Simone's Divisionals Climbing at the Front

Well I love these photos we just got back from Simone's Divisionals Climbing Comp at the Front.   She looked awesome and did great this last season.  In just over a year of climbing, she's progressed to finishing her first V9 this past month.  She didn't make it to Nationals this year, but she did great!  We noticed that the girls were on average very tall!  So I think next year when she is still in the same age division but taller and stronger, she will have good odds of going to Nationals.  She was very disappointed and a little teary about how hard the climbs were.  So we focused on what she's achieved in such a short time.  I know she wants Nationals so badly!  But sometimes you just have to be proud of where you are at!  She's achieved a lot.

In bouldering there are different climbing grades that look like this:

A V9 is the top of the advanced, so its pretty neat that Simone was able to reach that in just over a year.  Her coaches don't like to put too much stock in the ratings of climbs, but it is still fun to reach a new number.  They progress more slowly as they get to those higher grades so it is fun to check a new number off your mental list.

What I love most about watching her climb is how she's found in it a passion.  She is not burdened by the time commitment.  In fact she hasn't once complained about going to climbing practice.  *I* may have vocalized that it is in fact a big sacrifice for me to take her there and back four nights a week.  But I love watching her so much.  I get to see her excel in a sport that I always wanted to do.

My ulterior motive is that my goal is to get fit and start climbing with her!  I'm hoping to get a lifelong climbing partner out of the deal.  She's going to be teaching me someday in exchange for all this driving.  Right now I am focusing on my workout classes in the mornings.  They are hard and I'm not used to this kind of exercise.  But in a few months I'd really like to get a double workout in by climbing in the evenings as well.

Monet and Elise have started climbing and are doing V3's and working on V4s so they are loving it too.  Miles is focusing on basketball right now but he did some hard ones last year and really enjoyed climbing also.  So someday we are going to take off to the mountains (or deserts) and enjoy camping and bouldering as a family!  Sounds dreamy!

My Favorite!  Look at those Muscles!