Climbing in Melbourne

I climbed for the first time in Australia on Friday. Mum and dad took me to Hardrock Climbing Centre. I wanted to climb outside but we aren't staying here for long enough and we have just got over our jetlag. We had to be tested to make sure mum could belay me properly and I could tie in properly. All of the climbs were top ropes because you had to take a course before you are allowed to lead climb and you couldn't do this in an afternoon. All the belays were attached to the ground for safety, but it made it difficult to belay. The grades were all different numbered to 25. I warmed up on a couple of 17/18 and then moved on to some in the 20's. I tried a tricky climb using just pockets, but my favourite was using a self belaying rope where you could just throw yourself off the wall and float to the floor and then climb up again. I tried a very crimpy red equivalent to a 7b and just floated down when I fell off. Can't wait to climb in Perth.

British Team Trials, Liverpool

The team trials were held at Awesome Wall, Liverpool on Sat 27th November.
At the competition I felt very nervous, I didn’t feel very confident because I felt it had been ages since I had done any lead climbing because I had been sent home from school on Monday and had been in bed ever since then. I was seventh to climb on my first route which was a slab. I route planned and watched the demo and then watched 3 climbers climb and then warmed up again and then came up to watch another climber and then it was me. I spotted where the crux was and watched climbers struggling to get past it. I worked out exactly what to do but when I started climbing I felt I had no energy and when I got to the crux I couldn’t do what I had planned. The hold was really horrible and I couldn’t get my right foot high enough. I tried a few times and then asked to come down. I was really disappointed with myself, that I had not gone for it and had asked to come down. I just wanted to go home.
I pulled myself together and got quite psyched for the second route although I was shocked to find out I was first on it. Again I watched the demo, but I had been watching the older category doing it earlier. I felt I climbed this well, I tried really hard but came off about a third of the way up. I was pleased with my effort but thought I must have been the worst in the group. I decided to go and eat lunch. I was 8th in the group at the end of the two climbs. I got joint third highest on the second climb which was better than I thought. I then found out the top ten climbers go into the final and I wished I hadn’t eaten my lunch. I guessed it would be the pink route and so I had a good look at it. We all had to go into the bouldering area downstairs and wait. We then got to come out and look at our route. I was right it was the pink and so I planned it again. We then had to go downstairs and wait to be called. I was quite nervous but really ready to go for it. When I came out I saw that the second clip was moving but no others were above it. I found the climb quite tricky but okay , but the wall was quite steep. I got to the triangle but couldn’t get over it and came off. I felt I had done okay. It ended up only 2 other climbers got beyond this point and a couple to the same hold. I didn’t feel my day was good at the beginning but by the end I feel I had gained lots of experience, including being in isolation. All the climbers above me were a year older so hopefully I will do better next year.

The results for other climbers were, Angus 1st, Rachel 2nd, me 6th, Ross 7th, Calum 9th, Megan 11th, Alexander 17th.

McGeek Session

Today I had a session with McGeek. The McGeek squad were meant to have a fitness session with Eleanor but she has a virus so we had an extra hour before McGeeks session which was quite good because I was tired from last night. When I told Neil I was tired he splashed water over me to waken me up. Neil had a chat with me about the GB team trials in Liverpool next week and then we did routes on the main comp wall. We tried the white, purple and black. The skin on my fingers was really thin and sore so I finished at 4.

On Friday night mum and I drove to Dundee to take part in the second Avertical Wall bouldering comp. I had to do 20 problems. There were lots of different types of boulders and I had a great time. I started at 6 and finished at 8.30 and we left to drive home because I had a session with Eleanor and McGeek the next day. I found out in the morning I had come first. Wowee!!

Yesterday Neil Gresham came up from London to coach me and my friend Angus. Neil decided he would like to take us for our training session on my climbing wall in our garage. We spent ages discussing it first and he ate lots of scones my mum had made. When Neil saw my climbing wall he said he really like it and we spent about 2 hours stripping off the old routes and planning new ones. Angus and his dad arrived when we were doing this and Angus helped out too. Mum and dad’s friend Gary arrived with his son Jamie. Jamie is is a climber too but he and Gary went off with my dad to have some chilli.

In the end we had set 16 new boulder problems. Neil said we would be having a competition between the three of us and was very strict about the rules.

First we started off with traversing the wall to warm up. We tried the problems board by board, it took about an hour.

We climbed until 9 o’clock and I was very tired. Angus was too but when Neil stopped for something to eat with my mum and dad we did a bit of extra climbing with Jamie joining in.
At 10 o’clock everyone went home apart from Neil who stayed the night. I will see Neil again at the weekend because he is coaching at Ratho.

Neil on my wall

This is Neil trying out one of the boulder problems we set on my climbing wall.

Me on my wall

This is me on my climbing wall trying out one of the boulder problems.

Me falling off my wall!

This is me falling off a difficult boulder problem!

Award for Talented Sports Performer

Great news today. I got a grant from Midlothian Council. My Mum & Dad applied to them for help with all the travelling we do to competitions and stuff and we were lucky enough to get a grant! This will really help as we will be going to Dundee, Liverpool and Newcastle over the next month. Thanks to Tommy Goldie, Community Recreation Officer at Midlothian Council and Mc Geek and MCOFS for help with filling in the application form.

