Youth Colour Climbing Festival 2015 - Kletterzentrum Imst

Day One - Traveling

I had to wake up early on Thursday to drive to Luton Airport to fly to Zurich for the Youth Colour Climbing competition on the weekend. When we got close to the airport, we Face-timed my coach Simon Rawlinson who was driving up with my friend Gwen and her parents. We tried to see if we could spot their car but they were 5 minutes behind us.

When we arrived at Luton airport we checked in our big bag but then found out that we were not EasyJet speedy boarders so we couldn't have 2 hand luggage bags on the plane. This meant we had six extra bag but they allowed us to check in the extra hand luggage for free anyway.

The flight to Zurich was fine and we met up with Gwen and Simon in Zurich airport and got our hire cars and drove to Imst. When we arrived at the apartment we dumped our bags and drove straight to the climbing centre. The centre was closed, so we went down to the outside wall to look at the routes. The wall looked amazing even though I had already been there before but I couldn't tell which routes were for the comp.

Day Two - Imst

After a lie in on Friday, we had a quick breakfast and got our bags ready and walked down to the climbing centre. It took us a while from Tarrenz and it was really hot so we had dip in the fountain to cool down.

We went down to the indoor climbing arena and warmed up before getting on an easy route. I tried a long blue which finished along the roof. I misjudged the route, it was harder than I thought. I really enjoyed it because there was a lot of heel hooks and because it was mostly upside down. After a few other climbs I tried a yellow 7b+. The route was mostly as I expected but some of the holds were worse than I thought they would be. The start of the route was certainly the hardest because the holds were really shallow and it was hard to find decent positions to clip. It got easier as I got further up the route but I was too pumped to finish the top. I was a bit disappointed after this route because I thought I could flash it. We ended the session and the day by doing one last climb on the big overhang with the GoPro on my back to video the whole centre as I climbed up.

Day Three - First day of YCCF

We drove down to the centre early and went straight down to look at the routes. I didn't have very long to look at my first route because I had to go and warm up before the routes were demoed at 8:45.  I did two laps of the football field and then laps of the traverse wall starting from the vertical well, getting more overhanging as I got warmer.

Route 1 - Grey

I did some mobility with Ian and then Simon made some sequences up for me on the woody. I felt confident after this but then felt more nervous after properly reading my first route. I watched the demos of all the routes as they were all demoed at the same time. But then focused all my effort on Route 1 - Grey.

It started to look easier as I watched other people climb it and a lot of the holds looked better than when I first read it. After climber 129 had climbed I went up the hill with Simon and did a warm up. Simon made up some boulder problems for me to try like he did earlier. I though my warm up was really good. It made me feel more confident because I was really nervous about this route because it was my first one.

When I walked back down the hill to my climb I put my harness and chalk bag on and took my shoes over to the route. I sat in the chair while climber 137 was climbing and tied in. When it was my turn I was very, very nervous and felt like crying at the bottom of the route. I pulled on to the tufas and found them a lot easier that I thought and I did the first four clips pretty easily. The next three clips before the overhang were harder than the first ones even though there a big sloper in the middle. The roof part had a few bad holds towards the start, but I did them slowly and carefully and did it fine. Then I did the last three moves, which were all jugs, really easily. I was really happy to have topped my first route and it gave me confidence for the next one.

Route 6 - Yellow

I had a long break in between each route which was enough time to read them well. My next climb was route 6 - yellow. It had a big banana sloper 3 clips up which I didn't like the look of but I was confident I could do it. I warmed up again for this route - this time by myself and then came down for the route. I was less nervous for this route because I had already topped one and I was in a good mood. I started the route well and climbed efficiently until I got to the sloper where I struggled for a while because I couldn't figure out a way to hold the sloper without feeling like I was going to slip off. I managed to do it eventually by moving my knot over the sloper to stop it pushing me out and getting caught as I rocked over and I got a better feel on the sloper which made me confident about doing the move. I was a bit shaken up after this and was a bit worried about the 4 min time limit so I powered through all the mini slopers up until the roof. I then slowed down for the roof part because it was more difficult and I didn't want to make a mistake. After clipping the first clip in the roof, I was quite pumped but determined to top it. I matched the bottom half of the jug and went right handed to the top of it. I then clipped before moving out to the last few holds before the jug. Feeling pumped at the top hold I jumped and caught it, cutting loose before pulling my feet in and making the clip. I was really, really please to top the route and had already beat my last years score as I only topped one route last year.

