In Junior female we had (in order of position at end of semi-final):
1. Sasha Diguilian (USA)
2. Manuela Sigrist (SUI)
3. Dinara Fahkritdinova (RUS)
4. Rebekka Stotz (SUI)
5. Katherine Choong (SUI)
6. Alexandra Ladurner (ITA)
7. Matilda Soiderlund (SWE)
8. Maria Davies Sandbu (NOR)
Each one of these amazing athletes fought hard in the finals for the top place! The route they had to contend with was something a lot of them would not be expecting. Having a massive overhanging competition wall, why would the Junior Females expect to get anything less than that, well they didn't get it, they were stuck with the most insanely technical and balancy route imaginable! It maneuvered its way round the old competition walls most awkward and subtle section, what I like to call "The Diamond" and "Changing Corners" (in relation to that of Yosemite's El Capitain 8b+ pitch).
This category was very interesting as it was a quite unexpected winner of the event... One of the very first competitors to climb, Alexandra Ladurner from Italy had qualified in 6th position... this is really good but she hadn't looked anywhere near as strong as others in the category! She really only beat our own Natalie Berry (GBR) by one hold! When it came to her on the final, she sped up the technical masterpiece at an incredible speed! Everything flowed really naturally, she never seemed to struggle at all, the route looked as if it had been made for her! She made it all the way into the end of the final roof when she fell...
Katherine Choong (SUI), a very strong Swiss climber was also in the finals, she had won the World Youth Championships the year before in the lower category (Youth A). Katherine was definitely a favourite to win, yet she really struggled with this route in particular. She barely made it into the final slab section and before that had really struggled with all the balancy and technical moves! As she tried to pull into the final slab at the "Changing Corners", she slipped moving to the next hold, trying to maintain herself on the wall she moved to grab a hold lower down but couldn't control the swing, she was off!
The next big competitor was Dinara Fahkritdinova (RUS)! She was probably the most impressive out of all the junior girls in the final, simply due to the fact that she was so small! Because she was so small, every move looked like it was going to be way out of reach for her, but she kept on going and going! Every-time it looked like it was over, she surprised us all with a crazy technical maneuver that would get her to the next hold. After managing to get into the final slab section, she spent a good few minutes trying to reach the next hold without falling off, after the one minute call went, she decided to press on quickly and to the crowds surprise (probably hers too) she kept going and got straight into the roof, when she timed out on the hold before were Alexandra got! Close but no cigar...
- Alexndra pulling round the "Changing Corners" on the Female Junior Final Route!
The next competitor was someone everyone had been keen to see on the route, Sasha Digulian (USA). Sasha had topped the semi-final and was looking like she was on par to win the event! She had spent a lot of time in Europe climbing outdoors before the WYC's so she was strong and fit, however, when it came to climbing this route, it looked the opposite of what everyone expected... She looked very shaky as she pulled on the start, the moves were very balancy and required very subtle body position, you simply couldn't just thug your way through this route! Sasha was trying to find a way in which she could power through the moves, but I don't think it was going to happen... She valiantly fought right up until the final slab, however, her inability to lift her leg high onto a small foothold and rock over cost her the competition, and so she fell...
The final competitor was Manuela Sigrist (SUI)! I was routing for Manuela to win, I had met her in France only a month ago. She is a very good friend of Natalie's and watching her climb in the quali's and semi's was very inspiring! She was very elegant up the whole of the final roof, however, she seemed to struggle a little as she entered the final roof section... Gaining a little more height, she got a bit of a shake out and recovered something, enough to slap out into the volume and grab the first hold, her foot got caught in the rope as she jumped, this must have really caught her by surprise, her body turned the wrong way in the roof as she swung and she lost her momentum! Not able to hold the holds in this state she let go and it was over! Screams from the Italian coach and Alexandra could be heard, she was the new world youth champion!
Male Youth B
1. Sebastian Helenke (GER)
2. Loic Timmermans (BEL)
3. David Firnenburg (GER)
4. Alexander Koll (AUT)
5. Geoffray De Flaugergues (FRA)
6. Mael Bonzom (FRA)
7. Semen Cheznokov (RUS)
8. Berhnard Rock (AUT)
- Matilda Soderlund cruising up the Female Juniors Final!
