Deep Water Solo Exeter 2016

For the last 3 years the Quay Climbing Centre in Exeter have held the only deep water soloing event in Britain and it is so much fun. It is held just outside the quay climbing centre in a canal basin. The wall in built on a floating barge and big containers of water are used to balance out the water and the weight of the climbers. There are 4 categories, U16 female, U16 male, adult female and adult male. The format of the competition is 3 quals. followed by 3 semis (if you get through) and then a final!

This year my qualifiers were on Friday at 3pm which meant I could have a lie in. My whole family came down to watch and so we all walked down to the Quay centre from the premier inn. I then had time to look at the 3 routes before getting a boat over to the middle of the canal to get onto the barge. Behind the wall you can put your stuff down at the back and climb out of the hole in the wall to get onto the route. Here is a description of all 3 of my qualifiers.




The easiest of the three and a ladder of jugs. Its was really easy so I tried to climb it fast so my time would be fast as a lot of people were topping all 3 routes. I managed to do it in a really quick time of around 21 seconds I think. This took away a lot of my nerves and so I felt good for the next climb.

This route looked harder than the first. It was longer and it had a swinging ball in the middle which caught out a lot of people. I raced through the jugs at the start and then reached out to the swinging ball and matched it. I then matched it and went up for the next to jugs and got the undercut on the volume. There were 2 scoop volumes with crimps on the sides. I used these and stood in the scoop to get to the big sloper which was really good and the I went straight up to a pocket and matched it. I then went out to a rubbish crimp-slot and spent ages trying to find a way to match it. I eventually crimped the top and got the undercut I then reached over to match the top hold.

The last route for many people was easier than the first. The start was good with decent slopers and a load of jugs through the roof. Once I pulled over the roof it was just all crimps to the top. I loved the finish hold, it was another swinging ball I matched it and then took my chalk bag off and threw it to the photographer siting at the top but he dropped it and it fell into the water. So I let go and dropped into the water accidentally swallowing a mouth full of canal and when I tried to swim back I was weighed down by my chalk bag so I got onto the boat and took a ride back to the barge.

I climbed very fast on all the routes and only wasted time on the last one. After a while the results came out and showed I was through in first with the fastest time by 5 or so seconds.



Saturday was a day off for U16’s because the adult categories had their qualifying. We went down to watch and spent the day there.

Sunday was an early start with registration at 9:00am, I got there for 8:00am so I could have more time to read the routes. The routes looked considerably harder than the qualifiers. I was out last for the semi’s as I had qualified 1st. I watched a lot of people before going to warm up and then started watching again until the commentator called me over to my boat as I had not go over yet. I watched one more climber before getting in the boat over to the barge.

I was very pleased with how the semi’s went. I was the only person to top all routes. The first two routes were good but a bit sketchy at the top. The last one was so much more fun. It had the nicest holds which looked really hard to hold but they were actually really good. The first part of the route was amazing all the holds were really good. I got to the jug over the lip easily and rested there for a while. The last part was the crux which had an awkward move but I managed to get it and push for the top. I matched the top and because I knew this would be enough for finals as I was the last climber. I didn’t want my shoes wet for finals so I held onto the top of the wall and took my shoes off and my chalk. After this I jumped in!

I had a great afternoon watching the adult female and male categories. They were running a bit late but by 6:30ish we were going out to route read and getting onto the barge. The route was really easy but it was the fastest time that wins.

Behind the wall the official read out the running order and said that I was out second when I qualified first so I should have been out last which is what the running order in isolation said.
But he insisted that I was second out so while I was getting my shoes on quickly and trying to get my liquid chalk to dry everyone else was arguing that everyone was in the wrong order. I didn’t have time to do this because I was soon to go out. I kept going over the route in my head and then went as fast as I could without falling off. The mini dyno was great fun and I loved the crimps at the top. Everyone topped it easily but I had the fastest time which was 22 seconds. Second and third were Rebecca and Pippa. So we went through to the super-final. I was last out for this. Pippa got around 30 seconds and Rebecca apparently didn’t set a time because she didn’t hit the bell but they were waiting on video evidence. In the mean time I had to climb. I really went for it this time I had all the beta and could go so fast. I knew it was fast when I hit the bell and fell in. My final time was 18 seconds!!

On our way back off the barge they announced that Rebecca’s tim did count but it didn’t beat mine so I was still 1st. She had a second place time of 24 seconds!

Others from boulders that did really well are, Zoë 5th in my category, Ben 4th in U16 male and Rhos 1st in adult female.

I had a shower before the podium and when I came back everyone was waiting for me so I had to run down and get onto the podium. The trophy was made of plywood and a climbing hold it was very nice. I also got a pair of Scarpa shoes and a bag of other hand balms and chalk bags!

Overall the comp was very good and so much fun. I really enjoyed climbing and the routes were great fun.

Deep Water Soloing Competition in Exeter Quay Climbing Centre

On Friday we drove down to Exeter because I had entered the first Deep Water Solo (D.W.S.) climbing competition in the UK which was due to start Saturday morning.

We arrived in Exeter on Friday night and went straight to the Quay Climbing Centre. The first thing we did was go the wall which had been built on a pontoon over a canal basin.

It was probably the most amazing thing I had seen in my whole life! One of the things we noticed was how you would start the climbs. They built it cleverly by cutting two door shapes either side of the wall so climbers could get onto the routes. They had done the same in the middle so you could climb on the middle of the wall.

