Hanging out, bouldering at Stanage Plantation it is impossible not to look at the giant, imposing arête that is Unfamiliar. I remember watching Dan Varian and Ned Feehally trying it above pads one time and thinking they were mad. At the same time, seeing them there moved Unfamiliar in my mind from being a scary trad route, to a highball: a small shift in perspective but a powerful one. I have very little trad experience but I have done a fair bit of highballing.

The climb was on my “one day” list, a mental reference to things I was keen for but also scared of. Although all the hard climbing was now being done above pads as a highball, the top section was above gear and was not trivial.

Last week, David said he was keen to get back on it and I took the chance to go along and have a go. It was one of those perfect blue-sky grit days, even maybe a bit too cold! At first, I really struggled with the beginning section, not finding the body position and failing to commit to rocking up onto the arête.  Call me a wuss, but even with pads it felt insecure, like you could pop off in any direction and tumble down the hill! I got more and more confident but was still not fully committing. My highpoint that day was the top pocket and the left arête, not being able to make myself do the foot moves. I jumped off from there and went home annoyed with myself for being scared. It was an inspiring day though as Ethan and then David both lead the route successfully. I was determined to go back in a better headspace.

First session trying Unfamiliar (Photo Ethan Walker)

So the following Friday we went back. In the three days between, I had been ruminating con about the route, watching footage, and even dreaming about it! I visualised getting to the same place but in my head I wouldn’t hesitate or be scared, I would just keep climbing. I visualised the top section too, unknown except for watching other people and tried to mentally rehearse what I was going to do when I got there. I tried to practice not being scared.

So we went back and I was a lady with a plan (doesn’t rhyme so well…). Except the weather was not what we had hoped and everything was wet. Unfamiliar was not completely wet, but the top half was and so we waited to see if a wind would pick up and dry it for us. As the afternoon went on it began to look a lot drier and David abbed down it to chalk the holds and check out the condition. It looked okay so he pre-placed the gear for us (I will come back to this) and Nathan and I began to work it from the ground. The conditions actually felt really good on the bottom half and after a few goes I found myself at my previous highpoint but committing this time and pulling through to gain the break and clip the gear. I had planned to rest here for a bit and compose myself but on reaching the break I realised quickly that I couldn’t reach the good right foothold anymore (that the others stood on to shake out a bit), so was unable to shake my right arm out easily. Sod’s Law was in full force as that was the pumped arm from the small pockets lower on the climb. So my mental process went something like “ better get on with it then, before this pump gets any worse” and I proceeded to the next moves. The top section was actually fine, it went pretty smoothly to begin with but I was aware that, although the handholds were dry, some of the footholds were a bit on the damp side. They were making that horrible scrittely sound. Pulling over the top onto the slab is not hard but it’s also not as simple as getting out of a pool and requires some smearing (on fairly good holds). As I pulled over the top, both my feet popped at once and I was very nearly off! I managed to compose myself and try again, topping out to a mixture of adrenaline fuelled relief and happiness. I have always wanted to climb that line and I was so happy to have done it.

Video Still – Nick Brown

For the sake of clarity, I would like to talk a little about the style of my ascent. I climbed Unfamiliar ground up, above pads with pre-placed gear. Ground up because I had not got to a point where I felt a rope was needed to work the moves (but I would have considered it later on had I not had success). This ties in with trying it above pads – ground up is much safer and more achievable that way. I essentially saw the climb as a boulder problem that had a bit of gear at the top rather than a potentially leg-breaking trad route above no pads. Each to their own, but this was my personal choice. Regarding the pre-placed gear, I have very minimal gear placing experience and was not confident placing the gear on lead.  So it was another personal decision. Placing gear is a skill and an art and I have the upmost respect for experienced trad climbers. I would not be so bold as to jump in the deep end and assume I can do it well with little practice. Perhaps in the future, with more experience I will make a different decision. Lastly, the style in which I climbed it is exactly the same as many other ascents of this route, including that of Ethan, Dave, Ned etc so perhaps times are changing and there is simply more than one way to skin a cat.

