Pulling Plastic

Since winter returned to the Bay Area in mid February, we’ve been logging a lot of time in the gym, and as a result I’m climbing harder on plastic than I ever have before. Planet Granite has a series of route climbing competitions (free for members, which is cool) during the winter, so we decided to head up to the Belmont gym for some competitive plastic-pulling action.

Lizzy on open route 11 (photo thanks to Planet Granite)

Luke was planning on going to Jailhouse for the weekend (while I stayed at home and worked), so he graciously agreed to be my belay slave and beta gatherer, which was very awesome. My last experience at a Planet Granite route comp climbing in advanced (toprope only) was not super fun (only had time to climb 3 routes in 3 hours due to the lines), so I decided to climb open (my first time). Open is supposed to be 5.11d and harder, but I’d recently redpointed my first gym 5.12a, and the routes are usually graduated in difficulty with 3 score zones at ~1/3 height, 2/3 height, and the top, so I was fairly confident I could at least score on three of the four open routes. Also, I knew that very few women usually compete in open, so I had a pretty good chance of winning (which is always motivating).

We warmed up on non-comp TR routes to avoid the crowds, then I hopped on the easiest open route and made it to the 2nd score zone on my first try, which I was very happy with. Then another girl (who won) flashed that and the 2nd easiest open route, so I pretty much knew I was not going to win (I definitely don’t flash 5.11+/12- in the gym yet). This, surprisingly, was ok with me – I usually am competitive to a fault. Instead, I realized I could still get second in women’s open (still pretty cool) and qualify for the onsight finals at the last comp in the series, all without the pressure of needing to send on my first try. With my new relaxed attitude, I made it to the first score zone on the 2nd and 3rd open routes on my first try (the 4th, hardest route was just too crazy, I didn’t even try it), and made it to the 2nd score zone on one of them on my second try.

Lizzy moving out of Zone 1 on open route 11 (photo thanks to Planet Granite)

Luke flashing open route 9 (photo thanks to Planet Granite)

I had a super fun time hanging out with friends between burns, and it was an all around awesome confidence-boosting night. I ended up with 2nd in women’s open and had no regrets about how I climbed – I really pushed myself, I fell without fear, and I’m even currently in the 3rd slot for the onsight final (although I might be in Yosemite in hopes of sending Tales of Power, oops!). Thank you to Planet Granite for putting on a great event (and for making open routes that were fun, technical, and possible for a short person like me!).

Have you had any winter comp success?

Lizzy