I CAN BE STRONGER YET!

BoulderActive 2011 came and went. I think that performance-wise, it's one of my best efforts by far. Too bad that I slipped off the last hold for Qualifiers Problem 5 - I would have made the finals as the 7th ranked climber otherwise. But there are too many 'what-ifs' in life. This is a competition, and the best man wins (in this case the most worthy 8 competitors qualify). As it is with life, you often only get one chance to prove your worth. I'm not good enough.. yet.

I suppose how I can value add to climbers is to share the thoughts running through my mind as I was attempting the problems. This could help novice climbers boost their own performance, as well as let me reflect on what I've done well, and what I can do better. Climbers are discouraged from taking my words lock, stock and barrel. Instead, they are encouraged to seek dissenting opinions to form their own conclusions. I feel the process of discourse cements our philosophy together better.

The STS introduction by Kiat and Cassandra was highly entertaining for me. I grinned and was reminded of how it all started. Hwa and me went to KL for a gay buddy training trip (non-stop climbing for 4 days at Camp5 and Putrajaya Challenge Park). We were talking about how Singapore lacks a climbing academy for strong climbers to gather, share ideas and train hard together. Ideally, there would be no politics or unhappiness, just the single-minded pursuit of excellence in the sport. The goal of the group will never be to convince or coerce. It is merely for highlighting the plight of promising climbers, and provide an avenue for fruitful interactions. I thought such an entity would be impossible and sat on my hands. Hwa had no such reservations, getting down to setting up a facebook group, inviting several psyched climbers to join. All credit should go to him should there be any success from this little venture.

The double whistle jolted me from the train of thoughts. It was time for the first climber to take the stage - me. The rousing applause from the crowd can be both intimidating yet strangely pleasurable. A balance has to be wrought here. Not let the crowd get to you (and thus affecting the concentration) but also learn to channel that positive energy into movement on the wall. To become a good competition climber, one must learn to live the crowd.


LOOK AT THE CROWD
(photo by chris xie)

I slipped off the starting foothold on the first move of Problem 1. Immediately realising that to hold it as an undercling (plus stepping a small foothold with the left leg and smearing hard with the right leg) would require body tension beyond my current ability, I switched to a frontal loading position. The effect was positive. I managed to finish the problem with relative ease, leaving me with a good 5 minutes left on the clock to rest for Problem 2.


getting down to business on problem 1
(photo by chris xie)

Problem 2 was a deviously tricky. Only 2 out of the 60 competitors managed to finish it. I acknowledge that without sufficient competition exposure, problems such as this will continue to be beyond me. Case in point: I instinctively tried to squeeze my body into the side wall and then scramble up, but my beta was completely flawed. Instead, I was supposed to tolerate the barn door, bring the left foot up onto the handhold, tension against the volume to get some leverage, and then jump for my dear life to a small hold on the top of the volume. Such a counter-intuitive, yet elegant, solution. No amount of traditional training will ever allow me to complete that problem within the allocated time span of 3.5 minutes. To get stronger, I must widen my exposure.

I was satisfied with my performance on Problem 3, managing to finish it on my second attempt. On my first try, I tried to counter tension the barn door to the big green sloper, but the force exerted on my body is unimaginable. That Obi did it so easily during the demo climb reveals a core toughened by years of training. Thankfully, I relied on a toe hook to enable me to hit sloper slowly. Change the toe hook to a step off a screw-on, heel hook the side wall and then slap for the blue sloper on the side wall. Sounds easy? Heh.. Read my original/unedited sentence: (Slowly) change the toe took to a step off a (minuscule) screw-on, heel hook the (bare) side wall and then slap (desperately) for the blue sloper on the side wall (with all your might, all the while tension-ing the entire body!) Each move was precarious and dicey, any lost of focus for even one nano second would have you spitted off the wall. I even had to resort to a face smear for that extra friction!


face smear!
(photo by zul)

But the problem wasn't quite done yet when you reach the blue sloper. I tried a frontal lock to the ending hold, but as I got nearer and nearer to the hold I felt more and more like falling off. Locking harder obviously wasn't the solution for me. I eased down back to the blue sloper, composed myself and tried locking again, this time twisting my left knee to the right. I grabbed the ending hold and HOORAY.. What I lack in strength I try to make up for in cunning!


forbidden jutsu: the drop knee

victory pose after finishing problem 3!
(photos by junwei)

Even though I didn't finish Problem 4, I was most proud of my attempts there. Problem 4 involved a span move to two reasonable-sized holds and then finding the feet before launching off on a redonkulous dyno to a purple ass-shaped tile. Alright, perhaps I'm exaggerating but for a short climber like myself, coupled with the fact that dyno-ing has been my perennial weakness, it was really a big jump for me. Upon getting into the position to crouch for the jump, the handhold just seems miles away. The mind starts to play tricks on you. To be able to do the move, your self-belief cannot for a moment waver. Lucky for me on my third attempt, I gathered up all the energy and exploded to the hold, latching it! Whoopie!


RAWR after latching the dyno
(photo by junwei)

Despite not being able to finish the problem, I was immensely pleased at having surpassed personal boundaries. I still remember throwing a tantrum at PumpFest 09 because a dyno move kept eluding me. If it's any gauge of my improvement at all, climbers like Ponti and Zam also took three tries to latch the dyno. Looks like I've really come a long way since the days of being a static climber who can't jump.

I slipped off the last hold for Problem 5 and this mistake cost me a place in the finals. I feel like I've let the people who believed in me down. Patxi Usobiaga lamented before: all that training is lost with one slip of the foot. Today, I can safely say I know how badly it hurts.

I take this failure very seriously. I will come back stronger. Enough said.


me on the problem 5
(photo by chris xie)

On a lighter note, I'm very inspired by this Pinoy climber who specially flew in to participate in this competition. Others gravitate towards Obi-san and Ponti, but for some reason I take to Amiel. His climbing is precise and clinical, and he bursts with bridled/controlled energy when moving from hold to hold. He is a master at engramming moves, never making the same mistake twice, always able to repeat a move once he has done it. I was most impressed with his ability to latch the dyno of Problem 4 again and again. The fan boy in me just had to take a picture with him :)


same victory pose no less!
(photo by celine)

Woe is me that he didn't manage to qualify for the finals (he ranked 9th - must have been even more painful for him). Watching him crush all the 3 problems (in the free climb time that was allocated to other competitors after the finals) just further convinced me of his skill. He shares a similarity with other top climbers - they've all climbed for 10 years and more, reinforcing my theory that to become a top climber, first and foremost you must love the sport. The motivation must be intrinsic - nobody can force-feed you a 'motivation pill'. Only then will you stay around long enough to be a sensei.

I wish for myself to become one eventually.. but till then, I'll be happy just to pose for a photo with my favourite climber of the entire competition!