The GB climbing teams have been claiming plenty of podiums on the comp circuit recently; the latest was scored by Jim Pope who won the European Youth Cup round held in Mitterdorf, Austria last weekend. It was the 16-year-old's first time on the podium. Jim, who rose to fame age 12 for climbing two E6s as his first trad routes, talks about what it's like to be a kid on the comp circuit, and current sport and trad goals.
I always enjoy competing in Austria because it's such a nice place to be. The people are welcoming and the climbing walls are huge! There's a friendly atmosphere at the competitions. Everyone helps each other out.
The competition was held in Mitterdorf on a 15m outdoor climbing wall. This made climbing pretty difficult as most of the wall was in the sun, and it was around 40 degrees!
The qualifiers consist of climbing two routes; generally one steep route and one more vertical, technical route. I came 10th on my first route and 11th on my second, so just scraped into the final in 10th place.
The final route seemed to suit me: it was long, pumpy and steep which is what I love! Because of qualifying in 10th place I didn't feel any pressure about the finals and was able to feel relaxed when climbing the route and just enjoy it, as any other position I ended up in would be a bonus.
I came down happy with how I had climbed and then it was just a matter of sitting back and watching. It was tense when the Czech climber reached the same hold as me but didn't move on from it for the plus point which I had. The next three climbers fell below him and I had won!
Three other GB team members made the final: Molly Thompson-Smith came 7th Junior Female, while Aidan Roberts came 9th and Alex Waterouse came 11th in Male Youth A. Because I was first to climb I didn't spend much time with them back in isolation but I think they felt pretty relaxed and just happy to be there. When they found out their results I think they were a little disappointed as they knew they could have climbed better.
I think kids are getting into competition climbing at a younger age nowadays and want to keep pushing themselves from regional level onwards. Because they're so competitive from a young age they start to train early to be the best they can, and some of these young climbers keep doing that up to international level, like the current Junior British team has.
The GB team is going great at the moment: in each competition we're getting more and more finals and some podiums. It was great to have Aidan win the European Bouldering Championships a few weeks ago and William coming third in the European Lead Championships. I think it raises the whole team psyche and gets everyone excited to train hard.
This year I've done all the junior competitions, four European competitions and will be doing the World Youth Championships in Arco. All the team seems pretty psyched for Arco and I'm sure they're all training hard in the few weeks left leading up to the comp.
I'd like to start making the transition into Senior competitions so I'm ready when I have to fully move into that category. So I'm also going to be doing a Senior World Cup in September.
Funding the competitions can be difficult as we have to get the money ourselves. I'm lucky to have some great sponsors - Marmot, Lyon Equipment and Climbskin - who send me climbing kit which really helps with training and being able to climb with great products. I also get funding from Rock City climbing wall in Hull, which has really helped to fund this season!
I'll always enjoy competitions but I definitely prefer climbing outdoors. Outdoor sport is my favourite. The hardest routes I've climbed so far are Mecca - The Mid-life Crisis 8b+ at Raven Tor, and I recently got the second ascent of Ben West's route Helvetia 8b+ at Shipwreck cove, which felt like my hardest climb to date.
I'd love to do some more trad, too. i learned to climb on rock when I was little and feel very privileged to have had so many opportunities to climb outside from such a young age. Outdoors I'd like to push myself more and try something a lot harder than I've tried to get a long term project, as well as just climbing more outside.
You're right, my GB team ambition as stated back in 2013 was to qualify for an EYC final, and climb 8b outdoors! It's great to see that I've achieved my goals and now you've reminded me I'd better set some more! It's nice to see the progression and that all the hard work has paid off.
I'm really pleased to have won my first European Cup. It's definitely a good confidence boost for the Arco World Youth Championships in a few weeks' time. I just hope I improve from last year!
The GB Junior Lead Team are sponsored by the Route Setting Association.
Youth Outdoor Climbing Courses
.jpg)
Whether you want to make the leap from indoor climbing into Sport or Trad climbing outdoors, we run many courses across the country and throughout the year that are specially for 11-17 year olds.
Subsidised Youth Course Places
.jpg)
There are a large number of free places on courses for families who may struggle to afford it. Any families who live in rented accommodation and who receive income support or universal credit may contact the instructor of a course or Alex West for a place.
U27 Membership
From just £1.77 a month it's never been easier to join and support our work:
« Back