As I'm sure most of you know, ABS Nationals (Open and Youth) were a few weeks ago, held in the one and only, snowy Madison, Wisconsin. To be honest, I expected it to be a frozen, Midwestern wasteland, but it turned out to be quite a nice town, making it easy to come back two weekends in a row. This year, Open's brought the biggest crowd yet, with ninety strong competitors. Luckily, I was one of the first climbers out of isolation, saving me six hours of napping.
Coming into qualifiers, I really didn't have any expectations. I've been training and preparing for this competition for quite a while, but going up against some of the best climbers in the nation seemed very daunting. However, I came out of iso and just climbed my best. After flashing the first qualifier, I already felt quite good, so as I came up to the fifth problem (a slab nonetheless) with no other tops, I didn't expect much. But, by some miracle, after a few falls, I managed to stick the first move, and then crimp my way to the top. Being the one of the first climbers, I thought I did ok, but I still had no idea how I actually did. So I watched a few other climbers, ate some dinner, hung out with friends for the next 5 or so, until finally: results. Coming in 21st was amazing, I never expected to make semis, or really even come close.
Saturday morning rolled around, and I was stoked to try some really hard boulders. Getting close on both the first and second slabby boulders was somewhat frustrating at the time, but semis went just as I had hoped. The boulders were exceptionally enjoyable (shoutout to the routesetters) and it was an amazing feeling climbing alongside competitors who I thought would leave me far behind. At the end of the day, I came in 20th, far beyond what I anticipated.
This competition was certainly an experience to be had. It was my first large Open competition and it showed that I am capable of competing at this level. As I graduate from youth, I will be competing in Opens almost exclusively and it's comforting to know that it's manageable.
The next weekend, I was back, and this time for my last youth bouldering nationals. This time, it was a little more disappointing. During qualifiers, I felt a lot more pressure and it reflected greatly in my performance. After finishing, I knew I had done poorly, but I unexpectedly made it into semis. During semis, I learned my lesson from qualifiers, and just tried to climb my best. This reflected in my performance on the last two climbs where I performed relatively well. However, with a big screw up on problem one, I failed to get any tops, and came in 16th. Overall, I was fairly content in my performance during semis (except for problem 1) and learned a few lessons that will come handy during my Open circuit.
After a hectic two weeks travelling, competing, and making up schoolwork, it's nice to be in rope season! I am extremely excited to explore the outdoor climbs around Colorado and compete in open nationals. After a good bouldering season, I am feeling strong on a lot of rope climbs; all I need is a little more endurance.
My next blog post will most likely be after Rope Nationals in March so stay tuned. I will also be updating you on any outdoor trips I do!
