2015 SCS Regionals-Climb Iowa

May 9-10 was USA Midwest regionals which was a two day event at Climb Iowa. I climbed on Sunday as the first female junior. Everyone one else on the teamed climbed on Saturday so I got to watch them which was nice. As Saturday came closer and closer to an end I was getting more and more excited to climb. Sunday I woke up and was ready for the day and everything it brought with it. My first route looked pretty easy other than one power move. It started out with crimps and transferred into slopers. I had been doing a lot of training prior on slopers and pinches to help improve contact strength during power moves. Most of the route for me was power which kinda drained a lot of energy but I made it 3/4 the way up and fell only because I slipped off the foot chip that I was using to power up to the next hold. I was still happy with how I did because my power endurance is not the greatest and I still made it as far as I did which was higher than about half the other climbers in my category. My second route was a little tricky because it was punches that forced you to be square with the wall in order to move off of them. The second route had a blue X on it which meant we had to clip from that hold. In reality that hold actually made it a bit easier to get up to thee harder section of the route. The holds following the second and third clip were small pinches that you could use as a crimp.  I made it to the fourth clip and slipped off a pinch, I was kinda upset I fell so early becusse I could have made it further. My last route was definitely the hardest route we had. During the preview a lot of girls were adored they were going to slip off the starting holds becusse the were slopers going to two small foot chips that we were using as hand holds. I wasn't to worried about the start I was more worried about the power move from the two pinches to a sloper that had, basically a flat foot chip screwed into it. I started with little difficulty and got to the first clip and that's when the route got challenging. The moves from the first clip to the second clip had me a bit sketched out because the pinches we straight up and down and it made it difficult to stand on. I made it through that though and got my second draw clipped. Once I got the second draw clipped I relaxed a bit more and took a quick rest then kept moving. I made it two moves further and fell right before the power move to the foot chip on the sloper. I held high point on the third route till the last 6 climbers. I was a little upset with how I did until I started watching the other climbers and realized I was doing just as good if not better than some of them. I ended up taking 10th in sport and got an invatation to Divisionals in Chicago at Brooklyn Boulders. I also competed in speed climbing I don't know what my times were but I struggled a little bit but still went fast for me. I took 7th in speed but I will not be competing in speed at Divisionals. I am going to focus strictly on sport climbing. 

All of the pictures and videos are loaded to Facebook, YouTube and Flickr for all climbing era of the team. Check them out, there are a lot of cool pictures of the routes that we did. 

SCS Local Competitions-Adventure Rock and VE

Feb. 28 was Vertical Endeavors SCS event. The competition was held at the new Vertical Endeavors in Glendale Heights. The gym is so large they shut half it down just for the competition and left the other half open for the public to use. The routes here were fun but challenging you only got points for the route of you made it to the top. The routes basically the harder they got the smaller the holds got or the moves became larger. Me and another team member were working together most of the day. We warmed up and start scouting out routes that would give us the most points possible for us. We did the first two routes pretty quick and only needed one more for the top three but we had trouble getting to the top of the high point routes. We couldn't find a route that was worth more points that we could finish. We both went back to a few of them that we got close to finishing. There was one route that we did that was a mantle/stemming route. It was a lot of fun but there was one move that if you got it wrong you were basically done for. The trick to the route was to push your toes into the hold as well as the wall so you got a stable foot. Trusting your feet was the biggest thing on all of the routes at VE. Zach(my teammate) and I ended with the identical scores. 

The competition at Adventure Rock was a lot of fun! Again Zach and I were working together and we warmed up on a 5.8 then jumped on a 5.10 lead route that was so much fun! There were a few routes that I knew I could do so I went over and tried them and finished the first one I did so I had three routes done and that's all I needed. I started trying harder routes to get more points. I got one more route that was harder but i struggled on getting a third one that was harder. I worked on the same two routes for a bit and relaxed I should try something different and I ended up getting another route completed but it was for the same amount of points as my lowest point route. I took about 30 minutes to look around and rest my arms because I was pumped. I realized that the one route that I was trying earlier was the only one I had a chance of completing and that point in the competition. By that time there were about 10 mins left so most everyone was done so I could take my time on the

route and try it again if I wanted to and had time. I made it further up the route but I was unable to finish it due to the fact that I had gone non stop since the start of the competition. I was happy with I did in the comp and took 5th in my category. 

