Friday, September 18, 2015

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
Check out his other photos on :
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. 

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