Training Sessions

I have been really enjoying my training for the last few weeks and I have been doing a lot of lead climbing when normally I prefer to boulder! Last week I started to time myself on the speed wall and can now do it in 1 minute (not quite as good as the climbers in the WYC) but I am getting better.
Yesterday Angus, Megan and myself had Euan for our post brycs session. We tried some of the comp routes on the old comp wall, I managed the blue 6b+, it had a very hard move at the top. I then tried the green 6c but I only got about a 1/4 of the way up and found it too reachy. Euan then took Megan and I to try the blue 7b that we had been trying previously. I climbed the blue 7b to half height and then continued up the tan 7a, Euan thought that made it a 7a+. I really enjoyed this session.
For the last two Sundays I have had my McGeek seesions. The first week was a lead climbing session and today we were setting boulder problems. In the first session we planned out my new route session for the next four weeks, I think I will really enjoy it apart from the laps at the end, I'd rather go out for a run. I really enjoyed this session. Today we set boulder problems in the bouldering room, I was a bit tired from my session yesterday and then Calum and Nat came over to set some problems on my new bouldering wall at home. Jaimie and Robbie his little brother and Lyndsay, Calums sister and Kirsten (MCGeek Squad) came as well and we were bouldering until 9pm as well as eating lots of chocolate and crisps. Mcgeek and I set a green sloper problem, I only managed to slap the last hold. The yellow one was very crimpy and I managed to top it. I love my sessions with McGeek.

New Home Wall

I have a new home wall. A couple of years ago my great Grandad died and he left some money to build a wall in our garage. Finally!!! it has been built but it was worth waiting for. Scott Muir from Extreme Dream built it for us, he made it in his workshop and then brought it down on a Saturday at 7pm and worked to 2 am and then got up to start at 7 am and didn't finish until 11pm and then he drove home to Aviemore. It has four boards, one 15 degree board , a concave board, a convex board and a 40 degree board, so lots of steep stuff to work on. Mum, dad and I helped Scott to do the convex and concave board I had to get into the back of the boards to tighten the bolts and Scott had to cut a hole out with a jigsaw to get me out, I had a small torch to see with. Scott painted the boards the most amazing colours and I chose lots of different holds. The only thing wrong was I had to wait until Monday after school to start setting problems. I think mum thought I had moved out that week because I was always in the garage. McGeek was in the garage last Wednesday when I got home from school setting problems, I joined him and we set lots of project problems and a circuit, it was lots of fun. I love my new wall. Thank you Scott

Mc Geek Session

After having a few weeks off of hard training, I had my first coaching session with McGeek today. I was really pleased it was bouldering because I feel I need to build up my strength and stamina for routes.I had to do some homework for him, describing different types of climbing and I also had to give myself points for how good I was at slopers and speed climbing and competitions and other things.
We started with a green problem...... and then I tried another green and I touched the last hold. We did a problem that went under the roof and I nearly got to the top but came off about 3/4 of the way up. The last problem we did was another green problem, it was very hard. I got to the fifth hold then came off.

At the end of the session Neil showed me some excercises to use for the opposite muscles to the ones you use for climbing. It's so annoying because I can't use the gym until next year.
I enjoyed my session, my hands were really sore by the end.

CEUSE

At the beginning of the summer I went on my first real outdoor sport climbing adventure. Mum, dad, Olivia and myself flew to Marseille in France and then drove to a place near Gap, which was also near Ceuse. We met Eleanor and her dad at 6.30 am the next morning to drive to the campsite and meet Natalie and Robbie. Martin drove into a high kerb and got a puncture and so we took Eleanor to meet them. First of all we went to the bakery to buy some baguettes. We met Nat and Robbie and started to climb up the the crag. After about 1/8th of the way up. I was asking if we were nearly there, it was very steep and very hot.Mum and dad ended up carrying all the gear. Halfway up we stopped for a rest and more water, over an hour later we reached the top.
It was amazing, the view was fantastic, I was very excited. We looked for some easy routes to start on, I had been given a guide book for my birthday. Natalie and Robbie put up the quickdraws and we all tried the routes, it is so much more difficult looking for footholds and handholds, but also more fun. By around 6 we walked down the hill, we had been invited for an aperitif (don't know what that is) by the French owners of Martins gite. It took an hour to walk down and then we rushed to martins. When we were there Neil Gresham called and came to our gite for tea. We arranged to meet the next morning at 7am to walk up the hill. I slept well that night and couldn't believe when my alarm went off. We climbed the hill and Neil helped my choose some routes to climb. He put up the quickdraws for me but he also used some slings and put extra quickdraws up , because the runs between the bolts were really long and I wasn't confident enough to climb that high above the bolt. I mainly tackled slabs which were quite tricky. It was very hot and we followed the shade round the crag. The next day we had off and went to Sisteron to swim in the lido which was great fun, later we met with Neil and Nat and Robbie and went for the biggest pizza ever!!
Neil suggested we went up later in the day which meant climbing in the heat but enjoy climbing when it was cooler in the evening. The walk up was very hot, but I was beginning to enjoy the walk and it became easier each time we did it. My best grade that I climbed was 6b+, Harley Davidson and also Mary Lou, I was really pleased with this. Unfortunately on my last day when I was climbing up the hill I felt very unwell and was sick and had to turn round and go back, I think I had sunstroke. I loved my trip and can't wait to go back.