After looking at the wall and reading some of the routes, we went into the Quay Climbing Centre to listen to some inspirational talks. Sadly, we had to leave early from these because I needed a good nights sleep.

The next morning we had to get up early to register for the competition as I was 15th in line to take a boat onto the pontoon to start the competition. We had three routes in the qualifiers and 3 minutes to complete each. We only had 6 minutes rest between each route so if we fell in we would have to get dry quickly.

I was a bit nervous about my first route, but I had read it and it looked really easy. I managed to top it pretty easily, this made me feel good for the next climb.

The second route looked easy apart from the top move but I thought that I could top it. I manage to get to the top move and was a bit scared when I got to this point but I managed to match the top hold.

My final qualifier looked hard and I was really nervous about this. Not only did I need to top it but I had to drop in at the end anyway so I was going to get wet whatever happened. Up until the steep overhang the climb was OK. But when I got to the overhang I couldn't quite reach one of the holds so I popped for it and got it. It was a good hold and I managed to move off it. The next couple of moves were OK and then I reached the volumes. The holds on the volumes were tiny and not very good. I managed to hold them even though I was shaking. The top move was the hardest and I only just reached it.

I dropped into the water after the climb and it wasn't as cold as I thought but it was gross.

Topping all of the qualifying routes meant I had definitely qualified for the semis. Only 4 of the under 16 girls managed to top all the qualifying routes.

We spent the rest of the day chilling and watching some of the other qualifiers.

On Sunday I had to get up early again as I had to register for the semi-finals and was second in line to climb. As well as the qualifiers two members of the GB team went directly into the semis.

When I arrived at the DWS wall I went straight to look at the routes to refresh my memory from yesterday when I had looked at them. The first route looked the easiest and definitely doable. The second looked OK as well with a couple of hard moves towards the top. The third route was most definitely the hardest because the top few moves had really awful small holds and it was very steep.

As I expected the first route was pretty easy and I managed to top it. The second route was pretty easy up until the top two panels. The holds suddenly got smaller and the moves were longer. I got to the second top hold and then I was stuck. I was trying to grab the hold slowly but I wasn't quite tall enough. So I lined my hand up and popped for the top and stuck it!

My last route in the semis was OK on the steep overhang apart from one reachy move in the middle. The next couple of moves getting over the lip were OK and I managed to do them. After this there was one move going to the side pull which I really thought could do. I got too excited because I was close to the top and I made the move too fast not hitting the hold right. I fell into the canal from here and got wet.

After watching the other climbers finish I knew I had qualified for the final second behind Hannah Slaney. There were two other qualifiers both in the GB team. I really hope to make the team next year too!

We had to wait a while to take a picture of the results - here it is:

It was really hot and sunny, so we used a break in the climbing to go to the shops and get some sun cream and a hat.

It was a long wait for the final, but it eventually came. We were called into isolation in the Quay climbing centre so we couldn't see the route setting for the final. We were in isolation for quite a while and spent the time warming up.

We were all called out and taken on a boat ride where we could read the route for the final. It was the green - we had been climbing greens from the beginning of the competition. I thought I could top the route apart from one move in the middle where you had a long reach from a crimp to an undercut sloper.

I was called to climb third and took my position on the starting holds. When I started the climb I found the slopers at the start hard to hold but I managed to stick them. I next came onto the steepest part of the wall which had a sort of traverse across it. It was coming up to the hard move. I dropped from a crimp down to another crimp on the bottom of a volume. Next was the hard move - I pulled back and went for the undercut sloper. When I hit it I tried to move my feet across as that was the only way I was going to stick it but I couldn't quite reach and I slipped off.

Initially, I was glad to have finished the final. But then I found out that I had come 4th and I think it was decided on time. I think I was 3 seconds behind the third place and 2 holds behind 1st place. The final was very close. Now I was feeling very disappointed because I was in second place after the semis. I will post the exact timings and scores when I get them.

Overall the competition was really good and I had a lot of fun on the climbs. I thought the routes were excellent. The crowd was amazing and I heard there were over 1000 spectators. I will definitely enter again next year.


All results can be found on this page: RESULTS

First outdoor climbing experience - Deep water soloing

Yesterday my brother and I went deep water soloing near Tenby. We were invited by my coach Simon and his friends Andy and Rhos. I was really scared at first but slowly I got more confident. I have entered the deep water soloing comp at Exeter in August and I needed some practice climbing over water. I feel much more confident for the competition now.

 Yesterday was also my first experience of outdoor climbing it was amazing I can't wait until I go leading or bouldering outdoors too!

Area 47 - Deep Water Soloing

The day after the competition we went to Area 47. Area 47 has a few different areas with different activities, but we went to the Water Area.

Inside there were diving boards, slides and deep water soloing! The first time I went deep water soloing I was scared of the water and wouldn't jump in and the same with diving! I kept trying to jump off the board until my mum came and encouraged me to do it! It was amazing, so fun, I even did the higher board with my brother Oscar.

This gave me much more confidence for deep water soloing. Oscar and me jumped in and swam over to the wall. I climbed to the top and Oscar climbed half way and we both jumped off with no hesitation. We kept on doing it and had so much fun! I was great practise for the deep water soloing comp I entered at Exeter in August! Can't wait!