2020 started off
as a brilliant year for me! I had the opportunity to compete in my first senior
world cup in Saas Fee Switzerland in January. Unfortunately, I didn’t place but
it was a brilliant experience and one I won’t forget. During our trip to
Switzerland, Willis and I, decided to make the most of the good weather and we
went ice climbing. We also made the most of staying so near the competition
wall and we done some training on the wall before we headed home.
The next month, February,
I had a trip to Canada Which was organised by CCAT. I was lucky to get a place
on this trip and was extremely excited when the time came to fly out to Canada. I didn’t know
anyone who was going so I was super nervous but everyone was lovely and I had a
great time climbing with new people. I had never been on a flight as long as
this one before, so that was new. Once we landed in Canada we drove to our
hotel. The hotel was really nice and the views we had were amazing. The first
day we got there we went a walk round Banff. I had never experienced jet lag
before and I really struggled with it the first two days. We spent five days
climbing in different places and doing massive multi-pitch climbs. This trip
was perfect because it allowed me to become more experienced in ice climbing
and helped me become more confident. The climbing was great everywhere we went
and it was always really enjoyable due to great weather and being prepared with
all the clothes I was wearing. Canada was my favourite place I’ve ice
climbed mainly due to weather conditions. It didn’t snow once and after a full
day of climbing, I was still completely dry. My main goal for this trip was to
have fun and enjoy the experience. I am super grateful I had the opportunity to
climb in such an amazing place. I had a great time every day and the food were
a bonus. I felt very accomplished on my flight home, I made new friends,
climbed in an awesome place for a week, and felt super motivated to come home
and get some training done.
After Canada I had bit of a rest and took some time to catch up on school work I had recently missed. Soon after catching up on school work I was back in the local climbing centre training again. After a good few week of training it all stopped very suddenly. The climbing centres were all closing and school had finished early. Exams had been cancelled and we weren’t allowed to visit anyone. The start of quarantine felt like a rest which I enjoyed. We weren’t long into quarantine until I hated it, I missed having a routine and getting up at a certain time for school then coming home to sort my cadet kit. All the work that needed done was online and through videos. It was hard to get used to but I did eventually. I tried to do exercise everyday but I found it really hard to be motivated without a routine and I missed getting out the house.
Once it was allowed, I started cycling loads and used my bike as transport to visit family. I missed climbing a lot more than I expected especially since I had done so much just before quarantine. When they announced that outdoor rock climbing and bouldering could take place I was over the moon. The weather wasn’t too bad and there’s a few places local to me. Unfortunately for my mum, she was dragged to the local climbing crag a few times a week to belay me. Once we could climb outdoors, I felt a lot more motivated to train to get stronger. I done lots of running, cycling and lifting weights in my garden. After being climbing at the local sport climbing crag with a few different people I felt really determined.
Since the rules have changed
and you can travel more than five miles, I’ve done some trad climbing in Cumbria,
kayaking in loch Lomond along with some hill walking. Not long after hill walking
in Loch Lomond I went back with my family for a day out. We went to Firkin Point
and took our blow-up kayaks. Both me and Scott (my wee brother) had great fun playing
around on them and even managed to squeeze in some swimming with the dog before
heading home.
My most recent trip was in Cumbria where I met up with Simon to go
trad climbing. It had been about a year since I had trad climbed so I was both
excited and nervous to go. We were at Shepherds Crag for the day, I felt it was
challenging as it had been so long but once I started, I felt it was really enjoyable.
It felt nice to be climbing out with my comfort zone in something more
challenging than what I have local to me as it was a completely different style
of climbing. It was well worth the early start and long train journey there and
back. Luckily the weather held up and it stayed sunny all day. Shepherds crag
was a brilliant place to climb since it had amazing views onto the loch. I felt
very rusty but the more we climbed throughout the day, I became more confident
and used to this style of climbing again. The climbs we completed was a mixture
of single and multi-pitch. I was very happy with my gear placements throughout
the day and this helped me enjoy the climbing more as I wasn’t too worried
about my gear. Once we finished climbing for the day, we had some food before I
got the train back home. Since lockdown happened this climbing trip has definitely
been my favourite and its really helped keep me motivated for training and climbing
at new crags.
The first hill walk I done this year was with James, we decided to go
up Tinto hill. It was a really good walk but it wasn’t very challenging so we
looked at some different hills and decided to do Ben Ledi. The weather wasn’t great
and it was drizzling for the majority of our walk but we were prepared and had waterproofs
with us. The walk felt a lot more challenging than Tinto and took us a lot
longer but it was definitely a more enjoyable walk. The third walk we done was
my personal favourite, Ben Lomond. We had planned it for weeks so when the
weather changed and said it was to be raining all day, we decided we still
wanted to go even though we thought we would get wet. Fully prepared I packed
waterproofs and spare clothes, but fortunately it was dry when we arrived so
after unpacking the waterproof’s we started walking. The longer we walked the
better the weather got and it turned out to be an amazing day. Since the sky
was so clear the views were beautiful and you could see for miles. Ben Lomond
took us the longest to complete but it was well worth it. The final hill walk I
completed was Ben Ime, I done this walk with my mum and her friends. We set off
very early in the morning in hopes of seeing the sunrise at the summit but unfortunately
the weather was horrible and it was so foggy we couldn’t see the sun at all. Ben
Ime was the walk I felt was the most difficult. Until lockdown happened I didn’t
realise how much I enjoyed hill walking. I found hill walking was the most
rewarding thing I have done after lockdown so far.
Not only did I get some hill walking done I also spent a lot of time
cycling and mountain biking. At the start of lockdown, I definitely preferred
road cycling but now that I’ve done quite a bit of both, I would prefer to go
mountain biking. I think mountain biking is better because it gives me an adrenaline
rush and there’s loads of local trails that are perfect for beginners. My
favourite place I’ve done mountain biking is at Cathkin Braes, where I’ve done
a couple of the down hill trails. Mountain biking has been really fun because it’s
a sport I’ve never really tried before and I think its really exciting.
I’m now back in school doing my last year, but I’m hoping to compete
in several competitions this year and get out climbing a lot more.
