Climber Sami

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

2014 SCS National Championship - July 10 - 13

Sami is competing in the Sport Climbing National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. The
sports governing body, USA Climbing, has organized the country into fifteen regions. Groups of three regions are organized as Divisions. There are five Divisions in the country. Sami's Division covers Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Southern California. To get to this National Championship, Sami had to place in the top seven in a regional competition to move on to the Divisional Championship; then, she had to place in the top seven in her Divisional Championship to move on to Nationals. Sami took third place in her Division about a month ago. Sami competes in the Female Youth C (FYC) group. For this year, FYC are girls born in 2001 or 2002. Sami is at the young end for FYC. It is her first year in this category.

On Thursday the 10th, Sami climbed well. Five competitors climbed the whole route (flashed) and Sami was next in line with a fall just before the final hold. This put her in sixth.

On Friday the 11th, Sami flashed the route. The scores from Thursday and Friday were combined and this put Sami into 5th place going into the Semi Final on Saturday.

On Saturday the 12th, the route was a crazy "roof" problem that had the climbers upside down for a long stretch. I loved the climb because it was never clear what was the best way to climb it. Every climber did something different. the challenge was to stay collected and think clearly under a lot of physical stress. Sami scared us by falling much earlier than we thought she would. This looked like a climb Sami would eat up. In the end, Sami took 8th. This lets her go on to the Final on Sunday since they take the top 10.

Sunday's final starts at 9:30 a.m. EDT. Sami will be the third climber up.

The Photos from this competition are here: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A2J0DiRHJuR28Y

Fingers crossed!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Psicocomp

The Psicocomp was amazing! I walked away believing that this is the future of spectator-driven climbing. The visual appeal of the wall and water, immediate proximity to the athletes, and dramatic falls, make for a great experience for the athletes and spectators.

This photo by Susanica Tam

Sami and I volunteered to help support this cometition on Thursday August 2nd. I was the bouncer/ticket checker at the main entrance. Sami and McKenna were supposed to run score cards, but the night was an exhibition, so the kids basically ran errands and hung out with the athletes.

Tori Allen came out of retirement to support this new sport and she was one of the nicest people I have met. She immediately grabbed Sami and McKenna and got them to yell various taunts at Chris Sharma while he climbed.

Tori on the wall.

Tori with Sami

Of course, Sasha won the women's title and she was so nice to the kids. She really took time to talk with the kids and ask about their climbing.

Collin was at the psicocomp and then came to Momentum Friday morning to

climb with Sami and McKenna.

Shane Puccio

Chris Sharma was everywhere with this competition. He made many attempts at the wall. Topping most of the time, but falling at times too. The first time he topped out on Thursday, he hesitated at the top and eventually climbed down the back side of the wall. Sasha got to the top and jumped, forcing Chris to start jumping too.

Sierra Blair-Coyle was another very nice competitor. She took time to really talk with the kids. She is good friends with Kyle McFarland and had been hanging out with him at Outdoor Realtor. This gave her and the kids lots to talk and laugh about.

Lynn Hill was a real champion for supporting this inaugural event. She climbed very well on Wednesday but did not climb in the final on Friday. Lynn brought her son, Owen, who had a good time hanging out with some of the momentum kids.