EYBC - L'Argentiere - France - 2012

Three weeks ago the last round of the European Youth Bouldering Championships was drawing near and it was time to start packing. Between the last one and this; I had upped my training because I knew I needed to get stronger. So when it came to the comp I was feeling pretty good.

The comp was held in L’Argentiere France where I had been twice before. It helped a lot to know the area and to know where the supermarkets were. It was boiling the whole time we were there and I wasn’t complaining as I love the heat. On the day of the qualifiers I managed 3 tops and was close to 3 or 4 others. Only me and one other managed to get all the bonuses which made me feel a bit better about my result. I ended up in 13^th place. I thought I could have done a bit better but after seeing my overall European Junior ranking at 10^th, I thought that was pretty good. It was nice to see Dave Barrans and Ellie Howard cheering me on in the crowd.

Whilst at the comp we met some really nice people who put us up for a night on our last day there. The final was really good to watch however much I wanted to be doing it. Hopefully next year it won’t be just me going from Britain.

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.