All of the pictures and videos are loaded to Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. Check them out. 

2015 Quick on the Draw

January 24 was the 16th annual Quick on the Draw Competition at Adventure Rock. I was competing in Open along with another 15 girls. It is the largest the category has been in a few years but it is stronger than ever. The routes this year were really strong and allowed each person to get points on each route. The first route I attempted was the lowest point route. I was not totally warmed up but I gave it a go and made it to the the last draw before the finish. My land hand cramped on the route and I believe it was due to the amount of crimps that were on the route. I went back to where rules were given and took 15 minutes to warm up a little more. I went back out and tried the rest of my routes and boulder problems. A few out my routes had easy beginnings allowing me to get off the ground before it got difficult. Some of the other routes I could only get to the first draw. My favorite route was the second route I attempted. I like It because it was the type of route that had nice holds because moves that made you think about what you were doing. You had to have a game plan before going at it because of you didn't you would be wasting energy on the wall. The routes were a lot of fun and really made you slow down and actually think about how you were climbing. One of my favorite routes was one i struggled on but I loved the route becusse it was slow movements that forced you to have complete control of each hold you touch. All of the routes were a lot of fun and the bouldering problems were hard for me because my bouldering is not as quiet as my high as my lead climbing is. The Boulder problems were still fun. I ended up taking 12 of 16 but I didn't feel too bad about how I did because there were only two routes that go finished in my division. All of the pictures and videos are posted to Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. Them out there are a lot of neat shots. 

ABS 16 Midwest Regional Championship

December 6 was Midwest regional championship at the new Vertical Endeavors in Glendale Heights, IL. My category didn't climb till the afternoon but I was able to watch my brother climb in the morning this year which was a bonus. I took note of where every climber got on every route to figure out an approximate placement for my brother. After the morning session was over we found out Jack took 7th place and did advance to Divisionals in North Carolina. We went to lunch after the Male Youth B'd finished climbing because my isolation didn't close for another 2 hours. After lunch I headed to isolation and just sat down to relax because I was in isolation for at least 2.5 hours before I started to warm up. I took a nap for a little bit because I had to been still 4:30am. I started warming up about an hour before my chair time. The warm up area was full of jugs and pockets and wasn't really much of a warm up. I ended up doing laps in order to warm up and a few power moves to the few crimps that we had in isolation. I went to my chair which was still in isolation and then when it came my time to climb I just went straight to my first climb. My first climb was a better warm up than my actual warm up in isolation. I topped the route first attempt. My second route was just volumes with a single flat foot chip on the bottom of the volume. My first attempt was a little silly but I did the route on my second attempt like it was nothing. I felt silly because I could have done it my first attempt. My third route had designated starting hand holds which made me waste a little bit of energy. I ended up not being able to get past the first hold from the start. My fourth route was my favorite route because it had a combination of crimps and small jugs. I attempted the route a few time and realized I was trying to go too fast and I had to slow down. I looked over the route a few times and checked the holds to see the type. I attempted the route and got a little bit further than my other attempts. I tried it a few more times and was able to get one hold further every attempt. I checked the clock and saw I only had 30 seconds left and I gave it on more go. My last attempt was my strongest and I was able to make it 4 holds further and only 3 holds from the top. I was a little frustrated because if I could have had on more attempt I know I could have gotten to the top. My fifth route was pretty cool. The starting I've was a dyno which I tried to avoid at first but realized I had to do it. I did the dyno and was able to get a few moves out of it but not to the top. My last route was definitely the most challenging and I was able to get to the first hold out of the start. The route looked doable when I looked it over but the starting move was very difficult to get in and out of. I finished my attempts and was happy with how I did on the routes and was thinking I was in the middle of the pack. Results came out and I found out I took 10th place. I am very happy with how I performed because bouldering is something that I struggle at so a 10th place finish is really good for me. I am not going to divisionals for bouldering because I am going to focus on my sport climbing so I am prepared for nationals and anything beyond that.

