Things are looking up (BMCyo)

After an amazing day winning the JBBC's, an achievement I never thought possible, I was so excited for the day ahead: the leading summer youth open. I had no pressure and no nerves, only psyche.

We had a yummy dinner at Nando's and plenty of frozen yoghurt! A good night's sleep later and it was Sunday. For this comp, I just wanted to climb my best and push as hard as I could, my final position didn't matter as leading is not my primary discipline.

The first qualifying route looked good. Steep, juggy, powerful. I got on it and after the first few tricky moves I got into the flow of the climb. The jugs were worse than they looked but still good. I felt smooth but as the wall got steeper my arms got pumped. A good heel hook gave me a rest and secured me a few more moves until my fingers peeled off. Overall happy with how I climbed, I rested for the second qualifier.

It was a static route; small, sharp crimps and a technical sequence. Our demo-er took three rests on it so that was not very encouraging.

I started off sketchy but I stuck the crux and relaxed a bit. I muddled up the sequence which cost me valuable energy and popped off on a cross over. If I hadn't made that mistake I would have got a few extra moves but I wasn't too annoyed because I still got further than I thought I would.

So the results came and miraculously I had qualified for the finals in joint 5th place! I wasn't expecting to, so it was a great surprise!

The final route looked so hard and not at all my style. I climbed tentatively at first and flash pumped trying to clip. the rope kept on slipping out of my hand and as I got it in I only had the energy to throw for a plus point. Watching the other girls try it only three got past me, so that put me in fourth place!

I used to come fourth in EVERYTHING. In YCS, RocFest, BlocFest, Westway Xmas Comp, SIBL... etc.

But for the first time ever I was absolutely over the moon to come fourth. I used to be annoyed at how close it was to the podium, but instead I was overjoyed by how close it was to the podium!!! It was an improvement to the Winter Youth Open where I came 6th, and I never even expected to make finals. So to be that close was an amazing achievement.

Amazing weekend. Improvements in both disciplines and  a massive confidence boost. Can't wait for the European Youth Boulder Cup in Laval!


(Sorry there are so photos; I'm writing this in France and the photos are in London, they should be up within the week though) 

Podiums, Prizes and Plates.

It's funny how things can change so quickly.

I remember when I got selected for the team. I was so overwhelmed and overjoyed by the fact of being on the team, but felt a lot of pressure to perform consistently at all comps. I didn't have the confidence that I could do that and thought that my competitors happened to climb badly the day of the selection comp. I couldn't believe in myself that I had the ability to climb the way I did on the day all the time. My self-assurance went up as my grades and results improved and got that confidence boost I needed. I could then train with more certainty for the upcoming competition.

So after that profound paragraph here is the climbing part of my blog:

Junior British Bouldering Championships Round 3

On the 2nd of August 2013, my mum, squad mate Sabina and I travelled up the Leeds for the boulder and lead Open Youth events.

The journey went quickly and I was so excited for the day ahead of us.

We arrived at Premier Inn and went to bed. I couldn't sleep because a mixture of nervousness and thrill churned in my stomach. I read a stupid book to bore myself to sleep and it worked. Although I woke up exhausted, the psyche and butterflies shook me up.

I ate my usual bacon and cereal and headed off to the Depot .

After the briefing and warm ups the girls started qualifiers. My problems looked very fun but also very dropable. I was careful with my footwork on my first few blocs and flashed four quite easily. Moving on to the hardest problem, I started it and moved through the powerful first section until reaching a poor tufa with no grip. I threw for the next hold but failed to stick it. Realising there was an arête I enquired whether it was in. Callum confirmed it was and the problem now made a lot more sense. My second attempt came and I held onto the arête, inched up to the thumb catch but bad body tension saw me unbalanced and I tipped off. Making a scary realisation that I only had one more attempt to do the problem, I bathed my hands in chalk and got back on it. I moved quickly through the first few moves, caught the alright part of the tufa and reached for the arête. Moving slowly up along it my hand latched the thumb catch and I repositioned myself to keep balanced until I could switch my other hand into an undercut. After doing so I dynoed the last move and matched the top hold. I was relieved to have gotten that, as I knew it would have irritated me later on!
















Qualifiers going really well!
-photo ©Bibi Basch






















After flashing a dynamic problem, I tried a slab. Hoping my slab and vert training had come in handy,  I moved through it smoothly and my controversial toe hook secured me the bonus and the top! One more problem to go.

The first move looked big but it wasn't too bad as the foothold was good. I flashed it, achieving my 8th top of the day! None of my competitors managed this, meaning I qualified for finals in first place!

Going out for the finals last was a first for me. Was it good to get the beta from the others or was it bad to have greasy holds? All was revealed after a long four hour wait. Youth B female went out last out of all the categories, which made the build up even more dramatic.

We shared the same problems as the Youth C girls so I hoped they wouldn't be too hard. In observation I looked at them and they looked so sick. The first two were just my style: crimpy, techy, slabby. The third looked so fun; starting in a roof, out into powerful moves until a big lank and a final jump. I knew this one would test me but I couldn't wait to get on it.

I flashed final bloc 1 although it was harder than it looked and the holds worse.

Final bloc 2 tested my nerve as I moved staticly through the reachy moves. I gained another flash, and went back into iso for the last time.

Final Bloc 1
-photo ©Bibi Basch




















So each girl went out and I was left alone. I heard a lot of encouragements for our last bloc but the clock ran down and no tops were achieved.

As my name was called and walked up to the problem, I made a realisation. All I needed was to get the bonus on my first attempt or get the problem within 4 minutes to win. So much psyche rushed through me at that moment as I heard all the supporters encourage me. I had to get that hold.

 I started it and the holds were good. Feeling steady, I used yet another toe hook (my new obsession) and moved through the first few moves. I cut loose, and debated whether I should campus the next move. It looked do-able but so much was riding on this problem that I couldn't risk dropping it. So I ignored my lazy conscience and used the foot hold. A big lank and a sketchy bridge later and before I knew it my fingers tickled the bonus hold. I swear my arm grew in the moment as I grabbed the hold, grabbed the gold. I finished off the bloc and came down so thrilled to have won my first national comp! Exciting times!

                 

                                                           One move away from winning...  

                                                                                               -Photo ©Bibi Basch    

                                                   

First national win!

-Photo ©Bibi Basch         

Another surprise was in store.. I had not only won the 3rd round but also the entire Championships in Youth B and was crowned Junior British Bouldering Champion in my category! Such an awesome achievement, I am so happy! And I got a cool plate that is worthy of a place on my wall!

British Bouldering Champion Youth B!

-Photo ©Bibi Basch