Junior Female Final Results
1. Alexandra Ladurner (ITA)
2. Manuela Sigrist (SUI)
3. Dinara Fahkritdinova (RUS)
4. Sasha Diguilian (USA)
5. Katherine Choong (SUI)
6. Matilda Soiderlund (SWE)
7. Rebekka Stotz (SUI)
8. Maria Davies Sandbu (NOR)
And this concludes the female junior event! In the Youth B boys event we had a completely different turn of events! Last years winner Sebastian Helenke (GER) went on to win this category with a very impressive top-out of the route! Not even the amazing Geoffray De Flaugergues could contend with the unstoppable beast that is Sebastian!
When others were looking like there was no possible way of making it, Sebastian was resting and still looking comfortable! He was truly inspiring, a seemingly unbeatable competitor in the category! Since he won it last year, he is only looking stronger, it would be interesting to see if he can continue on his path of destruction in the next category up, Youth A. Following the Youth B category came the girls Youth A! This was particularly interesting, as there were three competitors who topped the final! However, due to countback, only two went into a superfinal, Katherina Posch (AUT) and Helene Janicot (FRA)! They did this on the Youth B boys route (the one Sebastian topped)!
First up was Katherina... she looked rather unsteady even from the start, there were a lot of big moves and throws to poor holds and she didn't look comfortable in this style. Both Ian Smith (fellow compare) and I had agreed that Katherina was the stronger climber and were confident that she would be the victor, Katherina came out into the final section before the roof, fighting to make the last move to a small screw on she leaped for the hold, slapped it and was off! Next up was Helene... Helene looked solid all the way through the start, no hesitation, a strong and formidable opponent, Helen was mashing this route to bits! She approached the section that katherina had fallen... she didn't even look like she was slightly pumped! She hit the screw on that Katherina had slapped for and held it... the crowd erupted in screams... but Helene wasn't done, she moved on and made it into the roof, she had matched most of the Youth B boys, including Geoffray (8b+ onsighter) and was still going! She made a few more moves ahead... and in the end she matched Alexander Koll (AUT) from the Youth B boys high point! If she had been competing against these boys who onsight 8b's and 8b+'s and climb 9a's, she would have placed 4th in the world! She placed 1st in Youth A girls!
- Katharina Posch on the Final Youth A Girls Route!
1. Helen Janicot (FRA)
2. Katharina Posch (AUT)
3. Magdalena Rock (AUT)
4. Sol Sa (KOR)
5. Andrea Prunster (ITA)
6. Amanda Rohner (SUI)
7. Tina Sustersic (SLO)
8. Momoka Oda (JPN)
So the competition overall was a great success! Today was the speed format, there were some incredible performances, but as I am not a speed climber i can't commentate much on what happened and I wasn't paying that much attention to be hoenst : P
Some guy did it in 7.9 seconds which was cool... For all other results check out the IFSC website! Also keep watching out for more news from me on my coaching, comps, travels, climbing and training on my blog!
ROBZ OUT
P.S. ALL PHOTOS BY WILL CARROLL
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So anyhoo, we had four strong young climbers from Britian who made it into the semi's! In Junior Female, qualifying in 1st place we had Natalie Berry and qualifying in 26th, Catherine Whiteman! In Junior males, we had the gangly armed beast from Pocklington, Ed Hamer who qualified in 17th! And in Youth A females we had the londoner, Kitty Wallace who qualified in 17th place!
So a strong team competing in the semi's for a place in the finals! The first competitor in the finals from Great Britain was Catherine Whiteman. She was competing in Junior Females, their route was at the right hand-side of the new comp wall (big orange wall). It consisted of a very tricky start, with balancy moves and quite long reaches heading into first some easier ground in the start of the overhang and moving into a powerful section with no rest just before the wall steepens into the final roof! The final roof looked pretty nuts, at one point you actually had to flip 360 degrees round and go back on yourself feet first through the roof! As Catherine approached the wall, the crowd erupted in cheers for her! Catherine started up the wall, she looked good on the first few moves, then came the first crux, a really balancy move in which you had to use the side of the wall as a hold! Moving up to the sloper of the side of the wall proved too much and she was off! A really good effort by Catherine Whiteman finishing her with a very respectable 27th place overall!
