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!
First national win!
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.
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
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