Do you CWIF?

In 2011, buoyed by a run of great results in the Foundry winter bouldering I entered the CWIF. My first international comp since the early 00's. I tanked hugely.

In 2012 the same thing happened. After a winter of handing Will Atkinson's ass to him on a silver plate I entered the CWIF once more. Will scored 221 and narrowly missed the final. I scored 198 and narrowly missed every hold I jumped for.

In 2013 I was injured.

In 2014, following a great result in the F-BO bouldering comp I entered the CWIF once more. You can see where this is going, can't you?

CWIF problems need technique, balance and nonchalance. And a cuppa. Nick Brown shows how it's done.

Every year I expect something different, and every year I go home surprised by how much of climbing doesn't depend upon campus strength at all. On Thursday before this year's competition such was my prowess on the Foundry campus board that the locals were awed - I genuinely thought Mark Tomlinson was going to make me a marriage proposal. And then on Saturday I watched climbers who couldn't 1-4-7 to escape a sleuth of angry bears, smoothly negotiate volumes and rock overs that spat me off repeatedly. In the end I finished with 205 points - my best CWIF performance to date, and enough for a mighty 66th place.

You'd think that I'd be crushed and dispirited. Then again, you'd think that after three years I'd have learned to expect it. The truth is that the weekend has got me completely psyched for competitions again! Performance aside I had such a great time on Saturday. There was a great and friendly scene and the problems were excellent. Really and truly amazing - if those problems were outside on a single font circuit it would be the best circuit in font. As usual they required gymnastic strength, subtle footwork and impeccable route reading skills in equal measure. Of these attributes I possess none, but determination I possess in spades. So I'm going to stretch a bit, do a lot of push ups and enter the British Bouldering Championships for the first time in over 10 years. With a bit of luck I might not even come last...

Team Midget Gems at the CWIF: L-R Mrs Littlefair, Mr Littlefair, a pack of midget gems, Ella Russel, John Dudley