This weekend was the first youth Divisional Championship for ABS (bouldering).  I traveled to North Carolina to compete for one of 7 bids to nationals.  The comp was held at Triangle Rock Club, a gym I hadn’t been to before.  I was really psyched going into the competition because I really like to see all of my friends from USA Climbing.  I had high expectations of myself and planned on using this comp as a way to see how much stronger I have gotten.

The final of the German Boulder series in 2011 took place in Überlingen, a nice place next to the Bodensee. It was traditional. Unfortunately, the weather was not as good as the last years, so the organizers had some problems with the competition walls.  The holds were wet; also the mats were wet, so that the climbers got wet shoes, when they started in a boulder problem. The atmosphere between the climbers was not good. The competition was a disaster.

I was very happy because the weather was very nice for rock climbing the last 2,5 Monthes. Much, much better than the last two years. So didn’t spend much time indoor and drove to my projects very often. That was a lot of fun all the time! A lot of night climbing during the week with headlamps and scary boulders with a lot of crash pads. Also I was very lucky to send some awesome projects! I will write later about this...

Go big or go home? Yes!!! This season is starting out as the season of highballs. I've been subconsciously attracted to the tallest, raddest boulders around!Every climb I've been doing lately has been at least 18 feet off the deck, it's exhilarating to be pushing my limits at such heights and my sights are only being set higher.

It’s a new semester here at Tech and time to get going again, but of course, not just in school. It is now officially the season for a whole lot of big bouldering comps. The small, local comps are over with, and now it’s time to kick it into high gear.

For 15 years, competitions have been an integral part of my climbing experience. I competed in my first competition when I was 11 and I can’t even count how many comps I’ve done since then. At times I have become disillusioned with competing and have even walked away from the world of comp climbing all together for brief spells. But I always find myself being drawn back in, because, to put it simply, I love it. I love having something to train for and I gain a great deal of motivation from having a goal...