The competition season has arrived. I have decided to do five competitions. The first one was in Montreal at the gym Allez Up. There was a large number of participants. I think it was the biggest competition in the last two years or even more. In the open category there were 102 competitors. This is a huge number and the gym Allez Up managed it with no trouble.

I saw some climber friends from Toronto, kingston and Ottawa. It is always nice to spend time with your friends while you climb.

The competition had 60 problems for the qualifying round. The qualifying round was really interesting because there were many different styles of problems and holds. Plus, your ability to succeed didn’t depend on your height. After three hours of climbing, I completed six problems beyond problem 52. This score put me in the fourth place of the finals.

Then, I rested, ate and waited for the finals isolation.  In isolation, there were 8 men and 8 women, all experienced climbers. So, isolation was a very quiet and peaceful place for “rest mode.”

The women started the finals. I could not see what happened but I heard that the competition for women went well.

When the finals for men started, we knew that there were only four problems. So, I knew that my energy level could sustain me.

In my opinion, the first problem was morphological, requiring large movements. I managed to get the bonus. The second problem was interesting, but, I didn’t figure out the beta, and the problem was also morphological. The third problem was perfect but I did not get the bonus and the last problem had a big jump start that was too far for many climbers.

Beyond the results of competition, I think that it is always great to participate in competitions. Plus, you always learn about your climbing. Also, competitions are a perfect place meet people, climbers, spectators and photographers. I really appreciate the work of photographers—it’s not an easy job. They’ve got to shoot in a very shaky and high-paced environment. I want to say thanks to Nicolas Charron and Alexandre Landry for the amazing pictures. I really appreciate their work and talent.

The next competition will be in Gatineau on December 1st, 2012.

Thanks for reading!