2012 SCS NATIONALS.

Atlanta in July.  Again.  Ugh.  For the 3^rd year in a row, SCS Nationals was held at Stone Summit in Atlanta, Georgia from July 5^th through the 8^th.  Please don’t get me wrong, Stone Summit is the best climbing gym in America and people in Atlanta are very polite and friendly.  It’s just us Pacific Northwesterners do not like super hot and super humid weather.  Sidney, however, says she loves coming to Atlanta but it’s only because she has had awesome results for the past two Nationals at Stone Summit.  Two years ago she finished 1^st in Sport & 1^st in Speed and last year she finished 3^rd in Sport & 1^st in Speed.  After winning Bouldering Youth Nationals earlier in the season, we had high hopes that she could continue her great results at Stone Summit and become just the 2^nd youth female in the last 6 years to win all 3 disciplines in the same year.  The only female to have accomplished that feat was Dana Riddle and she actually did it twice.

Sidney doing her impression of Sylvester Stallone in the movie "Cobra."  Photo courtesy of Sam Wolff.

Day 1 of the competition was Qualifier 1 for Sport and Qualifiers for Speed.  Even though there was a slightly tricky section at the top of Sport Q1, no major surprises emerged as 26 of the 37 FYC competitors flashed the route which included her teammates Melina Costanza, Cierra Graham and Laili Couper.

   

As a two-time defending champion in Speed, there were no surprises for Sidney as she posted a time of 7.26 seconds which was over a second faster than the 2^nd place qualifier, Karen Cheng at 8.60 seconds.  Melina surprised a lot of people, including herself, by posting the 3^rd fastest time of 9.66 seconds.  Cierra and Laili also made the top 16 and moved on to Semifinals.  Even though they are exactly the same routes, it was obvious right away that the left side was much easier and faster than the right side.  The left side was on slab while the right side had a slight overhang to it and because of the route sequence, you had to be strong to be able to huck the right side to get a good time.  From watching all the climbers, Sidney was the only one who could huck the right side for the entire route and posted what still would have been the fastest qualifying time of 8.00 seconds.  Except for Sidney, no other climber in her category would break the 9 second barrier on the right side for the entire competition.  What this set-up meant was that if you had a bad run on the left side, you were probably not going to advance or place very high.  

Little Sid, Big Syd and MC.  Photo courtesy of Sydney McNair.

Day 2 was Qualifier 2 for Sport and Semifinals for Speed.   Sport Q2 was much more difficult from the previous day’s Q1 as only 2 of the 37 climbers flashed it.  It was a pretty straightforward route with a crux halfway up that was a delicate balance sequence into a huge, flat hold that was shaped like a Razor clam shell.  Over 2/3’s of the climbers fell at or before the crux sequence.  Laili really held her own and while she did not get past the crux, still qualified for Semifinals in 12^th place.  Melina was doing all the right moves and sequences but you could tell she was not climbing with confidence.  She got past the crux but looked pumped towards the top and fell 7 or 8 holds from the finish, placing tied for 6^th going into Semifinals.  Cierra sequenced the route well and was climbing strong.  I thought she was going to flash the route but then she suddenly looked pumped near the top and fell 6 holds from the finish, placing 5^th going into Semifinals.  Bimini Horstmann had a couple of spots where it looked like she might fall but she climbed extremely well and flashed the route.  Sidney cruised Q2 and had the other flash so she was tied with Bimini in 1^st place going into the next round.

Speed Semifinals had some disappointments, a surprise and a little bit of intrigue.  Although they tried their best, Cierra and Melina could not significantly improve their times enough to get into one of the 8 Finals spots.  Cierra finished in 13^th place and Melina finished in 11^th place, respectively.  Laili improved her time by over 2 seconds and went into Finals in 5^th place.  I wasn’t shocked by that as I knew how hard she had been training her Speed technique since Divisionals but she was definitely surprised (and very happy) that she had made Finals.  Sidney was in the last pairing with Karen and her first run was on the left side.   Despite a bobble that cost her half a second, she still had a good time of 7.83 seconds.  That would have put her in 2^nd place going into finals as Audrey Miller posted a time of 7.61 seconds.  However, on Sidney’s 2^nd run on the right side, the rope hit the timer during her run and stopped the clock prematurely.  Per the rules, both climbers were allowed to rest for a couple of turns and then do both runs over with their best times counting towards Finals.  Getting two extra runs is a definite edge and Sidney took advantage by blazing up the left side in a time of 6.91 seconds.  She also improved her time on the right side to 7.83 seconds.  So with those times, Sidney would be paired with Audrey in Finals the next day.  This was not a surprise to Sidney or me as we had guessed that Audrey would probably be her fastest competition this year.  

