Climbing

It’s two a.m. when a man’s voice announces wakeup throughout the mountain hut. One by one, the sardine-squeezed sleeping bags begin to wiggle and unzip. Headlamps turn on and people start shuffling.

Outside, we hear the sound of wind and rain beating against the thin walls of the mountain hut. My neighbour is discouraged. She complains that she couldn’t sleep last night. The altitude air is too thin, the hut too cold and too noisy with snorers. A quick peak through the window reveals that the darkness outside is windy, rainy and freezing cold. There will be no sunrise, she decides, and she goes back to sleep vanquished.

Read more 2010 Ouray Ice Festival

November 18, 2009Catherine`s first bouldering competition

Catherine`s first bouldering competition

Sunday I went to my first climbing competition at Horizon Roc in Montreal. And boy did it go well! It also happened to be my birthday. The day started at 9am with the registration, and a little gift bag filled with stickers and an ice pack (not very exciting). They had blocked off part of the gym where they had put up all new bouldering problems (for those who do not speak climbers language: bouldering is when you don't need a rope because you only go up about 2 meters and thick mattresses are installed at the base of the boulder). There were about 80 participants, and women were definitely in the minority.

So I put on the new T-shirt they gave me, and found my two girl friends amongst the crowd. We had from 10am to 3pm to climb as many problems as we could. Our total score was going to be tallied up at the end of the day. We got more points for climbing the problems on our first try, and of coruse the harder problems were worth more as well. I have to admit, I was scared to get started, not knowing what strategy to take. I didn't want to tire myself out on too many easy ones, or waste too much time trying to finish harder ones...In the end, I think I ended up climbing about 20 or so problems, some of which I attempted many times.

It was really fun to work on hard problems with lots of people, watching how they tried it, motivaing each other to push ourselves to our limit. The pressure was definitely on, in a friendly enough way. It was so much fun to have such a wide choice of new problems to work on, and such a motivated gang of climbers that were just loving it! There was lots of socializing, because you needed to give your body a little rest in between climbs. The energy was great, and the DJ helped to create an atmosphere that pushed you to perform...

I am really glad i participated in such a great event. Winning first place was a bonus I was definitely not expecting. They had several door prizes, and I was also lucky enough to get my first crash pad!!! I can't think of a better way I could have spent my birthday, other than doing the sport I love with great friends, surpassing myself, and winning awesome prizes :)

Needless to say, I will be going to more..

Sunday I went to my first climbing competition, at Horizon Roc in Montreal. And boy did it go well! It also happened to be my birthday. The day started at 9am with the registration, and a little gift bag filled with stickers and an ice pack (not very exciting). They had blocked off part of the gym where they had put up some all-new bouldering problems (for those who do not speak climbers' language: bouldering is when you don't need a rope because you only go up about 2 meters and thick mattresses are installed at the base of the boulder). There were about 80 participants, and women were definitely in the minority.

Catherine`s first bouldering competition

So I put on the new T-shirt they gave me, and found my two girlfriends amongst the crowd. We had from 10am to 3pm to climb as many problems as we could. Our total score was going to be tallied up at the end of the day. We got more points for climbing the problems on our first try, and of course the harder problems were worth more as well. I have to admit, I was scared to get started, not knowing what strategy to take. I didn't want to tire myself out on too many easy ones, or waste too much time trying to finish harder ones...In the end, I think I ended up climbing about 20 or so problems, some of which I attempted many times.