U.S. TEAM JACKETS.

It's been a while since I've posted anything about Sidney's climbing. Sidney has climbed a TON and had many memorable moments since our last post. However, once I got behind it has been very hard to find the will to catch up. In order to do that, I plan on posting in batches with smaller write ups and unfortunately with less detail.

Just to start, a couple of years ago I posted a picture of Sidney's medal case that I was very proud of that I was able to put together. A few months back, we had a fundraiser to help raise money for Sidney's travel expenses and I took a picture of all of Sidney's U.S. Team jackets together. I thought it was pretty cool picture so enjoy!

Sidney's U.S. Team jackets for the past 6 years. (Photo courtesy of me)

2013 SCS NATIONALS.

This was Year 4 in Atlanta for the 2013 SCS Youth National event at Stone Summit.  I’m not a fan of going to the same place for Nationals over and over and over and over but the bottom line is that it’s the best place to hold the National, so thank you Stone Summit for hosting it.  Having just pulled off the Divisional Double (1^st place in both Sport & Speed), Sidney worked really hard in preparation for the National event and capped off her training with a great week at the VW teams’ training camp.  She was ready and firing on all cylinders by the time Nationals started.

Day 1 – As usual, the first day of competition was Qualifier #1 for Sport and all the Qualifier runs for Speed.  For Sidney and 2 of her best friends, Melina Costanza and Cierra Graham, Qualifier #1 went smoothly as they all flashed the route.  Some of the other favorites in the FYB category like Claire Buhrfeind, Margarita Marsanova, Isabelle Goodacre and Grace McKeehan also flashed the route.  The only drama on the day was Margo Hayes mistakenly stepping on a bolt hanger and being called off near the top of the route.  It put her in danger of not advancing to Semifinals but Qualifier #2 would end up being a very hard route which would help her immensely.  You can watch Sidney's 1st climb here, Sport Q1.

Going into this National for Speed, Sidney was a 3 time defending champion.  The difference this time around was that she would not be climbing on jugs but on the Speed holds.  As per her strategy, Sidney just tried to be smooth on her first run and posted a time of 8.36 seconds, which ended up being the 2^nd fastest 1^st run and can be seen here, Speed Q1.  On her second pass, she put it all together and blazed to a time of 7.12 seconds.  Watch here, Speed Q2.  This would put her firmly in 1^st place after Qualifiers with the next 5 fastest times being Claire (7.74 seconds), Margarita (8.07 seconds), Jenna Wang (8.33 seconds), Bethany Eversole (8.47 seconds) and Grace (8.51 seconds).  For those paying attention, can you see a connection there?  Yep, 4 of the top 6 fastest times were put up by Team Texas climbers.  To say they are really well coached in Speed would be an understatement.  The other two climbers in the top 6 (Sidney and Jenna) also have easy access to very good Speed walls to train on.  Melina pulled a best time of 11.36 seconds just barely ahead of Cierra’s time of 11.57 seconds.  Unfortunately for Cierra, she would finish in 17^th place, 1 spot out of continuing onto Semifinals but on the flip side, it was good for Melina as she moved on in the 16^th spot.  

Day 2 – Qualifier #2 for Sport was a reaaaaaallllly long route with over half of it on a roof section which made Sidney very happy.  After the roof section, the route went vertical and zigzagged up to the highest point of the wall.  Really tough.  Quite a few really good climbers had problems with the route.  Isabelle, Hanna Grossman and Bimini Horstman all fell at the same spot and all tied for 17^th place, which was the last spot to get in for Semifinals.  In front of them were 8 girls that all fell in the same spot a few moves before the route went vertical.  They all tied for 9^th place going into Semifinals and among them were Melina, Cierra, Lily Canavan and Audrey Miller.  By my recollection, only 5 climbers fully made it onto the vertical face.  Those 5 climbers were Sidney, Margo, Claire, Grace and Margarita.  Margarita fell a couple of moves after the roof section and qualified in 5^th.  Claire and Grace fell at the same spot about halfway up the vertical face and qualified tied for 2nd.  Margo actually finished the route but timed out a couple of moves from the finish and she did not get credit for the flash.  Still she qualified for Semifinals in 4^th which was great as she had that mistake on Qualifier #1.  Sidney cruised through the roof section and then, on the vert section, she somehow held onto a sloper when her foot slipped.  She fell after getting Usable Surface on the finish hold at the top.  It was a tremendous effort and she would go into Semifinals in 1^st place.  See her awesome climb here, Sport Q2.

Sidney gave us a scare during Speed Semifinals when she fell after the first couple of moves on her 1^st run.  She went into “Be careful and get a time” mode on her 2^nd run and clocked in with a time of 8.22 seconds which was good for 5^th place going into Finals.  The top 8 girls for Finals in descending order of time were Erica Meister (8.76 seconds), Audrey (8.72 seconds), Bethany  (8.43 seconds), Sidney, Jenna (7.91 seconds), Claire (7.32 seconds), Margarita (7.17 seconds) and Grace (6.90 seconds).  This would pair up Sidney and Bethany for Finals in the 2^nd pairing (out of 4) in the order.  I thought it was a good thing because if you put a good time out there early, it puts pressure on the climbers after her and they might not perform as well.  Melina pulled her best time of the comp at 10.90 seconds to improve by 2 spots and finish in 14^th place.