Day 3 was Semifinals for Sport and Finals for Speed.  Sport Semifinals had a roof section and as everyone knows, Sidney loves climbing on the roof.  It was in the same area as the Finals route for FYC last year although the roof section was not as long this time around.  The route was tough right off the bat as it began on a wall that immediately started rounding off up into the roof section that was about 25 feet high.  Before getting to the roof, it took a detour onto a short vertical section that had a dynamic move to get back into the roof.  From there, the route did a half circle on the roof and up into another vertical section that went to the finish.  Very tough.  Laili gave it her all but had some sequencing problems from the start which caused her to get pumped very quickly and fell before the 1^st vertical section to finish in 17^th place.  In a group dominated by 2^nd year C girls, she was the 3^rd highest placing 1^st year C girl so congrats to her.  Jenna Wang, who qualified for Semifinals in 17^th place (the last slot), rebounded nicely and fell in the upper roof section to place in 6^th going into Finals.  Audrey, who was 8^th going into Semifinals, also fell in the upper roof section but continued her improvement by placing 5^th for Finals.  Cierra improved from 5^th to 4^th for Finals by climbing strong and getting through the roof section.  She snagged the first two holds of the vertical section after the roof but cut her feet and fell after she could not get them back up.  Bimini looked a bit tentative through parts of the route but fought through and fell 1 hold higher than Cierra.  Melina climbed with renewed confidence and cruised into 2^nd place going into Finals.  She fell a couple of holds higher than Bimini but I thought she was going to flash the route.  She had the heel hook and was going up to the next hold but a combination of being a little short with the reach and losing the heel ended the possible flash.  Sidney flashed the route and placed 1^st for Finals.  I say this all the time about Sidney but she really made this route look easy.  Watch her on this climb and judge for yourself, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85-w9RNRxl0&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=6&feature=plcp.

Sidney on the Semifinal route on her way to the only flash.  Photo courtesy of Sydney McNair.

For Sidney, Speed Finals was dramatic like the year before but for a very different reason.  Last year, she was the only first year C girl out of five competitors that were all extremely fast and could have won in Finals to be the National Champion.  Sidney pulled the fastest time on the last run of the comp to win.  This year, more so than usual, Sidney was an overwhelming favorite to win with Audrey being the closest competitor to her times.  It was a different kind of pressure and Sidney told me she didn’t really like that feeling.  There were 4 pairings for Finals with Sidney in the last one with Audrey.  The first pairing was Karen against Jamie Dunlavy.  Jamie, a U.S. Team member for Speed in FYD last year, posted the best time of the pairing at 8.02 seconds.  Besides Sidney and Audrey, that would be the best time of any competitor in the category and she placed 3^rd with a U.S. Team selection.  The next pairing was Laili and Grace Scott, with Laili posting the best run at 8.69 seconds. Laili improved her best time each round and ended up in 5^th place, one spot out of a U.S. Team selection.  Excellent job Laili!  The third pairing was Allie Upton and Bimini with Allie posting the best run at 8.20 seconds.  That would put Allie in 4^th place and the last U.S. Team spot.  Finally it was Sidney’s turn and she would be starting on the left side.  Sidney and I had talked at length about the importance of her getting a fast time on the left side because it would be hard for her to go faster on the right side.  Well, her worst fear came true when she had a big slip on her first run and ran a time of 7.93 seconds while Audrey fell on the right side for no time.  Sidney was well aware that Audrey would probably post a faster time than that and she would need to beat her heads up on the right side to win.  On the last run of the comp, Sidney exploded at the start to get a half body length lead that she never relinquished as she posted a blazing time of 7.36 seconds.  Audrey came in at 7.81 seconds which would have won if Sidney had faltered on the final run.  Watch her winning run here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtiXmiIB8Co&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=4&feature=plcp.  Although very happy to have won, Sidney was relieved more than anything and was glad that Speed was over.  After the awards ceremony, with the 2^nd leg of her quest to win all 3 disciplines this year complete, we went to have a quiet dinner and toasted her 3^rd Speed National Championship in a row.  Then it was back to the hotel to relax a bit and rest up for the final day of competition.

Sidney on the podium for Speed awards with Audrey and Jamie.  Photo courtesy of Sydney McNair.

Day 4 was the Final for Sport.  No roof section this time.  Just a long meandering extended pump.  It started with a tricky sequence where you needed to climb up through a few different angled walls with a big move to get to the face.  It then traversed to the right onto a slab section that went up.  Then an upward, overhung traverse to the left into a power move up onto a vertical face.  Only two young women made it past this point.  From there, it was a series of pinches and crimps up that led to a move to a big sloper that was roughly 10 holds from the finish.  No climber, male or female, made it to the sloper.  There were eleven competitors in Finals and the first to climb was Ivy Todd.  She fell at the beginning of the upward, overhung traverse (hold 45) and finished in 7^th place.  Next was Chloe Sands and she fell on the slab section (hold 34) to finish in 8^th place.  The 3^rd climber out was Emerson Nairon and she climbed really well.  She fell on the power move up onto the vertical face going for hold 46.  Had she controlled it, she would have at least been in 3^rd place but could not get it and finished in 5^th place, one spot out of the U.S. Team selections.  Taylor Wiener was next and she had trouble on the lower traverse to the right.  She fell at hold 24 to finish in 9^th place.  After her was Chloe Massenat, the shortest climber of the finalists who had impressed me all week with her tenacity.  Her reach finally caught up with her as she could not make the big move to get on to the first face.  She fell at hold 18 and finished in 11^th place.  Jenna came out next starting in 6^th place and that is where she would end up after falling right before the power move up onto the vertical face (hold 44).  Audrey was out next and she got usable surface on the power move up onto the vertical face (hold 46) to finish in 4^th place and the last U.S. Team spot.  I’ve watched this climb on youTube a few times and there were at least 5 moments where she easily could have or should have fallen.  She worked this climb HARD and overcame those shaky moments to really earn that team selection.  Great job!  Cierra was next and she climbed the best she had the entire competition.  She had a couple of sequencing issues along the way but she breezed through the power move to get onto the vertical face and the land of pinches and crimps.  Here, the pump finally caught up with her and she fell at hold 49 to finish in 2^nd place.  Coupled with her 3^rd place finish at Bouldering Nationals and a 13 place finish in Speed thrown in for good measure, by any account, Cierra had an awesome year!  I am very proud of her as she has come a long way in a very short amount of time.  The final 3 climbers started with Bimini.  She climbed really well and fell at the exact same spot as Audrey.  Since she was ahead of Audrey going into Finals, Bimini held the tiebreaker advantage and finished in 3^rd place.  After being so close to making U.S. Team in Bouldering, I was happy for Bimini that she was able to break through and make a U.S. Team.  Heartbreak then followed for Melina who was next.  After climbing so strong in Semifinals, she had a rope issue in the very beginning sequence that really seemed to throw her off her game.  Unfortunately, she was never able to recover and fell during the first part of the lower traverse on hold 23 to finish in 10^th place.  Everyone knows Melina and there was a huge collective gasp when she fell.  For those that were at our Divisional, I’m sure there was a definite sense of déjà vu as the exact same scenario unfolded there as she fell on a traverse in Finals to finish in 5^th place.  Melina still had a great year with her 2^nd place finish in Bouldering and her 2 high placings at SCS Nationals.  I’m very proud of her, too, but especially for how well she has handled adversity this past SCS season.  Sidney was the last competitor out and she climbed with power and precision.  She wasted little movement in cruising to the last pinch before the big sloper where she fell at hold 57 for the National Championship.  Take a peek, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwoh3dkHUoM&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=2&feature=plcp.

