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)