Day 3 – The Sport Semifinal was a straight forward route near the middle of the main wall that got your pump on and ended with a tricky hand sequence at the top.  Sidney looked great on her climb and fell going to the finish.  You can watch this climb here, Sport Semifinal.  It was good enough for her to be in 2^nd place going into Finals right behind Claire who finished the route.  The top 11 going into Finals after Claire and Sidney, in order, were Grace, Margo, Margarita, Isabelle, Bimini, Robyn Ragins, Cierra, Melina, and Leilani Peralta.

The 8 Finalists in Speed, in reverse order and their pairing, were Erica &  Audrey, Bethany & Sidney, Jenna & Claire and Margarita & Grace.  On her first run, Sidney was smooth and powerful in putting up a very fast time of 7.24 seconds.  On her 2^nd run, she pretty much mirrored her 1^st run with a time of 7.32 seconds.  In the end, her 1^st run time would put her in 2^nd place and on the podium.  Claire had a best time of 7.06 seconds to take 1^st place and Grace had a best time of 7.36 seconds to come in 3^rd to round out the podium.  Margarita came in 4^th with a time of 7.60 seconds to nab the last coveted U.S. Team spot for Youth Worlds.  Just missing out in 5^th place was Jenna with a time of 8.08 seconds but kudos to her as she was consistently fast throughout the Speed portion of the comp.  Watch Sidney's 2nd place winning run here, Speed Final #1.

A cool shot of Sidney after tripping the timer on her Final Speed run #2.  (Photo courtesy of Unknown)

Day 4 – The Sport Final was a very cool route but it was all heartbreak for Sidney.  After climbing so well throughout the comp, Sidney made a mistake about halfway up the route and fell.  It was a hold where you needed to get both hands into a hole in the hold and then oppose the force in order to move to the next hold.  Unfortunately, Sidney misread it and fell to finish in 10^th place.  The gym fell silent as a lot of people were sort of in shock for a moment.  I know I was.  Having made the podium 14 times in her previous 17 National events, with the other 3 being 4^th & 5^th place finishes, this was new to her.  This was the first time she had made a mistake like that at such a crucial moment that it was hard to process BUT this was where I was the most proud of her.  I met her outside where she was crying with Diana.  We talked and hugged.  Then she said she wanted to go back inside to cheer Claire on and be with her friends.  Though Sidney was tremendously disappointed, she went back inside and did just that which showed a lot of character.  Later, a few parents complimented me on how well she handled her disappointment which made me very proud.  On the bright side, her best friend Melina crushed it to finish in 4^th place and join Sidney on the U.S. Team bound for Youth Worlds in Victoria, B.C. 

Adriana Jacobsen, Bimini, Melina, Makenna Graham, Sidney, Cierra and Lily a short time after the Sport climbing for the FYB category had completed.  (Photo courtesy of Kari Horstmann, I think)

2013 SCS DIVISIONALS.

For the 1st time, Divisionals were held at one of Sidney’s home gyms, Seattle Vertical World, on June 15th and 16th. It is a really great facility with 55 foot lead walls that end in a wicked roof section. Sidney has spent her fair share of time on these walls and was looking forward to climbing some cool routes. The routesetters would not disappoint.

Sport Qualifiers and Speed Qualifiers were on Saturday. In Sidney’s FYB category, there were 25 young women competing in Sport and 24 in Speed. Each competitor would climb 2 qualifier routes with a cycle rest in between each route. After all the Sport climbers were finished, all the Speed qualifiers would be run in one session to end the day.

Qualifier 1 was on the left side of the climbing area where the walls are about 45 feet high and do not have any overhang. The route was very technical and required balance. Those who were patient and precise were rewarded with a well deserved send. In all, there were 8 tops of this route with 2 of those climbers making a clipping mistake that cost them .01 on their score but they still sent the route. The 8 sends were evenly divided between two regions. They were Hanna Grossman, Kara Herson, Madison Cline and Jenna Wang from Northern California and Melina Costanza, Cierra Graham, Makenna Graham and Sidney from Washington/Alaska. Of course, Sidney had to make things interesting at the top of the route by skipping a big sloper and just throwing for a crimp while fully extended. It’s so interesting to watch her make the calculations of skipping a hold and going dynamic. Once she makes the decision, though, she never hesitates and always executes the move with conviction. I never like it when she does this but she seems to always make it so what can you do? I just tell her great job and ask her to try to do the proper beta the next time. Maybe someday.

Sidney on Qualifier #1. Notice the big sloper that she skips? (Photo courtesy of me)


Qualifier 2 was on the front of the main wall and went the full length up into the roof section. The climb was a long, sustained grind that pushed the limit on timing out on the route. No one would top this route and only half of the category would make it past the halfway point on the climb. With a route score of 62 holds, only 7 climbers were able to get a score of 40 holds or more. They were Makenna at 40.57, Kara and Siobhan Duffy at 43.57, Cierra at 45.08, Hanna at 47.58, Sidney at 58.40 and Melina at 58.61. It was very close between the top 2 as Melina scored 1 clip more and Usable Surface compared to Sidney only getting Movement. After Qualifiers, the top 11 going into Sport Finals on Sunday in reverse order of finish were Sydney Palmer, Siobhan, Amelia Hunt, Jenna, Madison, Makenna, Kara, Cierra, Hanna, Sidney and Melina.