Next up was Kitty Wallace in Youth A! Kitty's route was in particular a very awkward one. It headed up the left-hand side of the old competition wall (the white one), up the start was a balancy arete, moving into and overhanging arete, followed by some powerful moves on some very bad handholds! As you pull out of the overhung arete, you head into a slight overhung only to be introduced to yet another overhanging arete which lead into the final half, a roof which leads to a desperate mantle into a vertical traverse at the very top! Kitty started out, looking a lot stronger than previous girls, she made the first and second arete look too easy and it was only when she came to pulling out into the powerful moves on the slight overhang that she started to look tired! She was at the halfway mark where she slapped to a big white sloper, held it, and managed to recover before the second half! After recovering a little, Kitty began the ascent, still looking super strong, she slapped for a good grey pinch, but seemed to struggle getting purchase on it! I had done the route a few days previously when it had been quite a bit harder and it had been absolutely pointless to try and rest here, but Kitty somehow managed! Kitty stepped high into the next foothold and rocked over, she stopped just short of the next hold, looking a little hesitant, then she went for it, caught it and let go! Kitty did incredibly well and placed an amazing 17th overall!!!
The next big star was Natalie Berry! Natalie was competing in Female Juniors with Catherine. I got the crowd really stirred up for this one, Nat had told me that she loves the screams of the crowd and she really wanted everyone behind her on the route. I even managed to rig her favourite song to be playing when she climbed, only cause I had it on my Iphone, "Bongo Bong" by Manu Chao!!! Nat started up the wall with a raging crowd of thousands behind her and even more viewing online (10,000 viewers)! Heading into the first balancy crux, she looked a little off balance, slapping into the next hold she got caught in the quickdraw and looked like she may have come off... the whole crowd drew a breathe, she was ok... she collected herself and continued up the wall! After that things looked a lot better, she made all the moves other girls were struggling with look easy!
The amazing thing with Nat is just how easy she can make everything look, even when its not! This is the sign of a very good climber, because even when she's struggling, she can still maintain perfect technique. Heading into the second half of the overhang, she was looking very solid, making now rushed moves or looking at all pumped. At a big white pocket, she managed to recover a bit... most of the girls before had been falling off before and around these pockets, so she was doing insanely well! She pressed on into the next big pocket and again into another, here she had a big move into the roof jug, only 8 girls had got this far and none of them had made this move look easy! She popped for the jug, not grabbing it right she slipped and was off! This was the end for Natalie Berry in the semi's, I had been tracking everyone's progress so far and it looked like Nat was tipped for 8th position! This would get her into the final, however, there was still 2 more climbers left... one of whom was Matilda Soderlund from Sweden, a good friend of Nat and mines. Matilda got well into the roof before she fell making Nat 9th, and the final girl got one hold further putting Nat 10th! Natalie finished the competition placing overall 10th in the world!
The final British competitor was Ed Hamer! Ed is an insanely strong climber from Bakewell in England! His fingers are amongst the strongest I have ever seen until I met Jan Hojer from Germany (sorry Ed : P ). Ed was in the semi's placing 17th. His semi-final route looked absolutely amazing, and I can't wait to get on it! Ed headed out looking his usual beastly self! Locking off on every small hold clipping casually all the way up the wall and not looking at all weak he managed to make it all the way into the roof! He got as far as some of the strongest guys in the category, as he slapped out for the volume he caught the slopers and shook out and clipped... one move to a jug and then he was in to the last few moves of the route! Ed gathered his momentum for the slap, as he brought his hand round to catch the jug, his arm got caught in the rope and he didn't get the reach! Ed fell back and was off!!! Good Effort Ed! Next time drink some water : P (Inside joke)... Ed finished the comp placing 17th overall!
I am off to ratho now for the speed comp so I will blog again tonight about everythingelse!
ROBZ OUT]]>
Female Juniors
1. Natalie Berry - 1st (joint with 6 others)
2. Catherine Whiteman - 26th (joint)
3. Becki Hall - 30th
Female Youth A
1. Kitty Wallace - 15th (joint)
2. Alice Waterhouse - 47th (joint)
3. Rhoslyn Frugtniet - 50th
Female Youth B
1. Eleanor Hopkins - 38th
2. Sarah Pashley - 39th
3. Rachel Carr - 41st
4. Lily Rosengard - 49th
Male Juniors
Male Youth A
1. Jonathan Stocking - 27th
2. Paul Williamson - 30th
4. Joshua Farrell - 53rd
Male Youth B1. Jonny White - 37th
3. Stevie Addison - 43rd
4. Michael Hopkins - 48th
All our scottish kids did exceptionally well today, I am so proud of every single one of them and they all need to be congratulated for their efforts over the past 2 days even if they themselves don't think so. Natalie Berry cruised as usual... Her second qualifier was the same as the Youth B girls the previous day (with a few holds taken away : P). Watching Nat climbing in competition is a really beautiful thing, she is so concentrated and focussed, she never deviates from her target and she never makes a mistake. On the second qualifier, she looked so far within her ability that I reckon she could have lapped the route a further 3 or 4 times if she had really wanted to... Nat continues on to the semi's in joint 1st place with 6 other girls sharing the position, COME ON NAT!!!