Does it detract from the ascent? Is it still E7/E8? I don’t know and I don’t really mind to be honest. I wanted to climb the line; if it had been smaller, I would have tried to highball the whole thing but, as it is, that was not a clever option. I am a boulderer; I see it more as a highball 7C with some gear at the top than an E7/E8 really. Pads definitely make it safer, that’s for sure. Perhaps, gritstone grades need to be more malleable to take into account style now …my experience does not qualify me to know what a certain E grade feels like so I can’t really comment any further…

 Unfamiliar – Photo Nick Brown

I wanted to write a blog to give a bit of background on the CAC Calendar. I know there has been some criticism out there, as expected, and I wanted to use this opportunity to share my side of the story.  Shauna’s blog gives some insight into how the idea was born and developed – here I wanted to discuss some issues that came up for me.

I will start by saying that I think it is important that sports people in the media are responsible and conscious of how they are represented: for their own personal liability but also for the image it puts forward for the sport as a whole.

So, based on what I just said, was the CAC calendar risky or downright irresponsible?

That was a decision I had to make when I was contemplating whether or not to be a part of it. I would like to, for the sake of being honest and forthright, share with you my thought process around this and give some insight into how I, personally (and I can only really speak for myself), came to the decision to support the calendar and take part.

For me there are some core issues:

Female representation in the media is a complex issue. I would be the first to argue that I don’t want to encourage women in sport being recognized and valued for their looks/ sex appeal over their ability and achievements.  And certainly not exploited. Understandably, just the connotations of a calendar made me nervous about this. Was there a way to do this well or was it always going to be a trade off in morality?

Another part of my brain argues that sports women may be feminine and sexy by nature – are they required to hide this/shy away from it in order to be taken seriously? Does the fault lie with the woman in the image portrayed or with the person viewing that image and what they decide to think about it? Is this an issue that we as women have to control from our end or is it an issue in society at large? When we see a sexy image of David Beckham, do we change what we think of his achievements or is the picture just a separate event? Can we separate these things when it comes to women, or are we just not there yet? I guess it comes down to the age-old question of whether supporting women’s rights and shaving one’s legs are mutually exclusive. Can we be sexy/feel positive about sex and still be feminists?

A point that is worth mentioning is the value something like this has in appreciating a healthy/athletic female physique as opposed to an unhealthy version. Women (as with men) are in the media regardless, and I would much rather see women with six packs than a woman so skinny she looks close to passing out. More specific to climbing, it also demonstrates that in a sport that requires a good set of arm muscles, it is still possible to embrace one’s femininity (if one should choose to do so).

Shauna tried to gauge it well from the beginning: the pictures are meant to be fun and lighthearted. Perhaps that is easier to see when you know all the women involved. The idea was that we would show another side of the climbers that are usually seen only in a climbing context. These women are people, not just climbers; some are into music and art, some prefer a good book; some paint their nails, some don’t; some love the camera, some shy away; some are full of jokes, some serious. There is so much more to these women than the calendar shows, of course, but even the calendar shows more personality than we normally get to see. We picked a fancy dress theme and went with it. I urge you to look past whether there is skin on show or not –see the glint in Angie’s eye, laugh with me and Jule, appreciate Anna’s six pack, admire Meagan’s confident flare and by all means be wowed by Akiyo’s beauty.

So, back to my question at the beginning, I think this calendar was risky. But I hope it does not come across irresponsible – that is the last thing anyone involved would want and we have worked hard to try to do it right.  What tipped the balance for me? Firstly, it was the brainchild of two women, photographed by a woman and managed by a woman so I felt safe that it would be handled carefully. Secondly, it was for a charity and one that I care a lot about. If this calendar was for profit, I may not have done it because it wouldn’t have been worth the aforementioned risk of misinterpretation and controversy. Raising money for cancer research, in my opinion, made it worth taking that risk and hoping that people would see it in the way it was meant. And thirdly, we had a lot of fun making it!

