Jo Neame

As I sit here on my laptop, staring out of my window onto a grey, raining gloom-August in England-I can't help but think of the sunny skies of Arco, Italy, where I spent my last week on a GB Team training trip. The trip was a perfect combination of activities in a perfect location-we spent our time eating ice cream. swimming in Lake Garda, playing 'Manhunt' in the warm evenings and of course climbing, both at the incredible Rock Master Wall and outdoors at a variety of crags. Having not done much outdoor sport climbing before, I was quite nervous at the start of the trip, expecting to be completely out-climbed and terrified of the whole experience. To my surprise, my fears soon subsided and as we visited more crags, my confidence grew and by the end of the trip I had flashed 7b and redpointed my first 8a outdoors. Topping out on 'La Cucina dell'Inferno' (8a) was definitely the highlight of my trip but I also really enjoyed trying the competition style routes se...

Despite initially not being particularly bothered about attending this event (as it was a senior comp so would be very difficult and was not in my favoured discipline), I ended up finding the Senior  British Bouldering Championships  one of the most exciting events I have ever been to. Located in a tent outdoors on Devonshire Green, Sheffield, the BBCs was part of the annual Cliffhanger festival, a festival showcasing outdoor sports with food stalls and live music to add to the atmosphere. However, upon arrival in the heavy rain, my initial feelings were not entirely positive and I began to wonder whether it had been worth turning up at all. The qualification format was one with which I am not entirely familiar-5 mins on 5 off for 5 problems (so no extra time to read the problems and no chance to grab some other beta)-and I found it stressful to figure out my own beta and get each problem done in the time. After almost flashing the 1st block but slipping off the last hold and...

Eyy! Exams are over! To celebrate the start of my long 'summer' holidays (though it doesn't look much like summer to me) I travelled up to Snowdonia for the weekend to get some indoor and outdoor climbing done. Because I will be having a GB team training event next weekend to select for the European and World Championships, I decided to spend a day at the  Beacon Climbing Centre  where the selection event will be held to get some practice on the different walls. I like the walls at the Beacon as, despite not being very steep like most other walls, they are very tall and often have consistent, non-cruxy routes which require stamina and solid vert technique-the kind of routes which suit me best. I enjoyed getting on some of the harder routes to onsight but discovered a couple of routes set with wooden holds-holds I had only experienced on circuit boards and did not like on routes. These were slippy and unpredictable but I gave them a go anyway. My favourite route of the day...

Last weekend I entered my first ever international competition-the European Youth Cup held at  Imst Kletterzentrum . Due to having an exam the day before the comp, I was unfortunately unable to travel with the GB Team, so arrived late on Friday. The demos were scheduled for 8.30am on Saturday, so it was an early start for the whole team and we all got down to the wall in time to have a look around and get warmed up before the climbing began. The wall ( or I should say walls) was amazing,but what struck me in particular was the indoor wall (we were competing outside) which had an amazing range of angles, all crammed into a space smaller than most centres in the UK and yet far more impressive. My first qualifier was soon revealed to be a very technical vertical route up the middle. This should have suited me. However, extreme nerves overtook me and I found myself greasing of a pair of chalky crimps halfway up the route, with lots of energy still to spare. To my annoyance, the route ...

Fontainebleau...one of the best bouldering venues in the world and a place I have wanted to visit for so long. In March I finally did get the chance to go and what better an opportunity for the weather to pack in and rain almost constantly. Much time was spent fondling wet rock optimistically and it was frustrating to watch the days of our short trip go by from behind a window. Nevertheless, the area is undeniably the best place I have visited for any outdoor climbing, with boulders littering the forests in well established areas such as Bas Cuvier,and hidden gems awaiting in the depths of the forest at Apremont Bizons and other more obscure areas. Despite not being able to climb as much as I wanted, I managed to tick my first font 7a, which, considering the conditions and lack of time on the boulders, I was pretty pleased with. I discovered lots of potential future projects and am excited to go back soon (hopefully when it isn't raining!). Keep climbing! Sending Magifix (assi...

In March I visited to new boulder centre in Tunbridge Wells- Karma Climbing . The centre was spacious and all though not very big, it had a really good vibe and the staff were helpful and friendly. The setting was great and I had fun trying some of their comp set which ranged from gutsy dynos to weird balance acts. I also made full use of their training facilities-a small gym, campus and peg boards, rings and two circuit boards.I would really recommend the centre to anyone living nearby or passing through kent-it's definitely worth a visit. Keep climbing!