YCS Final

It was the YCS finals yesterday at Ratho with 180 competitors. When we arrived it was very busy and it took a long time to get started and so I began to get nervous. I met up with Nikki again, I was so excited to see her and I also saw Sophie harper who had been in Imst. Simon gave me my South of Scotland hoodie but it was too small so I couldn’t wear it. I then went to look at all my routes and plan them out. I got to the top of my first two boulders and also my first route although there was a tricky move at the top of it. My lace came out on my first route and I had to stop to tuck it in. We then did our last boulder which was mainly slopers and I could only get to a horrible pinch on all three of my attempts so I only got 41 points. Only the older, taller girls got to the top. We then did our third route before our second route which was a black 7a+/7b on the speed wall and I managed to get 2/3 of the way. I was pleased with this because I had to pop for most of the moves because of the reach. The second route that we did last, I got ¾ of the way up and couldn’t reach the next hold. Overall I was 19th, my third boulder let me down, I still have two years in this category and so I should do better next year. I had a great day and can’t wait to go back and try out all the routes this week. We then went to Scotts for a BBQ and played at the park.

I am just back from Ratho after having a session with Robbie. I did my usual 30 minute warm up and then we started by doing the tagged problems in the boulder room. I found them all quite hard but managed to get three of them. Robbie gave me thirty seconds to plan my route and then watched me and then when I couldn't do them he would suggest different ways of doing them. We then moved onto the feature on the bottom of the main wall to make up a really hard traverse only using features. Rachel Carr joined in to help make up the traverse. I could do about a quarter of it but we all fell off at the same part because it was so hard! Robbie, Rachel and I brushed all the sloppy features and looked at all the ways to hold them. After trying the traverse I thought we should grade it a V15. We moved onto the boulders and made up a feature problem on the over hang. Robbie said we should try and mantle shelf over it. So instead of just mantle shelfing over it I said we should make up a problem that starts under the over hang and comes over the lip. We made up the problem and tried it, I got over the lip but fell off going for the next hold.
Then I did my cool down session.

Imst Youth Color Climbing festival

On Thursday mum and I left from Edinburgh airport to travel to Imst in Austria for the Climbing Colour Festival. I was ssooooooooooo excited. Mum picked me up early from school and we met up with Angus, William, Nikki and Sophie at the airport. It was a two hour flight to Munich airport and then we hired a car to drive to Austria. Mum and I had our own car and we were going to follow Gordon and Martin because they had sat nav, but Gordon drove too fast and it was dark and raining and so we lost him after 5 minutes. Nikki’s dad Jimmy saw us and so we followed him. It took a long time and we didn’t arrive in Imst until 12.30. I was so tired although I had slept in the car. Our room was great and I could see the climbing wall from the balcony. The next morning we had breakfast at 9 and then went to the alpine rollercoaster. We went on a cable car up the mountain fro about 30 minutes and then came down on a little buggy attached to rails with( when you are on it with my mum) no brakes !!!! It was brilliant. I went on it two more times with Nikki and Sophie, but used my brakes. We then had some pizza and bout some food for the next day. We then went to the climbing wall to have a look and register. The wall was awesome and I was number 15 out of 29 in my group.
The next morning we had breakfast at 7.30 and we were at the wall at 8 to meet Ian Dunn for our warm up. After the warm up, I did my own warm up and then watched the demonstrations at 8.45. The first route was okay but it I was quite nervous. It was very busy with lots of people watching and nobody spoke English in my group. They were from Austria, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Israel, Slovakia, Germany and France. When they called my name they said Steeeyouert Gabrrryelle Great Breetain. But we always went in the same order so I knew when it was my turn. There was an Austrian girl called Helena after me and she always said ‘luck’ to me before I started.
It was difficult to keep warm all day and I had to keep taking my shoes off and on and not do too much bouldering in between because we didn’t finish until 6. I topped all of the 6 routes on the first day but so did everyone else apart from one!! William, Angus and Nikki did well, they had really really hard climbs. Sophie didn’t feel she had done her best because she was shaking with nerves.
We went for pasta and ice cream and went to bed. I knew the routes were going to be a lot harder the next day.
We did our warm up and stretches and then watched the first two demos. My first rute was a purple, which looked a bit tricky but okay. I managed to get one hold from the top but whacked my chin and came off. It was okay after a couple of minutes and so I concentrated on the next one which was a a very technical blue. Lots of the climbers were coming off on this one. I managed to get about three quarters of the way up and then came off. My second last climb was very weird. It was more like a traversing boulder and then up. I got to the third last hold. And the final route was a green route which again was quite technical. I climbed this quite well and came off 2 holds from the top. I don’t think I climbed the absolute best I could have climbed, I was nervous and so my muscles were tense, but I really enjoyed it and learned loads. At the end I was 19th, the others were in the older category and Nikki was 11th, Angus was 9th, William was 23rd ( I think) and Sophie was 34th, I think we did well for Scotland. There was a prize giving and then we drove back to Munich airport. We arrived home at 12 which was 1am in Austria so I was exhausted. I was allowed to take the next day off school and so I have been doing nothing all day. I absolutely loved my trip to Imst and made really good friends with Nikki. I hope I see her soon she is an amazing climber.