Route 5 - Blue

I started to read my third route straight away which was route 5 - blue. It looked much harder than the first two but I still thought that I could top it. The flat part of the blue route looked difficult as there were only small edges and some of the looked pretty bad. I made a good start to this route and all the holds were pretty decent. As I moved up the route the hold were still decent, they were just small but the moves were quite big. I complete the flat part of the climb without too much trouble and go onto the roof. The holds on the roof were deeper than I expected and I did the first two clips in the roof OK, but I was very pumped for the last one. I only just made the second last move almost falling off with pump - I was really happy. I made a big leap for the final move as I knew I couldn't have reached it but I was too pumped to hold it so I came off. I was really, really disappointed after this because I was so close to topping the route and went to have 5 minutes in the shade by Oscar. Ian came to talk to me and explained that I only had to make up 2 points to be in the lead which made me happier. So I went to read my next climb.

Route 4 - Purple

My next climb was route 4 - purple. It looked the hardest route so far as it had a lot of long moves and the route was quite long. It also looked quite pumpy. So I read this route well and had a look through my binoculars at the holds.

I was quite nervous before I started the route. But I was less nervous when I pulled on. When I got to
the third clip I went for a really bad hold and couldn't hold it but I only just managed to hold on with my other hand. I got scared after this but I climbed all the way to the third to last clip easy and clipped it. At this point I was very pumped and the last few holds weren't very good so I tried to clip but I didn't have enough energy so I did one more move to the pinch and tried to go to the second top but I couldn't. I messed around trying to do it. Then I heard something like 'Emily climbing' but I ignored it and carried on climbing. But about 5 seconds after I fell off.

I was disappointed after this route because I really wanted to top it. When I went to read my next route it started to rain so I put my coat on and my family took the bags to the car. I liked the look of the yellow even though it looked really pumpy.

Route 3 - Yellow

I stood under the umbrellas out of the rain before it was my turn. I had to push though the big crowd to get to the char before I tied in. For the first part of the climb I climbed slightly upset but didn't find it that hard. I got 5 holds from the top and started to feel the pump. I was going to try and clip but I new I wouldn't make it so I tried to get the next hold but I didn't even get close so I fell off.

After I came down I was again disappointed but I just wanted to read my next route and climb it.

My final route of the day was route 2 - blue. My GB team mate Hamish had already climbed this route and topped it so I asked him about it. He gave me some great pointers which really helped my confidence for this route.

Route 2 - Blue

I was feeling ready for this route, and the most confident I had felt on any of the routes although I was still a bit nervous.


Excited I started the route. I was surprised at how much easier the start was than was than I had thought and my Dad said I looked good climbing it. When the route started to get steeper the holds for two clips were the same, good jugs. I was enjoying the route. The next part of the route was the hardest part because it was about balance. I did it exactly as I planned and it worked really well. The next hold was the one on the volume which Hamish had said wasn't very good. He was right! I didn't like it either but I managed to clip from it as he had done as well. I move on to the large jug and it was very good. I clipped from this hold and quickly moved on to avoid lots of pump. The rest of the holds were decent. When I got to the second last move I jumped and caught the jug I then did the last move and clipped.

I was very happy after this and also tired so we went back to our apartment after my brother had finished climbing.

Day Four - Second day of YCCF

I woke up later than yesterday today but still got to the centre on time. Instead of looking at the routes first I went straight down to the footy pitch and did my 2 laps with my brother Oscar. We then went over to the indoor wall and started traversing. I did a lot of overhanging stuff.

Route 7 - Red

After warming up I dumped my stuff off by the shade and walked down the hill to the routes. While I was reading the first route they announced that we were only climbing two routes instead of three. I was happy about this because I was quite tired and I can focus more on two routes than three.

I read my first route with Ian while watching the demo's. It was route 7 - red it looked harder than the routes the day before but it did look my style of route.

After climber 128 I went upstairs to warm up. I felt excited and scared but I thought the route looked really fun.

Once I had sat in the chair and tied in I put my shoes on and walked over to the bottom of the wall. I grabbed the start holds and pulled on. I climbed through the flat part of the route slowly and got onto the roof. I was quite pumped on the roof but I managed to clip the first clip. I was then too pumped to clip so I tried to do one more move but I fell.

