BBC's 2012

I’ve had about 12 months of solid indoor training, leading up to the BBC’s and the Euro’s and last weekend it was finally time for the BBC’s. This year they had decided to go with the official IFSC European age categories; meaning I was back in the junior category (born 1994 and 1993) which gave me 2 more years in this category. And after getting on the podium 3 years in a row in the junior category in previous years, I was hoping to finally win.

Cliffhanger had been called off the night before by the council but the comp was still to take place. I’d had a bit of a problem with my knee for a few weeks leading up to the comp but I had a few sessions with the team chiropractor and it seemed to be feeling alright on the day. I love big comps like this, where you get to climb with everyone you haven’t seen for a while and loads of other great climbers.

So the comp kicked off and I got straight on a pretty hard problem with a dyno and flashed it. This put me in a great mindset for the rest of the comp. In the end I managed to get 7 of the 10 problems with a score of 67 and 8 bonuses putting me in joint 9^th position; 1 place out of the senior final. Gaz parry just snook in and took the 8^th spot by 1 bonus hold. While I was a bit disappointed I was so close to making the final, I was really pleased with my performance. I took the junior title by a full 10 points. So I’m now the new Junior British Bouldering Champion.

It was a great comp with some good technical problems; just what I like. The final was great to watch, with Britain’s top climbers competing against each other it can only be a good thing. Hopefully next year I won’t be watching.

My First Blog - The BBC's 2010

Over the past season I have been training and competing indoors a lot in preparation for the junior BBC’s and the European Youth Bouldering Masters in France this summer. The BBC’s at the weekend was a bit of a mixed bag. I qualified for the final in second place with a score of 87 out of 100, sitting behind a score of 90 from Barnaby Ventham. Seb Smith and Joe Swales who I climb with at Leeds also made it into the final which made it a bit more interesting.

It looked like it was between me and Barnaby based on the qualification scores. There was a significant gap between us and the next place qualifiers. In the final I flashed the first problem along with a few of the other finalists. The second took a few more attempts but got there in the end. The third was a bit more tricky and no one topped it, but I was so close, as I held the last hold but couldn’t hang on to match it. I was the only one to get to the final hold and if I’d held it I would have won. The last problem was on a big overhang, it was tough but a few of us managed to flash it.

Despite making every move in the final, I came out 3rd because I had too many attempts on the second problem. This was a good result but I am a bit disappointed on not getting 1st, as that was my aim for the comp having finished second and third previously. The first place was taken by Edd Mowbray who was the most consistent climber on the problems that were topped. All in all it was a pretty good weekend and I’m still in training for the comp in France in July. After that I hope to get outside a bit more.