I have a vivid memory of the first few times I competed in
the Open A Female category at a Nationals Lead Climbing Championship. I was
also competing in the youth categories at that time and having the opportunity
to compete in Opens as well was absolutely awesome. Not only would I get to
climb more routes and gain more experience but it was a “nothing to lose” no
pressure situation at which I usually perform my best anyway. But best of all,
I would get to climb and compete with some of the top female climbers in the
country… and that was incredibly inspiring for me. I remember watching them
glide up the walls seemingly effortlessly and wishing I could be that strong
one day. It’s been my goal for a long time now to win the National Lead
Climbing Championships… to be able to nearly top all my allocated climbs, to
glide up the walls my own way, and to finally stand on top of that podium and
become that person who inspired me so much in the beginning.
A few weekends ago I finally achieved that goal… and although it happened in an unusual set of circumstances, it made it all the more rewarding for me. This is how it happened…
(James Kassay and I after winning Open A National Lead Championships 2014) |
Waking up Friday morning with a
throbbing headache and sore throat, I was certainly having second thoughts
about making this trip to Melbourne for the 2014 Lead Nationals. I really
didn’t like the idea of becoming that annoying person on the plane coughing and
sneezing, spreading the viral love to the world. I also didn’t want to have
flown all that way and be too unwell to climb in a comp I’ve trained so hard
for. But a crazy something inside me (probably the virus) decided that despite
all these negatives, somehow it was still a better idea to make the trip and
see how my luck would pan out. A bit of anger sparked inside me… I wasn't going
to let some silly head cold stop me from at least trying to achieve this goal
that I’ve trained so hard for. But the virus had its own goal too, I guess. It
certainly wasn’t going to give up without a fight… but neither was I.
The day of the qualifying climbs
was difficult. The Opens and Masters categories didn’t start until the
afternoon and the comp was running a few hours late. I made the right decision
to rest in the hotel all morning while Mum, Dad and Sarah did some Melbourne
shopping and coffee drinking. I was pretty excited for both Mum and Sarah as
they would also be competing! Unfortunately
my brother Sam couldn’t make it as he had to work but we nominated Dad as the
Stirling coach for the weekend! It was another Stirling invasion.
I had slightly more energy when
we got to the competition around midday and watched the Youth Finals. I really
enjoy watching the youth categories climb. They are incredibly strong and it’s
awesome to think of the amazing things they’ll be doing in a few years. It was also
really lovely catching up with all my interstate buddies again.
I had a light boulder in an
attempt to warm up a bit… But after feeling slightly exhausted already, I
decided it was more important to conserve the little energy I had left. I sat
down in a corner and wrapped myself with numerous jumpers and downys until it
was my turn to climb (I was pretty consistent with this approach for the entire
weekend).
The first qualifier climb was
relatively straightforward with most of us topping out. It was really fun
though and would have been a great warm up for the next climb. However, it
wasn’t until 8:00 or 8:30pm that it was my turn to climb the next route… Way
past my bedtime but I tried not to think about it.
The 2nd quals climb
was very tricky and technical and no one actually topped out. The crux had
these really fun, cool, balancy moves off polished slopers… A technical style I’ve
really come to love in the last few years. Andrea Hah and I were the only two
who managed to get to the last move, placing us both 1st in the
ranking for the semi-finals the next day.
(Photo by Mike Davis: Open A qualifier climb #1) |
I didn’t sleep very well that
night but did manage to get a few solid hours of deep sleep in to keep me going
for a while. I tried to warm up before the semi-final route but my heart
started racing so I decided to stick with my energy conservation plan. It
didn’t work as well for this route… It was incredibly pumpy and as soon as I
got on the wall I started shaking like crazy… Not enough warm up! I felt pretty
horrid on the wall but managed to make it up most of the way before falling
from complete exhaustion. I was really happy about how far I’d made it to on
the climb considering how unwell I felt. I ended up ranking 2nd
going into the finals that afternoon.
(Photo by Mike Davis: Open A semi-finals climb) |
As soon as I came down from that
climb I went into hibernation mode… I curled up in a corner in the isolation
area, covered myself in down jackets and had an incredible nap dreaming of
rainbow elephants, giant flowers and monkeys. It served me well… I emerged a
few times to zombie walk my way to the toilet and back and wish my big sister,
Sarah good luck for her climb in Open C and my Mum for Masters. When I finally
got myself up for the viewing of the Open A finals route, I felt significantly
better. I didn’t have much of a voice left (much to everyone’s amusement) but I
had a fair amount more energy than I did in the morning, thank goodness! I even
got a pretty good, light warm up just before my climb without exhausting
myself.
During observation and
visualisation time of our route I tried not to get caught up too much on any one
cruxy looking section. Like usual, I spend my time scoping out all the holds
and getting a general idea of where the harder parts are and a few possible
ways I could do them. I then actually focus on the start of the climb, no
matter how easy it looks, and get really comfortable with the moves and
holds... because how I feel when I start the climb has a huge effect on the
rest of the route and how “in the zone” I am. When it comes time to climb I
just let my body do the work and trust my instinct and muscle memory when it
comes to a difficult section. I do it my own way because I know what works best
for me.
It was my turn to climb…I knew this
route was long, and I knew it would be difficult, but I was going to give it
everything. I stepped onto the wall and just climbed. I felt comfortable and
relaxed but psyched. I didn’t waste any time through the start or think about
what was ahead too much… I just climbed and let my body do the work. Before I
knew it I was at the first harder looking section but it was surprisingly easy so
I kept moving. I began feeling slightly pumped so I rested when I could, on
whatever I could, but tried not to waste too much time… I would fatigue quickly
if I wasn’t careful. I was in the last quarter of the climb where it becomes a
battle of the pump. Nothing is that good to rest on so you just have to keep
moving and hope that your fingers will close on each hold you grab despite the
pump. I made it to the last few holds on the climb and they were absolutely
terrible. I could barely hold on and the next hold looked worse. I went for the
move just as the pump in my arms was making my fingers peel off the hold. I
touched the next one but fell off, completely exhausted, but very happy. I had
nearly just topped my Open A finals climb at Nationals! I was thrilled.
(Photo by Mike Davis: Open A finals climb)
After finding out I had also just
won, I could barely believe it. I thought back to that morning in bed and an
hour or so beforehand in isolation, just feeling horribly sick and sorry for
myself. I truly believed I had no chance of winning Nationals in the state I
was in. But there I was… and I felt on top of the world. I couldn’t speak very
well though… my voice was almost gone but I didn’t care.
(Photo by Climb Media: Andrea, me and Kumari on the Open A Finals podium)
We had wonderful celebrations
that night at an Italian restaurant close by. I devoured an entire pizza and
was almost falling asleep after one glass of wine. Mum and Sarah had done
really well at the comp as well. They had both come 4th, only just
missing out on podium in each of their categories. It was so lovely to
celebrate with my family, and also to have Rob and Eric from ICP and Dave there
to support me. What a weirdly awesome and unexpected weekend!
(The weekend's Stirling team) |
I would like to send a huge thank
you to my sponsors Pinnacle Sports for their incredible and ongoing support
over the years, you guys are amazing. To Flight Centre Active Travel for their
ongoing support and for always making it so easy to organise my flights and
accommodation. And to ICP, for their endless support and helping me celebrate
reaching this big goal of mine, I am incredibly grateful. I have many more big
dreams for climbing to work towards and it’s awesome to know I have such
amazing sponsors to support me along the way. Thank you so much :)