Route 8 - Green

I thought I did ok on that route, even though I was a bit disappointed because I didn't top it. Simon and Ian both said I should focus on the next route. So after some popcorn I read my next route, route 8 - green. This route looked harder than the red and it finished one clip onto the massive roof. I read this one with Ian as well. The only part I didn't like was the big slopers but apart from that the holds looked ok. I kept eating and drinking whilst I looked at the route until I thought I had read it enough.

I did the same warm up as last climb and felt good about it. I was really nervous but also bouncy as I really wanted to get onto and do it. So I tied in as soon as 137 had gone.

I chalked up and started the route well it was fine up until the first and biggest sloper. I had to do this part very slow but I managed to get past it without feeling as uncomfortable as I thought I would. This made me feel relieved so I finished the flat part of the route fine mainly because most of the holds were crimps! On the roof I did an awkward clip which used a lot of energy so I was very pumped. I couldn't get the third clip in the roof in so I tried to get the next hold but was too pumped to hold it as usual.

I ran up the hill after this as I was so annoyed with my performance. I packed everything up and sat under the shade. Ian and Simon came to speak to me and stopped me being as upset so that I could watch Hamish on his last route.

While I was waiting for the results we caught lizards and tried to find the fattest one. We found one which was quick fat and named him Greg/godzilla.

When the results finally came out I had managed to come 5th. I was very disappointed with this.

It was great comp and despite my disappointment I really enjoyed it. I learnt so much and it was amazing to have my coaches and friends there to help me out and cheer me on.

Thank you to Ian Dunn and Simon Rawlinson for all their help and support over the weekend!

Close to the podium

Youth Color Climbing Festival 2014 - Grades

The following are the grades for the girls pupil category:

Day 1 - Morning:

1. Orange 7a - "School For Cool"

2. Green 7b

3. Blue 7b

Day 1 - Afternoon:

4. Yellow 6c - "Thin Air"

5. Blue 7b+ - "Scenic Tour"

6. Black 7b+ - "YBF 1. Quali"

Day 2 - Morning:

7. Yellow 7a

8. Orange 7c+ - "YBM 2. Quali"

9. Grey 7a - "Over Night"

Picture of the grade sheet

Photo with all the routes

Youth Color Climbing Festival 2014 Day 2

Again I woke up at 6:30 but didn't have a lot of picnic left as we had eaten most of it the day before. I got my climbing bag ready and grabbed the football for the boys to to play with while I was reading routes and waiting for my turn. Instead of getting a taxi my Dad drove us to the centre this meant we could bring more stuff.

Once we arrived at the centre I went to the indoor part of the centre and started warming up with Kitty and Holly. I did a big warm up the same as yesterday because it worked well, maybe better than my usual one.

After warming up I went down to the outside arena but unluckily missing some of the first demo. I saw the other demo's. On the yellow route the demonstrator should have been timed out because he took ages to get to the top. For one of the boys routes the demonstrator fell off. I couldn't believe the routes were that hard.

There were only three routes today and my first one was the yellow. I thought it looked hard but not as hard as the other climbs I was going to do. By the time I had finished warming up it was my turn. I did well and got to the 4th from the top and was really pumped. I knew I was too pumped to top it so I held the next hold, only just, and got 1 more point.

The next climb was the orangey-yellow, it looked the hardest climb in the comp. I read it as much as I could and I thought I could get to the overhang but I fell off at the second clip. I was really-really disappointed with this because I thought I could get further.

My final climb was grey and it was a disaster! I was really looking forward to this and thought that I could top it. But I was concentrating on the top bit when I was doing the first few moves. I tried to clip from a side pull but my foot slipped and I barn doored. I tried to hold it the other side so I wouldn't fall off, but it was useless. I only got 4 points on this climb. This mistake cost over 10 places in the competition!!! It will never happen again. Ever!

I was really disappointed with this and cried. I couldn't think of what I did well because I was so annoyed with that climb.

We went up to the cafe to wait for the rest of the climber to finish. Kitty and Holly's coach came to talk to me and told me I did really well on my other climbs and that it happens to everyone. This was nice of her and made me feel better about the competition.

Once everyone had finished the presentation started. They call up every climber who entered and everyone got to choose a prize. I got a rucksack which I am now using for my climbing equipment when I go training.

I really enjoyed the competition and it was really good experience. It will definitely help me in the YCS final in Ratho. But I came the lowest place I have ever come in any competition 38th. Previously my lowest position was 5th. I hope this is the lowest place I will come in my whole life.