Pictures and Videos of Regionals are on my Facebook, YouTube and Flickr accounts, check them out.

January 24 is Quick on the Draw this year at Adventure Rock and I will be competing in Open. More information will come out once this competition has been completed.

2014 USA Climbing SCS Youth Nationals

July 10-13 was SCS Nationals in Atlanta at Stone Summit Climbing Gym. We left July 8th so we could get there and have plenty of time to rest. The first two days were qualifying days with flash format. This allowed me to view the route prior to my climb and watch others in my category. My first route didn't look too bad till around the 10th draw. That's where the wall started to lean back towards vertical and the holds started to become crimps. I don't know what my second route will be until the second day. I was the 27th climber out of 40 so I had a long time before I should even start warming up. I watched some climbers climb the route and most of them went through with ease till the middle of the pack. I was watching what some of the girls did and comparing it to the girls that were able to finish. This helped me figure out what I needed to do in order to increase I'm standing. By the time I started warming up at least 10 girls completed the route so I knew what I had to do in order to have a good chance to make it semi-finals. I finished my warm just as I was called to report to my check in chair. I get to my chair and I put my shoes back on and watch the girl ahead of me climb the route. When I started my route I felt really good because I knew most of the holds were jugs or pockets. I went through the first four draws with ease. Got a little tricked up but figured out what I was supposed to do. I worked through it and moved on. I worked a sequence that seem a little sketchy to me because of where my rope was during the sequence. Shortly after that sequence i was unable to make one of the move and fell trying to reach the next hold. I was not as high as I would have liked to be but I was still happy because I gave it my all. My day wasn't over yet, both me and my brother had to compete in speed climbing. My brother went off around 4:30 and I didn't go till 7. Speed climbing is rather difficult for me so I don't except much. I still tried to give it my all and ended up slipping in both routes. We went back to the hotel and start thinking about what I could do tomorrow in order to increase my standings. The next morning I get there and go find out what route is mine so I know how I'm going to warm up. My route for the second day is in the roof. I have not trained too much on roof routes because none of the gyms around have true roof routes. I went back to the warm-up area and started warming up and easy holds first then moving to harder overhanging routes. I was the 7th climber of 40 today so I didn't have much time between the first climber and my check in time. I again warmed up until I was called to check in and watched the person ahead of me attempt the route. I looked over my route one more time and then gave it a go. The first four draws again really easy moves nothing too dramatic. But the roof section turned into a little bit of a challenge for me. I was feeling good when I first got into the resection and then encountered a move that was rather awkward for me. I tried my best to make it work and get out of the sequence but was unable to move past it. I was happy with how I did considering I am unable to train on roof routes. I ended up taking 34th out of 40 which was better than the previous year. I am happy because I am also a first-year Junior so I am one of the youngest climbers in my category. I am really happy with how I did this year and can't wait for the next season to start. I would like to say thanks to all my sponsors FiveTen, Bluewater Ropes, KASK Helmets, and Rock Candy Climbing Holds. All of my pictures and videos from nationals will be posted on Facebook, YouTube and on Flickr.

