Climb on, Ella

This Saturday our local climbing gym hosted the Regional championships. The competition had two events, and Ella competed in both.

In the sport climbing event, all climbers tackle four routes, and they receive points based on how many holds there are and how high they go. Ella climbed the first three routes without problem but only made it about a third of the way up the last. It was a tough route, and no one from her division completed it.

In the speed climbing event, the climbers scramble up two routes as fast as they can and ring a bell at the top. They climb head-to-head to add to the excitement, but they are scored based on their cumulative climbing time. Ella beat her challenger on both of her climbs. During her first, some of the "big boys" on the team were sitting behind us and commenting on Ella's speed. One said she "crushed it," which I'm assuming was a compliment.

In both events the top six climbers from each division advance to Districts in June. There were 9 girls entered in Ella's division, and, as usual, she was the youngest. We told her that it would be great if she made it to Districts, but that even if she didn't, we were still very proud of her. And honestly, we didn't think she was going to make it.

I was out at the car getting Elizabeth's diaper bag when the results from the sport climbing event were posted. When I walked back into the gym, I was hit by a flying tackle from Ella, who was shouting, "I made it! I made it! I placed 6th!" There was much joy and jumping around from all of us.

We left before the results from the speed climbing event were posted, but Ella's coach called to deliver the good news: she placed 6th. She'll be competing at Districts in both events.

We're very proud of Ella, but mostly we're glad that she had fun.

And I'd post pictures, but to quote B, "We have two cameras and two video cameras, and you managed to grab the one that has dead batteries. Brilliant!" I took some pictures with his iPhone, and as soon as B sends them to me, I'll post them.