It’s a long time since I posted a blog. Well........ It has been a year of ups and downs, injuries and recoveries, during this time I didn’t feel like posting anything. Now I’m coming out the other side I feel I can write some of this down.

So I wrote about my thumb injury – recovered from that one but then pulled a muscle in my hip mid leading ladder route and missed the winter 2012 Open Youth Competition the following weekend! Got over that one in a couple of weeks.

I came 1st in the Foundry Mammut Lead competition winning a rope – but also had a training session with Jakob Schubert!!!.

Then...... fell onto Tom Greenall one of my coaches when bouldering (totally commited to the final move of a problem). I hit my wrist on his knee and ended up in A&E. Initially thought to have a possible scaphoid fracture but this proved to be OK. I developed De Quevain’s tenosynovitis in my wrist/thumb which took weeks to settle. This was just after the 1st round of the BMC YCS (came 3rd) so missed the 2rd round so no chance of getting through to the final even if I won the last round. Was fit enough for the 3rd round and came 3rd again.

By August I was climbing and got to the final of the BMC Youth Open Lead Competition and finished 4th – Not bad for my 1st national lead comp!

2 days later I went back to try the routes again, I got as high as Pippa (who I train with and came 3rd) but I kept trying again and again. 2 days later I had a sudden horrible pain in my right index finger when holding a spoon. This didn’t settle with rest and no climbing for a week and was waking me up. Mum got the GP to organize for the Orthopaedic Surgeons to see me. X-rays and MRIs were OK so rest and no climbing for 6 weeks!! Then gradually increasing climbing for 6 weeks up to full intensity if not painful/worse.

I went to the BMC National Academy during being injured, I couldn’t climb at it but still enjoyed it and learnt a lot (thanks Dave Mason and Ian Dunn). I’ve been to 2 BMC Regional Academy sessions since and have been able to climb at them – really enjoyed these and learnt loads – thanks Tom Greenall, Lucinda Whitaker, Katy Whitaker and Nathan Philips.

This took me up to a week and a half before the Welsh Climbing Championships. So a week before I was finally trying to climb back at 7a/7a+ type standard but it wasn’t going that well. Wasn’t going to go for the competition but on the Monday decided it would be a bit of competition practice even if I wasn’t climbing well. Thursday session went much better but was very short but successful.

So this takes us up to Saturday and the Welsh Climbing Championships. I topped all 3 routes in the qualifiers. So 8 of us went into the semis in joint 1st! In the semis I got to the last but one hold – touching but not holding it. Pippa and Catrin topped the route. Issy came off a bit below me so the 4 of us went through to the final. we all topped the final route! So I came 3rd on count back, Catrin beat Pippa in a superfinal. Not bad for only climbing back at this level for the last week !!!!! My endurance does need to improve as the final 2 routes were a bit wobbly! (Lost a lot during my time out) Need to get ready for the Open Youth Lead in December.