GB Junior Lead Team Training in Austria April 2015 (Issy)

The Imst Outdoor Wall

In April I travelled to Austria for the GB Junior Lead Team training camp. On the first day, we left from Heathrow airport and met the rest of the team at Munich airport. From Munich, we travelled to Innsbruck which is where we were staying. On the second day we travelled to Imst to climb at both the indoor and outdoor walls. The indoor was very steep and I really enjoyed trying some harder routes! However the outdoor wall was the most impressive by far! It was much higher than anything I had ever climbed on before, and it was a great experience to be able to climb all the way through the roof and up the headwall! The routes at Imst were great, and I had a fun day!

Climbing at Tivoli Wall

On the third day, we visited the Tivoli wall, which was only a short walk from out hotel. This was my favourite wall! The angles were far more extreme than anything I had ever climbed on before! Each category was given a route, and were told to study the route and draw route plans. This was great practice for comps. Youth B and C girls were given a red 7c route which looked hard and steep but toppable. When it was my turn to climb, I climbed up most of the route without many issues, however eventually I pumped out and fell off a big move to the arete. Despite falling when my aim was to top the route, I was happy with my effort as I had reached the joint-highest point. For the rest of the day, I tried some more routes- overall it was a great day!
On Thursday we visited the outdoor wall in Arco, Italy. The wall was very impressive, and there were some very hard routes set! My greatest achievement of the day was flashing a hard and pumpy 7b as the wall was very overhanging! I also attempted a 7c and was happy to climb quite a way up the route! I pumped out on a big move about two thirds of the way up. I really enjoyed the climbing in Arco, and the ice cream was also very memorable!
Finally, on the last day of our trip we visited Tivoli wall again. I tried a couple of routes before it was time to leave. I had a great experience and would like to thank the Team Management for a great trip!

Climbing the 7c at Tivoli Wall

Climbing at Fontainbleau (Issy)

During the Easter holidays, we visited Fontainebleau for my brother's 10th birthday, whilst in France. We went to Bas Cuvier. I had a great time on the boulders- there were so many to try! I onsighted lots of problems, and tried some 6cs, but we found that the grades were very hard! I can't wait to return to try some more of the boulders- I had such a fun day!

GB Lead Team Assessment Weekend (Issy)

On the 7th March we woke up early and travelled to the Leeds wall for the GB Team assessment weekend. For the assessment, 5 routes had been set for each category, which could be attempted in any order. For youth B girls, the route grades were: 7b+, 7b+, 7c, 7c, 7c+. Although I didn't top any of my routes, I felt that I climbed well. I had never been to the Leeds wall before, so I was excited to climb on the steep comp wall! On Sunday the 8th we returned to the wall to try some of the routes again, before a gymnastics session at the Diamonds Gymnastic club. It was great fun! Overall, I had a great weekend, thanks to the Junior Lead Team management! 

GB Lead Climbing Team Inaugural Meeting Jan-Feb 2015 (Issy)

On Friday the 30th January my family and I traveled to Sheffield for my first GB team inaugural meeting. On Saturday morning we met at the Royal Victoria Holiday Inn for a meeting presented by Ian Dunn to discuss what it means to be in the team. We learnt who was who on the team management and had a look at the competitions we would be attending this year. Then, Nick Colton lead a presentation on child safeguarding before we drove to Awesome Walls Sheffield for some climbing and fitness testing. It was really fun to catch up and climb with some team mates before our testing!
On Sunday we met at Awesome Walls for our one-to-one meetings with the team managers, and our medicals. I am looking forward to competing in my first ever European competitions this year, and getting to know my team mates better!

Round 1 of the Junior Boulder Cup (Issy)

Round 1 of the Junior Boulder Cup was held at The Climbing Unit, Derby. It was my first boulder comp as a youth B. I read through our 8 qualifiers, and I thought they looked technical but do-able. Overall, I flashed 5 boulders, but was unable to complete 3. My score was 5 boulders in 5 attempts, and 8 bonuses in 12 attempts. I was happy with my score, but it wasn't enough to qualify for the final. I thought I had climbed well as I found the problems quite reachy. The comp was great fun!

Junior British Lead Climbing Team Selection (Issy)

After the youth open, I was so happy to find that I have been selected for the 2015 Junior Lead Climbing Team! I am really excited to have the opportunity to compete internationally, and I am really looking forward to the coming year!

Junior Lead Cup Round 1 (Issy)

Qualifier 1

Round 1 of the Junior Lead Cup was held at Awesome Walls, Sheffield in November, and the event was also the GB team selection event for 2015. When I arrived I read through my qualifiers. Route 1 was technical and crimpy, whereas the holds on route 2 looked better but it was more overhanging. I was third to climb on route 1. I found the first couple of clips ok, but the climb was very technical from around the 3rd or 4th clip, where you had to stand in some tiny features in the wall. However I moved  through this section without any problems. It was higher up, around the 7th clip, that there was a hard rock over, and I fell off. I was annoyed with myself, as I immediately knew I should have moved my foot up. After qualifier 1, I was in joint 6th, so I just had to wait for qualifier 2.
I was near the end of the start list for my second route, so I was less nervous. The route looked much more powerful than our previous route, but there was a technical section just under half way up which caused a problem for a few people. When I began the route, the first section was relatively easy. I moved through the technical section, and up onto some nice crimps. Two clips from the top, there was a very pumpy clip which many people did not clip, but in order to move on you had to clip it from the set position. So, when I approached the clip I pulled up the rope immediately. At this point I was very pumped. I managed to rock over onto a huge sloper, and press off the sloper to slap the next hold. It was one of the highest scores, so I was into the final.

On the podium with Catrin and Kitty

We shared our final route with the youth As and Juniors, so it was a hard route. The first half was huge undercuts and some dynamic moves. When it was my turn to climb, I moved through the first few clips easily. Then the route got very steep around half way up. I made a dynamic and reachy move round a corner for a horrible hold with a small edge. I managed to hold the hold, but I couldn't move on from it. When I came down, I found that I had the highest score yet. I was in 1st place, with  three left still to climb. Abbie was next to climb, and she fell off on the move going towards the hold which I was able to hold. I had a podium place! Kitty climbed next, and she fell off in the same place as me, so she was ahead on countback from the qualifiers. Catrin climbed last, and she got a few holds further than us, meaning that she had won. I was so excited to come third in one of my first competitions as a B, as my aim for the competition was to get a podium place.

Me and Finley in our knitted deer hats! Thanks mum!