Sidney on the podium for Sport awards with Cierra and Bimini.  Photo courtesy of Sydney McNair.

Mission accomplished! Sidney reached her goal of winning the National Championship in all 3 disciplines in the same year which is an extremely rare feat.  She had the best year you can have as a youth climber up to Nationals and I am so proud of what she has achieved so far in her short career.  When you step back and look at her record at National events for the past five full seasons, it is truly amazing and consistent.  15 out of 15 National events in all 3 disciplines.  12 out 15 U.S. Team placements (four in each discipline) while never placing lower than 5^th place.  7 National Championships with at least 1 in each discipline.  That is a magnificent resume so far.  The future looks bright as she works as hard now as when she first started climbing and is still the same, humble person she has always been.  No matter what happens in the future, though, we’ll always have the memories of this past season.  Thank you for that, Sidney.

Post-Nationals picture of the group after the swim party and dinner.  From left to right, Natalia, Olivia, Cierra, Melina, Sidney, Zak, Leo, Emily, Kai, Mirko's sister, Mirko, Nathaniel.  Photo courtesy of me.

FIGURE IT OUT!

Serendipity. It basically means a "pleasant surprise." Well, Sidney had a serendipitous moment recently that resulted in her being on a Nickelodeon TV show.

A few weeks after ABS13 Youth Nationals this past March, I received an e-mail from Nickelodeon via USA Climbing. They were interested in having the National Champions from FYD, MYD, FYC and MYC audition for a possible spot on a show they were producing called "Figure It Out."  The premise of the show is that a young person has a secret talent and a celebrity panel asks yes or no questions to guess what that secret talent is.  Time was very short and they needed anyone interested to make a 4 minute audition tape and send it to them within a few days. Sidney really wanted to audition but unfortunately we were headed to Smith Rock the next day. Along came Chase (Sidney's older brother) to save the day! He interviewed her that night, edited a few videos and sent the audition tape to Nickelodeon within a couple of days. He did a tremendous job and I was very impressed. You can watch the audition tape here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRfZzaHZHWc&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=0&feature=plcp.

We heard back from the casting director within a couple of days and he said they definitely wanted Sidney to be on the show! Needless to say, Sidney was super excited for this opportunity but she was also a bit nervous once the news sunk in that she was actually going to be on TV. Travel plans were arranged very quickly as the taping period of her show was 3 weeks after she was booked.

Sidney's mother, Lisa Grannell, chaperoned her on their whirlwind weekend trip to Southern California on the last weekend of April.  They flew out on a Friday and visited with some family.  The next day was the filming of the show and both of them said that it was pure chaos!  The car picking them up was late.  There was no set schedule so they were on the set all day not knowing when they would film.  They had a chaperone the entire time and were not allowed to talk to anyone so that Sidney's secret skill could not be found out before the taping.  They got to the food line too late and didn't get much to eat.  All of that would sound like they had a terrible time but they both said they had a blast because it was so cool to see behind the scenes of filming a TV show.

Late in the day, they finally filmed Sidney's show and she did awesome!  She was very relaxed and had a great presence during the taping.  She had a couple of nice interactions with the host and a celebrity judge.  She also got famously "slimed."  The game went down to the wire but the celebrity panel failed to guess her secret talent and she won the Grand Prize of a trip for four to Cabo San Lucas!  Wow!  Finally, she got to show off her secret talent by scaling a portable climbing wall they had brought onto the set.  Watch the full episode yourself here, http://t.nick.com/videos/clip/figure-it-out-523-bouldering-origami-full-episode.html.

They flew home the next morning so they barely got to see any sights or even get to swim in the hotel pool but they both had a great time and will share a lasting memory.  I couldn't be any prouder of how she handled herself and how mature she looked on the show.  Getting a free trip to Cabo was pretty cool, too.

Sidney getting "slimed" and loving it!  (Photo courtesy of Nickelodeon)

2012 SCS DIVISIONALS.

For the 2nd time in 3 years, our Divisional was held at Clubsport in Tigard, Oregon on June 9th and 10th. Clubsport has held many Regionals and Divisionals the past 5 years so Sidney is quite comfortable climbing there. They have also held a few Nationals but that was before Sidney started climbing and before a little something called Stone Summit. Since Sidney did not go to Divisionals last year, this was basically back to back Divisionals at Clubsport for her.