Sidney on Qualifier #2 right before she falls while trying to clip. (Photo courtesy of me)


Speed Qualifiers were the last session of the day and was pretty action packed. Seattle VW has two fairly close approximations of the official Speed route so all the B, A and Junior categories were racing on those routes with the 2 younger categories racing on some jug routes on another wall. Sidney had 2 blazing times 8.27 seconds and 7.94 seconds for her qualifying runs. The next closest qualifying time of any female competitor was the 9.52 seconds put up by Jacquelyn Wu of the FYA category. In Sidney’s category, Melina really kicked it up a notch and was the next fastest qualifier with a time of 9.94 seconds. The rest of the category had times of 11.75 seconds or greater. Sidney would be a heavy favorite going into Speed Finals the next day.

Sunday would be short and sweet with 1 Finals route for each Sport finalist, followed by a Speed session for those finalists. With Sidney as a defending National Champion in both Sport and Speed, there would probably be 8 invites to Nationals in the FYB category for both disciplines instead of the usual 7 invitations.

The Sport Final route for the FYB/FYA category was pretty wicked. It started on the main face of the wall and moved on a steady line up and to the left. It then cut back to the right until you were in the roof section and then zagged left through an extended roof section to the finish. Between the 2 categories there were 21 combined finalists that attempted the route and only 1 climber topped it. The route scored to 55 holds with none of the first 7 FYB finalists making it past hold 32. Cierra, in 4th going into Finals, had a great climb and moved up 2 spots to finish in 2nd place with a score of 51.10. Hanna was next out and gave it a good go, scoring 45.59 and placing in 4th. Sidney was the next climber and she crushed the route with the only top of the FYB/FYA categories. Melina was last out and climbed tremendously but fell 1 hold short of tying Cierra and would settle for 3rd place. Sidney looked so strong in her flash but unfortunately my camera malfunctioned right as she started her climb so I have no pictures or video to prove it. That really bummed me out as it was a very cool send by her. The top 8 would get invites to Nationals and they were; 8th-Sydney, 7th-Madison, 6th-Jenna, 5th-Kara, 4th-Hanna, 3rd-Melina, 2nd-Cierra and 1st-Sidney.

Speed Finals went pretty much the same way as Qualifiers with no major surprises. Sidney pulled runs of 10.13 seconds and 8.82 seconds to finish in 1st place. Melina slightly improved her best time to 9.72 seconds to come in a solid 2nd place. No one else in the category had a time faster than 14 seconds as the Speed jitters may have gotten to a few of the participants. The rest of the Speed invites for Nationals went as follows; 3rd-Hanna, 4th-Jenna, 5th-Cierra, 6th-Sydney, 7th-Amelia and 8th-Kara.

Yet another SCS Divisionals was in the books and Sidney was very happy to have climbed well to win both disciplines. She enjoyed the moment but the Youth National event at Stone Summit loomed only a few weeks away and a lot was at stake for her, namely 2 berths into the Youth World event.

A great shot of Sam Wolff, Sidney and Alex Fritz after the comp. This was Sam's last youth climbing event ever. Sad. (Photo courtesy of Alex Fritz)

2013 CEC NATIONALS.

Sidney and I love going to Canada.  We’ve never had a bad trip there and we always have a great time.  Of course, it’s always associated with her climbing so maybe that’s why we enjoy it so much. Our latest trip to the Great White North was this past May 18^th through the 20^th when Sidney competed in the 2013 CEC Youth Nationals at The Boulders gym in Saanich, B.C.  This gym is where Youth Worlds was going to be held in August so we were looking forward to seeing the venue and having Sidney climb on some great routes.

The Boulders gym is quite unique in that it’s out in the countryside at a secondary school (high school).  As you come into view of the school, a huge enclosed structure towers above it.  You can’t miss it.  The front of the gym has a huge door that is in 4 sections and each section can be lifted individually so that you can have varying degrees of cover.  The front of the gym also faces an outdoor basketball court with a huge grass field on the other side of it so there is plenty of room for spectator viewing.

The main wall of The Boulders Gym towering over the countryside.  (Photo courtesy of Alex Fritz)

Staying with us (Sidney, Di and I) on the trip was the one and only Alex Fritz.  He came along to compete in the Male Open category.  John Goto, a MYA climber from the Vertical World team, also was climbing in the Male Open category.  So, along with Sidney in the FYB category, we had 3 climbers representing VW.  In Sidney’s categories, there were 20 competitors in Lead and 7 in Speed.  In Alex and John’s categories, there were 6 in Lead and they were the lone 2 competitors in Speed.  This meant there was a good shot that one of them would win the Speed category for Male Open.  Hee, hee.  In general, the participation of Sport climbers at youth comps in Canada is a fraction compared to the U.S. and even less when it comes to Speed.  However, their numbers are growing and getting stronger each year so that is a positive sign.