Scottish Finals

I was really pleased to come in the top 5 and make it into the Scottish finals and although I really liked going to Aviemore, to Extreme Dream, I was pleased it was being held in Ratho because it meant I didn’t have far to travel. We had three routes and three boulders to do. The first route and the first two boulders were really easy, the second route which was the yellow route was also okay but unfortunately there were two routes very close together and at the top an older climber came off his route and skiffed my back, I got a very big fright and fell off. I will need to get used to this for future competitions. So I was down 11 points!!! I tried really hard on the third boulder which was quite tricky and had lots of slopers but couldn’t top it. The last route looked really hard and I was really excited to climb it. I managed to get just over the ledge and was pleased with myself. Overall I came 7th, I could have done better but I lost a lot of points on my second route. It was a great day and good to watch the super finals on the red on the comp wall. I can’t wait to try it.

Why doesn't anybody comment on my blog??? Does anyone read my blog????!!!

Session with Neil Gresham

Angus and I had our next session with Neil. I was really looking forward to it but I was also tired. I should have listened to Robbie and had a rest on Sunday because I had been training for three days in a row.
We started with bouldering to warm up, doing V1,V2, V3 V4, I also had a few more attempts at my blue boulder problem. I managed to get to the reachy move and Neil, Simon and Robbie tried to work out how I could make the next move. The best way was using my heel on the volume to rock over, I managed to touch the hold but not hold it .I will do it next time.
Angus did some amazing bouldering, I think he has velcro on his hands.
Neil told us he was doing an endurance session with us. We started with pull ups on the fingerboards, 10 pull ups and then Angus had a go and then my turn. We did this for 3 minutes. We then bouldered on the 45 degree wall doing a hard stick game for 1 minute taking turns, four times. My arms were very tired. We did lots of other endurance work and then cooled down by jogging and sprinting and then doing sit ups and press ups. Angus and I were wiped out. Neil gave us a talk about the pressure of competitions and to enjoy the competition in Imst. I wished Neil lived nearer Edinburgh so that we could do this more often.

Session with Robbie

Today I had a session leading with Robbie. I started by warming up. This involved running up and down 5 flights of stairs at Ratho. Then I did my mobility and stretching meaning I had to stretch my muscles and loosen them off afterwards. I was then all warmed up and ready to climb! The first lead climb we did was the green 6c and although I flashed it, I found the top part quite hard. The next one was the grey 7a but I didn’t manage to get it because it had some of the biggest moves I had ever seen in my life! I’d have needed arms like a monkey to reach them. We moved on to the blue 7b. I got half way up. This was a 6c+ at the half way point. I had a rest on the rope because the next part of it was a 7b so I planned it again. I managed to climb two clips above half way. I was pleased that I did a 6c+ lead! We then moved onto hard boulder problems and I tried the blue V4 (my project problem). I managed to get over half way but there was a huge move into an undercut. I just needed to go for it. I made a big effort. I touched the next hold and managed to stay on the wall. In between my attempts on the blue Robbie tried his pink V10. He got really high up and I thought how can he do that? It was amazing! I really enjoyed Robbie’s session!

Bupa Junior Run

I woke up this morning aching all over especially my hip flexer on my right leg. I was meant to go for a mentoring session with Jonny Stocking at Ratho but instead my mum worked on my leg and hips so that I could run in the Bupa junior run in the afternoon. I had to do this or I would be letting my friend Phoebe down and I also was running to raise money for Diabetes UK. The run started at 2.15. We arrived to do the warm up which was good fun and then the gun went off. We had to run up the hill in Holyrood park and then back down. We paced ourselves well and sprinted from the roundabout. It was great fun. Here is a photo of me and Phoebe at then end with our medals. It's been a good weekend.

YCS Final Round Sat 1st May

Today is the final round of the South Scotland Youth Climbing Series at Dundee. We left early and picked up Irene and Lewis, so that they didn't have to drive as well. I felt very excited but also very nervous. My new shoes had arrived on Tuesday, so I had tried them out at Ratho on Tuesday and Wednesday night and I really like them but everyone said not to wear them for the competition.
We warmed up outside and then started on the first boulder problem which was nice and easy to warm up on. We then did the second boulder problem which was harder. It took me two attempts to get this problem. I decided to put my new shoes on. We then did our first route which was okay. The second route had a lot of slopers and a lot of people didn't get this one. We then did our final boulder problem which Robbie had set and you could tell, it was really tough. I had three attempts and got 55 points. I then only had my final route to climb. It was a a 7a+ so I knew it would be tough. Rachel C did the demo and she came off!!(and she won the leading ladder comp) I had drawn out my route plan earlier and made a few changes when I watched Rachel but I knew I would have to climb it differently because of my height. This route was full of the weirdest holds and slopers, it was all about moving your weight and moving quickly past the bad holds, the problem was there weren't any good holds. I ended up jumping for a really bad sloper and getting 77 points.
At the end of the comp three of us had the same points and so it went on countback and I came 2nd. It was a great day and thanks to Megan and Rachel it was an exciting comp.
I am glad I wore my new shoes.

