Being a competition climber I have always wondered what it would be like to compete at a low key, stress free competition, and if I would be able to preform better. I now have an answer.
Just a few days ago I flew over to Victoria for a mock competition at the incredible world class facility, The Boulders climbing gym. The purpose being to take my competition skills to the next level for the upcoming season of competition. The clinic was fairly small, a group of young climbers aged 12-19 who were being taught by National team coaches and world renowned athletes from near and far. The coaches were, Stacey Weldon one of Canada's best female climbers and Canadian National Team Coach, Dung Nguyen-Canadian National Team Coach, Chelsey Rude-USA National Team coach and competition climbing and the one and only World Champion/Canadian National Team Coach Sean McColl. I would say we were all incredibly lucky to have four very experienced climbers working alongside us.
The Clinic was two days of intense climbing and learning. Day one we all climbed two Qualifying Routes in the morning, flash format followed by an Onsite Finals Route later that evening. We were all filmed on each of our climbs so that the next day we could go over our videos with our selected coaches (Mine was Sean McColl), And from watching the videos we were able to get feedback on what we can do better for future competitions and how we can improve our weaknesses. Sean was amazing at giving me lots of awesome feedback that I will definitely be able to put to the test at future competitions. I would have to say that my favorite part of the weekend was the amazing vibe that all the kids had. It is such an amazing feeling that everyone is so supportive of each other and are able to feed of their fellow competitor weaknesses and strengths.
Now I'm sure you are all wondering the answer to my question. Was I able to preform better at a low key event like this one rather than a major competition. The answer may seem surprising but it is no. I believe that if I am able to take the skills I learnt from my weekend in Victoria and apply it to my competitions in the future, then I will definitely be able to climb at the same level or maybe even better than I did this past weekend. It should not matter if I am at a clinic, Nationals or even Worlds. If I am able to believe in myself and take all my past experiences and harness it into completing one climb; there is no stopping me!
Thanks again to all the coaches who volunteered their time to come. And I would like to say a big thank you to Kimanda Jarzebiak and Seb Powell from making this event possible. I hope that there will be more opportunities like this one in in the future.
Until Next Time
Becca <3
P.S I will try to post the Videos of me climbing soon!
 | |||
| The lovely Facility In Victoria. Here is the link if you guys want to check it out! | http://www.climbtheboulders.com/ |
