GB Team Assessment Weekend - Day 1

On Friday evening my family and I travelled up to Leeds for my GB team assessment weekend. We stayed overnight in the Premier Inn and had a meal there when we arrived.

I got up at 8 on Saturday and had a Premier Inn breakfast before driving to the Leeds wall. The centre was very close to the hotel and we found it easily. The walls in the centre were so long and all the routes were really hard. My easiest climb was 7b! 

A few minutes after we arrived Ian called the Team over for a briefing about how the day would work. We had 5 routes to try mine ranged from 7b to 7c. We had until 6:00pm to complete them, and we could climb them in any order.

Route 1

I warmed up as soon as the briefing was over and decided to climb the easiest pink first. I read it well before I started. I got half way and had a bit of trouble reaching a hold but I managed it even though I was pumped at the top.

Route 2

I had an hour rest and I spent the time reading my next route the Orange 7b. It looked as hard as the pink but it was a different style. The style was better for me because I am good at holding crimps and not so good at long routes with pinches. I started watching all the other climbers try this route so that I could get beta from them. It really helped watching Hamish and Alex. I spent about 15 min warming up and putting my kit on. Just before I started the climb I felt nervous because I really wanted to get at least two tops and I thought this was my best chance. 

The start of the climb was quite easy and I did it without any problems. Once I got to the middle section it started getting tricky and the moves were getting longer. I got to the second last clip even though the moves were hard and then reach the part where a lot of other people fell off. In my plan I said I wouldn't cross my hands over for this move, but I did. I was still able to shuffle my hand to the top of the hold while rocking over. The second top hold was really minging but I managed to get my foot up on the volume and jump for the top and I got it! I was really happy that I got two tops and I planned to attempt one more before lunch.

Route 3

I had an hour break and read the yellow 7b+ route. I was a little bit nervous about all the slug holds on the climb because I am not very good at holding them. Once I finished reading the route I went outside to do my running warm up. Once I had finished my warm up inside I got ready to climb the route. I was unsure that this climb was going to suit me and hesitant to start. I finally got on the route and the start was a bit awkward but I did it OK. I got to the fourth clip and then jumped for a slug and fell.

I was annoyed and upset because I fell off and I thought I would at least get half way up the climb.  I spoke to John and he helped me read the harder pink route. I was happier after speaking to John and I went out with my family for lunch.

We went to the Dragon Hotel and we were surprised to find that they had a hog roast in the beer garden. I had a pork roll with stuffing which was delicious.

Route 4

As soon as we got back to the centre I started warming up and reading the next route. This was the Pink 7b+. Reading it with John helped me work out the sequence but I still hated it as it was not my kind of route because it had too many pinches. The climb didn't go very well because I couldn't hold the pinches so I couldn't clip easily. It took a long time to get a proper grip on the holds which made me pumped. I clipped the 7th clip and fell off because I was too pumped. I was disappointed when I fell off, but not as disappointed as I was when I failed the yellow.

Route 5

Before attempting my last climb I had another hours break. I had a chat with Sue and she helped me focus on my next climb. I did my usual warm up and when I read the route it felt as though it would suit me because it was crimpy like the other orange. When I started the climb I felt ok although it had a lot of awkward clipping positions. I got the big sloper and I tried to reach around the corner but I could not reach the hold. I tried a couple of times but got too pumped and fell off.

Overall I felt pleased with my 2 tops, but I was really disappointed with my performance on the other 3 climbs because I didn't feel that I had focussed my training enough on those type of moves.

After this climb we went to a pub that my dad used to go to when he was a student in Leeds. We then met up with the team later for a meal. I sat on a table with Kirsten, Caitlin and Abi.