When I was deciding what to do, I thought a lot about what my mother would say. She was an intellectual woman, very aware of gender issues and would have been a good person to consult. Sadly she died of cancer when I was seventeen so I can’t ask her, but if I could I think she would agree that we took a risk, a risk that was managed well and that produced something expressive, fun and lighthearted.  I hope that fewer great people are lost to cancer in the future and if we can help that a little bit then brilliant. I look forward to a men’s calendar in 2015!

What do you understand by trying hard: training for a climbing trip or getting up early to try your project? Going out in the rain to find dry rock, embarking on a tenth session or buying the shoes that you know will work on that move? Or are we talking about something more specific: that split-second moment when you should be falling off but you dig deep – somewhere hidden and not often called upon – and for a moment you think nothing, see nothing, experience nothing. But you’re still on the rock.

Are you really trying hard when you climb? Are you pushing as far as you possibly can? Do you have the capacity, the energy and the motivation? I’m talking about something past what one first thinks of as trying: a new level; an indefinable concept of effort. It’s a factor entirely dependent on the capacity of the individual. Take Adam Ondra’s primal screams of effort or Chris Sharma’s roars of power – both of them, I believe, know the depths of what I am talking about. So is it natural or learnt? Do some people just know how to go there while some linger on the outskirts, unable to break down their barriers? I believe we can all go there if we want to, if we realise that there is an arena into which we have not been, if we are explorers and we are willing to take it on.

My memory of finding this tool – and a tool it is, not to be over-used, but applied in force when needed – lies with one boulder problem. It was freezing cold and I was tired, but my motivation was high, my hunger to achieve insatiable. I had fallen over 20 times on the last move, over a handful of sessions including the one I was immersed in. I felt like I had learnt to fall there, it was part of my sequence now and I didn’t know how to combat it. But I really wanted to. Funny, how some of life’s best lessons are learnt in moments of relative desperation. I don’t know what was different on the go I held the move. I don’t remember much except that I experienced a sort of ‘blank’ moment and I heard a low, guttural noise that I later realised had originated from somewhere deep within me. I had knocked down a barrier, mental and physical, and I knew it then: I felt a palpable growth in my potential, just in that moment. I had accidentally found and understood something about myself and my limits, something precious and also overwhelming.

The enemy of this ability, this tool, as with many things in life, is fear. When you put everything you have into something, utterly and completely, there is no room for pride, ego or, even, shame. You are opening yourself up to a new level of failure – a complete failure with no excuses or reasons. If you harness this tool, you will inevitably face this kind of failure where you have held nothing back, but you are still not good enough. Be aware of this risk, this potential pain, but be inspired by how much you can achieve by digging deep, by finding that last grain of power and pushing it to the surface. Your horizons will widen, your understanding of your limitations will expand and your successes will mount up.

This lesson was a turning point for me: a realisation of what trying really means, of how far I could push and what I could achieve. I learnt to tap into a reserve that I didn’t know existed and it fuelled me forwards in my climbing.

How far could you go if you really, really tried?

 Amphitheatre – I had to try bloody hard on this one! Photo David Mason

We arrived back in the UK from South Africa on Tuesday the 10^th of September and by early Thursday morning I was back at the airport heading to Stuttgart for the annual Adidas Rockstars competition.

This is a really fun event and I thoroughly enjoyed the climbing, meeting friends and, of course, meeting new people too. Last year I was fortunate enough to make finals and so this year I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t climb well in the semi finals but, after a summer on rock, I was sure to remind myself that my expectations shouldn’t be too high! In fact, looking on the bright side, it was just the kick I needed at this point in the year to spur me on in my training! Big well done to Shauna who climbed well as usual!

