European Youth Cup (EYC) Switzerland, Uster

The wall holding the competition was in a big arena but was quite short. My first qualifier was a red climb which looked reasonably simple. Although, in past competitions when I thought I could top a route I have messed it up so I tried to concentrate on climbing my best.

In the running order I have generally been quite close to the end. However this time I was up 9th which was nice as I wanted to try climbing near the beginning. My red climb was slightly overhanging with mostly good holds. I didn't notice a single crux, just small hard moves here and there. The first half was a slab and the second half was overhanging.


On the route I tried to not let my mind drift off as it usually does. I remember half way through the slab looking down and smiling at Hannah. This reminded me that I was actually climbing and I could focus back on the climb. I got to the transition between slab and overhang. These were the 2 worst holds on the route. First was a slopey gaston that I clipped off and then an undercut that was so flat it might as well not have been there, the volume it was on would have been better on its own. Finally, after this there were some crimps in a line on an overhang - perfect. My pace changed quite a lot from here. Very slow and sketchy to quick and comfortable. All the holds were good and I was able to make it all the way to the last clip. At this point I was really nervous because I was so close to topping my first ever route at an EYC. There was one more hard section to go. Lots of people fell off at the last move so I got a really high foot and put all my effort into holding the last jug! I caught it and clipped the chains. I struggled a bit putting the rope in because they were a weird type of chains.
It felt so good to top my first route as for the last few comps in lead I haven't had a good first qualifier.

I had 5 hours in between qualification route 1 and 2 and I found it hard to keep focused. I was a lot more nervous for this climb because it was not my style. It had a slab section at the bottom that a lot of people slipped off.

When I was climbing it I had to concentrate on my feet and not slipping off the massive sloper volumes. I usually climb quite fast but this route forced me to slow down. I got pretty high on the climb but clipped in a bad position near the top which I think stopped me making the next move. I fell a few holds before the spot I would have been happy with. At first I wasn't sure if I had made the final but the results soon came out and I was joint 5th but then pushed down to 6th after the last climber had climbed.

Making finals had boosted my confidence a lot as my leading hadn't been going as well as bouldering recently so it felt amazing to see some improvements in results.

Compared with other finals in EYC's this one was a later start. I was 2nd to climb on the start order so I went out to climb at 10:15. Our route look interesting! Slightly overhanging with flat round holds all the way. The top was more crimps and volume though.

On the route I felt quite relaxed and was already happy with my climbing from the qualification so I just enjoyed the route. The start holds were better than expected so I thought they were going to be like this all the way. Definitely Not! Suddenly the holds got slopey and I had to skip out  a few as there were some holds which were almost impossible to use. I got to the angle change in the wall and carried on for a few moves before falling off. I was quite happy with my performance but before I climbed onto the steeper part of the route I should have shaken out for longer.

My final result was 6th which was a little disappointing because if I had got the next move I think I could have gone a lot further.

Junior British Bouldering Championships 2017

The depot Manchester is always my favourite centre for boulder comps. The massive amount of wall space means less queues and a lot less stress.

Youth B and C qualifying was first as usual. 8 blocs in 2 hours, scramble format. I liked that in this competition all our boulders were in the same room so we could see them all without having to walk between rooms.

My qualification went pretty smoothly and for once I finished before the time was up. After an hour an a half I had topped 7 and only had a really powerful problem left. At first I decided I was going to leave it and save my energy for the final but after a 20 minute break I went back over to it. I was curious to see if I could top it.

My first attempt earlier in qualifying involved a double heel hook which felt alright but I thought there might have been an easier way. 1 heel didn't work, so I tried the double heel again. It worked if I really pulled my toes down. The last part of the problem was easier and it was fun to campus the last move.

I'm glad I went back to do the climb to get 8 tops and to qualify 1st.

The final was very crowded and stuffy and hot! In warm up I could only climb 3 blocs as it was so draining to climb in the heat. I've competed in some very warm conditions but nothing compared to this! Towards the end of qualification you could see all the chalk floating in the air.