Eleanor Hopkins had the Youth A girls route from yesterday (very slightly changed). Eleanor was looking very strong on the climb, a lot stronger on the start than previous girls I had seen! As she headed out of the corner of the first roof, she was challenged with a big move to a small edge, a lot of girls had fallen here, but Eleanor managed to fight through and maintain her self into the second half of the climb! As she approached the hard traverse left, she came across a big move to a large sloping pinch. As she approached, it was obvious she was beginning to struggle, making one last lunge to grab the pinch, she held for a second, then let go...
I was very impressed with Eleanors performance today as well as her maturity. She sees all these comps as experience and an obvious challenge in which to learn and adapt from, we could all do to be a little more like this with our own climbing and indeed in our everyday lives!
Rachel Carr was the final competitor for GB competing in youth B that day. She had had a long time to wait to get on the route and therefore a lot of pressure building up! Rachel looked solid moving through the first section of the route, she climbed very fast and decisive (a good style in comp climbing). She maneuvered her way round the corner of the first roof, as she did so, she required a high heel hook to rock over into a poor edge (a move a lot of girls were struggling on).
Competitions are so stressful and can drastically change you climbing style or even make you unaware of your surroundings or what you are doing with your body. In this particular case, its my belief that Rachel was unaware of her heel placement on this foothold, thus:
This is something that happens to every competitor in some part of their career and is an unfortunate and very frustrating part of climbing! The best you can do is look back at what you did wrong with an analysing and positive mindset, focussing on improvement and not dwelling on the negatives of the event. Rachel will now look back at this event, she will be more careful next time... she has become a better climber because of this...
Robert Mackenzie was on the same route as Youth A boys yesterday (only slightly harder now)... He made a good effort in the first half off the route, however, just as the route steepened, he seemed to pump out early, fighting to stay on, he pressed out violently right to a horrible crack from a deep 2 finger pocket! Not getting all his fingers in the crack, he buckled and fell off! Robert has a lot of experience competing and knows simply that sometimes, mistakes, hesitations or even a lapse of judgement on route can cost you everything, he fought valiantly but unfortunately lost... Well done though dude, it was a great fight!!!
The three scots in Youth A today were on my demo route, which was also yesterday Junior male qualifier! Unchanged, it remains still a very formidable challenge (8a+), only 6 topped out! Jonny Stocking got the highest (even with a dodgy finger), he fought straight into the final roof section, looking strong through the entire first 3/4 of the route! As he battled out over the lip of the roof, boxed out his nut he slapped for the lip hold and didn't quite make the reach and fell. Jonathan Field managed to make it to the rest jug below the roof, but unfortunately was unable to rest due to the very awkwardly placed footholds! Fighting to recover, he succumbed to pressing on and only holding the next hold for a split second, he was off! Paul Williamson headed off up the first 1/4 looking good, some of the moves looking very reachy for him however... As he gained height and into the more overhung territory, he was face with even more burly moves! Paul unable to maintain the succession of jumps and locks fell just below the resting jug!
Both Dylan Mackenzie and Stevie Addison also fought hard on their Youth B Boys route (Junior Girls Qualifier 1 as well), both gaining high positions on the route (7c-ish)!
After the difficulty competition, we entered Speed! This was about the time I decided to pack it in for the day and left with Ed, Jonny Stocks and Nat for something to eat... Two steaks, two pasta dishes, a side order of mushrooms and a very small pint(?) of Guiness later, we were trashed and ready to hit the hay, but not before some King Kong action on ITV.
Tomorrow is the final day of difficulty! Both semi's and finals will take place so please support our lads and lassies in the competition! You can buy tickets at EICA: Ratho to watch there or you can watch live online @ http://www.247.tv/climbing/freestream
Looking forward to tomorrow guys!!!