Saturday, for all categories, was Qualifier #1 in the morning and Qualifier #2 in the afternoon.  The day was overcast and a bit chilly, especially in the morning.  Since it was Flash format for both Qualifiers, it was important to stay warm as you were basically standing out in the cold while watching the other climbers in your group.  While quite a few climbers were well prepared and brought hand warmers or gloves, alas, we were not.  Luckily, Sidney was able to keep her hands warm but after her 1^st climb she told me she wished she had some gloves.  We’ll remember the next time, hopefully.

Qualifier #1 was a pretty straightforward route up the far right side of the gym with very little overhang.  This would end up being a theme for the rest of the comp as all of the FYB routes were on one side of the gym or the other with not much overhang or variance.  It would have been cool to get some roof action in but I guess the routesetters wanted the older categories on those sections.  Sidney flashed the route but not without a little bit of confusion.  There were no taped boxes for the start or finish holds, just a taped box around the last clip.  So when Sidney got near the top, she was momentarily confused when she pulled her rope out to clip but they were tied up anchors.  Thankfully, she did not try to clip them but there are a couple of seconds where she lets go of the rope and looks around trying to figure out what’s going on before she continues up to the final clip.  Along with Sidney, the other 2 climbers to flash the route were Beth Vince from Ontario and Mika Hosoi from British Columbia.  Watch Sidney's first climb here, Sport Qualifier #1.

Qualifier #2 was pretty much the same as Qualifier #1 except that the route was on the far left side of the gym.   Sidney flashed the route although the 2^nd to last move before the finish gave her a bit of trouble until she high stepped up to the next move.  Beth and Mika were again the only climbers to top Qualifier #2 along with Sidney so the Semifinal was shaping up to be quite a 3 way battle.  Her climb can be seen here, Sport Qualifier #2.

Sunday was Semifinals in the morning session and all the Speed rounds in the afternoon.  The Semifinal route was on the left side of the gym but started out near the center.  The route didn’t meander much and basically went straight up to the finish.  Sidney, climbing with a nice rhythm and precision, flashed the route with relative ease.  Mika had the 3^rd highest score of the route at 36+ but came up short of topping.  Beth looked strong and was the only other competitor to flash the route so going into Finals, Sidney and Beth were still tied.  Finals was going to be exciting to watch!  Here is the Semifinal route.

The Speed portion of the comp started with 2 warmups for each climber.  I was very curious what Sidney’s times would be as this would be her first time climbing a 15 meter wall in competition.  We have a 13 & ½ meter wall in Seattle but it was not up prior to this comp so she was winging it on the last 5 meters.  I don’t have video of her practice runs but she blazed up her second run in 14.5 seconds.  Ironically, this would be her fastest run of the day as racing tactics took over in the actual competition.

Sidney’s run on Speed Qualifier #1 was right on pace for another 14.5 second time when she leapt for the timer and was just short!  There was a very loud “Aaaaawwwww” from the crowd as they were anticipating a fast time.  This would put a lot of pressure on Sidney as she now had to have a clean run or be disqualified.  For her Speed Qualifier #2 run, Sidney took a more cautious approach but still had a foot pop early in the run.  She recovered and was smooth until the finish where she took an extra long time to gather and leap for the timer.  Her time of 16.647 seconds was good enough for 1^st place going into Semifinals.  Watch both Qualifier speed runs here, Speed Qualifier #1 & Speed Qualifer #2.

For Semifinals and Finals, the format is head to head with the top 4 climbers seeded by their time.  In Semifinals, the #1 seed raced the #4 seed and the #2 & #3 seeds raced each other.  There was only one race for each pair and the winners would meet for Gold and Silver, with the losers racing each other for the bronze.  If one racer fell, then the other racer only needed to finish the route to win.  In her Semifinal heat, Sidney was the #1 seed and would be racing the #4 seed, Maggy Dube-Laroche from Quebec.  Sidney had a smooth, clean run and had a time of 15.739 seconds with Maggy giving a great effort and a time of 33.443 seconds.  The Final would be an All-American duel as Sidney would be racing Erica Meister from Michigan.  Erica’s times were slowly getting faster with each run as she posted her best time during Semifinals at 17.126 seconds.  In the final, Sidney took an early lead as Erica almost fell on the 2^nd move and was playing catch up the rest of the run.  Sidney popped a foot at the 10 meter mark but did not fall and was able to finish with a time of 15.967 seconds.  Erica had a very nice run after her slow start and clocked in with a time of 18.617 seconds.  The podium for the FYB Speed category would end up being Elena Moss from British Columbia in 3^rd place, Erica in 2^nd place and Sidney in 1^st place.  Watch both races here, Speed Semifinal & Speed Final.

Erica, Sidney and Elena on the Speed Podium for FYB.  (Photo courtesy of Sharon Moss)

Monday was the Final route for all the categories which would be followed by the awards and Canada Cup presentations.  Since Sidney and Beth were tied going into Finals, if they were to tie again on the Final route, the tiebreaker would go to whomever climbed to the high point the fastest.  It’s not the greatest way to break a tie in my opinion but at least it is fair.  I’m sure everyone was hoping it would not come down to time and that the outcome would be settled on the wall.

