Gravical 2014 was held over the weekend from 10-12 January at Vivocity. Its the first time a boulder comp has been held outdoors, after the epic rain of Boulderactive 2009. (Recap: it flooded the area, the walls were not elevated, officials were sweeping water out, competition put on hold) This time, the weather showed us who was boss once again, and the OW qualifiers were carried out in the rain! Im surprised the audience still stuck around to watch haha!

I've talked and ranted much about my climbs on the routes, both in the qualifiers and in the finals, so I thought that maybe I should write a little something different to capture this experience. So heres a little mental note on the things I notice and hopefully put into practice more often:

Chalking my tiles before I begin my climb
For those who know me, I've got really sweaty palms and the tiles I love best are the dusty, really chalky ones that the nus gym has. Knewly washed and unchalked tiles are the worse cases for me, and I get really grumpy when I cant stick it. I used liquid chalk to counter this, but I weaned myself off it awhile ago. I guess I'll be needing it back again. :(

But I sat myself down and reflected on this because someone once told me that "there are excuses, and there are also reasons for everything". While wet tiles may be a reason, I shouldnt make it an excuse. Wet tiles have caused me to slip off tiles, which made me climb even more cautious. With my newly found lockoff strength, sure I was cautious, but I had cut away the fluidity of the climbs that you see in the gyms on normal training days.

Heres finals route #2 as an example:


I completed this route in 2 attempts, because I was overgripping EVERYTHING to make sure I wouldnt fall off. Grr - didnt work. Gripping the tiles too hard unnecessarily and moving on the route without hesitation would certainly grime the tiles lesser.

This competition is a reminder to me ease up routes that I know I am confident in doing. All the external thoughts on excuses are just negativity that wouldnt make me a better climber.

Keep your focus
I summoned quite alot of my focus during the qualifiers in order to complete my routes. I tied in 2nd place together with Janet, Mean and Liting with 4 routes flashed. It was raining and somehow the tiles were slightly damp. The officials really tried to chalk as much as they could thankfully, but still it wasnt very good for me.

I certainly struggled to match or even crimp ending tiles because I was afraid I would fall off while trying to match hands to end. My brains were not functioning either. I did not shift and adjust my position and I was up there ending off in the most awkward positions. I was aching all over the next day! While I had managed to keep calm and balance to end the routes, the faces I squeezed out and near misses I had are things I would not like to conjure up again.

Photo credits to the photographers of SMU Gravical. Struggling to match on a tile on route 1 qfy.

Concentration and focus is something that I've been trained since NUS to exercise, especially during competitions. I have yet to master it for finals, but im still keeping my zen mode during qualifiers. Perhaps you'll know it when you feel it too, when the heartbeat and sweaty palms start to fade out and you can actually hear yourself thinking, then take a deep breath and end that route you've worked hard to get up on. Always remember this feeling, always bring it up when you need it.

Charity took this photo without me knowing. This is what friends do to you - eat your head. But still thankful to have them around and cheering me on. :)

Gravical is certainly a good start for me for 2014. I have never won in Gravical, since I first entered for the Open Women category in Gravical in 2010. I feel rather accomplished at this point in time. I pulled off a last route wonder, with only Felicia and I managing to complete the route in time. There are a couple of times in the past whereby the last route and boosted me up the ranks. Rockmaster 2013 was one of them. I guess it goes to show that it never ends until the last whistle blows. Climbing near the end of the line of finalists may be pressurizing and mentally demanding, but the motivation and fuel to really go for it comes near the end too. Sometimes I admit I worry when I qualify first and I'll have to climb last, but all these serves to help me become stronger mentally. Its a long road to ultimate zen-hood, allez jud.

Hanee's shot of the OW finalists. I love that we all have colourful shorts!

I am really thankful for this win. 1st place doesnt come easy, be it by luck or hard effort. But its how you take this and mould it into something that would change the next few steps you take. Thank you God for answering my silent prayers to keep me calm when my fingers were shaking, and to give me a strong head to keep myself in the game and to give me confidence in the moves. Thank you mum for taking those videos for me and always being there to support me a midst the tall crowd! :)

For the times I let myself down either physically or mentally, I'm determined to fight on and really push it out of the way. Good job SMU Gravical officials! Really could see everyone working hard in the best way they can (especially when it rained!).

Congratulations to the winners!

Open Men

Open Women

With local hero Hazlee for OM 2nd!

This will be the last competition I take part in before The North Face Cup in Japan in February. I've set goals for myself this time and really want to see how much training has helped me. I wish those going for the World Cup in Chongqing in April all the best as well and keep training hard!