After her 2nd place finish to Melina Costanza at Regionals, Sidney hit the gym pretty regularly for the month leading up to this event. She definitely got her fitness level closer to where she needed it to be for Nationals so she was just concentrating on not making any mistakes and getting an invite for both Sport and Speed. The usual suspects were there to compete, teammates Melina and Cierra Graham, Jenna Wang from Rocksport in Reno and Olivia Durant from the MAC in Portland. The new face this year to the Sport scene was Lia Messinger from the Circuit in Portland. Lia is primarily a boulderer but was trying out Sport climbing this year and was definitely improving as the season went on. Those girls would end up being the top 6 and it was not a coincidence that they were all 2nd year "C" competitors as it was a strong group to break into if you were a first year.

Saturday was Qualifiers and there were two routes for all the competitors. There were 22 climbers in Sidney's FYC Sport group and pretty much all of them flashed Q1.

Sidney, with a nice view of the crowd, near the top of her flash of Qualifier #1. (Photo courtesy of Bob Lockhart)


Since I was scoring, I only watched Cierra, Melina and Sidney climb Q2. Cierra got her left foot up on a hold and lost tension which caused her to fall 6 holds from the finish but she still qualified for Finals in 3rd. Melina looked shaky at times but still fought through to flash the route. She later told me she thought she was going to fall at least a half dozen times during the route. Sidney looked very strong and flashed the route. The last move was a bit iffy but otherwise she was really smooth.

Sidney looking strong in flashing Qualifier #2. (Photo courtesy of Bob Lockhart)


After Qualifiers, the Trinidad, Costanza, Graham, Surma and Messinger families all went to the Durant Family's winery to have dinner and take in the great atmosphere. The setting was beautiful and all the adults had a relaxing time while the kids played games. As the kids have all gotten to be better friends, the parents have followed suit. It was very satisfying to hang out and get to know all the parents that we don't see that often. Of course, we eventually had to stop the kids from playing too hard as a couple of them starting getting some bumps and bruises.

All the kids touring the winery while Olivia drives them. It reminded me of clowns piling into a car at the circus! (Photo courtesy of me)


Sunday was the Sport Final route and all the Speed rounds. The "C" Final route started on the left and meandered up and to the right until you got to the halfway point. From there, it had a very tricky section that traversed to the far left until you started to go up again. A majority of the climbers failed to get to this middle section or fell while trying to traverse it.

Sidney at the end of the traverse before heading up the route. (Photo courtesy of Bob Lockhart)


I don't remember watching Olivia climb but I'm pretty sure she fell trying to traverse the middle section and finished in 6th place. Jenna climbed strong and fell while starting to go up after the traverse to finish in 4th place. Lia climbed extremely well and used her length to her advantage after the traverse to get a hold higher than Jenna to finish in 3rd place. The last 3 in the order were Cierra, Melina and Sidney. Cierra climbed strong and smart. She got through the traverse and controlled 5 holds going up until she fell grabbing an awful pinch with her left hand. That was the high point up until then and she finished in 2nd place. Melina climbed next and looked great until she made a footwork error during the traverse and popped off, finishing in 5th place. Unfortunately, even for the best climbers, those mistakes happen sometimes. Even though she was extremely disappointed, she held it together and was very composed. Sidney cruised through the route very efficiently and was killing it. She controlled the pinch where Cierra fell and then did a sick crossover to get to the half-moon. She then drifted from the wall when going for the next small pocket, held it for a second and then came off to finish in 1st place, a few holds higher than Cierra.

Sidney on the crossover to the half moon a couple moves before reaching high point. (Photo courtesy of Bob Lockhart)


Since Melina was a CC, there were 8 invites to Nationals available instead of the normal 7 invites. In the end, there were 9 invites total because there was a tie for 8th place. Those who received invitations were Niamh Moore-8th, Emily King-8th, Laili Couper-7th, Olivia-6th, Melina-5th, Jenna-4th, Lia-3rd, Cierra-2nd and Sidney-1st. Here's a shout out to Laili and Niamh who were the only 1st years to get an invite out of the FYC category.

Lia, Sidney and Cierra on the mat "podium" for the FYC Sport awards. (Photo courtesy of Bob Lockhart)


The Speed session followed right after Sport Finals had concluded with two rounds for each category, Qualifiers and Finals. The two routes they set up for the "C" and "D" group were the typical jug routes except that they were quite short so getting a good start was critical to having a good time. Since Sidney was a two-time defending National Champion in Speed, to make a long story short, she won. There were some nice moments and surprises, however. A nice moment was watching Cierra and Sidney race during Qualifiers. Cierra held her own and had a very good time. Plus she had a great attitude about having to race Sidney which I'm assuming most kids probably don't find much fun.

Sidney slapping the finish with Cierra close behind! (Photo courtesy of Bob Lockhart)


One surprise was watching Melina take some of her angst from Sport Finals out on the Speed wall and unleash some fast runs to take 2nd place, announcing afterwards that she now officially liked Speed. It's amazing how having success in something can cause you to like it. Another surprise was watching Miriam Timson duke it out with Melina in Finals and finish in 3rd place. To Miriam's credit, she had been working a lot on Speed since failing to make Divisionals in Sport so her finish was well deserved! I also wanted to point out that Laili finished 6th in Speed and was the only 1st year to get an invite to Nationals in both disciplines (Hint-she would also figure prominently at the upcoming Speed National event).

Miriam, Sidney and Melina were all smiles for the FYC Speed awards. I always love an all VW podium! (Photo courtesy of Bob Lockhart)


Sidney was happy to win both disciplines at Divisionals but as usual she was just relieved that she climbed well. I on the other hand was already looking forward to Nationals and wondering if Sidney would be able to do what only Dana Riddle has done in the last six years on the female side. Win all three disciplines in the same year.

