Breaking Barriers

'Unexpectation' n. Absence of expectation; want of foresight.

Expectation is tricky, sometimes. The old wives tales, they know this. 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket'. 'Don't count your chickens before they hatch'. 

Poultry themed wisdom duly considered, it seems important to manage your expectations. Too much, and you might fall short. Too little, and you won't get anywhere in the first place. 

Sometimes it can be difficult to manage expectations.
In some circumstances though, self control is a necessity. Competitive climbing is unquestionably one of these circumstances, where only a well balanced mind can thrive under the potent cocktail of pressure and desire to perform at your limit. Hard climbing is usually an almost meditative, if physical, experience - but in the competition setting, it is so much harder to close your mind to the plethora of outside influences that scream for your attention - shouts of encouragement, the shutter of a nearby camera clicking rhythmically... Not to mention the ever present knowledge that this is your one, singular attempt at the route. 

All in all, enough to put anyone out of their comfort zone. 

With this in mind, when I arrived at Sheffield for the final of the Awesome Walls Leading League, I was feeling a little jittery. I'd never participated in a proper lead comp before, and the atmosphere was already more serious than I was used too. Thankfully I was accompanied by Ellissa Bryant, seasoned competitor and full-time crusher. She seemed pretty chilled about the whole thing, so I swallowed down the nerves and resolved to have a good time. 

Selfie skills are a key component in the competitive climbers toolbox!
The serious atmosphere was further increased by the chilly conditions of the climbing centre. Decent friction requires cooler temperatures, but it can make warming up a struggle! Fortunately Berghaus had me covered. My new Smoulder III hoody kept me snug whilst belaying, and the stretchy fabric meant I could get on my warm up routes without having to take it off. 

Too soon though, the warm up was over. I watched in trepidation as my fellow competitor Kallum made an attempt at the first qualifier, a tough 7b+. A wandering line of thin crimps and poor slopers, it looked desperate. Kallum topped the route in great style, and I was left with no more time to think. The nerves had surfaced in full now, and I was struggling to push them aside. I didn't expect to do really well in my first lead comp, but I wanted to try as hard as I could. A podium spot was the real goal. 

I pulled onto the route, and immediately knew I was climbing badly. Nerves made my movement too static, and for the first time in months I was afraid of falling off - this time, because I didn't want to fail. The irony wasn't lost on me. As I reached the first crux, involving a hard press up to a right hand crimp from a poor sloper, I botched my footwork and fell. 

About to take the ride from the first qualifier.
Lowering down, I felt frustration tinged with a slight sense of relief. Now, at least, I could just enjoy myself. I resigned my expectations to merely having a decent bash at the other two qualifiers, and figured that would be that. 

Events, however, were about to take a turn. 

The second qualifier was a sustained 7c, steeper than the first route but with more positive holds. Having seen Kallum make an impressive high point falling a mere couple of moves below the top, I congratulated him and got ready to have a play. I felt totally relaxed now, the worries of performing well completely gone. I flowed up the first half of the route, and found myself matching Kallum's high point. The game was back on. 


In the zone on qualifier no.2


Taking the whipper from just below the top.
The next qualifier looked tough, to say the least. A sustained 8a on poor holds with long reaches and powerful moves, we were all a little intimidated. Having watched everyone else fall off fairly low, I pulled on expecting at most to match the current high point. Much to my surprise, I found myself climbing smoothly through the tricky lower crux, and moving into unclimbed ground, fighting through move after move until I finally dropped on a hard crossover move at 2/3rds height. 


Sticking the lower crux. 

Qualifier results put me in second, behind Kallum in first. We waited nervously in isolation, having quickly spied out the moves on the 8a+ final route. One by one, we went out to put theory into practice. Powerful moves straight from the off lead into a fierce, shoulder intensive pull from a large red volume up to a sloper. Sticking the move but failing on the one beyond, I thought I'd given a pretty poor attempt - not even reaching half height. I was surprised, therefore, to discover that I'd matched the current highpoint. Kallum moved smoothly through the first part of the route, but came unstuck on the volume move. 

This left myself and fellow competitor Jack tied on the final. The solution? SUPER FINAL.

What this meant was both of us making a further onsight attempt at a 7c on the competition wall. Severely overhanging and powerful, it was just the thing to separate out two already tired competitors. Jack went first, and I returned to isolation, pacing back and forth pensively whilst trying to control my nerves. Soon enough though, I was walking out across the matted floor, casting a glance up at the wall to check how high the quickdraws were swinging. 

Just above half height. I could match that, surely? 

Fingers are sweating. Chalk up, chill out - but there's no time. 

Pull on. Did I read the route right? Too late now. First few moves flow nicely. A long reach... High foot? Nah, just jump. 

Crowd cheers that. Well, at least I've left an impression. High foot, lock off left hand. Stretch, stretch.... Oh good, it's a jug. Clip the draw. Crowd gets louder.

Was that the high point? Can't tell from here. Just keep going.

Up underneath the roof now, really pumped. Pull the rope up to clip... nothing left! 

SWINNNNGGGGGGG. 


Pulling through the steepness on the super final. 

Apparently, I'd won. Which just goes to show that Old Wives probably know what they're talking about. Or that chickens have been trying to teach us philosophy all this time. Who knows? 


Adult Male Podium. (L-R: Kallum, Jack, Mischa)

The next day, we needed a change from the indoor scene. Drawn by the promise of good weather, we ventured into the leafy expanse of Chee Dale to reset our brains from the competitive mindset with the help of the limestone sport routes. Ellissa and Adam had very little experience outside, so they got the chance to get to grips with some of the easier test pieces on the Two Tier sector. 


Crossing the river to reach Two Tier.
Leading 'Within Reach', 6c.



Adam seconding 'Within Reach'.

After a little while, I decided to commit to the onsight attempt of 'Quality Control', a classic 7a route that had been on my radar for a while. Unsure of how I'd get on and remembering how pressure had affected me the day before, I approached it with a very laid back approach - I was committed, but not expecting anything.
The first few moves were powerful, leading into fierce pulls on sloping holds that didn't let up until finally I managed to reach the groove at 2/3rds height and gain a decent rest position.
Recovering on the onsight of Quality Control, 7a. 


From there it was a matter of a few technical moves into the groove itself, then a romp up the last few metres on good holds. Another great route dispatched, onsight.

From my experiences over the last few days, it seems an important part of climbing is understanding your own psyche. Pressure, for me, seems something best left at the bottom of a route. Instead, take a little something to remind you what you could have, should you make it to the top. When I climb now, I'll be taking my unexpectations up there with me.

Stay tuned!  


You can follow me on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/MHawkerYates

P.S. Many thanks to Berghaus for supporting this blog. If you like the look of the Smoulder III hoody, you can check it out at http://www.berghaus.com/.

I'd also like to extend credit and my appreciations to the photographers to whom the pictures featured in this blog belong, specifically Zoe Bateman, Ed Teale, Zoe Spriggins and Carol Bryant. Thanks guys!






















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