BBC's Sheffield

Really busy weekend judging both days at he BBC's in the park on roasting hot days. Great to see so many of the team there.
Biggest congratulations to Edd Mowbray winning the junior category against a really strong field as well as to Charlotte Garden who won her category followed closely by Lily Rosengard in 2nd place. Tara Hayes did exceptionally well coming 4th in her first BBC's as did Jonny White in his category.
Shauna Coxsey was in her first senior BBC and came a commendable 3rd place after putting up a strong performance, she was up against two extremely strong competitors in Leah Crane and Katy Whittaker.
In the men's, James did really well coming 8th, just missing a place in the top seven who qualified for the finals.
Full results can be found at www.thebmc.co.uk/Download.aspx?id=647

Scots arrive!

Tom and I popped over to see some of the team members climbing at Malham. Neil McGeachy had arranged a coaching weekend there and the kids were honoured to have Steve McClure with them for the day.

Team members were; Rachel Carr, Eleanor Hopkins, Angus Davidson, Ross Kirkland, Martin and Sean Hopkins. The weather was good for climbing until about 2.30 when it got quite hot.

Some of the team had not had much previous experience of out door climbing and really knuckled under to grapple with the climbing at Malham.

A great day out!

YCS

Just back from the YCS, really good event this year included a star peformance from team member Robert Mackenzie who led the warm up with a stunning rendition of Mr Abraham, he got everyone in he right mood for a really fun and competitive comp. Second star performance to Alisdair Johnson who arrived dressed as spiderman for a school bet.
Ian and I were up in Ratho to help the BMC with this years YCS (early start for me 7.45 for registration at 8). There were over 180 entrants this year so a lot to get through. Great to see so many talented young climbers coming through and we hope to see the ones that are over 12 attend our Youth Open on July 24th. Top 12 in each category will be receiving invitations from the BMC to their talented climbers day.
Thanks to Scott for the BBQ on Saturday night although I dont think John Ellison was too impressed with the American flag that was draped over the front door!!

EYS Imst

Great trip to the Imst EYS, first EYS of the season, only 4 more to go! The team seemed to bond really well on the trip (as you can see from the fun and games on the bouncy castle beside the alpine coaster). I went down the coaster with Natalie and was totally terrified, Natalie had trouble breaking with the two of us on board and we went down like a rocket, apologies to Natalie for my language!!! On the Saturday night we happened upon a Turkish festival in the town and despite my best attempts we couldn't get Dylan to dance with the girls.




On the Friday before the comp the team much appreciated a relaxing sauna and swim in the hotel pool followed by Tom Randall's relaxation tape session which actually sent some team members to sleep. Great preparation for the next day.


The team worked really hard on the Saturday, the younger members entering an EYS for the first time found it both nerve racking and a much higher standard than they have been used to. However they climbed to their limit and I was proud to see them put so much effort and determination into their climbing.

At the end of the Qualifiers we had Ed qualify in 4th equal for the finals and Shauna 7th equal. Great effort by both of them. Jonny was 10th equal after the first qualifier but misses a key heel hook on the second route which cost him dearly. Natalie, who is coming back from injury obtained a 12th position.

So 2 in the finals for the Sunday. Shauna was out first and acheived 6th place, Ed next but due to inexperience missed a ticked hold and came 10th. I am sure in the next EYS in Vienna all our top climbers can improve on their performances.

The full results can be found on http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/ in the results section.


Now packing to go up to Ratho to watch the finals of the YCS and see if we can find some new raw talent.