2011 GB Team Inaugural Meet, Sheffield

The GB Team 2011 Inaugural Meet at Sheffield on 12/13 February brought together 19 of the team selected following the Open Youth Competition in Liverpool in November.


With an uncharacteristically respectable start time of 10am we were able to have a leisurely breakfast before pitching up at Climbing Works for a day of bouldering. With only one new member added to the team following Liverpool, it was a bit of a family reunion and the climbers settled into their groups really quickly. Youth B and C worked alongside one another, as did Juniors and Youth A. While they started off around the various CW circuits, the parents had a quick meeting and got a peak at the new Mountain Hardware shell top the team will be issued in March. We then settled down on the comfy leather chairs to drink coffee and talk climbing. After lunch came the fitness tests – pat downs, push ups, sit ups, lock-offs, typewriters, pull ups, etc. Some excelled, others went away realising they needed to do a bit more work away from the wall. The results were all logged and improvements will be expected at future team training days.

Some of us were able to get together to share a meal in the evening. Despite the best attempts of the Sheffield one way system to keep us away a superb time was had by all and the food and staff at Wagamama were excellent. Wonder if they’d like to sponsor the team?

The Sunday morning schedule started with a 9.30 run. Only Ian Dunn could be described as enthusiastic as the climbers gathered in the rain outside The Foundry comparing aching muscles from the day before. Thirty minutes later some very red-faced and slightly soggy runners returned. With a short pause to catch breath and gather up kit it was then into the Foundry for more training on the boulders, 45o board and some routes. After a quick lunch, which tested the Foundry’s toastie machine to its limit, it was back into the cars to try and find the location for the Nutrition talk Sheffield Hallam University. Despite careful programming of Satellite Navigation systems, fate once again stepped in and put a road repair crew right outside the entrance for which we were looking. Several hurried phone calls ensued, that resulted in John Ellison standing on a street corner waving us down and sending us through the gap with the ‘no entry’ signs. Like a perfect tag team he then handed over to Ian to lead us through the corridors to the meeting rooms.

Youth B & C, with parents in tow, then sat through an interesting talk from Audry Morrison primarily on the need to hydrate and the best sources. The climbers were pleased when she didn’t ban chocolate, merely said that eating directly before a climb would have no beneficial result – a sports drink was a better option but only if supplemented by eating a healthy diet and getting lots of sleep. Her promotion of milk as an ideal nutrition and hydration source is sure to raise the prevalence of smoothies at climbing walls in the future. Unfortunately time meant that the workshop had to be cut short, but after giving out her email address and offering to analyse climbers’ food diaries there will no doubt be further opportunities to investigate this area of performance support in the future.

To round up the day Ian then took Youth B and C through a range of simple exercises they could do at home with a yoga mat and light weights before it was back into the cars for the long journeys home. All-in-all a very worthwhile weekend. Thanks to everyone involved in pulling it together.