Warming up for the Adidas Rockstars Event

So, the competition was done and some partying ensued. The next day was harder than usual as Shauna, Jon Cardwell, Florian from 5.10 and I headed to Nuremburg to do some filming to promote the new Team VXI shoe at Café Kraft.

Our day at Cafe Kraft

The Team VXI is an interesting development in 5.10’s repertoire. With all over MI6 rubber, the shoe is very soft and is amazing at toe hooking and smearing on textured walls and volumes. Straight away you can see how good it is for those things but I wasn’t initially sold on it for small edges –the shoe felt unsupportive and like it would pop on tiny footholds. Interestingly, this improved as I learnt to use the shoe and I actually think that as you use the shoe more, your foot will get stronger and compensate for the lack of support. If all you want to do on a climb is stand on small edges then perhaps a stiffer shoe is in order but if you want an all round shoe to combat any kind of footwork then this one is great, just be patient as your foot adapts.

After some filming and climbing at Café Kraft, our next stop was Vastervik in Sweden. Shauna, Ned, Dave and I had been invited to the Bouldering meet this year and we were met with incredible hospitality and kindness from the climbers there.  We were shown around some great bouldering areas and got to try some really cool lines.  The granite is good quality and varied which means lots of types of boulders to keep busy on. I managed to climb some cool boulders that I was really pleased with. The festival was a great success, with climbing in the daytime and talks or films in the evening. The development in this area has been done by a handful of climbers and I have great admiration for their psyche and commitment  – thank you for finding these boulders and inviting us to climb them with you!

The Office sds (8A), Photo Stefan Rasmussen

Est Coast Warrior (7C+), Video Still

David o Goliat (8A), Photo David Mason

As I mentioned earlier, we were really looked after during our stay – even our rest day was amazing! Jim arranged for us to take a boat out to one of the islands, where we had a picnic (Sanna had baked a yummy cake) and played with the jellyfish! Then we had a cold dip in the sea followed by a sauna – I wish all my rest days were like that!

Holding a jellyfish!

Beautiful view of the jetty, Photo David Mason

We also ran a clinic at the local wall, which was great fun and hopefully all useful stuff for those that attended. A special thanks to Jim, Stefan, Sanna and Erik for making our trip so fun and memorable.

Here is a video of me on The Office (8A) from Stefan Rasmussen:

Mina from stefan rasmussen on Vimeo.

We have quite a bit of footage to show at some point – Dave has been editing like a busy bee…..maybe Rocklands stuff first though….

Six weeks has flown by and I find myself sitting in Cape Town airport wondering how I can put down in words what a fantastic summer I have had.  Do I start with the successes or the failures; the setting or the activity; the poignant moments or the general experience? Perhaps I should have written a blog earlier and broken this down into smaller bits.…Well I’ll have a go and try not to ramble on for too long.

David, Emma and I arrived at the end of July to a familiar and beautiful setting. We were here two years ago so this time our minds were full of anticipation for the climbs we left unclimbed. Some had denied us, as we weren’t strong enough, some we hadn’t even tried. We were happy to be back and keen to get stuck in.

I had a long list of boulders I wanted to climb. I had nearly done quite a few classics in 2011 so I had a lot of unfinished business. At the same time, I also wanted to see if I could up my game and I decided to try some harder boulders at the 8B level…testing the water I guess. So my list was pretty extensive, with a lot of classic 8As and 7C+s as well as climbs like The Vice and Mooiste Meisie (both 8B).

Pendragon (8A), Photo David Mason

Six weeks sounds like a long time (and it is) but it raced past. Before I knew it we were half way through, Emma was leaving soon and James was arriving. Although I had had quite a lot of success on my classics list, I was not making the progress I wanted on the harder ones. I discovered early on that on both the harder climbs I could do all the moves. Good start. I could also do some okay links but then I started to hit a bit of a wall in different ways on both climbs. On The Vice, I found that I needed more than a day’s rest to recover from the beating it gave me and so I had some great sessions and some sessions where I was totally useless on it (knocking my confidence) and I had moments where I felt trying it was a bit silly. On Mooiste Meisie I made more progress but there was one move that I had a low percentage of success on….and it was right at the end! So, on the hard stuff front I had a tricky time. BUT, I have learnt that I am very nearly strong enough to climb that hard and it gave me confidence to try other things at that level. I think if I had focused purely on those climbs this trip, maybe things would have been different…but maybe they wouldn’t have.