New shoes

I can't believe I have gone through the toe on one of my shoes!!!!! I think it was all the climbing I did in Font. Mum is going to order a new pair of Katanas and I think I will try and get lace ups to keep them tighter for longer. I hope they come before next Saturday.

Avertical Wall, Dundee

Today I went to Dundee to Avertical wall. Next week is the last round of the YCS for Scotland and it takes place at Dundee. I like Avertical wall, especially the bouldering (that’s a surprise). After warming up I started with a couple of top ropes and then moved on to a purple lead 6b, it was pretty straight forward apart from getting over the ledge and also the clips are really stiff so I found it difficult to clip. I also completed a few more leads including a red which was quite nice and also a turquoise that I put a top rope up to complete. I moved to the back of the hall and tried a black 6b that was quite tricky but I managed to flash it. Unfortunately I found a lot of the routes were set for much taller climbers, so it gave me an excuse to go and boulder. I love the archway and I had a go on the steep board and tried some dynos. I enjoyed climbing at Dundee.

BRYCS

Yesterday I was at Ratho for my usual BRYCS coaching. I started by playing tunnel tig with my friends and running about to warm up then we did a really long traverse along the main lead wall. I stretched while Neil McGeek told us what we were going to do today. I was going to be doing top-roping and looking at technique. Neil took us to the slab wall to do technique, I climbed up with no hands! This made me think about the weight being above my feet before moving. We then moved onto harder climbs so I did the olive 6b and the yellow 6b+ which I found REALLY reachy. I was finally warmed up! I was ready to try my project route. It was blue 7a. I climbed up and fell off at the huge move at the top so I kept trying that move and finally got it! Neil thought there was no point in doing the last 2 moves so I came down and had a rest, I was really determind to complete it next time. I managed to get to the same point again and went for the big move. I managed to catch the hold with one arm, I pulled myself up with that arm and managed to complete the climb! I was really glad that I got it! That is the 3rd 7a that I have now completed! After a rest and a few other climbs, Neil said why don’t you try this yellow, I looked at it and thought crimpy, technique and 6c . Sounds like my kind of climb!!! I tried it and fell of half way and cut my knee on the bolt! AWWW! My foot slipped off and there was a bolt under it. It was time to cool down. I did some easy bouldering ,traversing and stretching then went home. I really really enjoyed this session! Neil always makes me want to climb hard. I think we are all going to miss him at Ratho.

Back at Ratho

I can’t believe I have not written my blog for the past two weeks since I got back from Font. It took us so long to get back from France, we left the gite at 10 in the morning and didn’t get back home until 3am Sunday morning. We didn’t go climbing on Sunday because it was Easter Sunday but went to Ratho on Monday. I felt quite tired so I did my bouldering session and then we did some fun stuff. Since then I have been following my training programme and trying to work hard on routes and not bouldering all the time.
I am really excited about tomorrow because McGeek is taking us bouldering outside, probably in Northumbria somewhere, it all depends on the weather. I am also hoping one of the other parents is going to give Olivia and I a lift because mum and dad are running the Chris Hoy half marathon and can’t take us.

Day 4 in Fontainebleau

Today we went to a place near Noisy. It was really good as well as all the other places we have been to. Although every ones fingers were red raw and some were even cut we still had an amazing time!! To warm up we did this really hard crimpy slab, after two goes I got up it as well as Becky. It was very hard and was even harder if you had finger tape on. I didn't feel very warmed up so I tried another slab but I think I warmed up my throat more than my body because 3/4 of the way up there were two lizards, I screamed when I saw them because they gave me such a fright but I went to the top anyway and climbed as fast as I could on the way down!!! I was very warmed up after that so I asked Neil for something harder so he took me to this reachy, overhanging, juggy problem. It was a kind of traverse then it went up at the end. Since it was April Fools day, the night before Viv and I planned some tricks that we were going to play on Neil for a joke. The first one was putting flour in his chalk bag, it was really funny when he put his hand in and found out it was flour!!!!! The second one was when he was showing us a boulder problem we put big sticks and two pine cones in his chalk bag, he got a fright! The third and final one was placing a very heavy rock at the bottom of his climbing bag so he would be carrying extra weight when he lifted it up!!!!!!!!!!
After all the pranks I got back to climbing and Neil set me another challenge, it was another reachy problem! We did it with some German women. We used their mats. I had my first go and got to the same place as they did. My second go I got to the same place again, came off and went over on my ankle because the rocks underneath the crash mat were uneven.
I watched Neil do a boulder then had to go home. My ankle was really painful!

Day 3 in Fontainebleau

Today we went to Franchard Isatis and Franchard Cuisiniere, they were only a 10 minute walk in between and were both amazing!!! I completed 5 red problems and nearly did a white problem (the hardest level). After about 2 hours it started lightly raining so we walked down the road to Cuisiniere. After warming up on a few slabs and trying a few red problems I asked Neil, can I try something harder so he showed me and Viv this overhanging, reachy and awesome problem!!! I chose a sequence and brushed the holds, I even climbed round the back of the boulder and looked at the top from above! I was ready to try it! I had my first go and fell off just after the middle bit, it involved lots of heel hooks and big reaches. After I knew I could do the start of it I tried it from standing start but I noticed there was a huge dyno to the next hold so I tried different places to put my feet and finally got it from standing start. My fingers were really red and nearly bleeding! Neil said I could try to join it all up if my fingers were ok but they weren’t , I still tried it though but unfortunately fell off at the huge dyno. After that problem I just did reds and blues because my fingers were really sore.

