals

Photos by Oborzynski Photography

On the way home from Poland I went via Malmo in Sweden where I met up with the family and went on to Copenhagen. Was a great place to rest up after the comp. 

Poland being my last big comp of the summer I had set aside a couple of months to climb outdoors instead of training. My mum had a conference in Kos so we obviously used that as an excuse to have a trip to Kalymnos. This was my first proper sport climbing trip and what a great place to have it! Every line looked awesome though quite intimidating at first. With it being so hot there wasn't time for loads of climbing but we had a lot of early starts to make the most of it. 

I was pretty psyched to get my hardest route outdoors - Alfredo Alfredo 7b+. I didn't really want to get too involved in a really hard project when it was that hot and there was so much to climb so I stuck to 7bs, I managed to get one a day, every one of them on my second go, hopefully one day I learn how to onsight.

We weren't home for long before leaving for Exeter for the deep water solo event The Quay climbing centre organised. I was very doubtful about this event as i'm not the best swimmer but it turned out to be such a good laugh! I managed to get into finals where it then became a speed competition on a long boulder that wiggled around the wall. The 6 finalists all had a go, then the 3 slowest were knocked out and the three fastest went again to determine positions on the podium. I managed to get the fastest time on the first run which left me absolutely spent for the second round so I finished in 3rd. I can't wait to do this comp again next year, I was amazed how fun falling into freezing water can be.  

Here's a video of a few climbs from the comp:

My mum then had another conference in Portugal, another great excuse for a holiday. This time the whole family came so I was lucky to get any climbing in at all. I only tried one route, a 7c+ called kind of magic with a very bouldery crux. So happy to get it as I only really had an evening. 

After such a great summer i'm pretty happy to be back in Sheffield and training for the comps ahead. 

I'm doing my first lead World Cup in Puurs next week which I am pretty terrified about but was really happy to be selected for. Then its the British Lead Champs before getting back to bouldering for the winter. 

Build up to BBCs

Since working my bum off before and during exams I've been playing catch up on training. Having coped a lot better with work than in January I didn't have as much to do this time round. I had managed to get to the gym and the Uni wall a fair bit in between revision (both a lot closer than the Works), mostly doing strength training with a bit of power endurance. So once my exams finished I only really had to learn how to climb comp problems again.

On Saturday I went to Awesome Walls Stockport for the Summer Psyche competition, it's always a fairly chilled comp but it has a proper final so I find it's always a good one to do to get back into comp mode before the British Bouldering Championships.
Although very sweaty the qualifiers went pretty well, I managed to fight my way up 18 of the 20 problems, though my score of 154 didn't really reflect this having greased off quite a few problems first go and getting a couple of the problems 4th go.

A qualifier problem i took a while to top, photo:AwesomeWalls

The final problems were on the steep side of the wall and were hard work in the heat. I was pleased to top all 3 of the problems to get 1st place and an awesome trophy.

Podium, Jules 2nd and Emily 3rd 

On Sunday, feeling a bit sore, I went to the Depot Leeds for the 3rd round of their Summer league to get a bit more practice with comp problems and trying to flash them.

I'm feeling pretty strong, apart from a minor finger injury that seems to be slowly recovering, and can't wait for the BBCs at Cliffhanger next weekend. A week of stretching, fairly easy climbing and Probalming and hopefully it will go well.
After that I'm off to Kalymnos for some chilled climbing then back into training for the European University Championships in Poland and hopefully the World Cup in Munich in August.

See ya next week !

BUCS

January was a massive struggle this year and not just because my house in Sheffield doesn't warm up. My exams were super hard and it was a bit of a shock to have to put climbing aside for a while to revise. I tried to keep training  a bit by getting down to the uni wall for a speedy sesh every other day or hanging off a fingerboard at home but I was just stressed all the time so it made staying psyched hard. But my exams were at least over pretty quickly, and I think they went sort of ok ...
I had a week off before starting Uni and I think I climbed every day of it to make up for lost time, which i'm pretty sure caused this achiness in my elbows.  I'm managing to control it by climbing a bit less now and doing loads of theraband things so hopefully it will be all good for CWIF.

The comps came pretty soon after exams and I struggled a bit. Rocfest qualifiers went pretty well, I think I did all the problems I could have, though it took me a few too many goes to get a dyno problem. Semis didn't go as well. They were hard problems and I found it hard to get stuck in, I finished 7th for the 3rd year running, missing out on finals by a bonus. But it was a good comp and a much needed kick up the arse to learn how to try hard again. Unfortunately Superbloc the week after in London went quite similarly. It was straight into semis format and my head let me down. I really struggled keeping calm and just getting on with climbing. On a happier note it was awesome to meet Tim from Chia Charge at the outdoor show and stock up on flapjacks and their new protein bars. (If you got to try a sample and loved it use the code JWC10 to get a 10% discount off all their products online).

Another week and another comp. This time it was BUCS the national universities championships. I was pretty excited for this as I thought it would be a lot more low key and just what I needed to get back into comps. It was very busy and I was manically running round the problems the whole time but the problems were cool and I managed to get up quite a few of them. I actually finished early as well, which never happens! I was really happy to find out I had qualified in 2nd behind Micheala but surprisingly for me I was way happier to see Sheffield Uni team had smashed it! It was great to climb as a team for a change and I really got into it, it felt great to want to do well for the team instead of just worrying about my own position.

Finals were a pretty serious affair compared to last years circuit problem. We had 3 blocs on the comp wall and the normal 4+ format. I knew the two girls before me had topped the first problem when I went out so really wanted to flash it. But I was spat off by the smallest hold I have ever seen, after warming my hands up a bit I managed to get it second go. The same happened on the second problem so again i went out really needing to flash and I actually did, I did a dyno ! It was 9.30pm when i pulled on to the last problem in the roof (I'm normally snuggled up in bed at this point watching Broadchurch or something) but I fought through to the last couple of moves but was too tired to top.
I ended up in 2nd after Micheala breezed up the last problem.  I'm really happy with how I did mainly because I was actually relaxed and enjoyed every problem. In the boys Joe won and Connor was third so Sheffield Uni really did own it, hopefully we can go to Poland for the European Universities Championships in August.
I'm now in training for CWIF in this weekend and trying to sort my elbows out properly.

All Photos by James Mcillveen