British Indoor Climbing
Championships 2004 - Round 3

The Team (left to right)
Callum Harris,Tony Musselbrook,
Joel Charley, Nathan Kemp (facing
away), Matt Cousins

Report by Callum Harris

At 10:45 on Friday, having had a very enjoyable lay-in, I arrived at school with Nathan.
About 15 minutes later Tony arrived and then Mr Alderson and Joel arrived. We loaded our luggage, which between all four of us weighed about 20 kilos (we were going alpine style), into the car and set off on the biggest adventure of our climbing career so far. We stopped to pick up Matt in Herne Bay and then continued towards our destination. An hour or so later we arrived at Stansted Airport. We took a very exhilarating ride on a bendy bus and then proceeded on towards check-in. This was completed without any trouble and we continued on in the direction of the plane. However, just as we arrived at the gate entrance we received some very bad news, our flight was delayed by 3 whole hours. What were we supposed to do to kill time? Well the answer came to us when we noticed an escalator that was going up. We decided it would be rather comical to try to go down it. Then, to our disappointment, a nasty security man told us not to play with the escalator. He pointed out the fact that a no entry sign means you can't go beyond that point.

Following our upsetting ordeal with the escalator, we decided to try to fit through a small gap that was a couple of feet from the ground. This proved no easy task, well for all of us but Matt. His small stature made it a breeze for him. We all had to do a lying down, horizontal slidey thing to get through. In the end we all made it. We now had our eyes set on a new challenge, a mantleshelf traverse along a rail. This was very fun and we were in the middle of our second traverse when a nasty security lady told us to stop. Grrrrrr. We were having so much fun.

We went and wandered around the duty free shops for a while. There was a music/video store in which we decided to buy a film to watch the following night. After much careful deliberation we decided to settle on a copy of Resident Evil, which we subsequently decided we would award to the team member who improved the most in the rankings in the BICC.

A few minutes later and we were finally on the plane and in the air. The journey was very uneventful because we couldn't actually see out of the windows. When we began to descend my ears were popping and I couldn't get them to stop. In the end I got annoyed and I punched myself in the head. This did not have the desired outcome and my ear was sore for quite a long time. After a bumpy touch down we made our way to Europcar to pick up our hire car, a very awesome Kia. It had reclining seats, a selection of seatbelts and was even automatic, which was the best feature because Mr A kept mistaking the brake pedal for the clutch (something automatic cars don't have). Whenever he changed gear the car would come to a sudden halt and we would all be thrown forwards. Of course we all thought this was incredibly amusing and wanted it to keep happening. Unfortunately Mr A became used to it and it ceased from happening.

We decided to eat dinner at Ratho climbing wall. The building looked amazing from the outside and we were all very scared. When we got inside we were able to justify our fear. We nearly wet ourselves just looking at the wall. It was about a million metres across and at least that in height, and that was just the bouldering. The lead walls were awesome! We ordered our dinner and sat down at a window overlooking the climbing area. Every time I looked out of the window I nearly choked on what I was eating. The food was excellent and the smoothies were even better, and even better still was the fact that Malcolm Smith was eating dinner right behind us.

One short car journey later and we were in the comfort of our hotel rooms. Ours was incredibly hot and Matt wanted to leave the heater on. However, Tony and me had better ideas and we forced him to turn it off. Tony wanted a cup of coffee and I decided I wanted one too, this was not a good idea because we were just about to go to bed and we had an early start the next morning. We were talking for ages but we eventually decided it would be in our own best interests to go to sleep, or at least try.

Next morning we were woken up by Mr A and we were told to get ready and then to go to breakfast at the Little Chef. It was very nice there but the food wasn't quite as good as the food we had at Ratho. I'm not complaining though, it was still very nice. We went back to our rooms to clean our teeth and then set off in the direction of Ratho once more. We were given little blue tags and our numbers at reception and then we bravely set off towards the climbing area. We were well aware of what to expect in terms of climbing walls but what we weren't expecting was the extreme weather conditions in there. It felt as though we had just stepped into the North Pole. But that didn't matter much. The sheer size of the place more than made up for the cold. We came to the conclusion that it would be a very good idea to warm up before attempting any competition routes. Luckily Joel and Matt had anticipated this and we had two belay devices between us. We chose to do a bit of top-roping to get warmed up, just a few easy routes. We climbed a couple of routes each and then settled down in front of the comp wall to watch the demonstration. Even the demonstrator seemed to struggle on a few moves, standing on a bolt at the top. We were all very scared of this route and none of us more so than Joel. He had to climb fourth so he didn't have many people to watch. One person he did get to watch though, was Tyler, who was to climb third. As long as Joel paid attention to Tyler he would do all right.