2012 SCS REGIONALS.

SCS Regionals for 2012 was this past May 12th and it was held at the Stone Gardens gym in Bellevue, Washington. In the 5 years that Sidney has been climbing, Stone Gardens has never hosted any event that was a Regionals or higher, so this was a first. On the plus side, the gym is very new, clean and has good viewing areas. On the minus side, I would be scoring so the stress level goes up a bit and I don't get to see all the kids climb.

A little different this year was the climbing format. Instead of the usual 2 Qualifier routes for the 1st session and 1 Final route for the finalists in a 2nd session, we did 3 climbs per group with just 1 session for each category. As a parent, I like this format because all the kids get to do 3 climbs. Plus, you don't have to wait around for another session to climb a Finals route. It's basically you climb and then you're done with Sport. On the negative side, the energy in the building was definitely lower than when you have a Finals session. When you watch a Finals session, the tension naturally gets ramped up because it's do or die and you know where everyone stands in the category that you're following. Like most things, there are pros and cons for each format. So looking at it from the perspective of a climbing fan, I definitely prefer the 2 session format because I like the excitement of watching Finals.

Counting Sidney, there were 11 girls in the FYC category. Since Melina Costanza was a Continental Champion, there would be 8 invites to Divisionals instead of the usual 7 invites. So, barring a climbing catastrophe, Sidney would be moving on to Divisionals.........but in what place?

I didn't take any video or pictures of this event or still have the score sheet anymore, so all of this is from memory. What I know for sure is that Sidney and her 3 best friends on the team took the top 4 spots for FYC. Makenna Graham flashed the first two routes with her usual precision. The 3rd route she fell about 1/3 of the way up on a power move/lock off that is definitely not one of her strengths but it was good enough for 4th place. Congrats to her as it was her best placing at any comp that was Regionals or higher! Cierra Graham flashed the first two climbs with ease and fell halfway up on the 3rd climb at the 1st crux. She may have moved through that section a bit quickly but she was solidly in 3rd place. Melina crushed the first 2 climbs and steadily made quick work of the 3rd climb. She flashed it and made it look pretty easy. Sidney flashed 1 and 2 just like the other 3 girls. I fear I may have jinxed her before her 3rd climb because the head route setter asked me if she would want to do a Superfinal and I told him she probably would. We both just assumed that Sidney would flash the route. Well, during Sidney's final climb, he started tweaking a FJR route to get it ready and sure enough, Sidney fell off of a sloper 2 holds from the finish. The top 6 placings all ended up being VW teammates. They were Laili Couper-6th, Piper Boss-5th, Makenna-4th, Cierra-3rd, Sidney-2nd and Melina-1st.

Speed was run after the Sport climbing session. Sorry to give it short shrift but it was literally a hold ladder for the C and D categories. Basically, Sidney went really fast and finished in 1st place. Miriam Timson did bounce back from an early fall in her Sport session to come in 2nd place and Laili showed some flashes of what was to come at Speed Nationals by finishing 3rd if memory serves me correctly. Melina, Cierra and Makenna all received invites to the Divisional for Speed, too.

Congratulations to Melina again, as this was the 2nd year in a row where she took 1st place in Sport at our SCS Regional. Sidney took it in stride since it WAS her best friend that beat her. Sidney and I are quite superstitious, so we took this as a very good omen. After Melina beat her last year at this event, Sidney (she skipped Divisionals) went on to place 3rd in Sport and 1st in Speed at the 2011 SCS Youth Nationals as a first year in her category. Hopefully a similar scenario would be repeated at this year's National but first she had to get through the upcoming Divisional in Oregon.

2ND ANNUAL SCS ROAD TRIP!!!

Sorry, but it's been almost 5 months since I last posted about Sidney. I tend to post in bunches and then nothing for long periods of time. For anyone who actually reads this blog, you've probably already figured that out.

It was a great SCS season for Sidney but there wasn't a whole lot going on. The only competitive climbing she did was on our road trip, Regionals, Divisionals and Nationals. Oh, and she was on a Nickelodeon TV show. I'll eventually post about all of these events starting with our road trip to.........

Reno! In a nutshell, for the past 2 years, the Culmbacks and Trinidads road trip together to a comp each ABS and SCS season. The past 2 ABS seasons we've gone to Bozeman, Montana and last SCS season we went to Boise, Idaho. We have a blast and love doing it. This year we went bigger! In the span of 6 days the girls went to a comp in Reno, climbed the world's tallest wall at CommRow and climbed for 2 days at Smith Rock. It was action packed. For the 1st time, we took 2 vehicles as the guest list expanded past the normal 7 of the Culmbacks(Janelle, Craig & Kayla), Trinidads(Di, Sidney & myself) and Sequoia. Added to the group were the Graham twins, their dad, Andy, and Melina.

Our road trip centered around the weekend of March 31st. We left on the prior Thursday evening and stayed in Eugene, Oregon. Friday was a travel day the rest of the way to Reno. While in Reno, we were lucky enough to stay at the home of Janelle's good friends, Joe and Cheryl.

On Saturday, the girls climbed at the Rocksport comp they call "The Best Little Comp In The West." It was nice to see people that we don't normally see until Divisionals like Rod Grossman and his family. I also enjoyed just being able to chill at a Local and not worry about helping to run the comp. Sidney and Melina climbed in the Open category while the other 4 girls climbed in their respective age categories. Because the gym is a bit on the small side, the format was different in that they scored your top 5 rope climbs but they also scored your top 3 bouldering routes. Needless to say, Sidney was not a fan of the format as it meant she had to get 8 climbs in and she was nowhere near in rope shape, yet.

