The Games

"It's really great if you do hard outdoor climbing, but you cannot say you're the best. The only way you can say you're the best is if you compete with the best and show the best - I'm the best" - Reindert Lenselink (World Cup Official)

Last night was the start of the Foundry Bouldering League. I used to love bouldering comps; I went to them religiously, got a spot on the GB team, had some mediocre international results. Hard to believe that was back in 2001. Back then Tony Blair was PM, and still the apple of the nation's eye. Many of the events that shaped the modern world were still to come - 9/11, the invasion of Iraq, the launch of Facebook. But last night there was a funny wind in the air, and for the first time in ten years I really felt like going to a comp again. I felt youthful and strong, so I went along to show them all who's best.

Well, the best stayed away (they'd probably heard I was coming), but there was a really good scene down there. Rob Napier had done a great job with a brand new set of Core holds and there was 25 problems to have a crack at and a lot of keen folk around to have some banter with. The Foundry guys had also come up with a new twist on the comp format; as well as the standard problems there was also a "Flash Problem", which gave everyone who flashed it the chance to win a cash prize in a raffle.

The best bouldering comps are the ones where you can drop the 'easy' problems. It keeps the nerves jangling. Last night was a great example of this. Many of the 'hard' problems were fine, but the easy probs were also easy to drop, with some awkward lurches, some technical grooves and some graunchy traverses thrown in to mix things up. I was quite pleased with the way I climbed. Only two problems gave me any real trouble - a desperate slopey yellow and a huge dyno to a large red ball. Both succumbed in the end, but I had to get really angry on the dyno and embarrassed myself with a bit of a roar when I caught it.

It was great to watch the other climbers, too. There were some really cool displays of technique, especially from the females. Leah Crane, Emma Twyford and some young blond lass I don't know climbed really well. These girls have really precise, and very different ways of moving on the rock; I think I could learn a lot from them, if I could get my hips to actually move more than 5 degrees in any direction. There were some great displays of tenacity too; one tiny pre-teen girl kept setting up for the dyno, even though it was much further than her body length. She never got close, but optimism like that is gonna get you up something well hard someday...

There was good cake as well. Basically I had a ball, and I won the aforementioned raffle, so went home with enough cash to take Jules out for dinner. Heartily recommended.