Ryan - ABS National Qualifiers

Yesterday was the start of the ABS 12 Youth National Championships and I was set to climb at 8:48 p.m. Boulder time. This year they changed up the format a little from years past. Now there is a rolling iso and the competition isn't in a climbing gym, it's in a huge warehouse! They had special walls set up in the venue that are designed for elite level climbing and, being in a warehouse, the usual problem of not having enough room for spectators was easily solved. I warmed up at The Spot climbing gym, then headed over to the competition venue to await my time to climb. I was psyched to climb and was feeling strong. I got on the first problem and flashed it! On the next two problems I was also able to flash! After flashing the first 3 problems I figured I was sitting in good standing for semi-finals, but knew I would have to do well on the final problem to be surely in. The final problem looked significantly harder than the previous 3, but first go I got to the final hold before the finish! By the way the crowd reacted I figured I was one of a few to get to that point. I couldn't get my hand to feel good enough on the bad pinch/sloper to make the final jump move to the finish and I had a pretty spectacular fall from a good height onto my side....with my head landing in my chalk bag. Thank god for the huge asana padding! I gave the problem one final attempt and fell two moves earlier than my high point. I was satisfied with my performance and it turned out to be good enough to put me in 3rd place going into semis!!! I climb at 7:30 p.m. tonight and hope I can climb just as well as yesterday...check back for updates! (Sorry, no pics yet. My parents camera was not working properly, so hopefully that will get fixed today)