Catherine Hudson's IB CAS Blog

Today is the last day of my CAS project. I went to the climbing gym as usual and started with several easier warm-up climbs. I then went to a new V5 climb that I had started yesterday with my sister. This route was newly set last week so there were many people crowding around it. I watched a few people try it from afar and even tried it myself once but there were so many people then that I didn't get a real shot at it. I came alone and really early in the morning so I was very happy to find that the wall was open for me to climb. Because the start of this climb is so high up, I have to prop my right feet on the hold almost at my shoulder height and slowly push upwards and into the wall to straighten my leg without accidentally pushing off the wall. This climb requires a lot of slow and controlled movements and also a lot of trust in your feet for the finish. The sticking point on this climb for me was the big reach from the hold on the far left to the hold on the far right. To get ...

Today is Day 22 of my CAS Project. I have been going to the climbing gym consistently every weekend and climb for about 2 hours each time. During the school week, when I don't have time to go to the climbing gym, I work on strength training and fitness in other ways. I try to do a mix of hang board exercises, pull-ups, and workout videos. I finally sent the V5 that I have been working on for the past few weeks and have since repeated it two more times! I honestly don't know how many times I tried the climb but it was definitely a project wall for me. Once I figured out the hand crossover move, the next was a huge step to the left and then another push up from there to the final holds which were also angled, far apart, and tiny. The extreme reaches were scary at first because I was not sure if I would be able to make it but once I trusted myself and went for it, I found that I could do it. Once I knew the beta and knew I could do it, I was able to repeat the climb without too mu...