Fiera World Cup

Team GBR were strong in numbers in Fiera. Audrey, Zoe, Rae, Katy and I competed. Audrey and Zoe gained points. I missed out by one place and Rae and Katy were not far behind. Unfortunately no one in the team made it into the semi-finals.

Normally we would watch the semis and the final to see how people are climbing, check out the blocs and cheer people on. However, this time some of us decided to go to the local Arco and get some climbing in instead. Audrey and Zoe, being keen sport climbers as well as boulderers, lead the way with the lads, whilst I battled behind with a lack of route fitness!

World Cup La Reunion

Audrey and myself qualified for the semi finals. I had a poorly shoulder and didn't climb very well, but now have a World Ranking and my first semi under my belt.

Audrey cranked hard as you can see and came 13th. The photo is from here.

World Cup Hall

We've been to Hall. It was Rae's first comp, my second and Audreys nth.... The seasoned veteran (although not in years) showed her experience coming 31st with Rae and myself 51st and 41st respectively.

Austria cleaned up with a stunning display of climbing - next time....

Training

We're all training lots at the moment ready for the start of the competition season in April.

Return from Brno

We return from Brno even more psyched for the training season than we were after our last training session if that is possible. Climbing is awesome.

I have my first international event under my belt and have learnt a lot from the experience. I will know how to prepare properly next time. When you first compete internationally you spend a long time in isolation as you are the last to compete. This is tiring after a long day supporting the rest of the team (well done the lads) and getting all the beta on international comps.

We'll post some photos soon...

Brno (Czech)

Thursday morning and Diane and I are on our way to Stansted airport. We're off to Brno for the final round of the World Cup. This is Diane's first international competition (I think). For me, it's the end of long, hard season that has been disappointing at best.

Loving the blog girls!

Pull hard for the final time this season .. lets see a bit of British Girl power!!!

Team Training Day 4

Today we went to Mile End Climbing Wall for the first round of the twentieth year of the Southern Indoor Bouldering League (SIBL). The organisers had kindly set some very special problems just for us. The lads went to work and dispatched some slab and vert dirt to the admiration of a large crowd (about 190 competitors!). Good effort, boys. Despite our best efforts, none of the ladies came close to the blocs but we still went around the rest of the tour and tried the other problems in the Female Open set.

After four days climbing, sore tips and many miles on the road we went our separate ways for the long drive home. That is, for everyone except for me- for once living in London has an advantage in climbing!