Arco Rock Junior 2011

On the weekend of 1st/2nd October I competed at Rock Junior in Arco, Italy. I was the only GB climber there - which was a bit lonely (only my Dad for company!) It was very hot in Arco, which was hard as I am used to climbing at Ratho in the cold!

Rock Junior 2011

I competed in the Under 14 Cup. There were 41 competitors from 11 countries in my category.
The competition includes 5 boulders, a speed climb and 2 lead climbs.

The boulders were very hard. There was an hour and 15 minutes to complete them - so you had to make sure that you kept your place in the queue. I finished in 23rd place and was a bit disappointed.

On one of the Boulder problems

Next came the Speed climb. This was quite difficult as it was a random route so I couldn't practise for it. I finished in 20th place in this event.

The first lead climb was the final event of the first day. I was really psyched for this and climbed well to finish in 5th equal. I was glad to finish the first day well.

On the Sunday we had the 2nd lead trial. We climbed in reverse order so I was one of the last to climb. It was another really hot day so I tried to keep in the shade. I was very nervous as I wanted to do well. It was a tricky route and I gave it my best and managed to finish in 4th place.
After the 2 lead climbs I was in 4th equal place and was delighted with this result.

2nd Lead Climb

Overall I finished in 13th place.

It was hard to avoid the Arco mascot (a fox) as he dived into all the photos at the presentations!
I had a great trip and would love to visit Arco again.