Eindhoven, Barcelona and Sheffield

First up I qualified for the final in 4th place at Eindhoven and slipped to 6th place. In the final i had nothing left even though i felt like i was capable of doing all four, i only topped the first problem. This photo sums up my final quite well.The following weekend was Barcelona, where i qualified for the semi finals and finished 11th but should have been in the final really after i missed a foothold on one problem doing it 2nd go and fell victim to a stupid out of bounds tape on an other. I was pleased to perform well in such horrendously hot conditions, i don't know who's idea it was to hold a competition in a non air conditioned building in the middle of summer but they should be shot as the are so many cool places in Barcelona it could have been attracting a large audience too, but it wasn't so no one really saw it!
Finally It was the home event in Sheffield at cliffhanger, where i hoped to climb well......unfortunately i climbed well and felt strong but only topped three problems falling off the top of the other 2 leaving me 16th in a very strong group. I guess that's the way it goes sometimes in such a strong field 7 of this years finalists did not qualify! The semi final problems also look like they would have suited me too, a very frustrating weekend.

Ohh well a weekend off this week(well lots of work) before heading out to Arco for the World championships where I'm also going to do the lead, which should be fun.

While i've not been posting any thing on here i've mostly been out doing a few routes including Power ranger at Malham, my first 8b+. I've not been on it for about a year and sent it on my first redpoint of the day, hitting all the holds wrong through the crux, but still managing to get to the top! i guess that's the way it goes sometimes, never let go!

Amongst doing a few routes i've also been training for the European championships in Innsbruck starting on Thursday, it will be web cast here, withe semis and finals on Saturday.

a few bits and pieces

My finger is now well on the mend just in time for the final round of the world cup in Munich at the weekend which should be web cast here. Qualifiers on Friday, semi's and final on Sunday.
I'm then heading to Frankenjura for a week of sport climbing.
The last few weeks i've been sport climbing a bit, I did Full Tilt at Kilnsey first red point and started working All Out.
I have also been route setting at Harrogate climbing centre, resetting the bouldering last week, here is a video of a few of the problems.
I also set the upstairs bouldering room at Manchester too.

the frustrations of finger injuries

Well the Sheffield world cup was extremely frustrating. The finger i tweaked at city bloc a few weeks ago and aggravated last weekend in Eindhoven was very sore while crimping, which was fine on the first three problems, but on the fourth, a very fingery vickers creation it proved too much for my weakened finger. The last problem wasn't much better, leaving me with three tops in four attempts. and a very frustrating 28th place. At least the rest of the Brits did us proud with three men and four women getting into the semi-finals, and the team came 2nd!
Here's a pic of me making some shapes on problem 3.

I've now got a few weeks before the final world cup round in Munich to sort my finger out and do some training and some work.

Sheffield world cup this weekend

This weekend sees the uk round of the bouldering world cup, Qualifiers are on saturday, semi's and finals on sunday. It is being held at Cliffhanger in Sheffield, so come on down and support the British team. If you can't get down there, it is being webcast too here

Eindhoven world cup

After taking 15th place at Vail i had a few weeks to work on a few things before the next round in Eindhoven, mostly a bit of strength work and take part in the City bloc comp (bloc party) where i successfully defended my title, flashing all three of the final problems. It was good to start feeling strong again.

Before Eindhoven i had a long rest my last climbing session being on the Tuesday, i actually felt good warming up for the qualifiers. I topped out three of the five problems and could have done the fifth but got a split tip on my first attempt! But i qualified well for the semis in 9th. Warming up for the semis i felt relaxed and strong, but had a big hole in my finger! i tapped up and told my self it didn't matter and i could pull on the holds anyway. I topped out two problems in three attempts, which to my surprise was enough to make my first final of the season. Stu very nearly made it in too, which probably would have been a first for GB but was pushed out at the last minute by Ondra.
I decided i was just going to enjoy the final, even though i felt tired and my skin was very sore. I topped the first two problems but ran out of steam on the third even though i would have backed my self to do it. I was so tired on the last problem and it was probably the hardest problem too. I finished 5th in the best final of the season in front of a very large and noisy dutch crowd.

here's me after flashing the first final problem. Thanks to Heiko for the photo.
I can't wait for Sheffield next weekend.

Vienna World cup

Last weekend was the 2nd world cup round in Vienna.
I scrapped through the qualifiers in 17th for the semi finals, where i always seem to climb better than the qualifiers. I topped the hardest problem on my second go and got all four bonus's in five attempts, putting me in a slightly frustrating 8th, just missing the final (if only i had done that problem on my first attempt!). I was still quite pleased considering the frustrating off season i've had.
Stew made in to the final with 2 tops and came in fourth.