Day 2 in Fontainbleu

Climbing in Font with Neil Gresham and his group for the whole week. I took 5 days off climbing after last weekend because Neil McGeachy told me to and I now feel much better. We arrived on Saturday night after getting stuck in traffic around Paris. On Sunday when we woke up it was raining so we only managed about three hours climbing but it was fantastic. I woke up this morning and it was sunny and I was so excited. I ate lots of pain au chocolate and we headed for the boulders!! At first the boulders were a little wet and so we looked around the forest and checked them out while they were drying. The french people get very angry if you climb on them while they are wet because it wears away the sandstone. When we started to boulder it was amazing, it is so different to bouldering inside, I think I prefer bouldering outside. The boulders are really technical and have REALLY small foot holds so you have to be balanced when you are on them. Before you get onto a boulder you have to arrange your crash mat into the right place depending on the angle of the problem, clean your crash mat with your towel, clean your shoes with the towel or your feet will slip off REALLY easily. Then you're off!!!!!
My climbing buddy, Becky, who is a very good adult climber, is really nice and we give each other pointers on each problem and advice on how to do it! Sean, the trainee coach, was good to work with and really helped me on the harder problems in Font. By 5pm my feet were killing me and I had to go back to the Gite (where we were staying).
I was exhausted by the time we were finished, after 5 hours training, 12pm to 5pm, I was ready to jump in the shower. Hopefully tonight dinner will be good!!! :D

YCS Round 2 Glasgow

Over the past week I have been suffering from a bug that makes me sick and feel faint and so I have not been feeling well. I have still tried to train but had nothing interesting to blog about apart from nearly throwing up on my mums head from the grey 7a+ that I was attempting (badly). I spent more time in Ratho toilets than on the wall!!
This was all on the lead up to the second round of the YCS held in Glasgow Climbing Centre on Saturday the 20th. I had given up hoping I would feel okay and was only holding out for making it through the day. I had to climb in order to get points if I had a chance of getting into the final on the 12th of June, or into the Scottish Final.
Although I felt weak and shaky I thought the first climb and boulder were VERY easy. The second route was harder. When Robbie demoed it he even looked like he was struggling (hahahahahaha). I got 99/100 points so I was pleased(ONE HOLD AWAY FROM THE TOP!!!) I just couldn’t hold the last hold after I did a major dyno for it . My sister, Olivia, was first up for the second boulder and totally flashed it! She did really well! The last move was hard because you had to hold onto an alien head hold ( I held onto its eyeballs) I got it on my second go!
The third boulder was da bomb! Bridging, high feet and swinging basically sums it up! I also got that one on my second go nearly fainting in between!!!
Finally, the last route was AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Full of slopers, dynamic moves and you had to be in balance all the time. I felt really bad by this time and was seriously shaky but decided to give it a go and get as many points as possible. I drank some lucozade sport and hoped it would stay in my tummy for the climb. I found the middle of the route where the the tricky bit was, hard, but kept looking for features and moving my weight over my feet. I got to the second last hold which had nothing on it to hold and so came off!! Only two others got to the same position, that was Megan and Rachel who had a super climb off and Megan won. I came third, one point behind them. I was so pleased to see the end of the day. Poor Kirsten and Alasdair felt the same as me.

Mentoring Session in Glasgow

Aberdeen Saturday and Glasgow on Sunday, I am missing Ratho. I was in Jonny’s group this week with Lewis and Claudia. We did some top ropes and leading mainly 6b’s and one 6c. I really enjoyed the black on the arête and managed to get to about 5 holds from the top. We then did some bouldering and some hanging off the holds to check our arm strength. I enjoyed the session it went really quickly. I then had to get home quickly because I had a Laser quest party to go to.

Scottish Youth Bouldering Competition

On Friday we drove up to Aberdeen, had pizza and then went to bed to be ready for the competition in the morning. The comp was held at Transition Extreme in Aberdeen, it has a brilliant skateboarding place and a basketball court.
In the morning we had to do 10 boulder problems, we had lots of time so Olivia and I went out for a run for 10 minutes to warm up. Unfortunately Olivia was allergic to the grass and ended up wheezy!! So we sat out and watched for a while. I decided to start with the pink and then no.10 grey and then worked my way round them missing out on the queues. I was really pleased to top all of the boulders and get through to the semi finals. Five of us were in the semis because two climbers were in fourth place. We were all put in isolation and had to wait our turn. I was last to go and by then my legs were shaking. The green and black problem had a very difficult start unless you had very long arms. It didn’t go well for me, I couldn’t get past the start and only gained 44 points. When I came off I bashed my shoulder on a hold and had to have an ice pack put on it. I then had to wait for the second boulder that also looked difficult. I tried my very hardest and managed 54 points. Unfortunately it was not good enough to get through to the final, only two got through. I came in third place and was awarded a medal.
I still love to boulder.

