NBS Turakirae

On Saturtday 25 February I headed out to Turakirae Head to compete in round 3 the National Boulder Series. As soon as the comp started I headed over to Thor's Hammer (V9, FA by me) and started working on this. I was making progress, but before I could get really close it started to rain. After huddling in the Bronx cave until the rain stopped I did Sour Mash (Left) (V5) and Sour Mash (Right) (V6) which apart from the top outs were both dry. I then went around to Noir Désir (V9) and started working on this. The top, post crux, holds were still wet so I took a short break and did Game On (V5), Speed King (V7) and Speed King's extension Pro Series (V8). After many attempts and much time I managed to do Noir Désir and could move on. I tried Brassneck, a V8 starting as for Thor's Hammer, but I was too tied to do this so I went over to Rotund boulder. Within a few attempts I had done Über Alles (V8) and Über Rotund (V7). I moved on to Sawn Off boulder and quickly did Conundrum (V8) and Sawn Off Right Variant (V7). With not much time left in the comp I tried Über Huck (V7). It took me a few goes to recall the beta, but I ticked this one off as well. The comp finished and my top eight climbs were V9, V8, V8, V8, V7, V7 V7, V7 giving me 1021 points, enough for me to win the comp. All the climbs I did I had done before, but it was nice to do so many in one day. Mum and Dad both had a good day too. Mum repeated her hardest climb to date, Game On, and Dad repeated all of his 8 hardest Bronx climbs. A week or so later when the series had ended I found out I was the winner the series. Full results are available here.

NBS Froggatt

On Friday 17 February Mum and I left for round 2 of this year's National Bouldering Series at Froggatt Edge. Half an hour into our journey we realised we had left the boulder mats behind! Since we had barely started the journey we went back home to collect them and added an hour to our trip. After a long car ride up to Froggatt we set up camp at the school camping ground and went to bed early.

Saturday 18 February, day of the comp

After registering and receiving our topos we waited around for half an hour before the competition started. For most of the day I climbed with Wiz, Josh, Peanut, Isaac and Kaze, all guys from my age group at the indoor comps. We warmed up in Animal Biscuit Valley and I sent a V4, V5 and a V6 second go. After struggling on Power On (V7) for a while, I moved on to Toilet Block, sending another V5 along the way. At Toilet Block I flashed two V6's and a V5, as well as redpointing Double Trouble (V6). We then moved on to Riverside and worked on Duck Fat 2.0 (V9 in the comp, but felt like V8/7 to me) and after a lot of goes I managed to send this. The others thought I went off route but later I talked to Liam, who did the first ascent, and he thought my sequence was fine. Next we did Kiwi Kiwi Attack, a V6 dyno to a sharp jug. I needed tape to send. The others moved on but I stayed until the horn blew and time was up.

At the end of the day I came second in the Expert Male category with a score of 576 points comprised of my top eight problems: a V9 (233 points), five V6's (55 points each) and two V5's (34 points each).

Sunday 19 February, route climbing at Froggatt

I worked on Burn (28) but I was too tired from the day before and kept falling off on the crux. Mum had a good day though, flashing Monsterpiece Theatre (20).

Monday 20 February, Waipapa

I felt too tired to climb well at Froggatt so Mum and I decided to check out Waipapa. At the crag we met Bryce and Jamie, who had both put up a lot of new climbs there recently, and they showed us around. Mum did the third ascent of a 17 that Bryce had bolted that day, and I sent a couple a 26's: Utopia (third go, third ascent) and Yoda (second go, second ascent).

After climbing we hopped in the car and made the long journey home.

Baring Head Rock Hop

On Saturday 26 February I went to round 2 of the NBS at Baring Head. As it happened I was the only Junior (under 16) competitor at the comp but that didn't stop me having a good day. I warmed up by doing a couple of V5s and then tried A Show of Strength (the first V8 in NZ, a climb I sent the previous weekend) but I didn't have much luck. I went back to the area where I warmed up and, after many attempts, sent a different V8 (Das Fuer). I did a V6 traverse and I did Sand and the Vaseline (V7). I then went over to Split Apple and did Split Apple One-Handed Dyno (V6). After that I tried different problems without much success and did another couple of V5s. Not long before 3pm when climbing finished, I finally did a V6 Dyno I'd been trying for ages.

At the end of the day I had a score of 500 points. I made a mistake when I added up my score and gave myself 600 points but I got it sorted out before the winners were announced and the spot prizes handed out.

Central North Island Climbing Trip: Part 2: 4-5 Feb

Day 4: Rest day

We went up to Hamilton to go supermarket shopping and watched a movie.

Day 5: NBS Waitomo

We got up early and drove to Waitomo to register before briefing at 9:45. It was raining when we got there so the comp was postponed to start at 11:00.

A competitor's score in an NBS comp is determined by their top 8 problems. The score of each problem based on the Fibonacci sequence:

VE = 1
VM = 2
V0 = 3
V1 = 5
V2 = 8
and so on

My top 8 problems were:

V7 - problem 10 Greek Gods (repeat, extremely soft V7 which everyone does)
V6 - Oh Lord (repeat)
V6 - Swing and a Miss
V6 - Got Dirt
V5 - Down Load
V5 - problem 10 Totem Area (repeat)
V5 - Reservoir Dogs
V5 - Roasted Addiction

I had a score of 390 points. As well as the problems above I did Echo Psycosis (V4) and got close to Wazzup (V8), a one move wonder I tried the year before as well.

I won the Junior Male category (under 16 as of 01/01/11) and won a set of Metolius 3D rock rings for coming first. Dad also won a set of Metolius portable power grips as a spot prize.