September Arco – European Championship
My experience started long before
getting on the plane. My parents really helped me to get set for the trip. Truthfully
I thought I would be ok with it but I was so scared. Even though this was my
first international comp, so there was no real pressure on me, I put pressure
on myself as it was the last one of the year; this was my only chance to prove I
could compete internationally.
Mum and Dad drove me to Stanstead
Airport in about 2 hours. Everything seemed normal (the same feeling as you go
on a school trip) but at the same time, in the back of my mind, the thought of
being away worried me. Arriving and
seeing my friends and the team made me feel less nervous about the trip, at least
everyone else was in the same position.
Then the problems started. Our
luggage hadn’t been booked in because our plane tickets had been booked late.
This put us behind schedule (am I really late for everything?) so we ended up
running for the plane. There were masses of people travelling as it was holiday
season, I guess, and we were last but we got there in the end.
The plane journey went smoothly
and we arrived at midday. Next we hired people carriers for our journey through
the winding Italian cliffs. Some of us took a nap (George) and we stopped at a
petrol station for dinner. I ordered a
classic Italian sandwich which was in a Baguette. They have better petrol
station food than any other country.
Our
second day in Italy started
with a lie in and a breakfast buffet. The town really was picturesque;
it looked better than the postcards, and the coolest thing was the
mountain
fortress, which we could see from our room. After taking a quick tour,
it was a
20 min drive to Lake Garda, we stuffed ourselves with the finest pizzas.
I was rich! In charge of my own money and went on a
spending spree in an Italian supermarket.
What could go wrong? After buying
twice as much as I needed, I was all set for the competition the next day.
What’s really cool is climbing in
Italy is like football in Britain, it’s very popular. We actually got discounts
on our ice creams as the people serving us were climbers. So we had two each!
Tom (the team manager) said there
was a parade and I thought it was a joke until all the competitors started lining
up in their countries, it turned out that they have a parade every year. It
ended up being nearly a 2 mile trek. It was raining but it was 28 degrees
outside, the temperature of British summer, so I wasn’t too bothered by it.
The next day were the qualifiers and
we all met again at the same table with the same food, loads of sugar sprinkled
croissants. I was the most nervous out
of our age group, youth B. I had no idea what it would be like, although we had
practised competitions back in Britain and had a prep talk from Tom (team
manager) the night before, nothing can really prepare you other than
experiencing it yourself.
The warm up area was packed and
there was not much room to warm up. It was a little bit hectic. When the timer
started nobody moved, there was no mad rush and it was very laid back. But inside
you are very tense wanting to perform at to the best of your ability. I have to
say there were 3 very hard climbs out of the 8 qualifiers, but they were all
European standard hardness. I loved the problems and they were the perfect
difficulty as I managed to do 7 and get to touch last hold of the 8th.
Although there were problems with
the scores, my ultimate goal was to get to the final and I did it, qualifying
in 6th which meant I would be climbing first in the final. I was
just relieved to have got there, in whatever position.
The next day we were at the arena,
ready for the final, in no time. Breakfast
went unusually fast, and I was warming up with Tom and Tim (team physio). I can remember how the sunlight found its way
through the branches of trees making patterns on the soil. While yesterday it was bustling with competitors
pushing each other to get onto the wall (one guy nearly took my head off with
his shoe) now you could really see what it looked like.
The competitors who had made it
to the final were really welcoming and nice, they were all pros who knew each other
and had been in finals before, competing in the cup circuit. As we went out in a line to be introduced to
the crowd, they called out my name first and I was out there on my own but
quickly joined by the others. The theme music from Pirates of the Caribbean was
playing which made me smile.
As soon as I went back into
isolation, I was called out to try my first climb. The holds were bright green,
some on black volumes. There were a few
volumes and I think I got the sequence wrong. I was happy that I got the bonus hold on my
first go. It turned out that nobody else
managed to complete it. I thought to
myself, “I really could have a shot at
this!”
The second climb was red, a powerful
overhang, starting with a dyno - a jump to the second hold. The move was quite technical and I was doing
it wrong. I got the bonus hold on my 3rd
go but did not complete the climb - I ran out of time. I found out that all the
other climbers had got the bonus 1st go and two completed it. I
thought to myself, “It does not matter
where you come, just enjoy it.”
The last climb was on a slab and needed a lot
of balancing. This kind of climb can make an experienced climber nervous as
there is always a chance of slipping. I decided to just go for it, jumping to
the bonus on one of my goes. (It was orange) I was not happy about how I had
done on the climb; everybody else would finish it.
My climbs were over and I was
able to sit in the audience with the rest of the British team. There were 5
competitors left to try the climb and a very long wait. Honestly I thought I
was going to be 6th so sat there waiting to be beaten.
It must have been because it was a slab climb,
the others were taking it much more carefully but being in last place I had
just gone for it. As each climber failed
to reach the bonus my ranking kept getting higher until I was in 3rd
place. I couldn’t do any better as
Dominik Haertl (Austria) and Matic Kotar (Slovakia) had such good scores. Matic
took gold, Dom the silver and I got the bronze medal. I definitely did the best I could and had a
bit of luck, but am just happy to have had the experience.
I was very proud standing on the
podium to receive my medal, but it felt a bit unreal, this was my first
European comp and I was going home with a medal. Unbelievable!
We celebrated by eating at our favourite
restaurant and jumping in the outdoor pool, the only thing that would have been
better is if we could have stayed longer but there was school to get back to.
Thanks to Tom, Tim and the rest
of the GB Team for their help and support.
Thanks to my sponsors: Scarpa & Wild Country
& Wolf Mountain, Boulder
Central, Redpoint & Creation Climbing Center where I climb regularly.