The Final route was again on the left side of the wall and it was pretty much straight up with very little deviation.  There were 8 competitors in Finals with Sidney climbing 7^th, right before Beth.  Eva Thompson of Alberta was the 3^rd climber out and climbed strong, falling after controlling hold 27.  That score would be the high point until Mika came out right before Sidney and passed Eva’s high point with a score of 28+.  Sidney was next and never looked in any trouble while flashing the route in 4 minutes and 30 seconds.  Beth was the last climber out for the category.  She climbed very well but it was definitely at a slower pace than Sidney’s attempt.  The time became moot when she fell after controlling hold 29, just outpacing Mika.  Watch Sidney's winning climb here, Sport Final.

The final podium placings were Mika in 3^rd, Beth in 2^nd and Sidney in 1^st.  Beth won the Canada Cup, which basically rewards the best climber overall for the year in each category.  I think this is the 5^th or 6^th year in a row she has won that award so congratulations to her!  Sidney was happy to have climbed well and won both disciplines.  I was happy to get her on a 15 meter Speed wall in competition so that she would have an idea of what to expect if she made Youth Worlds.  Congratulations to Alex, as he also swept both disciplines.  All in all, it was another fun and successful trip to Canada.  The gym is a sight to behold and Victoria is a nice place to visit.  More importantly, we were able to see some friends we made while in Calgary the prior month and we made some new ones.  We really like our brethren to the North and look forward to each time we visit there. 

Sidney in the town that bears her name!  (Photo courtesy of me.  Laser cat eyes courtesy of Sidney Trinidad)

2013 CEC WESTERN CANADIAN REGIONALS.

With a bye to SCS Nationals in both Sport and Speed, this has been a very quiet SCS season for Sidney so far.  No Locals, no Regional.  A few months back, I heard that the Canadian Youth Rope National was going to be held at The Boulders climbing gym in Victoria, B.C which, as the crow flies, is only 90 miles from Seattle.  For those that don’t know, the Youth World event will be at the The Boulders climbing gym in mid-August.  Since Sidney has a very good shot at making the Youth World event, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get her on some competition Sport routes and climb the 15m Speed wall at the same gym. 

Since Sidney is a U.S. citizen and this is a Canadian event, I contacted a very cool guy, Bill Hendsbee, who is an official with the CEC (Climbing Escalade Canada).  He said she was welcome to compete at their National but she would have to participate in their Western Canadian Regional first which was in Calgary, Alberta on April 20^th and 21^st.  Sidney and I were both excited and agreed that this was a great opportunity so I booked the two of us airfare to Calgary so she could compete.

Sidney with downtown Calgary in the background.  It was cold!  (Photo courtesy of me)

We arrived in Calgary in the evening on the Friday before the comp.  The B & B we were staying at was a short walk to the event which was hosted by the Calgary Climbing Centre and was on a major bus line so we didn’t need to rent a car which was nice.  We had a light dinner, hit the local Safeway for some supplies and then hung out in our room for a while before hitting the sack.

Saturday was Qualifiers but the format was a bit different than what Sidney was used to.  Since the gym was fairly small and lacked wall space, they ran all the competitors through Qualifier #1, took a break and then ran them all through Qualifier #2.  For Saturday, all of the Female B, A and Open competitors climbed the same 2 routes.  Sunday would be similar as they ran all the competitors who qualified for Semifinals through 1 route, scored them and then ran those that qualified for Finals on 1 route.  For Sunday, they added the Female Juniors to the previous 3 from Saturday as all 4 categories climbed the same Semifinal and Final route.  What I liked about this format is that you can directly compare your score not only against your own category but against the other categories that climbed the same route.  This did put the younger climbers in each grouping at a disadvantage and the scores reflected that but for Sidney it was perfect.

Qualifier #1 was pretty straightforward and Sidney flashed it easily.  Out of the 17 young women in her Youth B category, 5 of them topped the route.  The other 4 were Eva Thompson from Calgary, Remi Irwin from Edmonton, Mika Hosoi from Vancouver and Julia Massullo, also from Vancouver.  For the Youth A female climbers, 12 out of 17 topped the route and both Female Open competitors topped the route.  Since no one knew who she was, it was a bit odd to watch her climb with no one cheering her on by name.  In fact, when you watch the video, note that no one is cheering for her at all and there is only a very light applause from a couple of people when she tops the route.  As each video will show, her cheering section gets bigger after each successful climb and more people are urging her on by her name.  You can watch Qualifier #1 here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mo6u-RWHpg

The Calgary Tower.  (Photo courtesy of me)

We had a few hours to kill after Qualifier #1 so we walked into downtown to see some sights.  A couple of my favorites were this huge, metal latticed head that was in front of a big building with security guards at the entrance.  Every time Sidney would climb up 3 feet for me to take a picture, they would start walking toward her which of course freaked her out.  The other was going up to the top of the Calgary Tower.  It is the same height as our Space Needle here in Seattle and while a fun experience, it’s not as cool as the Needle.  Since we were running out of time and it was snowing out, we took a taxi back to the comp much to Sidney's relief.