I haven't written in a while due to exam/training stress, but I've finally had time to catch up! During March I received a youth sports grant  from the Hackney Council awarding me £350 to help pay for some of this year's competition costs as well as a year's free membership at my local leisure centre. A few weeks later I discovered myself on page 7 in the local paper ! Thanks to Hackney for all the support they've given me- Keep climbing!

After a long day in Liverpool competing in the leading event, I travelled to Manchester to compete at The Depot Climbing Centre , a brand new centre with loads of space and a variety of gradients. I arrived 2 hours before qualifiers began and took time to look at the blocks and get warmed up. There were lots of slabby problems with twists-a slippy foothold perhaps or even a dyno- as well as some powerful blocks. Going around with some mates I managed to flash a slab and then one which came through a small roof. However the hard blocks far outweighed the easy ones, and I had trouble getting past the bonus on a fiendishly hard slab, a shouldery, bridging problem and a slab with a dyno to a tiny pocket. There was one problem which I suspect I could have done had I not messed up all of my attempts. The first go I grabbed a hold which looked the same colour as the block but apparently wasn't. The next two attempts my hand slipped just as I was setting up for the side ways dyno to the b...

Last weekend on the 5th March I arrived at  Liverpool Awesome Walls to compete in my first lead comp of the season and the first comp in which I would be representing the GB Team. This was exciting, although I felt nervous as I knew people would have high expectations of me. On arrival I was told I could collect my new team kit from Berghaus . It came as no surprise that the kit was much cooler than previous years as I knew Berghaus were a huge company producing quality goods. My favourite item is the branded down jacket! After the initial excitement of trying everything on, I felt shaky again so went to warm up and watch my demos. Both of my qualifiers were technical with a slight overhang and larger overhang at the top changing to vert for the last few moves. Pulling on to the wall for my first route I felt  a roomful of eyes turn to the Union Flag on my back and I knew I had to do well to prove my worth. After a few sketchy moves at the beginning, I reached the top secti...

Yesterday I went with my dad to Bloc Climbing Centre in Bristol for the 4th round of Blokfest. Having wrongly missed out on finals last round, I was guaranteed a place in finals this round as well as a podium prize, so I went along ready for a full day. I knew I didn't need to do well in qualifiers but I nevertheless wanted to achieve a qualifying position anyway to prove my consistency to others and myself. Fortunately many of the blocks were technical challenges so I was able to top a good number (22 of 25) achieving 210/250. However I fell off a moderately easy problem first go as I jumped straight on it in the heat of the day, only to discover that the holds were glistening with sweat and I had forgotten my chalk bag! I got back on it, equipped with chalk and a brush and got it easily second go, to my frustration. Apart from this, the qualifiers were good fun and well set. My favourite problem of the day I didn't top as I couldn't reach a hold on it. However the first ...

Last weekend I woke up at 5.45am to catch a train to Sheffield for the GB Team Inaugural Meeting. Despite having to wake up so early I was really excited to get to know my teammates and coaches better and to get an idea of how the year was going to turn out.  After a welcoming speech from the senior lead team coach the lead and boulder teams were split into groups for our profiling and training. Under the scrutiny of the coaches, everyone warmed up and then I was weighed and measured before doing some strange fitness tests to determine my general stability, flexibility  and upper body strength. I didn't find the tests particularly hard  but they got me to work muscles I never even knew I had!  After lunch we had a go at some comp-style boulders set especially for the training day. These proved to be fiendishly difficult due to the combination of small holds and large, bad ones, lots of volumes, lots of angles and some strange sequences of moves. I personally felt ...

On Saturday 9th January I set out at midday to Mile End Climbing Wall  to compete in the third round of the 2015/16 Blokfest series. Blokfest is a fun, bouldering festival, open to all ages and abilities making it the most chilled series of comps of the year. In the qualifiers of each round, there are 25 blocks set for each category (female and male seniors, juniors and veterans-some blocks overlap categories) and the aim of the game is complete as many as you can in 4 hours, with 10 points for every flash, 7 for 2nd attempt, 3 for 3rd and 1 for any other attempt. The top 5 climbers for seniors of each gender battle it out in a showcase final consisting of 3 hard blocks, with 3 min+ timing. Upon arrival I was told that the senior British Bouldering Team were all competing, due to them being in London for training. This excited me as I knew, while I don't specialize in bouldering so could in no way compete with these big guns, I would be able to watch them climb in the final, whic...