Regionals and Onwards

Climb #5

Well, it's that time of the year again, bouldering season. Two weekends ago, I flew back to Arizona right before finals week. It was time for regionals, the first qualifying competition of the youth bouldering circuit. My region consisted of Arizona and New Mexico, which together put eleven climbers in my category. The onsight comp was held at my home gym, AZ on the Rocks

Isolation took a while, a good four hours, in fact, but at least I got to sharpen my non-existing hacky sack skills. Finally, it was climb time. I managed to flash five out of the six climbs and managed to get far on climb #4. This put me in second place with Ben Hanna flashing all six climbs.

The one that got away - Climb #4

To be honest the comp went very well. The climbs weren't exactly my style, but I still managed to figure them out and work through some tricky sequences (such as Climb #6 in the video below). I have also since sent the fourth climb, so I'm feeling pretty confident for this last season. It was also great to have another competition back at my gym after all this time. As always, I would like to thank the routesetters, AZR, and all the other people in the background of the comp. It also wouldn't be a competition without all the competitors who came from all over these two states!

Well, now it's time to use my three weeks off to train for divisionals, which are being held in Tuscon the second weekend of January (luckily right before I head back to school). I'll also be beginning to train for ropes, as open nationals are already in March. I'm really excited to see how this season holds up, being my last year of youth and my first year in opens.

Thank you everyone for keeping up with my blog and have a happy holiday season. The next post will most likely be right after divisionals, so stay tuned.

Competitions So Far

So as most of you know, it's bouldering season. So far, it's just been locals, of which I did two in Arizona, when visiting home, and one in Colorado.

The first competition I attended this season was back at home at the Phoenix Rock Gym. It's been a few years since I was last at this gym, but it is still the good-old gym it was. The routes were well set and challenging, with no one topping the last boulder. I took first place here; but, more importantly, I got to see all of my old friends from Arizona and have a lot of fun.

My next local was another redpoint in Boulder, at The Spot. The community here is quite strong, and the routes surely reflected that. It was a rough start for me, getting shut down on the harder problems. Eventually, however, I managed to come through and send the second to last boulder. Finally, at the last second, I managed to send another, very dynamic, boulder, with a substantial amount of falls. I think I will always remember this comp as one of my greatest comebacks.



My most recent ABS local was in Tuscon at The Bloc. The climbs here were excellent; the Bloc is a great bouldering gym and always offers a wide variety of challenging problems. I managed to flash a solid five boulders and then spent the time projecting a few of the harder ones. It was certainly one of the more enjoyable competitions of the season

Finally, my most recent competition was this weekend, right here at Mines in our very own Rec Center. Even on our small walls, the routesetters put in a whole week to make the best possible climbs for this redpoint competition. I certainly had a great time and ended up taking third in the advanced category. The competition, however, also included a special dyno comp. Being not too strong at dynoing, I was quite happy to be among the four finalists. Finally, I came in second after a pretty intense superfinal. All in all, it was a magnificent competition and I got to learn significantly more about the community here at Mines.

Again, I hope to keep this blog updated a few times a month, so make sure to stay tuned. With regionals and the heat of the bouldering season right around the corner, there will be more and more updates!

New Blog and Initial Updates!

I know all of you must have been asking yourselves “What has Martin been up to recently?” Well….

I FINALLY decided to make a blog after my nine years of competitive climbing; the main reason being all of the exciting plans I have for these next few years (yes, this includes world cups!).

Currently, I am studying physics at the Colorado School of Mines. Having just moved to Colorado, I have a whole new environment and community to explore and get involved in. The climbing, both outdoors and indoors, is incredible here and the community is extremely strong.

The School of Mines itself is home to not only great engineers, but many strong climbers. It would be great to see all of us come together in both the ABS Opens and CCS for this first time this year. I am currently working with a few friends to put together a representative team. More news to follow!

On the topic of outdoor climbing, a few weekends back, I traveled up to Lincoln Lake on Mt. Evans for my first ever outdoor climb in Colorado. It's easy to say, it was very different from that of Australia, especially in altitude (11,500 ft compared to 0). The approach was rough, being a 500 m steep cliff with no set path, but luckily I made it all in one piece. Sadly, I didn't manage to send anything outstanding, but I did set my eyes on a nice V10 project for next time. It also opened my eyes to one of my big weaknesses, finger strength. Let’s just say, I’ll be spending some time on the hangboards for the next few months. Regardless to say, it was a great experience. I love climbing in new, exciting areas and this was no exception. With great views, right next to a mountain lake, and fantastic climbs, this is a place you shouldn’t miss. (I'll hopefully get some pictures soon!)

So, all in all, a good start to a new adventure; from Arizona, to Australia, and now to Colorado. 2016 will be a great year and I want to keep you all updated. I will be spending a lot of time exploring this new area and getting involved with the community. I want to find as many outdoor areas as possible (any recommendations?) and hopefully project something hard. In terms of competitions, ABS, CCS, SCS, World Cups, University Championships, you name it, I am planning on being there.

I should be keeping this blog updated a couple times a month, so be sure to follow me! Stay tuned for more updates about outdoor climbing in Colorado, climbing at Mines, and any competitions I attend! The next post coming up will give some more information on my season so far!