All of the girls climbed extremely well. Sidney crushed on the lead routes but struggled a little to get some quality bouldering routes on her scorecard. It didn't help that she did all her rope climbing first and it drained her of some power when it came time to boulder. She finally got a high scoring route at the buzzer that made her happy.

After scores were announced for the USA Climbing portion of the comp, they announced the top 10 overall scores for both genders and they were allowed to participate in an onsight comp of 1 climb for prizes. They broke it up into two categories. "Advanced" were places 6 through 10 and "Open" were places 1 through 5. Sidney qualified in 3rd behind Jacquelyn Wu (2nd) and Cicada Jenerik (1st). Melina also qualified for the Open category in 4th, I believe. Cierra and Sequioa qualified in the Advanced category.

The "Advanced" group climbed first on a route separate from the Open category and Sequoia ended up crushing it and coming in 1st. Cierra had some trouble reading the route but still tied for 3rd which meant she would climb in a SuperFinal after the Open category climbed.

In the "Open" group, the top 3 girls all fell at about the same spot. Sidney came in 3rd, getting movement toward a pinch at the top of the route. Jacquelyn came in 2nd, getting usable surface on the same pinch. Cicada came in 1st, getting control of that pinch. What was unexpected is that Cierra climbed her SuperFinal on the same route and scored better than any of the Open girls did! She definitely had movement off of the pinch and may have had usable on the next hold but I can't be sure of that. That was pretty cool to see. The girls who placed got some prizes for their efforts but nothing major.

Sidney climbing her onsight Finals route. (Photo couresy of me)


After the comp, our group went to a local casino that was kid friendly and we had dinner. Then the girls went on a mission to get as many tickets as possible to win some prizes in the arcade. The girls each ended up getting a big bouncy ball and it only cost me 30 bucks. Woohoo!

Sidney, Makenna, Cierra and Melina standing around a 1,000 ticket jackpot they won. (Photo courtesy of me)


On Sunday morning, we got to CommRow right as it opened at 10am. For those that don't know, CommRow is a hotel right on the strip that has the world's tallest climbing wall affixed to the outside of the building. At 164 feet high, it's quite a sight. The girls bouldered inside for about an hour while we waited for the manager to give us the green light to go outside. The routes up the wall were only rated 5.9/5.10 but the height gave the girls pause and a few of them were a little apprehensive about trying it. They all decided that Sidney should go first and she buzzed right up it. That broke the ice and they soon all followed suit, Melina, Cierra, Sequoia and Makenna. The girls all said the climb wasn't hard but that it was really cool to climb that high.

Here is a view of the wall from the street before any of the girls starting climbing. (Photo courtesy of me)

It's hard to see her but Sidney is on the right route just below the top. (Photo courtesy of me)


As soon as the girls were finished climbing, we parted ways with Melina as she had to fly back to Seattle. The rest of us then started the trek back North to Redmond, Oregon and the famous climbing area, Smith Rock. We arrived in the evening and were really looking forward to a fun day out at the crags.

The next two days at Smith were sort of a blur. The Trinidads and Grahams had never climbed there before so the first day was definitely a learning experience. What we learned was to figure out ahead of time what to climb at Smith and get there early. The first day was also a time for the girls to get the jitters out regarding climbing high on real rock. Even Sidney had some reservations but I was fairly certain that all the girls would climb better on the second day. The girls spent most of that first day climbing some 5.10s just to get comfortable and then a few of the girls started on "Heinous Cling Start" which is a very popular 5.12a. We had been climbing for a while so Sidney was not at her best but it worked out because she took a few falls which helped her get over her fears. After giving it a go or two, we called it a day as we were famished and wanted to have dinner. Plus, we had to take Di to the airport because she had to get home in time for work on Tuesday. I knew the next day would be a good day for Sidney because she told me after dinner that she couldn't wait to tackle "Heinous" again. She also said that she didn't know why she was so scared and that it wasn't going to be a problem anymore. I should point out that all of these girls are gym rats. We try to get outside as much as possible but they train mainly indoors.

True to her word, Sidney redpointed "Heinous" the next day. After getting the 5.12a Start, she kept going and fell a few clips short of finishing the entire route which is 5.12c. Cierra and Sequioa worked it on toprope and both came very close to making it in one go but it was not to be. All the girls climbed well and had a lot of fun. Getting to the crag early also let the adults get on some choice 5.7s and 5.8s so everyone had a great time. The most impressive climbing I saw was when I was belaying Andy on "Heinous" and he got a couple of moves past the long starting crack. He worked it hard and Craig and I were really impressed. Sorry that I don't have any pictures of anyone climbing but I was belaying the whole time and forgot to take some. Sidney was very impressed with Smith Rock and we are definitely going back as soon as we can! Another successful road trip!

MEDALS.

After last summer's SCS Nationals in Hotlanta, Sidney had completed 4 full years of competitive youth climbing. Over that time, she had accumulated a lot of medals that had filled up a small shoe box. I decided to get all arts and crafty by surprising her with some kind of medal case. Let me tell you, it was a lot harder project than I thought.

First, I am not capable of making a medal case so I had to buy one. There is not a big market for medal cases online so the pickings were slim. The few that I liked were very expensive. Finally, I found one that fit my needs to house a lot of medals and while still expensive, didn't break my bank.