2014 SCS Divisionals at Peak Experiences in VA

June 14-15 was SCS Divisionals which were located in Richmond, VA at Peak Experiences. Saturday June 14 was qualifiers and Sunday was finals. I checked in for morning session and I was the last climber to go out in my category. I went into isolation and sat down and started playing a card game just to pass the time of check in. After check in finished they started rules and started lining us up for route preview. The female juniors were the first to line up and had the furhterest to go. Our first route looked pretty easy till the last draw where there was a slight power move that could possibly throw you off balance. The second route looked like a lot of fun because it was filled to pinches and lean backs. We headed back to isolation and everyone started climbing and getting ready. I started stretching and warming the muscles up before I started bouldering. I put my shoes in and found the easiest part of the wall and did warm up circles on it. I did circles for a few minutes then went back to stretching. Afterwards I jumped in the line that was going around the bouldering cave. It was about 15 minutes to my check in time so I started stretching once more. It was my time to check in and I gathered all of my things and made sure I had enough water to last me through the routes. My first route looked to be about a 5.10b which would be a nice warm up. I turned around and looked over my route one last time and gave it a go. The starting feet were some of the worst feet I have had on a route at a big event like such. I made it to the thrid hold after the start and my feet slipped. I was really upset with how I did on the route. So I was going to make sure I held on the holds on my second route. I took my rest time and thought about the second routes to as much as I could remember. I also kept stretching my arms and keeping my hands warm. My second route I knew I was confident on because the feet were the small pinches that go with the set. I looked my second route over one more time and started climbing. It was much easier to star which took some pressure off my shoulders. I did really good on this considering there were a few moves that forced me to used back-to-back-to-back power. I worked through the power moves and made it to my 4th draw. The hold right next to the 4th draw was a sloping pinch that was really difficult to hold. I held on as long as I could but was unable to clip or move off that hold. I was upset with how I climbed because I felt I could have done better but I kept telling myself I just need to prove myself during finals. I was also competing in speed climbing just as a fun thing to help with my power. I wasn't sure how I would do in speed climbing because I'm not very fast. I posted times around 9.5 seconds which put me on 6th. Sunday June 15 was finals. I was the first climber to go out for my category. I checked into isolation right away so I would be ready to go by the time we lined up for route preview. I started warming up and stretching and telling myself today is it no second chances. I was warming up and next thing I knew it was time to line up for route preview. I had my coach put my stickers on my back of my sponsors. We went out and looked at the route and the start looked really easy. The move between the first and second draw looked to be a bit sketchy. After the second draw it didn't seem to difficult till around the 5 draw where you worked your way back out of the overhang. The finishing moves were giving me a hard time so I figured when I got there I would do what felt natural for that sequence. Our time was up for route preview so I headed to my chair to tie in and put my shoes on. I was ready to climb but we had to wait till everyone was ready for their climbs. I turned around looked over the route on last time and started climbing. The start of the route was easy till I got to this move that was a cross under with one hand. I ended up using my knee to help me because I could not get my foot on the hold to help me up. I clipped my second draw and I felt a ton better because I had a draw clipped higher than 8 feet. I found a rest spot next to my second draw so while I was there I continued to look my route over. I continued on up the route and clip my third draw and tried to move up and my hand slipped off the hold. I continued to watch the rest of the girls and some of the fell before clipping their second draw and ended up falling and flipping upside down. I knew after watching all of the girls in my category climb I was in at least  7th place. I later found out that one of the girls was scored the same as me but the broke due to yesterday's results. We waited for speed climbing check in to open up but that took another 3 hours so we sat around and did nothing. There were only 7 girls climbing in speed so we again all made finals. It finally came time to line up for finals and we were all tired for the day by the time it came around. I did my two runs the first one was around 9 seconds and the second run around 9.5 seconds. I was happy with those times considering I hardly ever train for speed climbing. Check out my photos on Flickr and youtube channel. Also thanks to all my sponsors

