2012

So its been far too long since i last blogged, guess i just got out of the habit over the long winter of not really doing anything interesting (apart from the third ascent of Brownian motion) and started using twitter too. I just had my head down training hard and bolting holds to various different walls.
My pre season training went well, even managed to stay injury free, something i haven't managed to do for a long time. This meant by the time the first international came round, the CWIF (climbing works international festival) i was feel strong fit and ready to compete. It seems my feelings were correct as i finally won it (having been 2nd in this comp at least 3 times before).

My bubble burst slightly as a head cold decided it wanted to go onto my chest, making training and sleeping very difficult for two weeks, leaving me feeling a little under prepared for my first world cup of the season in Slovenia, but i managed to squeeze a few good sessions in before heading out but still unsure of how i would fare.
Thankfully i made it through the lottery of qualifiers and into the semifinals topping 3 boulders out of the 5 but should have been 4 really! The semi finals were a similar story really topping 2 boulders out of the 4, one of which was one of the harder ones, but failed to stick the horizontal roof dyno that quite a few others did, leaving me in a slightly disappointing 17th ( 2 flashes was enough to be in the final). It definitely felt like a top ten climb to me but in a field where every man in the semi finals had previously been in a final before it was always going to be a tight one.

The following weekend was Vienna, somewhere that has treated me quite well in the past so i was hopeful for a strong performance. I felt good and relaxed warming up perhaps a bit too relaxed in hindsight as i missed the easy dyno on the first problem thinking how warm the holds were! I slightly misread the third problem topping that 2nd go too! The 4th problem was infuriatingly close as i slipped off the final hold, turns out no one else got close! The 5th problem was easy, leaving me with 3 tops in 5, but should have been 3 in 3 really! even 3 in 4 would have put me into the semis...just. instead i landed up 27th kicking myself over two stupid mistakes and wondering what if over the 4th problem! At least i got some points! The semis and finals looked like my style too!
We have three weeks off now before Innsbruck, giving me a few weeks to work on a few things, and try to get things a bit more hooked up.

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.

Font Videos

Below are two videos from my trip to Font, Karma and Gecko (assis) which is apparently 8b+ my first of the grade :-)

Karma


Gecko assis

Karma and Gecko (assis)

I've just got back from 2 weeks in Font, where i did the mega classic Karma (8a+) and the sit start to Gecko (8b) my first 8b in the forest. I also did Rubis Sur L'Ongle, La Gaule a reach dependent prow that i didn't think i had the span for. I was also getting close to Satan i Helvete but ran out of dry weather and skin!

Here is a pic of La Gaule, i am currently editing together some video footage so watch this space.

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.