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[The following is a letter I wrote describing the Boy's 12 - 13
and Girls 11 & Under competition at the 2002 USCCA National Championship held in Portland, Oregon,
July 5th - 7th.]
Hi all,
I'll try to keep it short this year. ;-) We had a great trip to Nationals,
in Portland, Oregon this year -- a welcome contrast to last year's trip. We
flew, thus avoiding any deer run-ins. We went with a tried-and-true hotel,
whose management even remembered us from two-years-ago (hmmm). The weather
was phenomenal for Oregon -- only one rainy day. As usual, we made a
vacation out of the event so as not to hang all our hopes and expectations
on the outcome of something we have no control over.
We flew out on July 4th. This was the first time we had flown since 911.
However, we all felt safe with all the security checkpoints we had to pass
through. My Gris-gris (belay device) caused some concern until a security
person recognized it as a "rope-clamp-thingy". We arrived in Portland
around 3PM without incident, got our rental car (Chevy "Tracker") and
checked in at the Marriot Courtyard, in Tigard. I had a Regional
Coordinator's dinner to attend where I was introduced as the new ORC
(Overall Regional Coordinator), which in turn was officially made a USCCA
Board position two days later. Woo-hoo, (I think)!
Amanda, having improved over last season, appears to have caught a vision
for what it will take from her to "do well" at Nationals. She had a great
year, finishing 2nd in the Colorado / New Mexico region. She did not even
start training until roughly a month before Nationals, so she has a natural
ability to climb. She "flashed" a 5.11d/12a in the gym before going to
Nationals which really boosted her confidence. She worked on building her
power and endurance as well, and even coined the acronym PEC (Power
Endurance & Confidence). But when she had to put it to the test, she came
up just a little short on the "C".
Her second qualifier route (5.11b) was long and heavy on slopers. She
climbed nervously through the first crux, almost coming off once, and spent
too much energy recovering. She started cruising again, up to the second
crux, some three-fourths the way through the route. Her energy spent, she
threw for the crux sloper, but was not able to control it. Down she came.
She climbed 13th and there were many more climbers to go, so we did not know
how she would place at this point.
Now, the cut-off for going from Qualifiers to Semi-finals was at 16th. We
all thought she had made the cut after the Qualifiers, and we were even
celebrating her (finally) making it to the second day. Yet when the cut was
posted at the gym that evening, she was not on the list that made it. It
was hard to hold back the tears. She ended up tied for 17th, and missed
tying for 16th by one hand-hold. She really felt it this year -- being so
close, yet so far. I was proud of her for the way she handled it, though.
Unlike past years, she tasted what it was like to be going on in the
competition, and now she really wants it. Last year she quit climbing
completely for nearly six months. Like Daniel of last year, she has not
stopped training since we got back, and she can't wait for the next comp --
any comp -- especially the Phoenix Bouldering Contest. She's on fire!
Daniel, having tasted defeat so bitterly last year, was having his best
season ever. He trained hard and never lost sight of his goal -- to be on
top again. During the regular season, he wasn't satisfied with just winning
his category at every comp. His goal was to beat everyone (by point total)
at every competition. He did it at the Regional Championship.
Didier Raboutou and Robyn Erbesfield
trained Daniel towards the end of the season and especially helped him to
prepare for competitions.
Going into Nationals, Daniel was so much more confident this year. He had a
long string of successes, including the Phoenix Bouldering Contest, and the
Boulder Climbing Series. He had been consistently climbing 5.13s in the
gym, and he finally landed a sponsorship with
LaSportiva (not easy
for a youngster). We still did not know what he would be up against. Two
years ago, Daniel, Clark Allen and Scott Cory all went to a
super-super-finals round. Would it happen again this year?
The Qualifier routes seemed harder this year in the B-12-13 category.
Daniel flashed both of them (5.11b and 5.12b). Scott flashed his first
route, but only slapped the finish hold on the second route (no super-finals
were possible with Scott). Clark flashed both routes, creating a two-way
tie going into Semi-finals.
Semi-finals, for some reason, seemed like Finals. I think we all just
wanted to speed things up and get to the final outcome. As a parent, the
anxiety of not knowing can get to you if you let it. We were nervous, as
usual, though for different reasons this year. We knew Daniel had done all
he could to prepare for this event. We also knew that ANYTHING can happen
in competitive rock-climbing. A slip of the foot and it's over. In a
sense, I appreciate that sudden finality of the sport because it mirrors
climbing in the real world, where one slip can mean disaster. Not to worry
anyone unnecessarily, we do use ropes and harnesses and a wide assortment of
anchors to minimize the consequences of a slip. ;-) Nevertheless, there are
great lessons to be learned from the sport at any level, and "sudden death"
elimination is a good one to learn at competitions.