Youth Color Climbing Festival 2014 Day 1

I got up at 6:30 on Saturday ready to get a taxi to the climbing centre. My mum got some food together and because it had been so hot on Thursday and Friday we packed loads of drinks. We were expecting it to be raining in Imst and had brought all our waterproof coats, but not much summer clothing.

Soon the taxi arrived and we were in the centre by 7:45. When we got out the taxi it was freezing and windy so we put all our jackets on and thought that the weather forecast had been right. As I forgot my passport for registration the day before I had to show it today to get my number for the competition. It was a good thing that I remembered it!

Once I had got my number, I went down to the indoor arena to warm up. Ian so I joined in their warm up. It was great to warm up with the GB team! After some mobility we went inside for some easy climbing. I did laps of the bouldering wall. This was much more that I do on my usual warm up before competitions.

Down at the wall it was time for the demos (called forerunners in Austria). As usual the demo people were way too tall - not the size of most group C girls.

I was 17th in line for my first climb which was the yellow route. It looked hard at the bottom, but got easier towards the top. I watched the other climbers attempt the route and borrowed my Dads camera to zoom in and get a better look at some of the holds.

Finally it was my turn to climb. From the floor to the start of the overhang I managed to climb. It was quite hard and made me quite tired. Once I got onto the overhang I manage to do the next two clips, but I was too tired to go on. Even though I tried to move to the next hold, the belayer had taken in the slack too tight so I couldn't move and fell off. I was sad when I came down because I thought that I was going to do it.

My next climb was a blue. It looked easier than the yellow, but not that easy. I was really looking forward to doing this climb because it was my chance to do better than I did on the yellow. I enjoyed the blue climb because I tried my best and got to 4 holds from the top. I think I could have got to the top if I didn't get so tired.

The last climb of the morning was a green and in my opinion the hardest climb of the three. At this time my Dads friends Neil and Daniella arrived to watch the climbing. They just missed the blue climb, but were in time for the green. When I was watching the other climbers everyone seemed to fall off at one hold close to the top. I managed to reach this bit, but it was really bad so I know why a lot of people fell off at that point. I managed to get the hold and move off to the next hold which was a big pocket. Once I got the hold I went to clip and managed to get it in but fell off afterwards because I was tired. This was the end of the morning, we went to have a drink and a snack in the cafe because it was so hot.

Once we finished lunch it was time for the demos for the next three climbs. I wasn't please to find out that the routes the boys did in the morning were my next routes.

The first route I had in the afternoon was the yellow - the other side of the blue I did in the morning. This one didn't look too bad - the easiest so far. When it was my turn I managed to top the route, my first top of the comp. I was really pleased after this climb because it was one of the climbs I thought I would get to the top of an actually did.

My next route was the blue - it looked very crimpy and was one of the tallest of the routes so far. I read it with my Dad using the camera to zoom into the hold as we didn't have any binoculars. Once I had finished reading the route it didn't look as bad as I thought it was. I began the climb and thought I was going to fall off the first move because it was really hard. I didn't fall and managed to get to the start of the overhand. I clipped the clip and then tried to go for one of the minature crimps in the volume, but I couldn't get my fingers in in time so I fell off. I think I did OK on this climb, but maybe could have done a bit better if I wasn't so pumped.

The black was my last of the day and also looked the hardest. It looked doable after I read it with my dad using the camera. When I started the climb the first move was very difficult and I thought I was going to come straight off. Luckily I managed to hold on and clip the first clip. I then carried on with the climb until I got to the volume, I clipped the clip next to it but the move was really hard and the hold was awful and I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but I just managed it. Once I had done this move I was pretty pumped but managed two more clips and then fell off. I was disappointed with myself because I thought I could have got past that move if I wasn't so tired. I have done moves like that before.

We went back to the apartment and then met up with Neil and Daniella in their hotel. The meal we had in the hotel was really good. Once we had eaten we went back for a reasonably early night.

Registration for Youth Color Climbing Festival 2014

After training we sat in the cafe at the climbing centre for a long time - cooling down as we were all really hot. My dad ordered pizza just as Ian, the GB team coach arrived and came over to talk to us. He gave me some useful tactics for the comp and asked me if I wanted to warm up with the GB team. I really wanted to be part of the GB team so it would be great to climb with them and get to know everyone. At 5.00 I went to register. I got my T-shirt and Imst sweat band but didn't know you had to bring your passport so I didn't get my number. I would have to remember my passport on Saturday - oops.