Dark Horse 2013

Dark Horse 2013

Sunday, October 21, 2012

First Climbing Competition In 11 Months!

Last weekend I competed in the first Dark Horse competition of the season. This was also my first competition in 11 months!! In November of 2011 I competed in the Dark Horse which was my first and last competition of the '11/'12 season. I placed 2nd there, and I was feeling really strong. But I unfortunately felt the effects of my over training three weeks after.

Last weekend was what I consider the real test to see how well my fingers are recovering. I was really nervous about doing a redpoint qualifying round because I wasn't sure how my fingers would hold up with 3 hours of climbing...plus a finals round. Especially with all hard climbs. The longest bouldering session I have had since I began bouldering again in late August had been an hour and a half long and consisted of projecting a v8, climbing v5's, and rope climbing 5.10. Even though I feel that I have all of my power back, I am lacking in the power endurance range. Knowing that made me even more nervous to climb hard.

However, my fingers held up through the entire day! ...with tape of course. But nevertheless, it felt great to compete. My scores were low in the qualifying round because I was trying not to push it too hard on my fingers. I also had poor power endurance and only had enough gas in the first hour to climb hard. I went into finals in 8th place, but I am so happy that I was able to climb hard for three whole hours!

In finals I was definitely feeling tired. But it felt great to climb in front of a crowd again and the climbs were so much fun! I think that one of the most satisfying and exciting things in life is having a crows cheer for you. I felt as if life made sense again. It was great to compete against many of my friends that I had not seen last season, and to meet new friends as well. I think that I either placed 4th or 5th in finals. Scores were not posted for those not in the top three, but I came to this conclusion after talking with my competitors.

Whether I came in 4th or 5th doesn't really matter in the long run. What matters is that I climbed with no further injury and helped put on a great show for those watching; which is one of my all time favorite things to do. I also got some great photos/video of me climbing!

Hopefully I will be able to write more posts about competitions this year! So psyched to be back!
Thanks to Jordan Shipman from Louder Than 11 for the great highlight video and Natalia Boltukhova from Metrorock for the great photos!


Highlight Video:
Dark Horse 2013 Series 4 Round 1 Highlights from Louder Than Eleven on Vimeo.

Photos: (more on darkhorseseries.com)