ROBZ OUT
So its the end of the first day of the World Youth Championships at EICA: Ratho in Edinburgh!!! And what a day it was, so much happening, I barely had time to blink! First thing I did today was demonstrate the Junior Boys first qualifier, this was graded at about 8a+ and had some pretty spicy moves in it, including a very nasty jump move right at the end. I climbed it smoothly and in control which was what was needed, so I feel I did a really good job of that (although tomorrow I have to repeat it again). The next big job was commentating! I commentated all day along with Ian Smith and an american named Russ (he commentates basketball in the states). It was really good fun and apart from a few slip ups I feel I did really well for my first time. I am really keen to move on from this and into more media related work within the outdoor industry, focussing on climbing of course : ).
So anyway, all the kids did incredibly well!!!
Results are here:
Female Juniors
1. Natalie Berry - 1st (joint)
2. Catherine Whiteman - 26th
3. Becki hall - 29th
Female Youth A
1. Kitty Wallace - 13th (joint)
2. Alice Waterhouse - 41st (joint)
3. Rhoslyn Frugtniet - 50th (joint)
Female Youth B
1. Rachel Carr - 36th
2. Sarah Pahsley - 39th (joint)
3. Eleanor Hopkins - 46th (joint)
4. Lily Rosengard - 48th
Male Juniors
1. Ed Hamer - 12th
2. Robert Mackenzie - 41st
Male Youth A
1. Paul Williamson - 22nd
2. Jonathan Stocking - 26th
3. Jonathan Field - 41st (joint)
4. Joshua Farell - 50th (joint)
Male Youth B
1. Stevie Addison - 30th (joint)
2. Jonny White - 35th (joint)
3. Dylan Mackenzie - 39th (joint)
4. Michael Hopkins - 46th (joint)
So all in all a very good result! Now I'll talk a little about how the Scottish kids performed today:
Natalie Berry climbed as smoothly as she usually does and topped her first route clean… I spoke to her after the route and she said that she got a little pumped but she could recover on nearly every hold. Nat is without a doubt Britains best ever competition climber, she is so consistent attaining good results in competitions and I have never seen her make a mistake on a route. She has had a lot to deal with this year so its excellent to see her in such a good position after the first qualifier, this will put her already into the top 10 (those that also topped out) and if she climbs well tomorrow, a good position for semi’s!
Unfortunately I didn't see much of Rachels performance, all I can say is that she was looking very strong heading into the final head wall of her first route (graded at around 7a+/b), and then she was off! Rachel is one of the strongest competitors in Britain in her age category and definitely seems to relish competition, we have a lot more to see from her and I'm sure tomorrow she will astound us again with another fantastic performance!
- Eleanor was cruising the route, she looked so comfortable and managed to get a good rest in a corner before the final head wall that a lot of the kids had found difficult getting. As she broke out of the corner, she was faced with small crimps and a difficult pull over the lip of the roof, she was looking solid when her foot popped off the panel she was smearing on and she was finished... An unfortunate end to what could have been a really high ranking climb! Well done Eleanor
Robert Mackenzie climbed out of his skin today, he had a really hard climb and he showed all the determination he usually does in comps. Robert is without a doubt one of the coolest guys I know (when it comes to comp climbing : P), he is super relaxed and just enjoys every minute of the event. He was looking really good until a slight hesitation and a wrong hand movement, then he was off! I know he can do a lot better and I'm sure tomorrow's route will show us a truer picture of what this crazy scot can really do!
Paul Williamson's performance today was the best I have ever seen him climb! He was really on form and before he even stepped of the ground I could tell he was psyched out of his mind to crush! Making his way up the wall, he showed no sign of hesitation or fight, even up until the final moves! He started to fight coming out of the roof and into where to top guys where getting. He was only one hold of topping, I think we can expect some good results from Paul and I'm hoping a solid position into the semi's for him!
Jonathan Stocking looked his usual self all the way up the wall, easy flowing moves, no sign of struggle and what looked to be a calm and positive mindset. He made his way straight into the roof and was looking unbeatable before he lost himself in some harder moves and seemed to just pump out quickly... Good effort Jonny, looking forward to seeing you beast it out tomorrow (Drink plenty of water : P).
- Jonny Stocking jumping for the jug!