In no time at all it was Joel's turn and everyone was poised with anticipation, waiting to see how far he'd get. A very valiant effort saw Joel fall from about half height. It was a good effort by him, considering the fact that he had hardly seen anybody attempt the climb. Next to climb from the team was Matt. Having been stroked by Joel just before he started, Matt bravely stepped up to tie his knot. A minute later he was off the ground. After overcoming a couple of tricky moves, Matt now faced a new dilemma, he was unable to clip the quickdraw from where Joel fell. He was about two holds above Joel's high point but found he could not hold on. Another good effort from him. The third team member to climb was Tony. Following his success at Sunderland everybody was expecting him to do well. However, having clipped the quickdraw from where Matt fell, Tony began to feel tired and decided to go for the points. He slapped the next hold and fell. Yet another good attempt from our team. Next to climb was me. I expected to get to about where Matt had got to, but had a very shaky spot a bit lower down, nearly coming off at about one third of the way up. However, I held on and proceeded on up the route. I got to the move on which Tony had fallen but decided it didn't look too bad. I went for it and caught the hold, continuing on with the next couple of moves. The next clip was very scary because I had to pull some slack through. Since the last couple of moves were traverse moves along a small lip, I faced a nasty swing if I fell. I managed to clip and dived for the next hold, touching it but not holding on. I was very surprised that I had got this far. The last team member to climb was Nathan. He is doing very well since he has been climbing for about a year and a half. After tying his knot, Nathan stepped off the ground, his mind now focused on the task ahead of him. He dealt with the rock over move better than I did but then found the next section tough. He fell from the same few moves that Matt and Joel had fallen from. I was very impressed with him because of how much he has improved over such a short space of time.

We decided that now, whilst we waited for the second demonstration to start, we would go and buy lunch. Joel and me had the nicest macaroni cheese I have ever tasted whilst Tony had the biggest hot dog I have ever seen.

We went to go and see if the demos were starting but discovered that we still had about half an hour to wait. Me and Tony decided to go upstairs to the restaurant because we would be able to see the climbing area from the window. It was very warm in there but after only a short while, we saw ropes going up and thought that the demos were about to start. We sprinted down the stairs, vaulting a handrail on the way and flashed our blue tags at the security guard. We raced over to the comp wall and stopped, puffing and panting, only to find that the routes were still being altered. There was still eight minutes to go. We decided to go and buy our tickets for the Skyride but Matt decided he didn't want to go on an assault course suspended thirty metres in the air and marshalled by Malcolm Smith. Good job really because there were only four spaces available on the four thirty slot.

A few minutes later we were back at the comp wall and the second demonstration was underway. We had a seemingly tricky climb that finished over a roof about a metre from the top. The demonstrator cruised up the climb and in a short while it was Joel's turn. He got off to a solid start but then hit the difficulties at the fourth clip. He couldn't clip the quickdraw and he didn't want to go higher to clip it because he risked a ground fall. Eventually he managed to clip it but the effort had made him very tired. He fell off but had already climbed to just below the fifth clip so he got the points for that. Next up was Matt. Again he got off to a very good start and he managed to clip the fourth clip without too much difficulty, just a small hop. He then clipped the fifth clip and found the hard part. A powerful rock over proved too difficult for Matt and he fell. It was a strong attempt though and quite a few people were falling from that point. Next in line was Tony. He was looking to improve on his first climb, and improve he did. He sailed past Matt's high point and continued on for some time, only stopping when he got to a long reach. Tyler had done this move by stepping on a small feature but Tony didn't trust his shoes on the feature (they had a large hole in them). Eventually he jumped for the hold and fell. It didn't matter though. He had done exceptionally well to get that far. It was now my turn to climb and I was determined to get past Tony's high point and achieve my target- top thirteen. I got off to a good start and I made sure I double clipped the first two clips. I then climbed past the fourth clip and risked a possible ground fall to double clip the fourth and fifth clips. But that was about as far as I got. On the rock over I was touching the next hold and my right foot popped from the smear it was on. I fell and that was the end of that. Last to climb was Nathan. He started strong and got past the fourth clip without too much trouble. Unfortunately, he too fell at the same place as me and Matt, just missing the next hold. But this was another awesome attempt from Nathan and all that was left to do was find out where we came.