Sesh with Neil McGeek

Last Thursday I had a coaching session with Neil McGeeky. Neil started by talking to me in the office about what we were going to do that night, To start we did a few falls on top-ropes because Neil knows I don’t like falling, we then moved on to some lead climbs. To help overcome my fear I had to jump when Neil shouted “GO” without looking down or thinking about it. By the end of the session I began to quite enjoy falling. Neil has given me a programme to do over the next four weeks, I can’t wait to start it. I really like training with Neil, he makes me want to try hard.

BBBBBBbbbUUUuuuOOOOOooSSSHHHhh!!

BBBbbbbUUUUoooosshhshhh
Bouldering about on Tuesday, I ran into Robbie and Nat. I was trying the white on the barrel boulder and had a big move that I was finding it hard to commit to because it was quite high. Robbie very quickly took me onto a lower bit to practice my dyno technique. When he was showing me he made lots of very enthusiastic noises to go along with the move. Olivia, Nat and I were laughing lots at Robbie’s noises. BBBBBBBUUUOOOooSSSSSSHHHHH!!!!!!

Sat 27th Feb 1st YCS Round held at the Peak Wall in Stirling

I woke up this morning to four inches of thick snow in my garden. I was really worried about getting to Stirling and also getting to the competition on time. To calm my nerves I watched Neil Gresham’s climbing DVD in the car on the way. When we arrived there were lots of people there and I found out there were 22 other girls in my category. Because I am 10 I was not very confident that I would do well this year but I was determined to do as well as I could. The first boulder I found quite tricky at the end because I was so nervous but I topped it and so began to relax a little. I then did the first route which I found very easy, I then moved on to the second route which was on an arête and a bit reachy but I managed to top it. The second boulder was very short and pretty straightforward. The last boulder was a killer! I would have needed 10 bowls of porridge to top it! I had three goes and managed to touch the last hold and so gained 58 points. I was disappointed but knew I couldn’t have ever reached it in a million years (or maybe next year when I grow a bit). I moved on to my last route that I had spent a bit of time route reading and so I worked out the tricky bits first. As I got half way up it got harder and harder but I kept on going. Two thirds of the way up, where most people were falling off I was trying to climb faster so I wouldn’t fall off, I realised I was climbing aggressively. I was sooooooooooooooooo pleased to get to the top!!!!!!!!!
I wasn’t sure of what was happening with the other group, so I had no idea I was in joint first place. I couldn’t believe it, I just didn’t expect to do so well! Simon , the chief judge announced there would be a climb off between me and Rachel Tennant who has been my climbing buddy for the last two years. The route picked for the climb off was the orange that the 14-16 category had climbed for their last route. We tossed a coin and I went first. I was very nervous because everyone was watching. I didn’t have a lot of time to route plan but approached the route confidently and tried my very best. Half way up I jumped to touch the next hold and missed by a milimetre. Then it was Rachels turn and she managed to touch it. Unfortunately I came second. Our other friend Megan came third. I had a great time at Stirling and am looking forward to the next round in March.

Sunday 21st February

Coaching session with Jonny Stocking and Natalie Berry

In preparation for the first round of the YCS competition Jonny and Nat’s session was based on some bouldering and routes. Although in my age group we only do top-roping I did a 6c lead. We started off with boulders to warm up and then moved onto hard routes. I think the hardest route in the competition will probably be a 7a+. I’m always concerned that the routes and boulders will be ‘reachy’ because I am a bit shorter than the others in my age group (11-13). I really enjoyed the session because it made me focus on the competition the following week.

Sunday 14th session with Jaime Davidson

Today I did a bouldering session and mega gym session with Jaime. I warmed up by borrowing Karen’s (Jaime’s mum) size 2 training shoes and running along the muddy canal path with Macy the dog. We started by doing easy boulders and then went on to circuits. We then worked on some long circuits and then I made up my own one. After 2 hours of circuits my hands were so sore Jaime decided to take me to the gym. We started off on the pull-up bar doing all the different kinds of pull-ups then we moved onto dips and weights. After that I was determined to go on the running machine and ran for 20 minutes non- stop at the speed of 10. I was exhausted after running for that long. As per usual my Jaime session wiped me out!!!

Yesterday I had a coaching session with Jaime. Every so often she takes Olivia, my sister, and I for a session. She wanted to have us for an hour and a half each this time but Olivia wasn’t feeling very well so I had three hours instead of an hour and a half.

We started by running up and down five flights of stairs to warm up, I was exhausted by the time I had done this. I then did five easy boulder problems and then did ten minutes of stretching. I was then determined to show Jaime my tan boulder project so she could help me with the last move ( the move I was stuck on ). I still couldn’t make the move but she said it was all in my head and made me do the same move five times lower down the wall. It was easy lower down so I just have to be more confident at the top of the 45 degree wall.

We then tackled some routes on the main lead wall, Jaime filmed me using my new camcorder. She then showed me how to play it back to look at where I went wrong. I tried the blue 7a and got three quarters of the way up (it was a very crimpy climb) I then tried the tan 6c and got to the second last hold. I also tried the yellow 6c+ and found one of the moves very reachy. After some hard routes we had a break and then moved on to do some circuits and hard boulder problems. I finished off with some traversing and nearly fell asleep on the way home.

