Pack and unpack, pack and unpack….

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!).

Qulaifiers