Boulderactive 2010

Life seems to be filled with getting bonuses and tops the past week. It's been crazily close how Gravical and Boulderactive are. These 2 competitions have given me so much exposure, especially Boulderactive recently. The climbing world out there is so much larger and there are really much much better climbers than you have ever known. They are my source of inspiration.

Today as I looked at the numerous slips of paper that contained the 'life & death" of many pasted on the whiteboard near the competition area, I can't help but feel that there is zero justice done to how much effort the climbers have put in to achieve those numbers that appear as the final result. All your effort are just recorded and graded by the number of bonuses and tops that you have obtained; what about the sweat, blood, tears and joy that you experience during the process of the climb?

I remember distinctively in Batu Caves we had a common goal for everyone which is to focus on being process-oriented rather than results-oriented, and today, i finally understood the meaning of it. The ranks and numbers that other people use to judge how well you are as a climber are so insignificant as to watching the process of the climb. You get rounds of applause for a hard climb and cheers from the crowd when making a difficult move, but do you ever see a crowd of people cheering at pieces of paper?

I am never affected by the final results as long as I know I have gone all out for each and every single route and if given a 2nd try again, I would have done the same thing. Watching how others complete what I can't inspires me to improve again the next time round. This is all about learning and it's a process that cannot be rushed into.

The juniors came to watch us on Friday at Orchard Central where we started our Novice Women. The support was tremendous and I'm sure they were really inspired to climb like us. It comes with a lot of hard work and will power and the ability to control your emotions when you are at your lowest especially when you just can't seem to work out the moves.
I have grown so much mentally from Boulderactive and I can say that I've finally lost all the nerves before a competition. It really helps to channel all the focus to the climb.

This is a breakthrough for me and I can't wait for my favourite aspect of climbing - high-wall! The thrill of reaching the top is unexplainable and indescribable.
You gotta climb it, to feel it.