Dry tooling, a different climbing experience...

Dry tooling, a different climbing experience...

last weekend I travelled down to Keswick for my first dry tooling comp. There was no age categories, it was just one big open comp. There was only a 3 juniors that took part (the other 2 were members of the GB Ice Climbing team!!!!) it was mostly adults.

At first I was really nervous and scared but was still excited. I done a few quick climbs in my winter boots, they were new boots and I had never climbed in boots before. They felt so much different they were much heavier and very stiff being B3's. There was 10 climbs in total and some boulder in the competition. The boulders weren't actually part of the comp they were only there for practice. We didn't have very long to do the climbs so as soon as I was warmed up it was time to start the comp. My first route had wooden blocks to strike into. I hadn't really done much striking before. it was quite hard but not as scary as I first thought. I moved on to my second and also got it first go. The second one had really long moves but felt slightly easier to climb. I was gutted as I fell off my third route at the second last hold. You were allowed more than one attempt but I was competing for fun and wanted to try as many as possible. The fourth route I tried was a chain. It wasn't really long but it felt like it took me forever to actually get up it. You need to use techniques called fig4 and fig 9, where you put your leg over your arm to get high.  I managed to get it first go and I was really chuffed. It really tired me out though and I think I should have left it till later on to do. 

 

Climbing a chain

Climb number 9 was the next one I tried, I found it easier than it looked and fortunately topped it even with my slip at the start. I then moved on and tried number 7. I slipped off halfway up but got back on and managed to get it second go. I also got halfway up number eight but never got back on it. I then tried route 10 I didn't get very far at all on this route but still got some points for getting to the fourth hold. After number ten I went onto number 5. It started on a stien and I was using my nomics with no grip on the back so it just kept slipping. I tried twice but couldn't get off the ground. It finished two minutes after, I was planning on trying some bouldering but when the comp finished the centre closed. Just before everyone left they announced first and second place. In first place was Adam and second place was Emma. A few days after the comp we got an e-mail saying I had came joint fourth. I was really happy with the result considering it was only for fun and the experience and also my first dry tooling comp.

British dry tooling series round one  

Decal from Richard at Rope Race, Thanks.

Last Saturday 12th November my dad and I got up really early. We got up at five in the morning and got all of our things and pack lunch sorted. By the time we had loaded the van we set off at about 6 am. It was a five hour journey to Southport but I slept for most of it, my dad said I was great company!! Before going to the comp we quickly stopped off at Go Outdoors as we had ordered crampons. We had a quick look, my dad said it was a good job my mum hadnt came as we would have ended up late for the comp..my mum loves Go Outdoors.  We got the crampons and then made out way to the comp. It only took 10 minutes to get to our venue. When we first gotto Rope Race we went up to the cafe, got a hot drink and met everybody. We all sat around and talked for about 20 minutes before signing up and entering the comp. Although it was a British comp, it felt quite relaxed and everybody was friendly and helped each other out. the Rope Race staff were really nice and friendly and Richard gave me a British Tooling Decal for my helmet :) There was 15 routes at the comp  including boulders. 

Adam, Joe, Me and Rebekah

I flashed more than I was expecting to and got a really high on the others. I struggled more with the bouldering. There was one boulder which I got third go but if I had been more careful in placing my axe I think I could have got it first go. There was only four or five boulders. 

climbing on washers

climbing on washers

climbing on washers

climbing on washers

I did get very far on the rest. My favourite climb was the one on the bricks which then changed into separate blocks which I had to strike with the axes. There was also a few hold and a wooden rail at the top. This was my favourite because it had all different types of holes in it.  Another one of my favourites was the one which had three or four boxe volumes that moved, spun and swinged. 

The whole time I was on this route I thought I was going to fall off, once I got past the boxes there were some wooden holds, this was a challenging route however I was psyched I made it to the top. I managed to qualify for the finals in 3rd place, this meant I was first out to do the first climb in the final. It was a lead climb, and I was a little anxious as I have never lead climbed before using my axes, however I managed to get to the 2nd clip before timing out and came 3rd overall.

