Sunday January 25, 2009
This past weekend, I made the trip to Kelowna, Canada in British Columbia to participate in a Tour de Bloc bouldering competition held at the Beyond the Crux Gym. Kelowna is Mike's hometown and I'd heard a lot of my Canadian friends were heading up for the competition, which made the come even more compelling for me. This whole weekend has turned out to be a blast!
First, after crossing the border into Canada, I experienced the first blue skies and an escape from the inversion that had settled in on the Northwest. Vancouver was seeing it's first fogless day with cool temperatures and clear skies. It was heavenly. I had coordinated a carpool from Vancouver to Kelowna so after arriving, I settled in at a coffee shop on Lonsdale and set about working until it was time to meet up and head over.
While I was in North Vancouver, a friend of mine (Anna) made mention she would be around the corner at the Edge climbing gym in the afternoon. I hadn't seen Anna since September when she was deep into rehabilitation for a climbing accident (she fell at the top of a wall and decked because she had forgotten to clip into the autobelay). She was in very bad shape and only learning how to take a few steps back then. I was surprised to hear she was climbing and even more surprised, when I stopped in to see her, that she was walking over to greet me! I was absolutely thrilled for her! She's recovered more than the doctors thought she would and we are all hoping her recovery continues in this manner.
The drive to Kelowna was uneventful. I was happy to have someone else driving, especially when we went through a snowy stretch on the Coquihalla. Jamie and Sarah, two coaches for the Edge youth/junior team, were heading to Kelowna so I was fortunate to get a space in their car for the ride.
In Kelowna, since it's Mike's hometown, I stayed at his parents house and Diane was happy to drive me to the competition. I even got her to take some videos, but with me forgetting to format the additional discs we bough the way to the comp meant that she didn't get all of the coverage she had hoped. Oh well, the 20 minutes she did capture were really good, thanks, Diane!
The
format was redpoint/scramble qualifiers with an
onsite final. They were taking the top 6 and
climbers had 3 hours to climb. Finals format had 4
problems, 5 minutes per problem, points were per
hold with an onsight bonus.
First, I have to say that the problems were really, really good. They were hard enough to make you think but not hard enough to prevent progress. I've been in comps where I get shutdown on reach on a problem but don't have any other problems of a similar grade that I can achieve so I make very little progress. In this one, when I found a problem that was reachy, I also found other similarly rated problems that I weren't. Therefore, I felt pretty good about my top 6 climbs. I even felt like if I qualified for finals, I would have some energy to spare....though turning in my card early had me worried I might be pushed out. As it turned out, I qualified in the first spot so I didn't have anything to worry about.
Next, when I arrived at the comp I immediately ran into some friends and it wasn't long before I was surrounded with a group of adults that I have come to know over these last few years. It was a really good and welcoming feeling to be amongst friends and I was super excited to share this climbing experience with them.
It must have been all of my excitement to be there that I climbed the problems with an enthusiasm that I haven't had in a long time. Cheering people, sharing beta, and getting support from strangers was uplifting. I made a few new friends and witnessed some amazing climbing feats.
For instance, and while this might not be a feat in itself, I was inspired by Terry McColl. He's the father of Sean McColl who has recently seen a lot of press due to his World Cup successes in Europe this past summer. Now, Sean's always been a talented climber and the genes appear to run in the family, but I had never really paid that close of attention to that fact until that day. Terry was trying some of the same climbs as myself and this gave me a really good gauge for how he was climbing. At about 50 years old, Terry was doing powerful and dynamic moves that I really hope I am still able to do when I am that age. It was incredible. Despite pulling off some amazing boulder problems, his field (Advanced category) was pretty deep and his competition quite a bit younger. :) Good job, Terry!
I was excited to have qualified for finals, but I was not expecting myself to have qualified in the first position. This meant, I was coming out last in the next round. It also meant, if I wasn't overworked from the earlier sessions, that I might have a chance to win this event. That is the first time I have found myself in such a position and I think I made myself overly nervous from the pressure, which pretty much guaranteed I didn't win.
It was hard for me to contain my enthusiasm in ISO. I was elated at my performance, not because I qualified in 1st, but because I knew I was climbing well. Staying loosened up for the finals was difficult. I was stiff, I hadn't really eaten much and my neck and shoulder were acting up. I also knew that at least 2 problems were going to be on the hardest angles in the gym. I wasn't sure if I had enough juice in me to pull it off.
Going out last, knowing the crowd has this expectation of my performance and knowing that I didn't want to let myself down, I didn't relax enough to compete well. I thought I might have been tired, and I was tired, but after seeing some footage from the video Diane had taken, I realized it was performance jitters that sabotaged me.
On the first problem, for example, I took my time to read the route. I looked at every angle on the holds so I knew exactly where to grab them (fortunately they weren't overly tricky holds), but I failed to look for feet. Most of the beginning was tracking (hand holds were foot holds) but pulling the lip there were feet that I just never saw. In the video you can see that I scan the handholds to the finish hold but never look around for other taped holds that could be used as feet. I took a very short amount of time scanning the end as compared to the roof section. And, when I climbed the problem, it was apparent that I didn't know where I was going. The lip is the worst place to be hanging (half out of the cave, half in) and trying to figure things out...there's no rest or recovery in that space.
After the first attempt, I had found another foot but was really, really tired that my 2nd attempt, while better, was not a send either. I made it almost over the lip...almost to the 2nd to last hold. I was really tired at that point and at a loss for a sequence, again! Inside I was kicking myself for being impatient and now, I was zapping myself of precious energy and I might blow the next climb, too (no energy). So, while all of that is going through my mind, what is not going through my mind is to relax and just climb. Perhaps then I would have seen the other foot I missed. As it was, I did a desperate campus to the hold, which turned out to be not so positive and fell. My time had run out.
On the second problem, also coming out of the cave, there was some trickiness to it. I was tired, but I wanted to give my first go a good go. This time, I was trying to breathe and relax, I was a bit more focused and I looked for feet. Still, I was tired. I kept the body tension, made it up to the stalagtite, but then couldn't stay on the hold. My next attempt, my core tension failed me and I had to really, really try hard to make it to that hold, again. :( I was really bummed by this point because it was clear that I was not climbing as well as I could and I feared I'd not only lost a placing spot but maybe I even fell to the bottom. There's no way these girls did as poorly as I did on these two problems. Afterall, Thomasina had just walked these two before me.
Fortunately, there was a save in this for me that was unexpected. The last two problems were not as powerful (i.e. we were done with the roof climbing!). They were more technical and balancy and for me, they were more than welcomed at that point! I ended up onsighting both of them for the bonus points, which turned out to be enough to place me in the third position.
I watched some of the footage of climbers from qualifiers and finals that Diane took and I am really surprised by the end results. I definitely feel I earned my placing and I am really happy with how I climbed and what I learned that day. But, I know these girls and I saw some of their finals footage. Some of them climbed those first two problems way better than I did. There wasn't any footage from the last two problems so I don't know what happened, there. The only thing I can think is that with ABS Nationals just around the corner, I think I was in better competition shape than some of them. Afterall, their season has only just kicked off. By the time their Nationals come around, I know they will be bouldering machines!
A lot of people went out for a drink after the competition. It was fun to hang out. We drove back to Vancouver Sunday morning and Sunday night I celebrated the Chinese New Year with the McColls. Anna's dad knows how to cook. The meal was just amazing.
If I get any photos, I'll be sure to post some here. Thanks for reading!
