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.