Update - 14th June 2016

Life has been very busy. This year I have been sitting my Higher exams and I have now left school :) I have a conditional offer for Edinburgh college to study HND Civil Engineering, so fingers crossed for good exam results. I am also learning to drive and have just passed my Theory test, so there has been lots going on. I am really looking forward to being able to drive as I will be able to get to my training and to crags without relying on anyone else.

I have also been very busy with my climbing. This year I wanted to climb Rainshadow, 9a at Malham, and so I had been training very hard for this over the winter. I am psyched that I was able to achieve this goal on the 2nd May.

UKClimbing report

Climbing this route has been the biggest buzz of my climbing so far, as this route has been a dream of mine since my first visit to Malham aged 12. Also, I feel that this is a major stepping stone in my climbing and I am psyched for the future.

I have also still been competing, over the winter at the Youth Opens, CWIF, local bouldering comps and more recently at a Lead EYC in Imst, Austria and at the Junior British Bouldering Championship. These competitions have been successful for me and I am pleased with how I have performed.

At the EYC in Imst, I was very tired as I had my Computing exam the day before the competition and had, therefore, arrived at the hotel at 2am. Despite this I managed to climb well enough to make the final, in a large and strong field. The final route was tricky for me as it was set in very much a World Cup Boulder style using very few holds and lots of volumes, which is not a style I am used to. I fought my way up the route and finished the comp in 10th. I was happy with how I climbed, given the poor preparation due to exams.

This past week, to celebrate leaving school, I headed down to Malham with fellow climbers Ajda Remskar and Jim Pope. We spent a really fun few days camping and climbing. Unfortunately, conditions were not good as birds were nesting on some routes and the sun was out. However, Jim and I managed to send some classic routes, including Unjustified 8b+ and Austrian Oak 8b. I also did a little work on Total Eclipse and I am psyched to return to this route when conditions improve.

Austrian Oak 8b

After our week in Malham we headed to Manchester for the JBBCs. I was happy to climb well at this comp and finish in 1st place :)

Junior Boys Podium JBBC 2016

I am now psyched to visit Ajda in Slovenia, for a few weeks, where I plan to train really hard at their brilliant training walls. Not having to return to school is great!