Emily's Climbing Blog: BMC Youth Climbing Series 2015

On Friday afternoon my parents, my brother and I drove to Caernarfon for the BMC youth climbing series welsh final. It was a long drive and we arrived around half past six. We went straight to the Beacon centre to have a quick look at all the routes. We made an estimate of which ones we would have in the comp before going to the Premier Inn to have some food. It was getting late so we went straight to bed after eating.

On the morning of the competition, I woke up early, had breakfast and drove to the Beacon centre. My brother Oscar and I had a look at the routes and bouldering problems as the route cards were up. I thought that the bouldering problems looked pretty easy (Girls C's problems problems were the same and Boys D). The first two routes looked OK, but the final route looked harder. I didn't like it because it had wooden holds and I am not used to climbing them.

I started to warm up after this to make sure I was ready by the time the competition climbs started. When Chris gave the briefing he let us know that girls were climbing routes first and boys were bouldering. I was happy about this because I like climbing routes first.

We were warmed up and ready by the time we were put into our groups. Our first route was really short and easy. It was also right next to the bouldering area where my brother was bouldering. I was 4th up on the first climb and as I expected everyone topped this climb including me.

There was a half an hour before I climbed the second route so I supported my brother Oscar in the bouldering. The purple was the second route and I was third up. This was a much longer route and was about double the length of first one. When it was my turn I was keen to get started because it was a long wait between the first and second climbs. The start of the climb was really simple and everyone got past it. The second half of the climb was where it got harder because the holds got worse but I managed to top it.

There was a even longer break between the second and third climb and I couldn't wait to get started. I warmed up while the demoer was demoing. I watched the first climber then tied in straight away so that I could get on the wall quickly.When I started I was a bit nervous but I got less nervous as I climbed higher. There were quite a few jugs but lots of crimps and slopers. Clipping was quite easy because there were obvious clipping positions, it was just a long route and a bit pumpy at the top. The top move was quite big but I managed to do it. I was really happy that I managed to top all the routes in the competition.

Earlier in the day S4C had come up to me and asked if they could do an interview. I said I couldn't speak fluent Welsh so I didn't do it. However, my Welsh teacher from school happened to be at the competition with her daughter Shani who was also competing. Behind my back, my mum spoke to her about helping me out with a few welsh phrases. In the end I did do the interview as they thought it would be a good idea to have a Welsh learner on the programme

It was almost 2 hrs until we started the bouldering.

My first bouldering problem was easy. I had to go first on the problem but I was not nervous at all and I did it. Because I was first I had to wait for everyone else to finish the first climb and then went to the back of the queue for the second problem. So I had to wait for everyone else to climb again. This meant I had time to help Oscar read his routes.

My next problem was yellow and a bit harder than the first. My brother Oscar had topped this and the first one in the morning so I really wanted to top it. I wasn't nervous for this climb either. There was a big move off the volume which I managed okay and made it to the top.

After this problem we went straight upstairs to do the final boulder. The climb looked harder than the second one because it had a big, shouldery, move. The first part was easy and I held the undercut underneath the wall just for the extra points in case I slipped. I then jumped for the afro-hair hold and caught it. I was then able to complete the rest of the climb.

I was really pleased to have topped all routes and boulders in the final and I really enjoyed the day.

We were told we would receive our trophies in Ratho in April because the BMC hadn't send them to the Beacon centre. I got a belay, some stickers and a DMM mug as a prize.