Sidney just moments before the security guard came to arrest her.  Run!!!  (Photo courtesy of me)

Qualifier #2 was a harder climb with the bulk of the climbers from all 3 groups (16 out of 36) falling at the crux which was 2/3 of the way up the route.  The sequence had your left hand pinching the top of a sloper and the right hand spanned up to the right on a narrow hold with an edge.  You then had to bump the right hand out 12 inches to another hold that had an edge but was hard to pinch.  Most of the climbers had to use every inch of their reach so this meant you could not lose the left hand when you bumped or you barndoored and fell off the route.  Mika got by the crux but did not get her feet high enough at a big move at the top and fell 1 hold from flashing the route.  Sidney was the only climber from her category to top the route with Caitlin Wu from the Female A category and Christy Spurrell from the Female Open category being the only other climbers to top, also.  Qualifier #2 can be seen here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU4D6AnOIDs

After Qualifiers, we had a delicious meal with Bill and all the climbers/parents from the Rock Jungle climbing team from Edmonton, along with their coach, Dan Achambault.  It was great to hang out with some new, cool climbing families.  I learned a lot about Canadian culture and some of the interesting differences in youth climbing between our countries.  Thank you Rock Jungle!

Sunday had the Semifinal route in the morning and the Final route early in the afternoon.  For Semifinals, the Female B category had 11 climbers, the Female A category had 11 climbers, the Female Junior category had 6 climbers and the Female Open category had 2 climbers.  They would all be climbing the same Semifinal route.  It started in a small roof section and gradually rounded up to a narrow section that was slightly overhung.  The wall stayed at this angle until the last 6 or 7 feet where it went straight up to the finish.  Of course halfway up, Sidney decided she didn’t want to use the proper beta and instead just toed the wall into a full extension and skipped a hold.  I trust her instincts because she knows her abilities but I still don’t like it when she does it.  Sidney was the only climber in her category to top the route.  Among the other categories there were a few more tops compared to Qualifiers as Becca Frangos from Canmore and Amy Sutley (fellow Evolv National Team member) from Calgary in the Female A group, Allison Vest from Canmore and Alyssa Weber from Calgary in the Female Junior group and Hung-Ying Lee from Vancouver in the Female Open group all flashed the route.  View the Semifinal route here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZMnvn9gIX8

The Finals count for each category ended up with 7 competitors in Female B, 7 in Female A, 5 in Female Junior and 2 in Female Open.  The Finals route was really hard in that it had a very specific beta sequence that was needed to get through the middle section of the route.  The sequence was in a corner and you had to stem a few moves up in order to move over into the upper half of the route.  What was catching the eye of a lot of competitors was a yellow hold out to the left that looked like it could be a handhold but was in fact a foothold.  Basically if you missed the beta you were not going any farther than hold 13.  Of the 21 climbers who attempted this route, 13 did not get any higher than hold 13 with 9 of those climbers falling at hold 13 while trying to control the yellow foothold.  When you watch the video, notice that Sidney is stumped for a while as well as she comes ever so close to going for the yellow foothold, too.  She figures out eventually that it is way too hard a move, looks for a different way and figures out the correct beta.  Later, Sidney told me she did not hear any other climbers talking about stemming during the route preview as they were all focused on the yellow foothold so that’s what she did, too.  In the end, a couple of climbers came within 2 or 3 holds from the top but Sidney was the only climber to flash the route to the applause of the crowd.  Watch the Final route and see if you think you would have seen the correct beta, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyexMoW9YQY

Sidney came in first place in her category and she was the only climber of the entire competition to top all 4 routes.  Rounding out the top 5 from Sidney’s category were the other 4 competitors who topped Qualifier #1.  They were Eva in 2^nd place, Remi in 3^rd place, Mika in 4^th place and Julia in 5^th place.  Unfortunately, the comp ran a little late and we were not able to stay for the awards presentation as we had a flight to catch but Bill gave Sidney her medal as we were leaving so that was nice.  All in all, Sidney and I had an awesome experience in Calgary, made some new friends and were thankful we decided to attend the Western Canadian Regional.  After all that, we were really looking forward to the Canadian National event in Victoria, B.C.

The view through the glass floor at the top of the Calgary Tower.  (Photo courtesy of me)

2013 ABS 14 NATIONALS.

Sidney, Makenna, Lia, Zak and the Kiwi at the Garden of the Gods before ABS 14 Nationals.  (Photo courtesy of me)

A long 7 weeks after Divisionals, we traveled to Colorado Springs for the ABS 14 National which was on March 1^st through the 3^rd.  Everything had a familiar feeling to it as the event took place in the same venue and had the same wall as last year.  A couple of things were vastly different than last year, though.

The first is that Sidney and her PNW besties Melina Costanza, Cierra Graham, Lia Messinger and Olivia Durant  were moving up to the big time into the FYB category.  Historically, as a first year B, it’s very hard to make Finals let alone make the podium.  This group would try to break that trend but they were competing against some stiff competition in Margo Hayes, Claire Buhrfeind and a group of tough 2^nd year B girls.

The second is that the routesetters made every route challenging, starting with Qualifier #1 all the way through to Final #3.  In the past, Qualifier #1 and Qualifier #2 tended to be easy with most of the category flashing or topping the route.  As this was a National, it was refreshing to see all the climbers pushed to climb their best on every route.  