2014 Regional Championships in St. Louis

May 10 was 2014 Regional Championships at West County Upper Limits in St. Louis. Regionals has the same set up as the YOLO competition in Iowa except I now climbed in the afternoon. I checked in around 10:45 and went in to isolation. There I did some stretching cause no one was in isolation just yet. Everyone checked into isolation and we went out for route previews. Our first route didn't look to difficult other than one spot that we figured was the crux of the route. My second route looked like it was tricky. By tricky I mean the setter put in moves that made you think about what you were doing. The thrid route everyone was thinking that this route is going to be the fourth draw that was the crux and right after the crux was another hard sequence. We went back to isolation  and I started warming up cause I only had an hour or so before it was my turn to check in for my chair. My first route was all pockets till about the fourth draw then it turned in to the huge pinches. I got a little tripped up there but I worked it out and continued up the route. I made it out of the crux and worked about three moves past it and got pumped the instant I touched the next hold which was a sloper. I kept working past it until my left arm cramped up as I was making my way to the next hold causing me to fall. I was alittle bummed with the fact I was so close to the finish of the route. I worked the cramp out of my arm during my rest time and kept pushing through it making the best of it. My second route was a little tricky. The start was super easy but it could difficult very fast. Right after you clipped your second draw you moved in to a traversing under cling. You moved to a crimpy hold after getting out of the under cling. That was as far as I made it because I got alittle tripped up at the under cling moved but I gave it it my all. My arm was feeling a ton better by the time I got to my third route. My third route was definitely the most difficult of the three. It stared with a few pinches with little feet so it created a lean back. After the lean back the route turned into sloping crimps which were really bad. You followed those up about two draws. Right after you clipped a draw you were given the worst crimp they could find to move up to two small foot chips. I moved up to the first foot chip and then tried to move up to the second foot chip. I touched it and slipped right off of it, the same way everyone else did. I was pretty happy with how I did on my first and  third routes. My second route was excepting to go much further on that route but still happy that I made it where I did. I packed up and we waited for the female youth-C to finish. They had about 25 girls in that division. They finished and we started speed climbing. The juniors were the last to climb so we had a bit if a break. There were only 5 speed climber in my division. I did my climb against Maddie Rafkin and did a climb time of 16 and 13 seconds. I ended up taking 2nd behind Maddie by 3 seconds. In sport climbing I took 7th place behind 6th by .5 points. Overall I am happy with how I did at Regionals and got an invite to Divisionals for both sport and speed climbing.

The following day the team headed to So iLL Climbing Gym. The gym opened around 10 so we got up and tried to find breakfast but realized that it was Mother's Day and everything was really busy. We got there and found out that our waivers were still good and all we had to do was a lead belay test for my brother and our new coach. They passed their lead test and we started climbing. We finished warming up and started jumping on some routes that were harder in grades to continue to train. We got on a 5.10c that was super easy. I was really excepting something different from the route, mostly something harder. After everyone else jumped on it we got on a 5.11a which was a ton of fun. All of the routes I was getting were about 60feet tall. After we finished that route and moved on to a 5.11d. This route was a ton of fun and I was super pumped when I finished it but so relieved to onsight all the routes. My mom came back with food and more water so we took a break for about 10 minutes. During our break I did some stretching to keep my back loose because it was starting to cramp up with the amount of overhangs there were. After the break I jumped on a 5.12c and made it about half way up and got shut down on one move and couldn't move past it cause the only other route around was a 5.13c. I tried the 5.12c a few times in that spot and then came down because I wanted to try the 5.13 before the end of the day. When I came down I stretched and got ready to try the 5.13. My hand were so tired and were starting to get cramp up and become sore. I try the 5.13 and got about 3 draws up the route and got stuck. I was really happy with how I did considering I climbed really hard the day before. After we finished sport climbing we went upstairs and tried to boulder a little bit before we had to leave for back home. I was beat by the time we started bouldering. I started on a V0 then worked my way up to a V4 which was super hard for me to complete. I found this V5 that I really liked alot! It was a ton of fun and had a bunch of really fun movements. I was super happy with how I climbed this weekend and cant wait till we go to divisionals!

I would like to say a big thanks to all of my sponsors! Thank you Rock Candy, BlueWater Ropes, PowerBar, KASK Helmets, Kaisers Pizza and Pub, and FiveTen Climbing.