Jonathan Field has been climbing so strong lately its been sickening... Knocking off 8a's like their 6a's and eating his way through hard circuits and boulder problems at Ratho. Seeing Jonny climb everyday pretty much, I have grown used to seeing how he looks when he's struggling, when he's confident, when he's nervous and how he reacts to pressure. In the past Jonny has had a mix of results, some good, some not as good, but never bad! I've seen him grow as a climber since he was very young and I must say, in the past year, he has become the kind of climber that you would expect to see top 20 in Worlds and Europeans, even hitting top 10! Today i felt he may have been a little nervous and possibly this affected him badly, however, we must learn from what happens in our everyday lives and always aim to improve and not hold on to the negatives of the past! Keep pushing Jonny, tomorrow is a new day, a fresh start and an 8a+ to CRUSH!!!
After the competition, we had the traditional ceremony. This involved a parade of competitors holding their countries flag, a fantastic pipes and drums band playing good old scottish music with traditional scottish instruments, some boring... I mean, very interesting speeches by a number of very dull... i mean, important people. Boy, I better be careful what I say on here : P After the speeches, there was a good display of celtic/highland/scottish dancing and then Luke Tilley and James Garden speed climbed the speed wall with fireworks going off on either side of them! That was some display!
All in all a very good day, and I can't wait until tomorrow for the next installment! Join me tomorrow at the event, or catch all the action (and my beautiful voice : P) online @ http://www.247.tv/climbing/freestream
ROBZ OUT
P.S. All photos are courtesy of the best photographer in Edinburgh... Will Carroll!!!
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Welcome to my new website and blog! From here I will be running all my blogging from now on (also check out currentbody.com blog). This site was built to to help get my coaching business of the ground as well as acting as a base of operations for my climbing career. All news of what I am up to regarding coaching, climbing, work and travel will be found on the blog and I will be regularly updating my gallery with loads of cool photos!
- Our two Slovenian route-setters, Simon and Aljosa!
As well as demoing, I have been given the honor of being a commentator for the event! I will be working alongside veteran cricket and climbing commentator Ian Smith as well as Graham Easton (celebrity sports presenter). Lets hope I don't blunder up and do a "the batsmans Houlding the bowlers Willy". I have just found out that there will be over 500 competitors from as many as 75 countries! So far, I have seen the Ozzies (Australian), Canadians and Ukrainians in. They have all been making good use of the wall, getting as much practice as they can before the big event (unfortunately not getting on the comp wall since its being route-set on). All of those I spoke to could not express just how impressed they were with this wall and might I add the quality of the route-setting : P
As well as those teams, the Scottish contingent of the British Team have been looking steelier than usual and I think we will be seeing some outstanding performances! Natalie Berry has had a difficult year, battling through a serious operation on a hernia, making her way back up quickly to almost onsighting 8a indoors and 7c+ outdoors, and being faced with more recently a couple of injured fingers! Yet she still is looking un-phased by all of this and is looking forward to a good comp, which will inevitably be the end to her junior comp climbing but the beginning of her senior comp career (now it gets serious)!
So anyway, right now I am currently sitting in the EICA Cafe, watching as the sound, lighting and TV crews are getting set up for the IFSC World Youth Championships! Hanging from the ceiling are 40 flags of various countries from around the world, I can't name them all and there will be some countries which I will probably have never heard off, but there are representatives from every single one of them coming to compete over the next 4 days! I have been roped in to demoing the qualifiers along with Gary Vincent (resident boulder beast), Eddie Barbour (resident trad beast), Drew Haigh (senior team manager), Simon (Slovenian team coach and route-setter) and Aljosa Grom (Lapis climbing hold company owner and route-setter). All of us have our work cut out, I am hoping to get to demo the Junior male qualifier (as it is the hardest)! I tried them all last night and can I say, they are all flippin' awesome!!! Gary and I crushed our way through the lot of them, the hardest being 8a+ and the easiest 7b+.
- Natalie crushing 7c in Ceuse!
Jonathan Field has been looking the strongest I have ever seen him in my life, showing some outstanding performance in recent Europeans and Open Youth Comps. At the wall he has made short work of nearly every hard route up to 8a+ and was looking super solid on his first 8b before it got stripped : ( I think this will be the comp of the year for this young WAD!!! He better do well otherwise I'll have to explain why the training program I gave him for this didn't work : /
Rachel Carr has been looking just as strong as she ever has. She has always looked as strong as an ox and doesn't disappoint at showing it when put to the test! Following some very impressive results in the Youth Open, she placed very well in her first EYS and I am counting on her repeating her wave of success into her first World Championship!
Hope that everyone enjoys themselves over the next 4 days, crush it guys, you are all winners!!!
ROBZ OUT
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