A Splash of Red (7C+) (Video Still)

My distractions came in the form of many world-class, stunning lines – not bad distractions at all! My highpoints were:

Amphitheatre (8A+) – Which I found very hard and therefore very satisfying.

Out of Balance (8A) – One of the best lines in Rocklands.

Splash of Red (7C+) – A beautiful, high, nerve-wracking arête.

Barracuda (8A) – It denied me last time but felt like a different climb this year.

Tomorrow I Will Be Gone (7C) – A climb I thought I couldn’t do.

The Hatchling (8A) – I surprised myself by doing it first go (not a flash as I tried it in 2011…)

Cedar Spine (7B+) – High and stunning.

Out of Balance (8A) (Video Still)

These among others made my trip so enjoyable: climbing on brilliant rock, interesting movement and good lines.

The best thing I took away form this trip was a real sense of progression. Since my last trip in 2011 I have trained a lot, worked my weaknesses to death and it is so nice to have solid proof that it has paid off. Two years ago I managed with a fair bit of effort to climb Nutsa (8A) but this trip I was able to climb eight 8A’s, and an 8A+ and all with less fuss. No huge grade jump but it feels like a big step up. There were moves I couldn’t do then that I could do now and that was hugely satisfying. I was also able to open a door to harder things, peek in and get psyched to get stronger.

A Tea with Elmarie (8A) (Video Still)

Ghost in the Darkness (7C+) (Video Still)

One sad thing was the closure of the Tea Garden area, which left me (and many others) unable to try Black Shadow (8A+). This was a nemesis from my last trip and so I was sad not to have the chance to revisit it. I can only hope that relations will improve with that particular landowner and the area will be re-opened in future years.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching David experience a similar progression in his climbing. He finished off The Vice (8B) (a nemesis from 2011), cruised up Mooiste Meisie (8B), won the fight with his endurance on Madiba (8B) and surprised himself by doing Sky (8B) in about 20 minutes! There is nothing better than watching someone you care about do well

David on Sky (8B) (Video Still)

So…now it is back home – Adidas Rockstars  awaits, as does Vastervik in Sweden, then home for some limestone, some grit and some training.

Hopefully next year we will be able to go back to paradise – to try hard, top up our tans and get our year’s fill of fillet steak!

 Tomorrow I Will Be Gone (7C) (Video Still) – appropriately did it on our last day!

I have travelled a lot lately but this was the first long trip I can think of where I set off completely solo. I would normally travel with Dave or the GB team or friends and it was kind of invigorating to just set off alone! I felt like a true traveller: independent, self sufficient and happy with my own company.

Arriving in Vancouver I collected a car from the rental place and began (at what felt like 4am to me but was in fact around 9pm local time) to drive on what felt like the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road! Needless to say, I got lost. Things were said in the car that make me glad I was alone.  Eventually I made it to my friend’s place in North Vancouver with lots of wrong turns but only one near miss with a pedestrian.

After a zombie-like post travel sleep at Tiff and Simon’s place, I headed straight to Squamish to check out the place and climbing that I had heard so much about. Even the drive from Vancouver to Squamish is impressive; beautiful lakes and coastal views all the way. Simon and I went straight to the boulders and he jumped into the role of tour guide, pointing me at problems and demonstrating how to climb in Squamish by effortlessly floating up the classics. I spent a few days in this way, being shown around and climbing as much as I could on the Magic Wood-esque rocks. I managed to cross classics like No Troublems, Worm World Cave low and Resurrection off my list as well as Ride the Lightning (high mantle crux on this one!), Sesame Street and some other great problems.