The tan bouldering problem

For the last few climbing sessions I have still been in the bouldering room because it has been so cold in the arena. Today I was doing routes with Mhairi as part of my BRYCS coaching session. I was also wearing my new La Sportiva size 35 shoes that are now the right size for me.
I had been trying the tan boulder problem on the 45 degree board on Tuesday and Thursday but I couldn't reach one of the foot holds so (while McGeek wasn't there) I asked Mhairi to add a foothold to the right of the one I couldn't reach. I then couldn't get past the pinch hold. Today with my new shoes I managed to get to one hold from the top!! Rachel (bouldering meister) Carr told me to head bob the last move !!! I will try it tomorrow.

I have been practicing my jumping, check these out:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFb-cc9maR0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lq5jNCGFCs

‘Talented Climbers Day” at Manchester Climbing Wall

I am on the train coming back from the ‘Talented Climbers Day” at Manchester Climbing Wall. Me and mum got the train after school on Friday and were in Manchester at 5.30. I had pizza and went to bed early so that I had lots of energy for the next day. It has been sooooo cold at Ratho I have not climbed a route for 3 weeks, I have only been bouldering and so I don’t feel very fit. We arrived before 10 and then did a warm up. We then had four different sessions, they were 45 minutes each. My first session was with Steve McLure doing routes, aaaaghhh!!! I hoped I would be okay. I was okay, they were not too hard and I had warmed up okay. I was pleased when one of the BMC guys said he though my footwork was good. I then did the body tension session which was about core strenth. I like this session and there were lots of exersises that I can do at home. We stopped for lunch and I got to talk to Steve Mclure about my new Sportiva shoes because he organises all the Sportiva stuff. My new shoes were a wee bit big so he is going to send me a smaller pair. I then had McGeek for bouldering which was great… I love bouldering. My last session was with Buzby and Robbie which was all about footwork. I really enjoyed this session as well ( although I was sick in the middle of it). We then had a short session on route reading and keeping a training diary. I love the T shirt and the training diary. Mum and I had to leave quickly to get to the train station, we got there in time but I was starving. Great day, thank you Ian Dunn and team for organising this. I would like to go back to Manchester to do some more climbing.

Eleanor and Ishbell were also down for the day.

This is Buzby and Robbie talking to us about footwork.

Sportiva Sponsorship

I am soooooo lucky because I have been Sponsored by Sportiva!!!!! When Neil Gresham came up to Edinburgh EICA at Ratho to do a coaching session with me and Angus he told me my shoes were not helping my climbing and I might as well be wearing slippers. He helped me look at shoes in the `Tiso shop but we couldn’t find any shoes that fitted properly. He then said that he would talk to the people who do all the sponsor stuff with Sportiva so that I could maybe get sponsorship even if I was only 10. They agreed and I now have my first Sportiva shoes. Thank you Sportiva, I promise to train and climb hard with my new shoes.

Tuesday night at Ratho

Bouldering on a Tuesday night in January at Ratho is becoming really squashy because everyone who wants to train are in the bouldering room. I try to get there early but I have to wait for my sister to get home from school and also my lift ( mum or dad). When I get there it is FULL of climbers, groups of climbers, and also McGeek, Natalie and Robbie hogging all the best routes. I dream and hope it will be empty when I arrive but it never is.
Last Tuesday I was trying to do my grey circuit and I did it 8 times finishing on the pink on the 45digree board and then I did some bouldering. I tried the grey and was then glad Jaime Davidson helped me on how to position my feet. McGeek asked me if I had tried the purple on the 45 digree board, I had but couldn’t make the move to the 3rd last hold, Neil helped me but I still couldn’t do it, I think I will make it my project. I also used my stopwatch to make sure I took a break between tries.
Maybe it is quite good to have lots of climbers in the bouldering room, to watch them and also they are always helpful.

Too cold to climb!

For the past four weeks I have only been in the bouldering room at Ratho because it is soooo cold in the arena and the boulders outside are closed because of the new mats. My training schedule isn't going to plan at the moment, I was going to start running with my mum but it is too cold outside to go. I am going to Manchester on Saturday for a training day, I am excited about going, this gives me the opportunity to climb with climbers all over the U.K.

In October I was lucky enough to climb with Kitty Wallace (the British champion for girls, under 16)in London. We worked on hard boulder problems and moves. I love climbing with different people!!!

About me ,,,,,

My name is Gabriella and I am 10 years old. I started climbing when I was 8 because my mum said she had taken me to the sick kids hospital too many times after falling out of trees that I needed to learn to climb properly. I had a lesson from Martin one of the instructors at EICA to see if I liked it, and I loved it and have been going to Ratho ever since.

I joined the Rocksters club at first and then got to enter the BRYCS competitions. That stands for the British Youth Climbing Series. Then I joined the Quickdraw Climbing Club and we get training and coaching through the club. We have had loads of indoor and outdoor sessions. One of the coaches was Neil Gresham. This is a picture of me with him and my Climber of the Month Trophy.