Shauna Coxsey (19) is Britain’s top female boulderer. And now she’s chasing the world stage: coming third in the American Bouldering Series. Hazel Findlay caught up with her to talk training, trad and the male ego.
When I was about ten and Shauna seven, we’d boulder together at the North West Face in Warrington. As the older and therefore better climber (at the time) I’d often set problems for us. We were dedicated and psyched, but we were still kids, and what we loved best was to race each other up the walls, the winner being the one who dynoed to the top first. But even back then I could see that Shauna was a not only a super-talented climber, but loved it in the same way I did.
There was a period of about four years, throughout our mid-teens, where we didn’t see much of each other. And in this time, I was unaware that Shauna had progressed from being a super-talented kid, to a super strong and talented young woman.
At the age of sixteen she did Raindogs, a burly F8a at Malham, and a few years later I sat in awe as I watched the video of her absolutely cruising Pilgrim (V12) in Parisella’s Cave.
As our current British champion (for both bouldering and lead climbing) and having bouldered V12 (font 8a+) on rock, Shauna is currently Britain’s top female boulderer. She can also hold her own in international competitions: placing fourth in the Munich round of the 2011 Bouldering World Cup .
A few weeks ago, Shauna went to America to test herself both on the burly boulders of Hueco Tanks, and also in the American Bouldering Series National Championships held in Colorado. At Hueco, Shauna concentrated on doing a lot of problems, rather than getting stuck on projects and this resulted in an impressive tick list of six V10s and two V11s.
In the competition she came an amazing third place, only one hold off coming second to her close friend Alex Puccio.
Even more recently, Shauna won the CWIF climbing competition at the Climbing Works, Sheffield. This competition attracts many strong climbers from around the world, including new American champion, Alex Puccio.
It’s clear that Shauna is fast becoming one of the best female boulderers in the world. I talked to Shauna to hear her thoughts on her own success, and also how she feels bouldering and competition climbing is received in the UK.
You recently went to the ABS National Bouldering Championships in America, you came third. This is quite an achievement. Were you surprised to do so well?
ABS Nationals is quite a famous for the big, bold American style, I didn’t really have any expectations going into the competition. After seeing how many impressively strong female climbers there were in qualifiers, I was surprised to find myself heading into finals in second place. The finals went my way and I sat in first place until the last boulder, only to find my arms had very little left and could not fight my way up. The competition was so demanding and intense, I was happy to place third.
How did you train for the competition? Do you do extra types of training on top of going to the climbing wall?
I actually haven’t spent any time doing any specific training for a long while now. I finished college last year and was really psyched to start training but injury prevented that, so I’ve literally just been climbing and having fun with it, but making sure I’m not pushing myself too far.
It seems as though competition climbing doesn't get much credit in the UK, in the form of support and media coverage. Do you agree with this? Do you think it should be supported more and, if so, how?
I do agree with this, I think that there are a lot of people who think negatively of competition climbing in the UK. I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I think that all aspects of the sport deserve support. Having spent time in America and seeing the approach to competition climbing with the amount of people watching the ABS national championships, the press at the event and media coverage of the event, it highlights the differences between the views of our competition climbing and theirs.
Most of the finalists in the competition were professional athletes and are an inspiration to the climbing community so promoting, celebrating and providing footage of this event positively promotes this aspect of the sport. Also the support for youth competition climbing in America is so impressive and something to be admired.
If the media were to increase awareness and knowledge of competition climbing, advertise events, celebrate success and show support, people will become aware of the potential we have in international competitions and maybe encourage people in our climbing community to take pride in our athletes.
You could even go as far to say that training indoors and competition climbing is looked down on, whereas trad climbing is celebrated. Do you have any experience of this?
Trad climbing is definitely the most celebrated aspect of the sport for the UK and I don’t think that’s bad thing at all, especially when we have amazingly impressive British Trad climbers! I’ve often seen comments from people on news items about my routes, bouldering and competition results. Things like: “What’s she done on trad?”
I almost find this amusing, but sometimes it does seem as if people are offended that I’m a British climber and I don’t climb trad, which is sad. I believe that climbing is different things to different people, and everyone has the choice to explore the aspects they please. Success should be acknowledged and celebrated throughout.
You’ve done Pilgrim (V12) in Parisella’s Cave and you also did a number of V11s in Hueco. This puts you at the very top of female bouldering in the UK and one of the strongest female boulderers in the world. Are your main aims and ambitions directed towards competitions or outdoor bouldering? Or both equally?
I would have to say both equally, I want to become World Champion and I want to be part of pushing the limits of female bouldering on rock! I currently don’t have the funds to do all of the competitions, but I hope to find a sponsor that allows me to dedicate my life to achieving my goals and ambitions in pushing the sport forward.
Do you have any ambition to do more route climbing?
Yes, definitely! I am not too sure about competition route climbing but I look forward to clipping some bolts on rock this year.
Where do you see your climbing in 5 years time? If you can think that far ahead…
I hope to be a professional athlete, winning World Cups and ticking hard boulders. However the UK is not the easiest place to make such dreams happen, so maybe I’ll be in university and no longer competing internationally.
And lastly, how do men (especially boyfriends) react to you being such a strong climber?
This is interesting and something that I hadn’t really thought about until recently. I have mostly climbed with guys since I started, at the age of four, and never thought anything of it. I’ve come to realise that the male ego often makes an appearance, especially if a girl gets up something they are working on!
In my experience some men are intimidated, some inspired, however this is also true for women. My boyfriend and I are often able to work on the some boulders and routes, sometimes he does things I can’t do and then sometimes I do things he can’t do. We both get psyched for each other’s achievements and support each other. I definitely don’t think he gets intimidated by my climbing – well, not yet anyway!
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