Looking at my first bloc, I was slightly disappointed to find a volumes only slab. The first move was a sketchy jump. I didn't realise it was a jump until I had pulled on, I looked around but couldn't find another way so I risked it and jumped. The volume was surprisingly good and it was easy to stand up on the volume and walk across to the top hold which was another volume.

Final 2 was... interesting. It started off well because I topped it on my 3rd attempt. At the top I turned around looked at the judge and he held his hand up to say I had got the top. So I jumped down and was just about to move to the next bloc when one of the route setters stopped me. I was told that I had matched the wrong top hold. The top was 2 slopers touching each other  with a tag at the top of them. The higher of the 2 holds was tagged and I matched the bottom one. They crossed out my top and I had to go again. I had another go and fell off and then ran straight back on with 40 seconds to go. I climbed as fast as I could (without falling off) and got to the bonus with 13 seconds left. I

I was so hot and I spent the whole of my rest time trying to cool down.

The last two boulders weren't too hard. The 3rd bloc was really fun - it was all proper holds, very crimpy and overhanging. I on-sighted it.

Last, we had a problem on the big overhang. All the holds were good and it had a fun swing in the middle. You had to cross over to a jug and then let your body swing out. The rest was core crimps and a large sloppy volume for the last move. I on-sighted this climb too.

This was enough for first place. But I was most psyched about topping problem 2 after getting my initial top taken away from me. I'm ok on volumes but I didn't think I could climb that fast.

Awesome setting as usual! (Except for the last hold on bloc 2 - that was mean!)

European Youth Cup (EYC) Imst June 2017

This European Youth Cup (EYC) has pretty much become our annual holiday. Every year Imst Climbing Centre holds an IFSC EYC and the following weekend holds their own competition, the Youth Color Climbing Festival for kids too young to compete in EYCs. The week in between these two comps has always fallen on the UK half term holiday, which meant we could stay out and train on Austria's incredible walls!

The competition wall in Imst opened at 7:30 but I wasn't climbing until 11:00 (35th). My first route was an orange on the right side of the wall. It was very short compared to the full height of the wall which I was pleased about as Boulders (my home wall) is only 10-12 metres high.

I was very nervous and expected a lot of myself because I was younger last year and I had made the final so I really felt the pressure to get through. I didn't realise how it had effected me until I had already come off. It happened again! Old habits creeping back in. I thought I had enough left to finish the route so I didn't bother taking the obvious rest spot. Instead, I carried on climbing and fell off a few holds below all the best climbers.

I wouldn't have been so disappointed if it had been a new mistake. It was the fact that this had happened before in other competitions that made me feel so stupid. After a long while I did get over it and I started to focus on the next route.

My second qualifier was a blue climb right next to our first qualifier. It was good to be climbing quite early because the sun was moving around and going to be warming/greesing up the already awful slopers.

I am still really happy with my performance on this route as I climbed as well as I could. I moved through the sloper section and got into the roof steadily. After the first clip in the roof I was really pumped so I carried on climbing because I thought I was going to fall off. 3 holds later I realised I wasn't, and it was too late to clip so I skipped that clip and clipped the next one meaning if I climbed any further it wouldn't count. I knew this but I wanted to see how far I could really get. I climbed on and got to the first hold in the next roof section. I could hear the judges shooting for me to come down but I wanted to carry on. They pulled on the rope until I fell off. I was so annoyed they pulled me off and I think if they had allowed me I would have topped it.

I waited a long time for the final results to come in. But I knew that my chances of making finals were slim and even if I did it would be very close.

Eventually, I was disappointed to find that I wasn't through and I had achieved my worse ever European position, 12th.

Despite the bad result Imst was a very valuable experience for me, and I am almost glad it happened now so I can learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again. I tried my first qualifier again the following day and I got to the 2nd to top hold. So I know I have the physical ability to make finals I just need to get the mental side back. But putting everything else aside it was a fun trip and I enjoyed climbing the routes.