Open Youth Bouldering March 2016 - The Depot Manchester

Another early start and a drive over to Manchester from Liverpool. The bouldering competition was in my new favourite centre The Depot. It is a really nice centre, very new. It has every type of angle and it looks really professional. When we arrived I registered and went straight to look at he blocs.

There were 8 qualifying routes and only a few looked really horrible. Climbing started at 9am so I warmed up as soon as I had looked at all the routes. The centre wasn't too cold which was nice and made warming up a lot easier. I warmed up next to my categories blocs so I could read them at the same time.

Bloc number one. I tried this one after I had topped a few as it looked quite hard. I watched a few people on it first. The start move was way harder than I expected but I used momentum to get to the next hold which was an undercut. I then threw my plan out of the window and I jumped for a slopey hold which I almost stuck but not quite. On my second attempt I followed my  plan and managed to top it.

Bloc two was the first one I tried. It had lots of nice crimps and my style so I managed to top it.

Bloc three was a slab and looked harder than it was. I saw one of the other competitors complete it and this gave me the beta I needed to top it first go.


Bloc four required a lot of pushing strength which is not something I am usually good at. My first attempt I got passed the first hard pushing move but I failed the second. I had another go and matched a sloppy crimp on the left wall and got a high foot on the ridged sloper. I twisted into the wall and pushed really hard standing up onto the top of the two holds. At this point the judge stopped me to confirm something with the chief judge. Luckily I was in a bridge position and could easily hang around. I then continued with the climb and topped it.

Bloc five was the red next to number four. This was one of the first bloc’s that I tried as it was one of the easier ones. It was quite straight forward with one move which required a lot of pushing but I managed to finish it on my first attempt.

Bloc six was around the corner from this and the last bloc I tried. In my opinion it was the hardest of all. On all my attempts, I failed to get the bonus.

Bloc seven was the slab and really balancey. I watched a lot of people try it and everyone was doing the same thing. First I tried getting my foot up high and swapping feet but couldn't swap them without pinging off. I went back down to the start holds and put my other foot up so I wouldn't have to swap. I then moved my foot onto a small foot hold out wide and falling into an undercut at the same time. The rest of the route was easy with a nice pocket and a good finish hold.

The eighth bloc I named ‘disks’. Three of the holds were in disk shapes. It looked like my type of route because it was mostly about strength. On my first attempt I got to the last hold but couldn't quite match it. On my second attempt I slipped off low down because my heel slipped off a chalky hold. My last go I managed to grab the top hold for a second but it wasn't long enough for a top.

As soon as I finished I handed my score card in and some time after the results came out. I had qualified in third place for the finals behind Holly and Kitty.

It was soon time for isolation but were weren’t in there for long before we came out for observation. Our three blocs looked ok. Our first one looked really easy, the second one looked harder but doable and the third looked hard and was all about balance.

When I came out for my first route, I was nervous but confident I could do it. Before I got on I was a bit confused how to start it. Before I went on I made sure I knew what to do. I worked out that you need to put your face against the wall so you can’t see anything and then turn around to grab the hold. Apart from this move the route was ok and I manage to top it quite easily.

The second climb looked a bit harder but more my style. When I went out I had a quick read before getting on. I climbed carefully making sure not to go for anything too quickly. I got the bonus and liked the crimps at the top. The pocket was also good and the top was a good jug.

The last climb was really hard. I found one of the hardest parts was actually getting ono the wall and then after that bridging across the wall required a lot of tension. On my first go I slipped off after the bonus but on my second I got past the bonus and up to the second last hold. I then threw for the top hold grabbing it but not quite holding it. I was really disappointed. I had a few more goes after this but didn't get the top hold.

I was really disappointed as I knew the only way I could win was by topping the route. In the end I finished third the same as qualifying.

Thanks to the BMC for another great comp.