 Ride the Lightning (V8), Photo Brian Goldstone

Resurrection (V9), Photo Brian Goldstone

During my stay in Squamish I was grateful to be offered a spare room in a house with some local climbing ladies, Elise and Laura– this was my first taste of the hospitality and generosity that flows around Squamish. They really made me feel at home and being there made my trip all the more fun and sociable.

I also spent a few days doing photo-shoots with Brian Goldstone from Arc’teryx and working with a film crew to get footage for Arc’teryx’s short film about the Squamish Mountain Festival (SQMF). I was psyched that they wanted to use me to showcase their festival, an honour indeed.

 ATD (V7), Photo Brian Goldstone

Squealing Pork (V7), Photo Brian Goldstone

Next up was a much-anticipated tour around Arc’teryx’s offices and factory in Vancouver. Really impressive to see how their complex technical gear is produced at factory level; amazingly skilled workers and a very organized system! I felt really grateful to be involved with a company that took the time to show me their inside workings and to involve me in their development. I even got to throw ideas around with the designers about upcoming Arc’teryx products!

Arc’teryx Factory magic

Heading back to Squamish, there was one thing remaining that had been on my mind all week: my lecture. I was very nervous and the time had come around to face the music and get up and talk. I had put a lot of effort into preparing a slideshow for the SQMF and this helped calm my nerves, I had a plan and I just needed to follow it through. The evening began with other speakers and films and I got to watch for a while first. Craig DeMartino’s lecture was the most notable of the evening for me; an articulate, interesting, emotional and inspiring story. If you ever get the chance to go to one of his talks, take it.

Craig and I after our talks, relaxed! Photo Brian Goldstone.

As with most things that make me nervous, once I started the nerves dissipated and I found myself actually enjoying it! It went pretty smoothly, I think I only lost my train of thought once…. I received lots of positive feedback afterwards too, which was really nice and reassuring. Thanks to anyone who came for putting me at ease and making it a fun experience!

 Mid-way through, clearly saying something very profound Photo Brian Goldstone

The next day it was time to travel home! A whirlwind trip, but a fantastic one.  My favourite things about Squamish? Hmmm…let’s see:

1. The people and their generous and friendly nature.

2. The climbing of course….

3. Swimming in lakes after climbing or just for the sake of it

4. Awesome Sushi

Now a short break at home before Dave and I head to Rocklands on Monday! Can’t wait!

The British Bouldering Championships come around every year and every year I sign up with a mixture of psyche, hope and dread. For some reason it feels more nerve wracking than a World Cup! Perhaps this is because it is a home crowd, perhaps I feel expectations are higher in a smaller field or perhaps it is just a competition that I always want to do well in but have a history of performing distinctly averagely in! In fact my best performance (prior to this year) was my first in 2008 where I placed 3^rd; since then I have never been on the podium and it has a history of knocking my confidence.

Whatever the reasons behind my trepidation, the BBCs arrived again this year and it was time to get psyched up to try hard. The field in UK women’s bouldering is strong at the moment with world class climber Shauna Coxsey; strong, gymnastic climber Leah Crane; and of course our adopted Brit,  the power house, Alex Puccio.

The weekend was a hot one and it was going to be tough. With a new format that follows that of a World Cup, we embarked on qualifiers, semi-finals and then finals.

For the women’s finals it came down to the aforementioned three, Jennifer Wood, Gill Peet and myself. There was a great crowd and a fun atmosphere and I was psyched to try hard.

To cut a long story short, the final was totally owned by Shauna. She flashed all 4 blocs and deservedly came 1^st. I managed 2 blocs (I am ashamed to admit the use of my fingernails on the slab!) as did Alex and Leah. It came down to attempts and, to my surprise, I came through in 2^nd. My best result ever!

