Tuesday 19 May 2015

World Cup Trip Approaches

World Cup Trip Approaches

QLD Lead States 2015. Open A Finals Climb. Photo by Climb Media.

I’m so excited! It’s exactly a month away before I leave for my trip to France in late June where I will compete at my first two Open Lead World Cups (in Chamonix and Brianҫon, France). Registration is now open and the competition program has finally been released for the Chamonix comp on 10th-12th July and I’m just busting to get my name on that competitors list. It’ll be a big moment for me as one of my biggest dreams and goals finally becomes reality. Two years ago I got a bad wrist injury which forced me to stop climbing for 6-8 months and destroyed my plans of competing internationally that year. But after recovering from that I spent last year building back my strength to where it was before and beginning my plans for the World Cup comps this year.

QLD Lead State Titles 2015. Open A Finals Climb. Photo by Climb Media.

I've had an awesome year so far. I've dedicated the majority of my time to training every day of the week, pushing myself harder than I ever have before in preparation for these upcoming World Cups. Last weekend I managed to win the NSW Lead State Championships after topping out on both my qualifier climbs and slapping the last hold on my very long finals route. It was great to be back at what was my home gym (SICG Villawood) when I lived in NSW during 2012 and catch up with a few of my close friends again. I have to admit I was very intimidated by the famously long walls at that Villawood gym as my memory hadn't quite done them justice. I began having doubts about whether my resistance training would have been enough. But I was incredibly happy when I realized how much my training has paid off and I was able to tackle the walls better than ever before.  
NSW Lead State Titles 2015. Open A Female Podium. 

Competing at every interstate comp so far (TAS, SA, QLD, NSW (incl. ACT)), I've managed to take out 1st place in Open A at all of them, putting me in a good head space heading overseas to represent my country. It’ll be a whole different ball game over in Europe however, with very high standards, hard comp grades, different route-setting styles and crazy weird holds I've never even seen before. I’m incredibly excited to soon be a part of it all and have the opportunity to put myself completely out of my comfort zone and experience climbing with the best in the world.
QLD Lead State Titles 2015. Topping out the Open A Finals climb. Photo by Climb Media

The months have flown by and all my travel plans are nearing completion. Next week I will fly to Melbourne to compete at the VIC States. Two weeks after that, Queensland will hold the Australian National Lead Climbing Championships at Urban Climb in West End! I cannot wait to see the awesome event they put on and climb on some stellar routes. If it’s anything like the QLD State comp they held, it will be an absolutely amazing weekend.

Barely two weeks after Nationals I’ll be on my way to France! In the first two weeks of my trip, I will be camping and climbing outdoors in Ceuśe with my friends, Tom and Nate. I can’t wait to climb on the amazing limestone rock that everyone talks about. It’ll be so much fun and the long, pumpy climbs will also be perfect resistance training leading into the World Cups.


Exciting times are ahead! What an amazing experience it will all be. Looking forward to sending updates in the next few weeks!