Swiss world cup

The Swiss world cup was a bit frustrating, so close to making the semi finals but not quite on a slightly strange and reachy set of problems, it was good to see Stu climbing well and be so close to making the final.
Off to Vienna this weekend for round two which is being broadcast live here.

Swiss bound

I am just about to head out to Griefensee near Zurich for the 2010 World Cup as a member of the British bouldering team. This is the first round of the year in a series of seven, including one at Cliffhanger in Sheffield. There are seven of us going, so wish us all luck and keep track of the results at http://www.climbingworldcup-switzerland.com/

Skymasters

The third skymasters was last weekend, thankfully the spinning planet of doom was now fixed meaning more of a straight race across the suspended boulders in the sky. Saturdays Qualifiers saw me land up third fastest with a good draw for sundays knockout rounds.
I seem to have been fighting the dreaded man flu for a week or two now, and it seemed to affect my ability to campus through moves, not good when its quite often the quickest way through most of the skymasters course! I managed to speed my way through to the semi's with my feet on, where i met eventual winner Rob Mackenzie who proved just too young and quick, leaving me in the climb off for third against Adam Watson, a particularly rangy beast from the north east! I lost the climb off by just one hold in a very close race finishing in quite possibly the worst place in a comp 4th! All still a great fun though.

The CWIF

Saturdays Cwif was a mixed affair for me, qualifiers went well, finishing in third place for the semi-finals. The semi's where incredibly frustrating as i felt strong but only managed to top out one problem, finishing in 11th. I miss read the second and just did not feel like i had enough power endurance on the third or enough recovery for the last problem. I'm not sure whether i was not fit enough or i just hadn't eaten enough during the day. But at least i now have something to work on in the five weeks before the first round of the world cup in Switzerland.

New Website

I,ve finally finished my new website, after months of messsing around and cursing internet explorer(anyone who develops web pages will know exactly what i'm on about!)

slack blogging! world championships

definatley been a bit slack on the blogging front, especially with everything that has been going on. First up was the world championships held slap bang in the middle of china and no where near any climbing, Xining in the qinghai region to be precise. Qualifiers where held on the tuesday, i felt pretty tired and my legs where really stiff, probably from the travelling, but managed to hall myself up three out of the five problems to qualify for the semis in 19th. With the semi-finals not till saturday i would hopefully manage to recover and do some stretching!........but thursday night saw me reproducing my dinner at a high rate of knots out of both ends! not a pleasant experience. Friday i managed a small plate of dry spagetti for lunch and not much more in the evening leaving me expecting to be last in saturdays semi-final. Saturday morning i felt really strong and light......... for two moves before all energy seemed to desert me! How ever it seemed that my new found pre-comp tatics worked quite well as i did three out of the four problems, coming very close to the fourth one and i'd qualified for the final in fifth place, maybe it was th jam that made me feel at home!
So to the final, i felt much less nervous than i had felt in Vienna, probably as i didn't expect anything.
I did all four problems but in less attempts than the two Russians leaving me in third place, although in hind-sight i should have flased them all and been world champion, but thats comps for you.
Here's some pics of me in the final,



So that was the world championships, a totally unexpected result, and Britains first medal at a world championship, awesome!

World cup - Eindhoven

i have just returned from the final round of the world cup in Eindhoven. On reflection 25th isn't bad considering i've been fighting a bought of man flu for the past week, leaving me feeling pretty drained and having no power on the steeper problems. i earned a few more valuble points and finished in 21st place overall, not too bad considering i only did 3 out of the five rounds.
It was awsome to see ned make the final, his first and the second British finalist in two comps! Heres Ned in the final.


I now have just over a week to stop the flow of liquid coming out of my nose (nice!) before flying out to China for the world championships.

final time

Finally i climbed to my potential in a world cup semi-final, to make it through to my first world cup final, in first place! Unfortunately in getting there i pulled a muscle in my shoulder, making it a real effort to lock off on my left arm, though it didn't seem to effect me too much, that was more due to very thin skin and wet finger tips, making it very difficult to stay on the tiny crimps involved in the 2nd and 3rd problems. It was slightly disapointing to finish in 6th, having climbed so well in the semi's, although i still enjoyed it, thanks to Jamie for a great set of problems.
Here's a pic of me in the qualifiers.

World cup - Vienna

Just about to fly out to Vienna(Wien) for the third round of the bouldering world cup, my 2nd of the season. i am hopefull for this one on the back of my last three comps, plus the fact that Britains Jamie Cassidy is the chief route setter, so no excuses about the style of problem.

Three comps....three weekends!