Daniel and Clark were tied going into Semi-finals. The route was a stiff,
50 foot 5.12d. Scott climbed before Daniel and flashed the route. He was
back in the game. Daniel climbed nervously to the top of the route, but he
stuck the finish convincingly with a dramatic dyno, and a strong-arm
circling triumphantly for the crowd below. Clark climbed next and did the
same thing Scott did the day before. Slapping the finish hold, we were all
surprised to see him come off the wall. This meant there was no possibility
of a super-final this year. All of the boys could flash the Finals route
and Daniel would win by counting points back to the Qualifiers. It wasn't
over, by a long shot, though. The game was still about, "whoever gets the
high-point on the Finals route wins!"
Somehow, Daniel picked up a cold/sinus infection two days before Nationals.
We got him on an anti-biotic the day we left, and I mistakenly gave him
psuedoephedrine before he climbed his Semi-final route on Saturday, thinking
it would help his breathing. Oops! That explains why he was so nervous on
the route! Sunday... no meds, just a healthy breakfast and his vitamins.
He seemed much more relaxed. The route was set at 5.13a. It went up the
steep, overhanging wall for probably 60 feet. There was one rope "un-clip"
the boys had to make where the wall got less steep and the holds got more
difficult. Many of the 12-13 boys were spit off at, or just past, the
un-clip. The rope clip on an overhanging route prevents the climber from
swinging into the crowd should they fall early.
I'm still not sure why, but Daniel climbed next-to-last, just before Scott.
Usually the climber in first place climbs last. Clark climbed before
Daniel. We watched Clark climb past the un-clip, and pull through the first
crux of the route. He looked strong and made it beyond the point where many
of the 14-15 and 16-17 boys were falling the day before. (The route was
slightly modified overnight, but it was still 5.13a.) Daniel climbed next.
He looked very relaxed and sure-footed. He un-clipped and rested, then
cruised through the first crux. He rested again, cruised the overhanging
headwall passed Clark's high-point, and pushed towards the final crux -- a
bad sloper and a right-handed lie-back. He went for the sloper just two
holds from the top and peeled off -- a great high-point! He realized later
he should have gone for the lie-back, but it was the highest anyone had been
on the route to-date.
Scott came out to climb and we watched and cheered him on as he confidently
climbed through the bottom section and through the un-clip. He cruised the
first crux, and we watched anxiously, as it looked as though he might flash
the route. He made it to the half-moon shaped hold that spit Clark off,
then went for the next hold. His hand popped and it was all over. Daniel
was once again, National Champion!
What a crazy sport, I thought. I could not wait to get back to Rifle with
Daniel so we could climb some real routes. Before we left, however, we had
the Speed competition, the awards ceremony, the US Team selection, and a lot
of vacationing to do. Daniel placed 3rd in the speed competition (something
only the Russians actually train for) and Amanda placed 10th. She had fun
and it gave her something to look forward to while sitting around watching
her brother climb.
The kids had great fun this trip, and made lots of new friends, especially
from Texas. We tried to keep things "light" and took them Go-cart racing,
Put-put golfing and to the movies during the competition. It was all-around
a great trip. We took a spectacular ferry ride across the Peugeot Sound
from Bremerton to Seattle, then went to the fish market for the afternoon.
We drove through the Columbia River Gorge and hiked up Beacon Rock, and
explored the waterfalls of the Gorge. We found a great beach in Pacific
City with sea-cliffs and crashing waves. It was actually sunny and warm
enough to swim there that day.
After returning home Thursday, the 11th, Daniel and I trotted off to Rifle
for the week-end. We met his old climbing team and coaches out there, so I
agreed to let him stay with the team until the following Wednesday. While
there, Daniel on-sighted "Head Full of Lead" (5.12a), and flashed "Right El Sapper"
(5.12b) and "Handy Boy" (5.12c). (He tried this route once, two years ago,
when the hand-holds were too wet to climb it, so I gave him the flash.) He
red-pointed "Hand Me the Canteen Boy" (5.12d) third try. He began working
on "The Beast" (5.13a) and "Vision Thing" (5.13b) and is determined to get
those when we go back in August. He has to re-adjust to real rock after
training on plastic for Nationals, but he's red-pointing 5.13c in the gym,
so it should happen.
Well, it was not short as promised, but there ya have it!
Hope you are all well, and that we see you soon,
Steve, Carol, Daniel & Amanda
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