Youth Lead 4

Today I departed to Fontainebleau for a short week of bouldering. We had to take a short detour to the Neoliet climbing gym in Tilburg in order to climb the last youth lead competition. Since I spent the last week on a school study trip to Berlin with lots of partying I was not in the best of shapes. 



The first qualification route was a though one with lots of awkward sloping holds. Climbing did not go smoothly but somehow I managed to reach the second highest point. 

The second route was a steep jugfest, which went really well. Completely pumped I could clip the top draw and I qualified for the finals in a second place. 

The final route was again very steep but this time on a combination of slopers and small crimps. 

The final battle for places 1 till 4 was fought out on two holds. Climbing was hard and did not go too well. In the end I emerged from this battle with the bronze medal, which pleased me a lot especially since the differences between 1^st and 4^th place were so small.

Today’s competition was the last out of a series of four to qualify for the Dutch youth championship, which will take place in three weeks time in Rocksteady in Bussum. There were also medals for the overall ranking over these four lead competitions and I’m very proud that I took the gold medal in the youth lead competition 2015.

Congrats to Zeno for winning the fourth youth lead in the B cat.

I am proud of RTC West. We dominated in the male overall competition with 3 gold medals in all categories, Don, Vincent and myself 1st place. And not to forget Tiba who did really well today and took silver both in todays competition and overall.

And now I’m really siked to hit some real rock again. It has been a while since I have been to Fontainebleau. It is by far my favourite bouldering spot, even better than Rocklands and the ultimate test piece.

Youth Lead 3, Monte Cervino

Today was the third match of the national qualifications lead climbing. I am a boulderer, I can’t motivate myself to train for the lead competition. Bouldering is so much more fun than lead climbing, especially indoors. For me the lead competition is a way to meet friends, have a nice day and do the best I can on the routes, knowing my endurance sucks. There is no stress, just fun and apparently for me that is a golden combination. I had my second victory of the season.

I wish I could be as relaxed in the bouldering competition as I am in the lead competition. That is unfortunately not the case. I feel a lot of tension and stress in the bouldering comp which usually ends up in a result I am not happy with. I know I can perform a lot better in bouldering but the stress is killing me. I am part of the regional talent team that comes together once a week, but there is no guidance with regard to mental training. I think that is a pity, I certainly would benefit from that in the bouldering comp.

Fortunately, Jorg Franken will be building a team of youth climbers in which mental coaching will be part of the training and I am really happy to be invited to be part of that group. With an emphasis on strength training, something I lack and thus very much need and the right personal coaching I hope I can become a better boulderer. Our base will be the new bouldering gym in Leiden “Kunststof” which is not finished yet but it looks really promising and very close to my school. The pictures below are from their facebook page. Go check it out:
www.facebook.com/boulderhalkunststof

Back to the lead competition: if we look at the overall results after three qualifications I am glad to see that our regional talent team “RTC West” is doing very well. Vincent (juniors), Don (youth A) and myself (youth B) are ranked first. Thumbs up for all our trainers, not a bad result if you consider that we mainly focus on bouldering! What is even more noticeable is that all three of us live in the same town (Leidschendam-Voorburg). Our RTC West girls are also doing well, both Tiba (youth A) and Cecile (youth B) are ranked third. 

Although I have more medals from lead competition than from the bouldering comp I am seriously considering quitting the lead comp next year. In 2016  I will be allowed to join the senior competition. Doing both the youth and senior boulder qualifications sounds much more appealing than continuing with the youth lead. I'd rather like to spend an afternoon in the boulder gym than hanging around the whole day at lead competition for two or three routes. Competing in all four, both adult and youth lead and bouldering, is too disturbing for my outdoor climbing trips. The comps are often in weekends when I want to go climbing outdoors which is off course much more fun than pulling plastic. The last youth lead for example is during my autumn break. If I compete I will miss two days of bouldering in Fontainebleau. I am still deliberating what to do. If I do go I will probably finish first in the overall ranking, which is nice. However, the beautiful sandstone of Fontainebleau is pulling hard. It is a tough choice between getting some more training for the Dutch lead championship and the fun of trying beautiful problems in Bleau. 

Of course I also feel obliged to my sponsor NIHIL to show up at the comp. On the other hand, NIHIL is having a team event in Fontainebleau that very week making the decision even harder.

Two more weeks to make up my mind. 

Youth Lead 2, Roosendaal

After a long summer break from competition climbing we had our second youth lead of this season today. My summer holiday was dominated by bouldering outside. With only 2 lead training sessions since June my endurance was not on par. My expectations for today were not very high.

The qualifications went well I placed second for the finals. The final route looked really cool with weird looking Holds. Flat holds with hugh knobs without any texture. I suffer from wet sweaty hands so I got nervous waiting my turn in the isolation.

The route turned out to be even better than it looked. Great moves on cool holds, very bouldery style of climbing with lots of toe and heel hooks. I fell half way because my arms were completely pumped but it turned out to be enough for a first place.

I am very happy with this result. It is however a bitter-sweet victory. Zeno couldn’t compete because of a finger injury and one of my other competitors slipped on the first hold.

Anyway, thumbs-up for the route setters, but I would prefer holds with texture for next time ;).

It was nice seeing all my climbing friends again. If it were not for them I would not compete in the lead competition and would only be bouldering. A great day with great people.