It was an odd feeling actually because I didn’t feel like I actually climbed very well in that final…. one of the blocs I couldn’t even get off the floor! But I suppose that is how it goes sometimes! Having said that, after trying really hard in the World Cup season, I felt I earned my position of number 2 in British women’s competition bouldering and so it was nice to have that reflected in the results of our nationals.

Well done to Shauna who is just more and more impressive as time goes on and is an inspiration to us all. I’m trying my best to catch up and one day maybe I’ll give her a run for her money!

Here are some photos courtesy of Alex Messenger:

As I write this I am killing time at Heathrow Airport before getting on a flight to Vancouver for the Squamish Mountain Festival. Really excited to climb in Squamish and to give my first ever lecture for Arc’teryx as a pro climber…..eek! Pretty terrified to be honest.

If you don’t already have a CAC T-shirt…..

Very quickly the time arrived for our GB Bouldering team to venture further and cross the Atlantic to compete in Toronto, Canada and then Vail, USA. With a big team representing and oodles of psyche we descended on various airports and made our way first to Hamilton (just outside Toronto).

Before the competition we went to see one of the world’s wonders; Niagara Falls. It was quite an experience, very touristy but an incredible natural spectacle. We even went to the bottom on the touristy boat and got soaked! Thanks so much to Keith and Kashca who looked after us and took us to see this awesome sight!

The Hamilton World Cup had a great atmosphere; a VERY enthusiastic crowd, good organisation and fun route setting. As a team, we put our best feet forward and managed to get three of us to semi–finals (Leah, Shauna and myself) and one to finals (can you guess who?? ). In terms of my climbing I was a bit disappointed…I climbed well in the qualifiers but in the semi-finals I made some glaring route reading errors and lacked some basic strength. All deposited in the bank of experience and logged for future training!

Women’s Qualifiers, Photo Tito Caleyron

On to Vail and we were keen beans. Only four days separated the competitions and we had one day training in Boulder at The Spot (accompanied by pancakes), followed by a short session the next day at the Vail Rock Club. The air is thin in Boulder at approx. 5000ft and even thinner in Vail at approx. 8000ft. We didn’t notice the altitude until we climbed, then it was a case of “why am I so pumped so quickly?” and “why am I breathing so hard after one boulder problem??” Having said that, as each session went on we did acclimatise a bit. The day before the competition we decided to put our respective haemoglobin cells to the test and we drove up to the top of Mount Evans, a dizzy height of over 14,000ft. Now, up there, even walking was a stress on the system! We had a brief picnic and headed back to register for the competition.

Once again, we all rallied and fought our way up as many boulders as possible and this time we had four GB athletes in the semi-finals; joining Leah, Shauna and myself was Dave Barrans. The women’s semi- finals were HARD!! Two bonuses got you into the finals, which was what I had but in too many attempts. The heart breaking moment for me was on the fourth and last problem in the semi-finals. After getting through the crux and setting up to try to finish the problem, I slipped whilst readjusting my hand and fell. If it weren’t for that slip, I think I could have finished the problem and I would have made my first World Cup Final. I have been close before but this was too close for comfort.

What can I say? I slipped and other people didn’t, they were solid on the moves and I wasn’t.  Everyone comes out of competitions with the “what if” feeling and I am sure I am not the only one that was close in some way. Bank it and move on. Train harder and look to next year.

To inspire me to look forward and take the positives, Shauna “acquired” a certain hold for me as a keepsake

So, that is my season over. I am not competing in Munich or Eindhoven as I have decided to spend the summer climbing outside and will be cheering on the GB team from glorious Rocklands in South Africa.

To sum up…. it’s been a good year. My goals at the start of the season were as follows:

-       To consistently make semi-finals — TICK (I made all of them)

-       To make a final —…..NEGATIVE

-       To make top ten overall —TICK (at the moment I have a World Ranking of 9^th but this may change after Munich)

So 2/3 isn’t too bad. I’ll take it. I was consistent (10^th, 12^th, 14^th, 12^th, 9^th, 12^th,, 11^th ) and that is very encouraging.