Second, I had to buy some cardboard/foam to hang the medals on inside of the case as it was empty. After looking in 5 different craft/art supply stores, I finally found exactly what I was looking for and prepared to get my arts and crafts on.

Third, arts and crafts are hard!! Being a perfectionist didn't help but I spent 3 nights and at least 7 hours working on that case! I got all the medals in it but unfortunately I was not done. There was still room for 3 more medals. So I hung it up on the wall and patiently waited until this past Bouldering season was finished. Thankfully, Sidney won 3 more medals to fill the case and now I am good to go for another 4 1/2 years!! Time to fill up another small shoe box.

All of Sidney's medals at Regionals, Divisionals and Nationals, starting at the beginning of the 2008 season and ending with the 2012 ABS13 Nationals. (Photo courtesy of me)

ABS 13 NATIONALS!!

Finally. After 7 weeks since Divisionals, ABS 13 Nationals took place on March 2nd through the 4th in Colorado Springs. That's 3 weeks longer than usual and Sidney and I were getting antsy. With all that time for the anticipation to build, would ABS 13 Nationals live up to all the expectations and drama we had been thinking about for almost 2 months? The answer was yes and to put it mildly, it was quite the nailbiter.

First off, I loved the set-up that USA Climbing used for this National! The new walls were great but the City Auditorium venue they rented was very cool. There were tons of seating for people on the floor and if you wanted more of a bird's eye view, great seating in the balcony. City Rock was literally right next door so everything was really close and accessible. Fantastic!

The official climbing wall for ABS 13 Nationals. (Photo courtesy of Christine Ruana)


In previous posts, I've alluded to the fact that I thought Sidney, Melina Costanza, Cierra Graham and Lia Messinger were in the top 5 for their category in the nation. It just so happens that they are all in the same Division. Rounding out my top 5, of course, would be Grace Kane and she has since moved back to our Division so now all 5 are in Division 1! One or two kids usually bubble up and are in the mix for the podium, too, so I was curious to see how the placings would end up.

Qualifiers started on that Friday with 35 competitors and 4 problems. Qualifier # 1 was fairly easy with all but two girls making the route. Qualifier # 2 was even easier as all the girls made the route. Qualifier # 3 was the difference between moving on to Semifinals or watching for the rest of the weekend. A little over halfway up the route was a big move that 16 climbers made. The cutoff for Semifinals was the top 17, so basically if you didn't make the move you were not moving on. Qualifier # 4 was an overhang route that was pretty tough unless you were able to keep your feet on the wall to keep tension. A total of 6 girls flashed all 4 routes and they were Sidney, Melina, Cierra, Grace, Bimini Horstmann and Ivy Todd. Lia had problems on Qualifier # 4 and was only able to get halfway up. She ended up in 16th place but was still in it as the scores zero out after each round and I was sure she would bounce back. Sidney, Melina and Cierra looked strong throughout although Cierra looked a bit pumped at the finish of Qualifier # 4.

Semifinals were on Saturday with 17 competitors and 3 problems. Semifinal # 1 was a slab route that all but 3 climbers flashed. The big surprise was when it was Grace Kane's turn to come out of ISO, she was nowhere to be seen. Word spread quickly that she was extremely sick and would not be able to climb. Grace and her family are the nicest people you will ever meet so it was very disheartening to see that happen. Semifinal # 2 kicked it up a notch with 6 girls flashing the problem and 1 girl, Louise Tester, making it on her 3rd attempt. Melina, Cierra and Lia all looked good in flashing the problem but Sidney looked especially strong in her flash. Bimini and Cayley Ryan were the other two girls to flash the route. Semifinal # 3 was a long route that had a big move halfway up, then some overhang to get you pumped and finally some slopers at the end to buck you off. Lia was the first to get past the big move. She then worked her way up to hold 19 before falling to qualify for Finals in 5th. Cierra had two really good attempts and got by the big move both times. On her 1st attempt, her foot sequencing was her downfall as her foot popped while going for hold 23 to qualify in 4th place. Melina looked a bit lost with her sequencing but was stellar at the top and fell trying to match for hold 24. She was 1 hold higher than Cierra and went into Finals in 3rd place. Bimini looked very strong and matched on the 2nd to last hold but rushed going to the final hold and fell. She was 1 hold higher than Melina and was in 2nd place going into Finals. Sidney absolutely crushed the route! She was smooth, strong and precise in flashing the climb with no problems at all.

On Sunday, there were 11 competitors in Finals. In reverse order they were, Maya Johnson, Grace Scott, Ivy, Emerson Nairon, Louise, Cayley, Lia, Cierra, Melina, Bimini and Sidney. Right away, Final # 1 looked like major trouble to me for Sidney. She is very good at slab but not great. It's her Achilles Heel but I was hoping for the best. Louise was the first girl to make the route and that was on her 3rd try. To her credit, she didn't give up and in the end that was huge as I will explain later. Lia was the next climber to make it and that was on her 2nd try. She was able to use her incredible length to avoid having to go down into the side pull before the finish. Cierra and Melina climbed awesome in flashing the route although Cierra looked like she almost fell in trying to give the judge a thumbs up at the finish! Bimini looked good but fell trying to match the finish hold and could not get to the same point on her next try. Being 1 hold short and not getting the Top would prove very costly after all was said and done. Sidney looked fine on her first attempt until the side pull near the finish. She misread needing to use the arete and fell. Her 2nd attempt was better but she started to run out of time and fell going to the finish with 2 seconds remaining on the clock. Uh oh. This left her in a major hole. It also put Melina, Cierra and Lia in the driver's seat with a huge chance to win if they could Top Final # 2 or # 3.

