ASBO!

Friday was the day of the ASBO 2011 at Climb Newcastle.

I was psyched out of my tiny little mind and headed up there in White Beauty of course with Mr Hession, Ged and co in the Renault. We were all raring to go.

Team Hangar turned up with 3 hours of qualification left, 35 problems in 3 hours. Pretty simple eh? I warmed up flashing about 15 problems then slowed down so I wouldnt make too many mistakes. 20 problems left, I usually always climb alone in comps due to the fact that I can stay psyched and not get distracted by anybody else. A tricky mantle was the first problem to spit me off, I had one more go and still had not managed two hands on the finishing jug. I walked away, did 3 problems then returned and just about got to the top earning myself a respectful 4 points which gave me a position in the final. The only problem I didnt manage was in the Pool Area, a few slopers and a poor crimp were not to my liking. I think the problem had only seen 2 or 3 ascents in the whole day so i werent too fussed.

Qualification over, 334 points out of a possible 350. Not too bad, joint 5th position with Groundskeeper Ged for the final.

9pm, the finals were here. Ged was out first and I have to admit I werent feeling too psyched. 4 mins on 3 problems with a decent chunk of rest. Surely it couldnt be that bad?

Ged came back looking a bit surprised and I werent expecting to do well on Problem 1 as it was a mantle and well, yeah Ged can mantle so I had no chance. My 4 minutes were up in no time as i failed to catch the two green volumes after the first tricky section. Oh well, bring on Problem 2.

Problem 2 involved the most delightful drop down campus move to a huge sloper I have ever encountered in climbing. It was brilliant, get your foot on the screw-on and lock the left arm down to a small right hand crimp, which was also the bonus hold. Fail! I couldnt manage to hold the bonus hold which was unfortunate but I got pretty close which was a fairly good effort for me after all the climbing i had done by now.

Now then, problem 3. What could it be? A dyno of course, and what a dyno it was. Dyno out of the groove onto a sloper above the roof and catch a toe hook under the roof. A few warm up goes and I had done the dyno, psyched! Now a crimpy/slopey lip traverse with a huge foothold which moves about. Sounds easy enough, this go I managed to get the bonus hold as my right hand ripped off the crimp due to the humidity of a greenhouse in the wall. Time to nail it, through to the bonus hold for me again. I got to the surprisingly good holds above the bonus. One more blind slap to a screw on attached to the volume and I should be matching the finishing jug, right? Wrong, I missed the screw on first time around then managed to not catch it properly the second time I threw up for it. I hit the mats to find out I had 2 seconds left on the clock, Ah well! What a great problem that was!

I ended up finishing in 5th place just in front of Ged. Not too bad for my first bouldering comp in a while. Bring on the Beastmaker!

http://events.climbnewcastle.com/asbo.html

Well well well!

Its been a while!

Well, since arriving back from Switzerland climbing properly has been put off a little due to working quite alot, setting at the wall for the big comp etc. My psyche is slowly returning and i am quite keen to get training and on some new hard problems.

I have been to the infamous cave twice recently, trying The Wire 8A+ which links Lou Ferrino into Broken Heart. Having climbed both these problems before I thought it would be a good problem to try as most of the other link ups are either too hard or I have already spent alot of time on them and dont have much psyche to get involved. The two sessions I have had have went particularly well considering the grade of the problem, I have relearnt Broken Heart and done all the moves which connect the two problems together. Psyched to nail this one, first 8A+ maybe?

This Friday is also the ASBO 2011 competition at Climb Newcastle. Heading to this with a team of weak scousers and Ged to see how we get on! Looking forward to this as I have not been on the comp scene for a while and am interested in how i get on.

Will post back with some results, take it easy y`all!