Happy Holidays – Fontainebleau

The comp season is over for 2012.  I was collected from Paris just after watching the women’s boulder final and was in sunny Fontainebleau a short time later.  This is what holidays are made of.  I could have wondered around the forest for a day or so, sat on a rock in the dappled sun taking in the forest for quite a long time… but the temptation of the climbing got the better of me and I just climbed and climbed some more until the following Friday.  It was glorious weather all week.

I thought my skin was going to give out on the second day, but I managed to slow the the pace enough to make it last.  We visited the popular Apremont Ouest and Isatis, along with some beautiful quieter areas such as Gorges de Houx and Reconnaissance. 

I came really close to Alta (7b+/7c) at Isatis, working it with some of the Japanese team that we bumped into.  They have a really good dynamic and the ‘gambas’, big pads, lots of spotters and pointing out of ripples in the slopey top out really helped.  It was the end of the day and I slipped off the slopey top and had to call it quits.  I may have to make this a project and return to it.  Y’a Pas Photo (7a+) was a goer though (see photos below), but took a bit of work as it was reachy.  I ended using a fist jam to get enough reach to come out from the roof.  I still have a hole in my hand, but it was worth it for getting a technique that I am poor at to work.

Where ever we ended up, I had a look around and in the book and chose a couple of problems in the 7’s to try.  It didn’t matter what grade, just something to work at.  The workers often ended up being the other ‘easier’ climbs, especially the 5+’s.  The standing joke of the holiday was that if it we couldn’t climb it then it must be a 5+.

There was one exception to the haphazard problem choosing, we talked about boulders at the campsite and Bleaus Art sounded good.  It was.  Here’s a video.

Bleau's Art from Peter Jeffery on Vimeo.

We also talked about the enormous hedgehog that woke us up trying to steal our food.  Apparently he was called Benson!

I ‘warmed up’ on Duroxmanie (6c) at Cuvier Rempart on one of the days (see photos below).  I scared myself at the top, having got a flash pump (and I just get scared on higher stuff).  I did a LHS sit start, but couldn’t work out the direct sit start.  We moved on to Reconnaissance and I found this nice little problem (Le Petit Poum, 7b, video below).  The sit start felt plausible for me, but I couldn’t connect into the top sequence.

Petit Poum from Peter Jeffery on Vimeo.

We all decided that the orange circuit was the way forward at Apremont Ouest.  It was a day when everything felt hard.  It was fun swinging around on slightly bigger holds, but there were still plenty of surprises.

World Championships 2012– Paris

The World Championships started off quite quietly for us boulderers in a side hall of the enormous Bercy arena.  I had by far the best comp of my 2012 season.  I flashed the first and last problems and stuck a dyno for a 3rd top.  I didn’t work out the other two problems, but it was good to be moving more fluidly and getting things right first time.  Katy and I hung in 10th place in our respective qualification groups and it looked like we both might qualify for the semi-finals.  There were some very strong girls within the unranked. The scores went up up agonisingly slowly.  We both just missed out in 21st and 23rd place overall.  Gutted.

The competition grew.  The crowds for the finals were bigger than any I have ever seen for a climbing event.  The atmosphere was amazing.

We had a big support team for this comp with the managers, chiropractor and nutritionist attending.  This was great.  There was also a good number of team GB supporters that came across to cheer us on.

After the dyno on problem 3 – Image by Nick Clement

The girls – Image by Gill Peet’s phone

Munich 2012

Back in the stunning 40 year old Olympic Park venue for the last round of the Boulder World Cup this year I had high hopes.  I had been mentally building myself up for this comp, as I know that I am strong again now.

My warm up was ok, but I maybe did a couple of problems too many.  I was climbing late as I had lost my world ranking due to not getting in the top 30 so far this year.  It was the first time I had been unranked since gaining a ranking, but I was determined not to let it get me down.

I missed an obvious foot placement on the easier flash problem and dropped the flash (again) on the last move. I didn't think to put foot to hand until after trying lots of other things, falling off and going up again. My knees where bleeding.  I’m not sure how I managed to get them so grazed again.

I’d topped the problem and I moved on, excited to find out what was next.  It was a nice press to a bonus volume.  I couldn't find the right grip to progress to what looked an ok top, so top for me. I tried lots of positions.  I need to play on nasty volumes more.

The third problem was interesting.  It was clearly set as a dyno, but I could see that I could rock up to the penultimate hold from the start hold rather than dyno left.  I should have flashed the bloc having decided on this solution, but was convinced I should get the bonus on the way and proceeded to drop the top.  Second go I went direct to the top.  I was pleased with my no hands wave the first time to go the wrong way to the bonus – it was a fun move.

The fourth problem had a burly start, I missed a foothold and wasted lots of energy trying to smear (school boy error).  I got to the top second go, but failed to match the sloper at the top after an unexpected slip that surprised me (it felt like I could hold it).  I was too tired to go round again and saved my energy for the awkward high step start on the fifth problem that took a few goes.  I’m normally good at high steps, but the correct body position evaded me for some time.  I got bonus ok once I’d got going, but my arms wouldn't work to progress.  The result - 2t4 t 5b10 27th place out of 51 competitors.  A match at the top of the 3rd problem would have put me in 20th and the semi-final :-(  What ifs once again won’t change anything.

I didn’t notice the torrential rain until I’d finished and taken off my Kintaros.  I’d been too focused to realise how muggy and unpleasant it had got.  If I hadn’t noticed then it can’t have factored too much.

I felt like I had made too many errors of judgement, eating into my small reserve of power endurance more than if I had made the right choices.  I know I could have got a better result.  This is the reality of competition climbing, you’ve got to get it right.  I watched back the live feed of the top girls on the problems.  The same thought processes could be seen, the same trying and adjusting and going again.  However, they topped between 1 and 3 boulders more than me.  They had that little bit more savvy and/or strength to finish.

The team did well. All eight of us competing got points (top 30) to put us 6th in the team rankings for both the event and overall in the 2012 World Cup.  Five made it to the semi-final.  One, Stew Watson, made it to the final and came 6th.  Go team GB.

Shauna bravely joined us in Munich on her crutches.  It must have been hard watching all the climbing and not being able to take part and defend her World Cup position.  However, she did a small amount of climbing at the end – onto the podium in third place for the 2012 World Cup Series.  An awesome effort, especially as it was her first full season.

Gill, Katy and Shauna supporting Dave

Stew on his way to the final

Ned and Dave