Nationals Lead Climbing 2019

Upcoming nationals usually cause a week full with nerves and excitement, but this year it felt different. I was looking forward to climb, to fight for moves and to show my fitness, but the stress that usually comes along was gone. Suddenly I realized I have become an "old goat" in the Dutch competiton world: most fellow competitors are younger than I am, and I am one of the most experienced climbers out there. My 23 years of living experience made me feel like a grandma (!), and the most important wisdom earned in all those years is that comps should be fun and the outcome irrelevant for a good feeling. I just wanted to show my best and preferably end up on the podium, because I know I can.

Having a last look at the route before climbing (Foto Sheila Farell McCarron)

I simply love the atmosphere at nationals: it's amazing that about 250 people travelled all the way to the very south of the Netherlands just to watch some climbers trying hard. Hearing the cheering of those 250 people makes me fly. The route looked great: new holds from Agripp, a Belgium hold company that none of us ever heard about, through the big overhang of IVY - Sittard with big holds, then continuing on small holds after the overhang. No silly bouldery moves, but a good lead climbing route.

2 moves before I fell (Foto Zout Photography)

It started tricky with a far move, not too difficult and such a move is good for me to get activated. The beginning was easy to read and I speeded up, shaking my arms every now and then but I was able to make loads of heelhooks, so the unforgiving pump stayed well away. At the very end of the overhang I read one sequence wrong, put my heelhook a bit too low and came off earlier than I expected.  I was happy with how efficient I climbed up to where I fell, and despite not being able to show a good fight through the last section of the route, I felt like I did a good job. In the end Tiba Vroom and Lynn van der Meer managed to get further, taking respectively the 2nd and 1st place. Mark Brand nailed the men's finals and took home gold, followed by Tim Reuser and Leto Cave.

The female podium (Foto Sytse van Slooten)

The same night Aldo and I drove to Ettringen, to hopefully finish the weekend with a send of Die 5. Jahreszeit (8a+). The promised sun turned out to be loads of fog, but the bread of the bakery made us psyched to get of bed. The rocks were a bit slimy from the fog, temperature around 2 degrees and my right ring finger still hurting a bit from the week before in Die 5. Jahreszeit. After once getting up to put the draws in, I took them out again before giving it a proper go. Instead I decided to have a look in its neighboring route: Pump up the Jam (8a). It was lacking painful fingerlocks so I decided to give it a shot, and managed to send the route 2nd go.

A well-deserved dinner at the classic Roy's pizzeria marked the end of a succesful weekend!