SUU Climbing Comp.

Yesterday I participated in my first ever climbing competition! SUU has one every Fall and this year I entered. I had been sick the night before and the morning of so I was worried that I wouldn't climb as well, plus I was really nervous because it was a competition, but guess what happened?! I won!!!! Yes it was only the beginner division, but the routes were still really hard, for me anyways.
The way they ran it is they had 5 beginner routes and there were 15 climbers so they split us up into five groups of three people. Each group started on one of the routes and we each had 5 minutes to climb it, then after all three had used their five minutes we rotated to the next route. There were two ways to get points. To get the most points you had to onsight the route, which means you made it to the top your first time without falling. If you fell you could still get points but only if you came back to the bottom and climbed the whole thing without falling before the five minutes were up.
My group started on the two hardest routes and since I was so nervous and hadn't warmed up I only got about halfway up. I was feeling quite discouraged that I couldn't make it up anything, but maybe it was good because I decided it was ok to fall and that if I didn't win it was just some experience. I was a little ornery after the first one though I have to admit. My mom and Casey were there cheering for me though and they just kept telling me it was ok, that I needed to warm up and I was still doing good. It really helped to have them there rooting for me! The third route we did was the easiest one and I got up it so easy. It was a relief! After that I don't know what happened but I must have been in the climbing zone!! I also onsighted the last two routes and on one of them I was the only girl who made it up. It was tricky. I was hanging in this one spot for at least 2 minutes trying different ways to get my feet up without falling. I finally figured out a way and made it to the top with only 3 seconds to spare. Then on the last route I knew I would win if I could onsight it. I had some major adrenaline! I was so focused. It was wierd. I made it to the top before I even realized I had climbed that far. It was pretty cool! It was fun because everyone was cheering for me and acting excited. :)
Sorry I just realized that was a really long description! I'm just excited! I never would have thought I could win! I'm actually strong! And I rock climb!! wow :)The girl next to me in this next picture had some legit rock climbing dreadlocks going on so I was kind of intimidated at first. hahaThis is a picture of me chalking up on the route that took me 4 minutes and 57 seconds to climb. On the last two routes I got chalk probably about a million times. :) I guess it's a comfort thing for me. I feel like I can hold on forever as long as I've got lots of chalk on my fingers! My hands sweat when I get nervous or even just think about rock climbing (they are right now just writing about this!) so they get kind of slippery. I don't think I needed quite as much chalk as I was getting during those last two routes though. It was funny.For winning I got my very own climbing harness that will look like this. We have to order it in my size.I also won this belay device in a drawing. I've got everything but a rope now!Casey climbed in the advanced division later that day. He is so good! Seriously, it's amazing to watch him climb. He moves so smoothly and he is so strong! I think I got almost as nervous waiting for him to climb and watching him climb as I did for myself! He was climbing on holds that were probably a quarter of the size of mine and he makes it look so much easier! It's amazing. I'm glad I have him as a coach. I've learned so much from him. Plus he's really cool because he's so supportive of everyone! He always cheers for everyone and makes friends with everyone. He is cute and funny too! I have the best climbing teacher any girl could hope for. :)