On that Friday, Qualifiers started with 36 competitors in the FYB category and 4 tough problems.  Qualifier #1 started on a long, narrow volume and then moved onto a slab wall into another volume that was wide and flat with pyramid type holds on it.  The key beta was to grab the first hold on the 2^nd volume and then get your left foot up on top of the first volume and lever up higher onto the slab section.  The other tricky section was getting into the corner to be able to go up to the 2^nd to last hold and on to the finish.  Both Lia and Olivia had trouble reading the lower beta and could not get past hold 7.  Cierra also had a hiccup on her 1^st try but was able to top the route on her 2^nd try.  Margo, Sidney and Melina all flashed but surprisingly, Claire had trouble getting into the corner and was 4 holds short of finishing.  To illustrate how tough the 1^st problem was, only 17 of the 36 competitors topped the route and less than half of those (8) flashed it.  That is a far cry from last year when 33 of 35 climbers in Sidney’s category topped Qualifier #1 in FYC.  Watch, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPAcp49s4Vs&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=14

Qualifier #2 was a long, power route that had the most tops but you either sent it on your first try or you didn’t send it at all.  It started on a large volume, worked into an extended roof section and then finished on a short vertical face with some wide holds that were not jugs.  There were 20 climbers who topped the route in all and they were all flashes.  Olivia came close to the top by getting to hold 18 while Sidney, Melina, Cierra and Lia all flashed.  Watch Q2 here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y5rkmNt1y0&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=13

Qualifier #3 would prove to be the hardest of the 4 Qualifying routes.  It was a short route with most of it on a 45 degree wall that only scored to 14 holds but it needed very specific beta to top it.  The key sequence was being able to move off a long, narrow hold that was vertical and out to the left onto a bulbous hold.  From there you needed to keep tension with your feet on the narrow hold by various means and move up with your hands to the next hold that was a big, round sloper, then continue to move up to the finish hold that was another sloper.  All of that needed to be done while staying horizontal on the route and never losing your feet on the long, narrow hold.  Sidney, Margo and Claire were the only climbers to top the route and they all flashed.  Melina was able to get one hand on the big, round sloper but fell trying to match, scoring to hold 11.  Both Lia and Cierra got to the bulbous hold to score 10 and 9 respectively.  Watch this cool climb here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uUtuCiRGzQ&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=12

Qualifier #4 was another tricky slab route that started on the right and traversed 2 foot holds to the left with no hand holds.  You then moved straight up over a volume and then moved to the right on various round slopers to the finish.  There were 11 tops of this route with 8 of them being flashes.  Sidney, Melina, Cierra and Lia were 4 of the 8 flashes while Olivia gave it a valiant effort and scored to hold 10.  The semifinal cut-off ended up being 17^th place and you needed 2 tops to get in.   Sidney and Margo tied for 1^st going into Semifinals with 4 flashes.  Melina was in 3^rd and Cierra was in 8^th as they both had 3 tops and Lia was in 14^th with 2 tops.  Olivia climbed really well and ended up with a respectable 25^th place finish.  View the final Qualifier here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEO5jMI9g0Q&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=11

Semifinals were on Saturday and tops were going to be the key to moving on to Finals but they were also going to be hard to get.  Semifinal #1 was on the same wall as Qualifier #4 and even followed the same pattern of left, up and right only this one was a lot harder.  The start move again had no hands but this time you were required to leap 5 feet onto a big foot hold and then grab a hand hold to stay on.  It then moved up and over the same volume but the sequence this time made it really hard to get over it and you really needed to balance.  Once past the volume, you then had to crossover and down to a jug to be able to then go back up with the proper hand to the finish.  Out of 17 competitors, 8 topped the route and only 1 climber, Bimini Horstmann, flashed it.  Claire and Kara Herson both topped it in 2 attempts while Sidney and Margo each took 3 attempts with Margo just making it with seconds to spare.  Everyone else could not get past the tricky volume section which included Melina, Cierra and Lia who all fell at hold 10.  In the end, not getting past the volume would prove costly for all 3 of them.  You can watch here (sorry the recording started late), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x7cda_4w7s&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=10

Semifinal #2 was a burly route that scored to 15 holds but only 8 climbers made it more than halfway.  It needed a combination of heel hooks into some power throws to get around the corner and was really tough.  Those climbers that were not good at both of those elements were hurting on this route and the scores reflected that.  Claire was the only one to top the route and she flashed it.  Isabelle Goodacre gave it a great go in getting to hold 12.  Lia made it to hold 9 while both Sidney and Margo got to hold 8.  Melina and Cierra struggled with the heel hook/throw combo and got to hold 6 and 5, respectively.  See how tough here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwKpCJJais4&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=9

Semifinal #3 scored to 23 and was on the roof but it started with a tricky sequence that caused a fall for Sidney on her 1^st attempt.  It then moved into a corner, traversed left and then into the roof sequence.  Not losing the heel hook as you were coming out of the roof was the key to making the route.  Both Claire and Margo flashed the route.  Sidney, Bimini and Hollis Rudd all got to hold 17 with Sidney popping her heel hook as she was coming out of the roof.  Cierra scored to hold 16 while both Melina and Lia struggled and got to hold 12.  View here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZmPiyzH4Gk&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=8

With Semifinals over, there ended up being 10 spots for Finals.  Claire was 1^st with 3 tops and Margo was 2^nd with 2 tops.  In order, Sidney, Lily Canavan, Bimini, Adriana Jacobsen, Hollis and Kara all had 1 top with various hold counts/attempts.  The last 2 spots went to Megan Lynch with a hold count of 33 and Isabelle with a hold count of 32.  In heartbreaking fashion, in 11^th place was Lia with a hold count of 31,  Cierra was in 12^th place also with a hold count of 31 and Melina was 2 spots back in 14^th place with a hold count of 28.  There were some definite missed opportunities for Melina, Cierra and Lia to make Finals.  Both Cierra and Lia needed 2 more holds to make Finals and Melina needed 4 holds.  Melina and Lia probably should have made hold 16 instead of 12 on Semifinal #3 and that would have gotten them in.  Cierra struggled with the beta on Semifinal #2 and probably should have gotten a couple of more holds on that route.  All 3 of them were bummed to not make Finals, especially being so close.  They all climbed great, though and hopefully they will learn from the experience and be better climbers for it.