1st up was Rd 2 of the bouldering world cup and my first of the season, i felt strong and fit going into it and training had been going well. Qualifiers were a nerve wracking affair with the field split into 2 groups so the top ten going through from each group. i finished 9th in my group having comfortably flashed 4 out of 5 problems. Semi finals did not go so well, two very wide problems and one that no one looked even close to doing, although that was the one i felt closest to doing! oh well it was good to make the semi's again especially in such a strong field.

Next up was an open international in Kitzbuhel, part of the Austrian cup. I felt bad during the qualifiers, probably down to nerves at the free for all format with as many goes as you liked on the problems! Thankfully i made it through to the semi's the next day. Warming up i felt much better than the previous day, thats what rest days do for you! I proceeded to flash two problems out of the four, good enough to put me in 2nd place and the final. I still felt strong warming up, if a little nervous it only being my 2nd international final. The first problem was the easiest, everyone did it, although not first go, i managed to flash it and felt good and relaxed me a little bit. The 2nd problem was a horrendous pull onto the slab using a razor for one hand only and bad feet. Everyone seemed to have a bad time on this one, i came out brushed the hold and it felt good, the move felt easy, that go, as i dropped the top and could not pull on again! The third problem was another hard one and i knew by the crowds reaction that no one had topped it. A few failled attempts and a quick rest i pulled on with 20 seconds to go, the knee slid perfectly into the knee bar and i grabbed the penultimate hold, but i could feel the familiar friend "pump" setting in and launched for the last hold/volume and to my surprise latched it, i was in the lead.
The final problem came round far too quickly and i knew that i needed it but only had one go left in my arms. I could feel the crowd willing me up it or maybe that was just the small British contingent! i was agonisingly close to latching the last hold, but it was not to be, and i ended up in a slightly disapointing 5th but had great fun getting there. Here's a video of the third problem in the final. There's more videos of the other problems on youtube.



The final comp was the Plywood masters at Boulder UK in Blackburn, I greased through the qualifiers in 2nd, and still felt strong going into the final, were i topped all five problems dropping one once. 2nd was Ned who has not been training too much due to his dissertation, would have been nice to have been a bit closer! Finally i had won something, after far too many 2nds to even mention!

works comp and team training

Friday night was the last round of the climbing works bouldering league and the last Percy special problem.
Jordan was the first to the top of the special, on his second go as soon as the comp had started, Jordan being warm from the crag that afternoon, and bouncing from someone finally giving him some sponsorship in the form of mr Moon, about time too i say!
So i plodded on with the rest of the comp treating it as a training session, flashing all 25 problems and the perfect score of 250!
Saturday was team training held at Stockport, with problems set by ex team member the Earl, it wasn't going to be an easy day. The first 5 problems in the morning session were anything but easy, and we worked them in small groups, always a good way of improving (or is that just trying harder, not wanting to be outdone!) followed by another ten problems in the afternoon, left my skin feeling decidedly raw, still not fully recovered from font.
On with Sunday and my fourth and fifth sessions of the weekend, a comp style 5 mins on 5 mins off on six problems, three of which were very hard, the other three being easy. i topped one of the hard ones, annoyingly pissing one of the others after.
The final session involved international final style four problems with four minutes to climb each problem but two minutes observation before to look at all the problems. skin was definitely at a premium, and i seem to suffer on my usual forte of slopey pinches, proving the importance of good skin!
It seem s that my fitness is very good at the minute, i just wish someone would invent spray on skin!

City bloc

Visited the newly opened City Bloc wall in Leeds, owned by former British team members, Ben Meeks, Rachael Seymour, Tom Sugden and Martin Smith. It is a nice wall with some really good angles and good problems too. By coincidence Gaz was there too so had a good session climbing with him and Martin. Well worth putting into your regular circuit of walls.

BBC's

Having had three weeks to train i was feeling in better shape than at any time this year(thank god!) having been struggling with a bit of golfer's elbow. The qualifiers went well, landing up in joint 4th and still feeling fresh for the final.
After watching the women's final, nice one Audrey (go team evolv!) it was into isolation and time to get focused. I was out 4th feeling focused and psyched and flashed the first three problems, but i had a feeling that Stu and Gaz would do the same. I knew that i would need one of the last two problems to stand a chance of winning. I touched the finishing hold on both problems but didn't quite latch them, the last problem because i didn't spot a crucial foot lock! to my surprise Stu didn,t do the last two problems either, but he had qualified better than me. Gaz had had an absolute mare on the first problem and was out of it, and so Ned sneaked in, topping out the last problem to win with four tops in 11 attempts, leaving me in third, awesome effort Ned.