Thanks to everyone for all the support, it makes a huge difference and is really touching to have people behind you. I had a great time and I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Photo Tito Caleyron

Photo Ashley Schoppelrei

Photo Heiko Wilhelm

Photo Heiko Wilhelm

Photo Heiko Wilhelm

These last few weeks have been a manic series of packing and unpacking; travelling and waiting; climbing up and falling down; leaving excited and coming home tired. Doing a full season is exhausting! I haven’t done this many competitions back to back before and it is really fun. There is, of course, a trade off element to the whole thing: limited climbing outside, lots of time away and lots of travelling. Having said that, I would do it all again and probably will next year! I am lucky enough to have the time to focus on outside climbing at other times in the year so I don’t feel too bereft while I am focussing on competitions.

The World Cups are kind of addictive. This year I have made consistent semi-finals and have placed in the top 15 every time. That is a huge step up for me. Every competition I am excited, every competition I want to do better, at the end of every event I am glad I get another go in not too long. The finals are the finish line for me, that is where I want to be but there are some hard problems on the way and some seriously talented climbers to compete against. Maybe it will happen this year, maybe it won’t. Either way I am enjoying every competition and while that is still the case I will keep trying.

Log Dragomer and Innsbruck were both brilliant events. Innsbruck stuck out for me as one of the best this year; it is a really cool city, the crowd was great, the problems were great….the ice cream was great! I especially enjoyed watching the finals and seeing Jule Wurm and Jan Hojer win. Both climbers are really nice people and looked so happy and overwhelmed, it was quite emotional!  Anna, as always, put in a solid performance and only just missed out on the gold. It would have been impressive for her reign to continue but I am sure she was psyched for her friend too.

So, back to the training board. A week at home now before flying first to Toronto and then to Vail for the next two World Cups (and my last ones!).

Problem 4 in the Qualifiers, Photo Udo Neumann

Problem 1, Semi-finals, Photo Dominik Wujastyk

Women’s Podium, Photo Udo Neumann

Team GB, Log – Dragomer.

Kitzbuhel by Team GB, Photo Victoria Newlands

Another World Cup over, another mixed bag of emotions. It was my best competition to date but also probably one of the most frustrating.

Kitzbuhel is a beautiful setting; we had a great weekend with a cohesive team, fantastic climbing and some excellent results. In the qualifying rounds, both men and women were in two groups. The GB men sadly didn’t qualify for semi finals, despite putting in great performances. In the girls Leah, Shauna and I made semi finals. I was a bit shocked to go out and flash all the qualifying problems but it was a great feeling! I have to admit that I thought perhaps we were going to have a repeat of the Chongqing round, where eleven women qualified in joint 1st place with a score of 5/5, so I was excited and surprised to discover it was just Alex Puccio and me!

Rest time, Photo Andreas Aufschnaiter

The next day it was strange being in the last group of athletes to leave isolation. I’m not used to it and I kept thinking I should have been warming up sooner. It was odd to see climbers that I admired  leaving before me in a semi final competition, and scary to think I would have to follow their performances! I was feeling confident though and was really excited. I felt like I was good enough to make finals and maybe this was my window of opportunity.

The semi final slab! Photo Eddie Fowkes

I ended up in 12th after the semis but I don’t feel that that fairly represents how I climbed. I did the first two problems and got to the last move of the 3rd problem three times, touching the final hold….if I had held that hold, I would have made finals. Putting it like that shows me how close I was and although it makes me frustrated it also gives me the confidence (along with my qualifying round) to pick myself back up and try again. Next round is in Slovenia in just under two weeks…

Problem 3 in semi finals, Photo Andreas Aufschnaiter

I may not have had the results I am after yet this year but they are within sight. I think I am capable of making a final and that in itself is progress. Last year I was participating, this year I am competing.

Photo Andreas Aufschnaiter