Junior British Bouldering Championships Round 2

This morning I went to McDonald's for breakfast as I usually do before a competition. After arriving at T.C.A. Glasgow for the Junior British bouldering championships I registered and was given a score sheet and a number to stick on my back (97).

I looked at all the bouldering problems that I had to do to qualify for the final. I had problem numbers 1-8 they weren't in any particular order so I had to pick what problems to try first carefully making sure I had seen all the details. I managed to complete 4 climbs and get lots of bonuses. But I was really disappointed with how I climbed. This only just got me through to the final. 6 competitors went through to the final and I came 6th! To close!

Next I went out to a Cafe for lunch. I had a very nice lunch and felt better about my score. We then arrived back at T.C.A. just as isolation opened. And there I waited there until I was called to do my first problem. I managed to do it on my second attempt. The second problem was really difficult and I didn't top it but I thought I could have. The third problem was ridiculously hard - no one in Category C (girls or boys) got to the bonus. Completing the first problems on my second attempt put me in third place. I was happy to happy moved up 3 places but if I had qualified higher I think I would have done better.

Photos:

Google+ Album

Google+ Album

Glasgow Climbing Centre

Today, I paid a visit to Glasgow Climbing Centre to try out some of the routes. The centre was built inside a church and had lots of different features on the walls. Unlike some other centres this centre had built in features in the walls. This is something I really like because it doesn't matter if there isnt enough footholds on. As well as this it gives younger and shorter people a fair chance against the adults. Another thing I liked about this centre was the mystery grade climb because it gave me a chance to try and grade the climb myself.

I managed to top 20 leads varying from 6a to 7a+. The climb I was most proud of in the session was the green 7a+ because I have been afraid of lead falls recently and have not done any 7's for a while.

New T-Shirts and Jack Wolfskin fleece

After arriving back from the bouldering competition in Glasgow there was a parcel waiting for us from Outdoor Kit. There were some new t-shirts and 2 really nice Jack Wolfskin fleeces inside and they are really comfy.

Spot Climbing Bouldering Competition

On Sunday I went to Spot Climbing Centre to compete in the third round of their bouldering competition. We had the day to complete 30 problems. The problems weren't really in any particular order but there were some really interesting ones. Number 11 was all crimps on the slab which suits me as I love crimps! Number 9 had only one hold and a volume - I did this by running up and pushing on the volume with straight arms and then carefully stepping up on the volume to reach the final hold. This was good fun and unlike anything I had attempted before! Number 17 was very hard, it was spaced out and had lots of slopers although I managed to do it slow and steady!

The climbing centre looked a bit like an old school and it had every type of wall angle you could want. Every problem was a different style and you had to use a different and sometime weird method for each one.

I won the series and the round of the competition for my category (under 12 girls). I also won some Climb-On balm in the raffle! I have got quite a collection now!

I really enjoyed the competition and I hope they have another one soon. 

UPDATE: Results here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spot-Climbing/228631290634673?fref=ts

Scottish Youth Bouldering Competition - The Climbing Academy Glasgow

On Saturday morning we drove to get a McDonald's breakfast. We went to The Climbing Academy and registered Oscar and me for the competition. We were given a score sheet and had to wait a while before we could look at the problems. In the centre they divided the climbing area into two parts one for spectators and the other for climbers. This meant that my dad could watch me and Oscar on all our problems.

As soon as the competition was declared open me and Oscar walked around all the problems reading hard ones and trying the easy ones. There were about 4 really difficult problems out of the 15. I got most of the other problems out of the way first and then attempted the harder ones. I managed to do two of these scoring 13 out of 15 tops. I was very pleased. My brother Oscar scored 13 tops out of his 20 blocs - he was also really pleased.

A short time after we handed in our sheets the results were posted. I qualified for the final in first place meaning I would be attempting my final problems last. Oscar however didn't have a final so his competition was finished. Oscar had the most tops out of the seven in his category which meant he had won! After the category E and D presentations we went out for lunch and then went to SOAR (Braehead) where they had a high ropes and climbing area. Oscar and me had a go at the climbing and high ropes. We did a couple of laps of the high ropes course and quickly drove back to the centre for the final.

The final felt a bit like a disco with flashing coloured lights and music with a DJ. This was really awesome and made it way more fun. I went into isolation around about 4:30 and was pretty bored until I was called for observation. We had 6 minutes to look at the climbs and my first one looked OK and top-able. My second problem looked a lot harder but I thought maybe I could get to the bonus. And the third problem looked easier than the second but still hard.

When I walked out for my first problem I had to face the crowd before the 4 minutes started. The music was playing and the lights were flashing. As soon as we turned around the big lights came on and the walls were lit up. It was really exciting! The first problem was how I expected it to be, it wasn't too hard and I managed to top it on my first attempt.

The second climb was harder than I predicted and I didn't get to the bonus. Finally for the last climb, I thought that I could get to the top, but I didn't manage it because the foots holds were in difficult positions and I wasnt good enough to do it without a good one :(.

I was annoyed hat I didn't make the last climb and I went to my dad but didn't know how I had done compared to the others. He told me that I was the only person to top the first climb and I got the same place as everyone else on the other climbs. This meant that I had won the competition :).

The presentation was at 7:00 and our flight home was at 8:50, but we had to return the hire car before going to the airport. As soon as I stepped off the podium we rushed back to the car and drove to the hire car place and just about got to the airport on time.

It was a long day but we were really happy with our double win.

The Climbing Academy - Glasgow

I have just come back from the climbing academy in Glasgow. This is the centre where the competition will be held! I wanted to visit there so I could get to know the walls to make it easier to find my blocs on the competition. The highest grade I climbed was a red problem (V6-V8) I was very pleased with this. My brother younger Oscar also did well and climbing a V4.

I enjoyed the blocs and forgot I was competing the next day so I kept on climbing for ages and my skin got quite thin and stingy so I bought some Tip Juice (hand balm) for my fingers. The cream contained lots of beeswax and made my hand sweaty and sticky which I hated. However it did work and my skin was ok.

Glasgow Climbing Centre

I was up in Glasgow for the SYBC (Scottish Youth Bouldering Competition) on Saturday (5th April 2014) and I had a spare day before the competition so I visited Glasgow Climbing Centre. 

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the massive stain glass window. It was very pretty but probably meant it was going to be very cold (no surprises there!). Also, it was in a church and had an old feeling about it, even though it was quite light inside.

The majority of the centre was leading and almost all the walls had some sort of features. A spiral staircase near the entrance led into a basement bouldering room. It had all different kinds of angles and problems to try but wasn't very high. There were lots of new-ish holds and I enjoyed the setting. On the ground level there was a features only boulder bloc pushed into the corner of the centre. My home wall Boulders in Cardiff has no features at all so it was interesting to climb on something so different.