Sidney on Final # 1. Would the slab end up being her downfall? (Photo courtesy of Robyn Graham)


Final # 2 was pretty straightforward with a fairly tough finish. It started with a traverse to the left that gave a couple of girls fits. It then moved up into some slab and an undercling. From there you needed to get as high as possible and fall into a big, two handed jug. The rest of the route needed to be sequenced properly and then a power move to the finish. On her first try, Lia had to work a bit to get to the big jug. Then on the next sequence, she had to cross over to the right with her left hand while hanging. This caused her to turn the wrong way and she had to muscle back the other way to continue up to the power move. I think by that time she was pumped as she had been on the wall for almost 90 seconds. She went for the power move and held it for almost a second before falling. Cierra had two very good tries at it but with the same result as she fell attempting the same move. Melina fell at the same spot as the other two. That left Bimini and Sidney. As I recall, on her first attempt, Bimini snagged the power move just like Lia and held it for almost a second before falling. Then here is where it got very interesting. On her second attempt, she snagged the power move right as the clock struck 0.00. It was very chaotic and loud but I was watching very closely. It looked to me as though she touched the next hold at the precise moment that time ran out. What was a bit disconcerting is that Sidney turned around to start climbing and Bimini was still finishing the route. Like I said, it was loud and people were cheering so it was hard to hear the voice timer. I was fairly confident that they were not going to give her credit for making the move as I saw the judges shaking their heads but you never know. Sidney didn't let that affect her and went about her business. She bounced back from the disappointment of Final # 1 and cruised the route for the category's only Top and Flash of Final # 2. I was proud of her for re-grouping and showing her mettle. At this point, I thought she was at least even with the other girls if not ahead on hold count.

Sidney on Final # 2 right at the power move to the finish. (Photo courtesy of Robyn Graham)


Final # 3 was a bit anti-climactic as all 5 girls had the same high point of hold 13. Both Lia and Bimini got it on their 1st attempts, Melina and Sidney got it on their 2nd attempts and Cierra got there on her 3rd attempt. Sidney did snag hold 14 on her 2nd attempt and held it for a tantalizing second before swinging off but it was not meant to be. Her climbing was now done and she had climbed great. Now it was time to sweat the scores.

I thought that Sidney had come in 1st by 1 hold but it's hard to predict how the route setters score each route. It wasn't long until they posted scores and I saw that Sidney did indeed place 1st.....by 1 hold! Here is how the scoring broke down.

1st - Sidney - 1 Top - 48 Holds - 1 Flash - U.S. Team
2nd - Melina - 1 Top - 47 Holds - 1 Flash - 4 Attempts To High Point - U.S. Team
3rd - Cierra - 1 Top - 47 Holds - 1 Flash - 5 Attempts To High Point - U.S. Team
4th - Lia - 1 Top - 47 Holds - No Flashes - U.S. Team
5th - Louise - 1 Top - 25 Holds - No Flashes - U.S. Team
6th - Bimini - No Tops - 46 Holds - No flashes - 3 Attempts To High Point

It was amazing how close the scoring ended up being. Take note how important it was that Louise made Final # 1 on her 3rd try as it bumped her up into the final U.S. Team spot. Bimini climbed extremely well but her inability to get a Top dropped her into 6th place. I felt bad for her but was equally as happy for Louise as she never gave up and pulled it out. The "what if" scenarios were plentiful. If Bimini had been able to pull out the final hold and flash Final # 1, she would have placed 2nd. If she had climbed 5 seconds faster on Final # 2 then she would have won. If Lia, Cierra or Melina had been able to hang on and make the power move on Final # 2, then any of them would have won.

Sidney, Melina, Cierra and Lia. The top 4 from Division 1 are the top 4 in the nation! (Photo courtesy of the Graham family)


The awards ceremony was a really, really special moment for the Trinidad, Costanza and Graham families. We spend a huge amount of time together and devote a lot of effort to making sure the girls have every opportunity to try and reach their goals. It was also a tremendous moment for the team. To see all red and white on the podium was a very cool sight. To put the Vertical World sweep of the podium into perspective, of the other 9 categories, no team had 2 climbers on the same podium, let alone 3 of them. To celebrate this event, I will post 2 pictures of the podium!

Melina, Sidney and Cierra before getting their medals. Nice smiles! (Photo courtesy of Christine Ruana)

Melina, Sidney and Cierra after getting their medals. Great job! (Photo courtesy of Makenna Graham)


As I expected, Sidney climbed spectacularly in flashing 8 of the 10 comp routes. She only made 2 mistakes the whole comp, but unfortunately they were during Finals and it almost cost her. The first was not sequencing Final # 1 correctly. Not making that route really opened the door for any of the other girls to step through and win. The second was not sequencing her feet the correct way in moving off of the big pinch on Final # 3. She put her feet to the left instead of putting them to the right and it got her pumped well before her high point of Hold 13. In talking with her after the results were posted, she told me right away about both of those mistakes before I could even bring it up, so I know she has learned from them already. Even though she climbed great and won, she told me the next day that it was really bugging her that she didn't flash Final # 1 and # 3. She is her own biggest critic. I guess that's one of the reasons she is such a great climber.

Finally, winning this event puts Sidney in some very rare company. Dating back to the 2008 season, she joins Dana Riddle as the only female youth competitors to win a National Championship in all 3 climbing disciplines. Sidney and Dana are also the only females to have 10 or more U.S. Team selections during that time. Even with all of those accolades, she is still as humble as ever and she continues to work hard at her craft. I could not be more proud of her.