what to expect at a bouldering competition

On the 30th April, Warwick University Climbing Club held a Bouldering Competition in the Bouldering Room at Bear Rock Climbing Centre on campus. The competition was for everyone fresh to climbing this academic year, and so the one time I have worn the Fresher badge, as calling myself a Fresher at 24 has always felt a bit off to me.

As it was my first competition, some things took me by surprise, here's some things I think would be useful to know before your first bouldering competition.

New routes:
There were 20 new routes set for this competition, so if you've been working hard on being able to flash particular routes for a while it will be good practise but won't necessarily guarantee you any points.

Grading:
The grades of the new routes will be unknown to the competitors during the competition. The grades of the new routes will only be released post competition, after all scores are handed in. With the grades not being listed, you can't know whether you were on a VB or a V4. The good thing about this is that you might climb a V3 and not realise it, the bad thing is that there's a chance you could fall of a V0 without knowing.

Moderators:
You will be handed a score sheet that a moderator will fill in after they have watched you attempt a route. When they are watching, they cannot help you out with any beta - they're not being mean, it's just the rules.

Scoring:
In this case, as you may be able to see from my score sheet, points are given based on the number of attempts it takes you to send the route. On most of the route there was a bonus point for reaching a particular hold part way up the route. It's worth trying the trickier looking routes to see if you can secure the bonus point at least.

Underperforming:
Competitions are likely going to be a lot busier that your usual bouldering session, so a lot of added pressure with a queue of people waiting to try the routes, and with someone literally judging you, it's not surprising that you may underperform. Competitions won't always be a reflection of your abilities.

With the unknown grades its very easy to get in your own head too much and overthink what could be a very easy route. There were eye level holds I just didn't see, I didn't give myself enough time to plan the routes, and I found myself making the routes a lot harder that necessary.

When going for a regular climbing session, a mere dab as you start, or a foot slip, an accidental foot on the wrong hand, are all not. big. deals. Pick yourself up and start again, no harm, no foul. But the amount of points you can achieve goes down with each attempt in a competition, which makes you about 27 times more frustrated with yourself for a tiny mistake.

Most important:
Try hard and have fun.