SYBC 2013 at TCA Glasgow

On Saturday 4th May I competed at the Scottish Youth Boulder Championship at T.C.A, Glasgow. This is the first year that this competition has been a part (Round 2) of the British Bouldering Championship, so it was very busy with climbers from all over the UK and Ireland competing. The GB Boulder Team were competing and keen to do well and prove themselves.

I was competing in Youth B boys. We had 15 problems to complete in the Qualifier and I was happy to flash all of them. I was not alone in achieving this, however, and of the 6 climbers that qualified through to the Final, four of us were tied for first place. The route setters were busy tweaking some of the final problems to ensure they would separate us.

We went into isolation at the back of the wall, and as the Final problems had been hidden all day behind curtains I was psyched to see them. We had 3 problems to climb in the final (and 4 minutes to climb each one) and I studied them carefully when we came out for our 4 minutes of observation time. I thought they all looked climbable.

Final Problem 1

I was 4th out to climb each time. The first problem I was pleased to climb on my first attempt. Our second problem was a balance-y climb on a slab and, unfortunately, my foot slipped twice. I topped it on my third attempt but I was really cross with myself for making a silly mistake. On the third problem I was determined not to make any mistakes and so was pleased to onsight this one.

Final Problem 2 

At the top of Final Problem 3 

After we had all climbed, and the results were posted, I was delighted to have finished 1st. It was a very close competition and problem attempts (5 as opposed to 8) were all that separated Pete Dawson and I.

Youth B Boys podium
Pete Dawson, me, James Mabon

I was pleased to have retained my Scottish Champion title and received a cool trophy designed by Malcolm Smith.  

Thanks to MCofS and TCA for organising this comp - it was really well run especially as there was a large amount of climbers attending.

Malham, Easter 2013

Last week I enjoyed a climbing holiday in Yorkshire with my family. We were very lucky with the weather as it stayed dry although it was very cold, especially at Kilnsey! I also met up with friends, from Scotland, at Malham Cove which was very good fun.

Icicles at Malham Cove

The first day I climbed at Malham Cove and did Overnite Sensation, 8a+. This was a really cool route which has a hard bouldery section at the start and I really enjoyed climbing it.

The following day I worked the moves for Magnetic Fields, 8b. This is a very powerful route with a crux move at the second clip requiring a tricky foot sequence. After a day of Trad climbing, at Giggleswick, I came back to this route on the Wednesday and managed to send it! I was really happy as these are the hardest routes I have climbed outdoors. 

Moving into the crux section of Magnetic Fields

Magnetic Fields, 8b

Thursday was a rest day, although we visited some climbing friends in Harrogate and ended up at the Climbing Centre there. So much for a rest I jumped on the hard Leading Ladder routes and onsighted them!

On Friday I worked the moves for Predator, 8b, at Malham. It is a long, sustained route with hard moves the whole way and few resting points. It is a really cool route. We drove back to Edinburgh on Saturday morning, after I had given Predator an attempt. I got high on the route, but was too tired after a week of climbing, and fell at the crux section. Next time ......

on Predator, 8b

The Malham crew!

The moral of this story is... to have a rest day! Or live closer to Malham!

GB Team Selection Weekend, 8/9th December 2012

On the Saturday I competed at the Lead selection event held at Awesome Walls, Liverpool. I topped the first two qualifiers along with four others. So I qualified in joint first place and was last to climb in the final.
Both Angus Davidson and I topped the final and so had to go back into isolation and climb a superfinal. I was pleased to top this route, Angus had fallen at the crux move to a volume. I was delighted to finish in first place.

On Superfinal route

Nearing the top

Youth B Boys podium

The Sunday was the Boulder selection event at The Hangar, Liverpool, which I was competing in for fun. I had 8 qualifying problems to compete and I flashed 6, took two attempts to top the 7th and four to top the 8th. I qualified through to the final in 2nd place. We were put into isolation for 4 1/2 hours before climbing - my Dad who was waiting to watch lost the will to live! The Youth B boys in isolation also lost the will to live although not to climb! In the final I topped the first 2 problems and almost topped the last, my foot popped at the top. At the end of the final four climbers were drawn so they used count-back from the qualifying round to separate us. This meant that I finished in 1st place. I was very happy to have won both events!

In the Finals - Problem 2

On the podium

As the Boulder comp had run so late we arrived back in Edinburgh at 1.00am - it was a very long weekend!
Two first places was a great finish to my year!