Kitzbühel

Team GB do Kitzbühel (thanks to Victoria for taking the photo and giving artistic direction)

I topped the qualification boulders.  I am really pleased that I have had the opportunity to prove that I am physically capable being competitive.  This is something I thought I was capable of, but physically proving it is better.  I only wish I’d managed to do it during the competition, instead of messing up!

I only managed to top the 3rd and 5th boulders during the competition leaving me, once again, in a very disappointing 43rd place.  Hesitation and a slip denied me of the 4th boulder, on which I came within tickling distance of the last hold.  I gained the bonus on all the problems.  Both the boulders I topped were very dynamic.  This feels like a big breakthrough for me.   I am starting to relax and go for things.

Picture courtesy of Eddie Fowke (www.EddieFowkePhotography.com)

A very unusual opportunity arose directly after the competition.  We were able to briefly climb on the problems before they were stripped ready for the semi-final.  I re-attempted the 1st and 2nd boulders and discovered that my head had let me down.  I was more than capable of climbing them.

The 1st boulder was a slab.  During the competition I had persistently faced the wrong direction, denying me the balance position required to progress off the bonus.  I tried to use a foothold that I personally didn’t require to top the problem.  I needed to take a breath and look around me, relax into the climbing from the first problem.  Not wait to get into the swing part way through the competition.   After the competition, I found that I could smoothly gain the bonus, consider my previous beta, calmly discard it as it felt wrong, reassess without much deliberation.  A foot swap on an enormous foothold, and a lean into the big rounded bonus, allowed me to make a high step in balance.  A small rock up brought the penultimate hold into reach, and with it progression to the top hold.  It felt good to gain the top, despite it all being too late!

The 2nd boulder had my name all over it.  It was a thuggy roof with a big lock.  During the competition I repeatedly dropped the lock move off of the bonus.  I considered slightly amending my grip on the bonus to improve the right hand position when I matched.  This would allow better grip whilst trying to lock.  For some reason I did not apply the idea during the competition.  I put the idea to the test afterwards.  I topped the problem on my first post-competition attempt.  Why hadn’t I trusted my judgement during the competition?

I was not upset after the competition.  I was annoyed with myself for messing up and excited for the next competitions, having proved to myself that I am physically capable.  I need to work on being clear headed under pressure, but not overthinking, to relax and climb fluidly.

So now it’s a head game.  Bring it on.

Schwarzsee and a common statue in Kitzbühel

Ned Feehally during qualification

Dave Barrans during qualification.

CWIF 2013 – Chongqing - Millau

Not bad at all – really good, then not so good, but overall quite pleased – really disappointing.

What’s going on?

I achieved my best CWIF result to date this year – 5th.  I felt lucky.  My body didn’t feel like my own from the beginning, but I was determined to battle through.  In qualification I felt like I fell short of a lot of problems, in need of more ‘grr’.  This was a sentiment that was shared by many, so I made it through to the semi final mid way up the ranks. 

The overriding memory of the qualification, for me, was running headlong into a wall.  I rolled around on the floor laughing at myself for quite a while, assuming that I had lacked the coordination to achieve a parkour start to a boulder problem.  Annoyingly this wasn’t the full story.  I discovered, on standing up, that I had twisted my ankle on the run up.  Luckily it wasn’t too bad and I could load it as long as I didn’t twist my foot, and it still makes me chuckle that I managed to shoulder barge a wall to the extent that I bounced off it.  These kind of problems are amusing for spectators and climbers wishing to branch out into different things, but will never truly be climbing.  How could they when they are often easier in trainers than climbing shoes?  But then I enjoy sit starts and micro-boulders!

A flash in the semi-final saw me through to the final in 6th place.  The final looked like the final was going to be a ‘nil point’ event for me.  Historically my lock off strength has far exceeded my ability to bounce moves.  The bounce into a lock and then ratchet through to the next hold is a classic move for me.  This wasn’t the case here.  I couldn’t keep my arms bent.  I had to rely on my head to keep me battling on, willing my body to play ball.  The third problem brought a ray of light.  A bonus hold was obtainable without relying on arm bend. However, I wanted more.  I hit my arms before my second attempt and shouted at them ‘come on arms’, and they responded.  I got a top, and with it 5th place.

 

In Chongqing I was one attempt short of a perfect round.  This is the first time I have topped all the problems in a round of a World Cup.  It felt amazing.  The next round fell a long way short of this leaving me in 19th out of the 20 semi-finalists. However, despite a couple of initial tears, the semi final performance couldn’t quell the feelings from the previous round.  Overall I was happy with what I achieved.

That said, I need to work out what changed from one day to the next.  Was I too relaxed going into the semi-final?

We had time in Chongqing to look around, whilst adjusting to the time zone.  Chongqing is enormous, with a population of around 30 million people.  The roads are are never-ending stream of constantly weaving traffic.  The streets are lined with shops and stalls, with high-rise buildings towering above.  Every inch seemed to be utilised or undergoing regeneration.  Between all this, space is still made for green borders and trees, helping to combat the inevitable smog.  The city sprawls out into the mountains from where the Jialing River joins the Yangtze River.  Our hotel room overlooked the river.  The huge Yangtze gave a feeling of calm, open expanse in contrast to the sky scraping city.

The local food is tasty and spicy.  We went out to a local restaurant and had to call for help to order food as we didn’t know where to start.  With help from the locals, we were coached through the process of adding various meats and vegetables to huge hot pot of boiling spicy broth, before fishing the cooked morsels out with chop sticks/a slotted ladle for eating.  Fun, tasty, messy for us, and at times a little eye watering!  I’m still trying to discover what one of the really tasty vegetables was.

I had a lovely Birthday surprise from the girls, with cake and a ‘made in China’ card (thanks to Shauna, Mina and Alex).  We also each received a beautiful gift of a personalised scroll from the event organisers.  It was an all round great trip.

Chongqing, China (and somewhere, some large distance up above the clouds)

 

Eight of us went on holiday for Easter in Fontainebleau.  I took it easy, keeping the volume of climbing low, as I had to leave early to go to the Millau round of the World Cup.  The weather was cool and dry, with plenty of sunshine.  The friction was strangely low, but it was good to be out on the rock.  I rested quite a bit, ate well and slept well.  I travelled to the south of France on the train - a mode of transport that usually delivers me to my destination feeling pretty good compared to flying.  Strangely, I felt knackered on arrival.

My warm up for the competition felt good, despite the early start (isolation closed at 8am).  The first problem felt like it was going to be a flash, but I repeatedly swung off whilst trying to match the top hold.  For the rest of the problems, I felt like I was trying to climb whilst being twice the weight as usual (akin to swimming through mud).  It was hard.  I was upset afterwards, getting almost my worse result ever – 40th.

Millau, France (thanks to Victoria with Dave’s camera for the namesake shot)