GB Junior Bouldering Team gets off to a flying start in Bulgaria at Round 1 of the IFSC European Youth Cup 2013. Team manager Tom Greenall reports.
Following our recent trip to the European Youth Championships in Grindelwald Switzerland, the team travelled to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia in the last weekend of June to begin the three-stage competition campaign that makes up this year’s European Youth Cup.
Set on the outskirts of the city in a modern shopping complex, Boulderland boasts a spectacular “fusion” climbing arena courtesy of wall manufacturer Walltopia. The centre can only be described as futuristic; multi-dimensional wall surfaces split with illuminating veins, which make the wall seem like it’s living as they pulse to thumping techno and change colour. This combined with the sheer amount of glass, modern furniture and organic fresh juice, could easily put the place in a sci-fi film like Tron!
For this event the team line-up consisted of Team Captain Nathan Phillips (Junior), Tara Hayes, Rachel Carr and Gracie Martin (Youth A), and Sidonie Graham and James Mabon (Youth B). Although the field was smaller than at the Youth Championships, the standard of those in attendance was extremely high. Big teams from Germany, Italy and France all posed fierce competition as well as a number of strong athletes from other Eastern European Countries such as Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. The team’s focus again was to improve on our team and individual performance aspects and not overly prioritise results.
The first category to get underway was the Female Youth B. Stepping confidently out onto the clinical grey matting, Newcastle’s Sidonie Graham showed maturity well beyond her years. Remaining calm and composed she quickly dispatched the first two problems with minimal fuss. A great start! Using this success to boost her momentum she flashed an additional boulder, just missing out on a place in the final six.
Following Sidonie in the Youth B category was Devon’s James Mabon. This was James’s first time on the European stage and despite a few nerves, continued GB’s great opening. We all really felt for James who was competing in an incredibly strong category where seven of the ten athletes all completed at least six of the eight qualifiers. He put on a great display, topping four very difficult blocs, which could have so easily been five or six. An outstanding climbing performance, which, was sadly not highlighted further due to the number of athletes. I am confident he would have maintained his impressive 10th place even in a bigger field.
Moving into the afternoon it was the turn of our trio of Youth A climbers. Tara Hayes, Gracie Martin and Rachel Carr are all experienced international athletes in lead climbing with this being their first full season competing in bouldering. The Female Youth A category is fiercely competitive, often with the greatest number of athletes present. Again this was the case in Sofia, with impressive outfits from Germany, Serbia and Italy all looking to ruin our day. As the competition heated up, so did the air temperature as the air-conditioning became overwhelmed with 27 degrees heat and humidity. This resulted in some of the intricate technical moves, involving small wall features becoming more and more difficult.
Despite the sweltering conditions the girls did incredibly well. Rachel and Gracie all made light work of Q1, a subtle groove with a high rockover to finish while making huge progress on a further two boulders, hitting tops but due to the greasy conditions coming unluckily close to not placing higher up the order.
Tara also battled hard with the conditions and after flashing two blocs went on to power her way up the hardest boulder on the wall on Q8. Another great start to the campaign with the girls placing 14th, 16th and 10th respectively.
Our last competitor out was Nathan, who was looking to bounce back after suffering from illness prior to the previous competition. Nathan is always a composed athlete who showed that he really is up there with the best in Europe, flashing a total of five boulders and bagging a sixth on his third go. Moving precisely and strongly he further added a string of bonuses to qualify in fifth place, becoming the first GB Junior to book a place in an EYC bouldering final six.
Fast-forward to Sunday morning and the team was back in the arena. A crowd of competitors, coaches, climbers and spectators all assembled to see who would be first out of the blocs. Nathan warmed up well, shaking off a slightly tight hamstring from the previous day to leave isolation focused and ready. The first boulder, a powerful groove followed by an athletic campus move saw Nathan secure the bonus on his second go, sadly only unlocking the crucial “Ninja” leg swing too late to make another attempt.
F2 was an incredible bloc on a free-hanging boulder in the middle of the auditorium. Climbing out from underneath, Nathan inverted his body, securing a double toe hook “bat hang”. By this time the crowd had begun to really get behind him pumping him up as he powered his way through the final section and into third place.
Disappointingly some of the taller athletes were able to bypass this crux with a simple slap move, nudging Nathan out of the medals. Sadly F3 was an even reachier proposition, with Nathan having to jump into the starting holds whereas other athletes simply reached through. After a few attempts he was confident the reach was a little beyond him and resigned to great applause from the crowd, gratefully accepting his fourth place.
GB Team Final Positions
Nathan Phillips – 4th
Sidonie Graham – 8th
Tara Hayes – 10th
James Mabon – 10th
Rachel Carr – 14th
Gracie Martin – 16th
“A really good experience unlike anything I have done before. It was nice and relaxed as we flew out a few days before the comp. I think that this helped all of our performances in the comp.” James Mabon
“It was a great trip and amazing to see Nathan in the final. I can’t wait until we are all making finals, that will be awesome.” Gracie Martin
“I am so psyched that I made my first final. The problems were really cool and the crowd was amazing. Especially the Brits!” Nathan Phillips
To view some images of the event, visit Rus Vakrilov Photography
Next we head to our third international competition in France at the end of July. Confident with progress made here in Sofia, all athletes have improved on their performance and will go from strength to strength over the summer. If you want to see them in action they will also be taking part in the Junior British Bouldering Championships at The Depot in Leeds in August.
You can follow the team’s progress and catch all the latest competition climbing news on Twitter @bmc_comps using has tag #IFSCeyc; and on the GB Climbing Team website.
The Junior British Bouldering Team is supported by Sherpa Adventure Gear and NICAS.
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