Finals were on Sunday and the running order for FYB was Isabelle, Megan, Hollis, Kara, Adriana, Bimini, Lily, Sidney, Margo and Claire.  Final #1 scored to 14 and was the obligatory slab route.  The only problem is that only 2 out of the 10 climbers made it to the slab section of the route.  Claire topped the route on her 2^nd attempt and Isabelle came as close as you can get without making the route.  She got to hold 12 but could not rock over enough on to her high step foot to be stable enough to go for the finish.  The other 8 climbers all scored to hold 8 so this route could have been named “Feast or Famine.”  Not much to see but here it is anyway, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6XYflwRlzs&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=7

Final #2 was an interesting route and scored to 12 holds.  After the start hold, there were 4 big round volumes in succession in a half circle with a couple of strategically placed holds.  The 4^th volume had a big divot in the right side of it and from there you moved up to a couple of successive pinches and then to the finish.  A key sequence was figuring out to knee bar between the 2^nd and 3^rd volume so that you could crossover to a small hold on top of the 4^th volume.  This controlled your swing and let you control the volume.  Most of the climbers that didn’t knee bar swung off the 4^th volume as 7 finalists scored 8 or below.  Claire controlled the 4^th volume but could not get past the 1^st pinch and scored to hold 9.  Sidney and Margo both flashed the route but did the top section differently as Sidney side pulled the pinch before the finish while Margo powered straight up to the finish.  At this point, the top 3 separated from the pack a bit as Claire, Margo and Sidney each had 1 top while everyone else did not.  Check it out and enjoy, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAMS0hL5VeU&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=6

Scoring to hold 20, Final #3 started on a volume that looked like a dagger and moved up 3 more identical volumes into the roof section.  You then worked your way up 4 successive pinches and had to dynamically go out to a pinch that was on the end of a volume face that was vertical.  From there you were 3 pinches and a toe hook from the finish.  Only Claire, who flashed it, and Margo, on her 2^nd attempt, topped the route.  On her first try, Sidney fell before the finish and scored to hold 18.  She probably should have done the finishing sequence differently but she gave it her all.  What was really cool looking was how she did the dynamic move out to the pinch on the volume face.  She went out and momentarily spanned the gap, then used her momentum to pirouette and swing around to match the hold.  You can watch that cool move here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa7FIGK1B-s&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=5

Since only 3 climbers had a Top in Finals, the podium was set.  For the other 7 Finalists, hold count and attempts would filter everyone out.  The bottom 4 climbers all could not make the dynamic move on Final #3 so that hurt their chances of moving up as they lost hold count to the rest of the group.  They were Lily in 10^th place (27 holds), Hollis in 9^th place(29 holds), Bimini in 8^th place (29 holds) and Megan in 7^th place (29 holds).   Kara scored 30 holds and came in an impressive 6^th place.  Kara is from Sidney’s division and really improved as the ABS season went along.  Great job Kara!  Adriana improved her place each round of climbing and scored 32 total holds for Finals.  This put her in 5^th place which I believe is her best placing at a National event.  Congrats!  Both Sidney and Isabelle scored 38 holds but the separator was Sidney’s flash of Final #2.  Isabelle would place 4^th and snag the coveted last U.S. Team spot for the FYB category.  Nice!  With both Margo and Claire topping 2 routes, it came down to hold count and Claire’s top of Final #1 would be the difference.  Claire ended up with 43 holds and Margo had 40 holds so the podium was Claire in 1^st place, Margo in 2^nd place and Sidney in 3^rd place.  It was a close competition but Claire deserved to win as she consistently climbed the best during Semifinals and Finals.

Another pressure packed National event was in the books and we actually did something fun this time around as we went to “The Garden of the Gods” before the first day of competition!  This and the first picture on this blog entry proves it,

Lia, Sidney, Makenna and Zak at the Garden of the Gods.  (Photo courtesy of Brad Messinger)

I often write about Sidney’s consistency as a comp climber but I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight how consistent Margo is as well.  Since she is a year older than Sidney, they only compete against one another every other year but Margo has garnered a U.S. Team selection in every Bouldering and Sport National since the beginning of the 2009 season.  That’s a total of 9 times!  Even Sidney can’t say she has done that as she was just barely edged out in the 2011 ABS National with a 5^th place finish.  Very impressive Margo!

Of course with this most recent podium finish, Sidney did get her 13^th U.S. Team selection and now has a Baker’s Dozen.  Amazing!  You deserve it Sissy!

Adriana and Sidney were all smiles after Nationals!  (Photo courtesy of the Jacobsen family)