Final Route

Final Route

 I won a huge DMM rope bag (my mum has been eyeing it up and hinting for it) but I'm going to use it for all my dry tooling kit. A lady gave me a homemade woolly hat for great effort, I thought that was really kind of her and I will be keeping it in my kit bag.  I am looking forward to my next dry tooling comp in a few weeks when my mum will be on duty for a change. I intend to get some practise in lead climbing with my axes and also to make sure my mum's belaying is up to scratch....

Many thanks to Willis for the initial introduction to Dry Tooling and the loan of the axes and to everyone who keeps helping with my climbing xxx

Font October 2016

last week during the October school holidays I flew to France with some climbers from the TCA youth bouldering squad. Alan Cassidy and Stu Lyle were our coaches and Fiona Ross and David Moodie were the parent Helpers. We left on Saturday and flew to France, arriving by about 10 in the morning. As soon as we arrived we went to our cottage and put everything away, because we got there quite early we went straight to Elephant rock. We just done a lot of easy climbs and messed around, we didn't stay for long. Elephant rock was my favourite place as I enjoyed bouldering there.  There was a load of boulders, Elephant Rock is situated in a forest and I was surprised at how big the forest was.. it was massive with loads of boulders to try. 

 When we got back we all had a big game of just seeing how long we can keep the volleyball in the air for. We counted the amount of touches we made and the record was about 26 or something like that. Once we were all back inside we lit a fire in the fireplace with some wood we collected when we were at elephant. We all sat downstairs talking about famous climbs and what we wanted to try and I just was going to do a lot of the easier ones so I could say I climbed a lot as it was my first time there. By the time we had all discussed the dinner was ready. We had already had a McDonalds for lunch, so we had made a little drop of pasta with some tomato sauce and a side of vegetables. There was peppers and tomatoes and other vegetables. We all went to bed reasonably early because it was a long day and we had an early rise in the morning. We had a separate cottage for boys and girls, we had dinner and done everything in the boys cottage so at night all the girls ran back to ours. We all had showers, checked our phones and went to bed.

Sunday, We woke up at about 8 and got ready and went round to the boys cottage where we got our breakfast. I had some bran flakes, an apple and a banana. Then we went climbing again...

 We climbed outdoors and done easy stuff most days except from on Wednesday where it was really wet and horrible weather. I mainly climbed grade 5 and a 6B and I was surprised how hard these felt. I tried a few 7a as well, although never quite managed them. 

We climbed at the indoor climbing gym Karma. Some of us did take harnesses and there was routes but we all decided to go round and try some boulders. Before we done anything though we went in the wee cafe type thing and ate our lunch, while we were there, the French team coach came in and we all said hello. After lunch we got our shoes and chalk bags on and had a walk around the centre, it was bigger than I expected it to be. We all went round in little groups and warming up by doing some easy climbs, and I tried some of the harder ones. Then before we finished we tried some easy ones again as a cool down. We only climbed indoors for about an hour and a half because the weather got better and some of the boulders had started drying off. We all went to a small climbing place where some of the rock was wet, but luckily most of it was dry or drying off at least. We all tried this circuit thing. You had to climb up the boulder, down the other side and then the aim was to not touch the ground or any sand, you have to jump on the rocks to avoid the ground. The more climbs you done the higher you got. There was 61 to do, but everyone stopped for a break. We got to about 20 or something like that. Me and a few others had sore skin so we headed back and played volleyball, the others that didn't come done the circuit again. once everyone was back down we had a massive game of volleyball which lasted forever. 

My favourite part of the week was seeing and feeling I had improved in both my performance and confidence. My favourite boulder was a boulder called "Big Jim" grade ?, I never got it in the end and must have tried it at least 20 times. I hope to go back to Font one day and get the tick in the box for this boulder. 

This was a great experience and I really enjoyed going with the group. Unfortunately my French did not improve and Stu had to order me my McDonalds. Being back at TCA Glasgow I don't feel as scared on the boulders there now, as they now seem quite small compared to the boulders in Font.

Thanks for reading

CC