Tour De Bloc season 10 has come to a close with Nationals being held last weekend at Rock Jungle Fitness in Edmonton, Alberta. The sad part is that I wasn't able to go. In fact, I haven't been able to go to any competitions this season, with the exception of the season opener in November. Very unfortunately, I've been battling a serious finger injury which has kept me from competing for over 5 months. A nasty amalgamation of a pulley tear, tendon inflammation, joint discomfort, and a stubborn mentality to continually push my body’s limits has resulted in a...

Last weekend concluded the 2013 ABS National Championships. This year, I traveled out to Colorado Springs to compete in both the youth and open divisions, securing a semifinal bid in the adult category and my 5th National Bouldering Championship title in my last youth bouldering competition ever.This two week Colorado experience has definitely been one of the best times of my life, and I am extremely grateful to be able to live out this lifestyle, balancing my studying with traveling and competing with some of my best friends. Now that I am able to look back and reflect on...

This year is truly underway and very soon all the races and riding trips will be upon us. I look forward to this part of the season, a race or two already attended and the rest of the season getting pieced together. As an athlete, it took a few years to learn to work out my goals and get focused. Part of this is sitting down and looking at the upcoming year. I love the fact of having over half the year's weekends mapped out before the turn of the new year (terrifying for most)....

Back again with an whole new blog season. What happened the last 4 months: Personally I did a lot of power training in the gym. My trainer Hans Kroon is a well known Olympic power trainer here in Rotterdam. He guided me thru a power program to build by body again after my down time the last 8 years. It was an eye opener for me. I thought I was a sportsman because I progressed the last year from 6a to 7a french. But when I started the power training I knew I could progress much more then I...

Living in a true winter this year has made me realize how much I really do dislike the cold... It was snowy, with daytime temperatures well below freezing for almost a month straight. I struggled with short days, very little sunshine and it simply being too cold to go play outdoors. This made me realize how much I love and how much my general happiness depends on being outside in nature. However, the positive aspect of this was that it really forced me to focus on training and spend time climbing at the gym, which I know is...

Where to start… During the last few weeks I’ve been competing a lot while trying to figure out how I would manage to do all my school works… Finally, I just finished everything and I’m now packing up for Hueco Tanks! Can’t be more psyched!!