First, however, we had a big adventure on the Skyride. It was a wooden assault course suspended thirty metres in the air. The queue lasted ages and we eventually got on the Skyride at about five, even though we had booked it for four thirty. In the end we managed to get on and we decided we would all go around together. This meant that we would have to wait for each other after the initial zip-wire. Once we were all on the first platform, the instructor there got me and Nathan to have a wrestling match on a single log. The first to fall off lost. We had several rounds and I'd say that it was pretty close but I obviously won.

Once a substantial gap had opened up between us and the people in front of us, we set off along the course, pausing occasionally to get a good photo or to try some kind of outrageous stunt. At the end of the first section we met Malcolm Smith. Tony got a high five from him and we set off again. The next section was easy because it was along the top of the climbing wall. The bit after was good though. It was a cargo net but we decided to try to jump as far along it as we possibly could. At the end of the net the girls final began. We decided to encourage them from up on the Skyride. First up was a girl called Charlie, or so we were later told. We thought she was called Beth so we were saying, "go on Beth". I hope she didn't hear us!

We carried on a bit and then stopped when Hazel Findlay was climbing. As she came over the top we began cheering for her and she looked up, did a couple of moves and fell off. I think Nathan was scaring her.

We finished the Skyride in style. The last section was another zip-wire and we decided to do it as a four, holding on to each other. We went very fast and were shouting so loudly that people below were looking up at us. It was great, particularly since Tony, who was at the back, decided it would be funny to thrust at us all.

We ran down to the comp wall to watch the end of the girls final and a little while later it was the turn of the men and the boys- together. The best was obviously saved until last. Martin Watson was agonisingly close to topping out; slapping the penultimate hold and Tom Arnold also fell from the same move. However, rather predictably, Tom Bolger topped the route and took the championship with it.

Meanwhile, on the men's route, Jamie Cassidy was in the lead and only one man remained, Steve McClure. He had virtually no trouble reaching the top moves but he then made a crucial mistake. He clipped the wrong lower off. However, he still won the round and the title for the second year and just to top it off, he touched my hat (which Matt accidentally kissed).

We went back to the Travel Lodge, grabbing a Maccy D's on the way and sat down to watch our film (which I eventually won). It was a very good film but the zombie dogs looked kinda terrible. We had a very early night because we had to get up really early to catch our flight.

Next morning we were woken up by some very bright lights. Mr A had turned on our bedroom lights, blinding us in the process. We got ready and then sorted out our passports, or at least tried to. Joel had lost his during the course of the weekend and we couldn't find it anywhere. We decided we would just have to leave and see what happened. We had breakfast at the Little Chef again and then set off towards the airport. As it happened we were able to board the plane with no trouble, except that Mr a succeeded in making the security guy check his bag. On the way to the plane Mr a grabbed a paper and when we were sitting down he pointed out the headline. It said that there were threats of terrorism on UK flights. Matt suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable.

The plane reached Stansted airport with no problems and so far everything was running exactly on time. We set off towards the Westway and then hit a problem. There was a big traffic jam and we were in the middle of it. Only one thing for it, give the map to Nathan and drive wherever he said to drive to. He was very efficient and in no time we were laughing at the people still sitting in the traffic. Me and Joel started a game of mini punch (you punch the other person if you see a mini). Nathan attempted to join in but he just punched Matt in the face, giving us a perfect opportunity to say the team motto-"Nathan you're an idiot".

A few dead legs later we were at the Westway. We put down our bags, put our shoes and chalk bags on and then began with the competition. I did incredibly well, failing both of my first climbs. However, things began to get better and eventually me and Joel qualified for the head-to-head whilst Tony took first prize. The head-to-head was really good because the juniors and seniors climbed together, with Michaela Tracy also entering the junior head-to-head. In our category Fred Lyon took first place by touching the last hold. Me and Joel took second and third respectively because I was a bit faster than Joel. Props to Jeff because I could hear his encouragement above everybody else.

In the adult head-to-head Jeff was the only person to finish it. This resulted in victory for him. Tony was the overall winner of our category and Joel was third. I failed my target of getting into the top five. Tom Gore did very well, finishing third in the male open category. The prizes were presented to the winners of the categories by none other than Ben Moon. He was there along with a load of Red Chili shoes, including the new X-Cubes. I tried a pair of these for the duration of the day and I think they perform very well.

At the end of the day I asked a guy from Red Chili if he would sponsor me but he said no. I then asked Ben Moon to sort it out for me but he also said it was unlikely.

A few hours later we were all back home and our adventure had come to an end. I would just like to congratulate every member of the Dane Court climbing team and every body else who did well in the two competitions that we went to at the weekend.
Peace out.