All my brothers and both my parents were coming to watch Oscar and me climb. But before we went to Boulders we drove down to McDonalds for our usual pre-comp breakfast for me that is a snack wrap and a hash-brown! They were very quick at serving us in McDonalds so we got to the centre around 9:15am, this gave us time to find our climbs and read them. The routes looked ok and the blocs were ok too except bloc number 2 which had a massive slopper at the top, which looked really bad!
At 10:30 Simon (the regional coordinator) put us into our categories and gave us a judge and a belayer. Our judge told us that we were leading first and bouldering after lunch. So we got straight onto our first route which was the white.
It was the easiest of the three routes and I was 3rd in the running order. After every route or boulder the climber at the front of the queue is put to the back to keep it fair. This meant I would climb first on the hardest route and second on the second hardest route. I was really happy about this because it mean't I was finished first and I could relax to watch everyone else!
Once the two climbers before me had climbed I felt very excited and really wanted to get on the route. I tied in and took my coat and shoe-covers off before starting the route. It was fairly easy and I got to the top. I was pleased when I came down and started to read my second route whilst watching my brother Oscar Boulder.
I had kept warm during the wait between the first and second climb but ten minutes before the second route I did a bit of traversing to keep my hands warm. My brother was doing his second bloc when I was tying in for my second climb so I tied in extra slowly so my Dad could video me. I took off my coat and shoe-covers and chalked up ready to climb. I also had one last look before starting.
The first part of the route wasn't too hard but the final 3/4 moves were hard. I managed to clip the top from the under cut which I thought I wouldn't be able to reach but I did. I came down and put my shoe-covers and coat back on and went to watch my brother on his final bloc. He did really well and equaled everyone's score.
My last route looked easier than my second I thought because it had bigger holds. I read it and it looked fine so I went off to get a drink and have a break. Then soonish I had to go and warm up for my third and final route witch I was really happy to finally get to climb it.
I quickly tied in and chalked up also taking off my coat and shoe-covers. I pulled on and started the route well, I easily got to the overhang - the overhang was the trickiest part. All the holds on the overhang were jugs and I managed to get passed it and top the route.
I now had a lunch break because I had finished all my routes. I was very pleased with my climbing and hoped it would be the same in the bouldering. For lunch I had a cheese and ham sandwich and some cheddars.
At 13:45 we started climbing again. The boys did the routes and the girls did the blocs. I was feeling excited about attempting the three blocs because they all looked different to each other and interesting.
Tym our judge told us where to start the blocs and where to finish. I was last to climb because I climbed first on the 3rd route. But I didn't mind because I got to watch everyone else climb the bloc first. Most people topped the bloc so I was feeling confident about it. When I started it I found it easy as most other people did.
We moved on after this and again Tym went through the important stuff before our group started climbing. I was climbing towards the end of the group, I was happy about this because lots of people were falling off and I wanted to watch them. By the time it was my go nobody had topped it so I really wanted to be the first. I pulled on and did the first half of the route fine like all my friends did but after trying to hold the slopper for a long time it got sweaty and I slipped off. I was very annoyed that I came off but I had a good plan for my second attempt.
When my turn came around again I was feeling very confident my plan would work. I climbed up to the slopper again and held the far side of the hold and then matched the other side with my feet low. I got balanced and put my foot up high, I then rocked up and only just caught the finish hold. I was so pleased that I had topped it.
The final problem for my category looked much easier than the second and a lot of people managed to top it. I found it quite easy and reached the top as well!
In my head I did a rough calculation of the scores and knew I had won the competition. I was delighted that I had won and as I had come 1st in the last round as well I knew I had qualified for the Welsh final!
Once all the categories had finished climbing there was a presentation and I received a certificate. My brother also came 2nd and he was through to the Welsh Final too.
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