Introduction
My name is Patrice. I started climbing in March 2011 when I joined the climbing team (ROCMOC) in SRJC. While in the team, I joined various competitions in the 3 disciplines of climbing - bouldering, lead, and speed. In 2012, I promoted from Novice to Intermediate category of competitive bouldering. During my JC tenure, I clinched a number of medals for the annual national school competitions as well. In 2013, my coach at the time, Ben Toh, brought a group of us to Krabi, Thailand to try outdoor lead climbing for the first time.
After JC, I worked as a part-time crew at Onsight Climbing Gym for 7 months, helping with the day-to-day operations. From there, I eventually started coaching young children and teenagers. I also facilitated and led climbing programmes for large groups, such as schools, civil servants and NS men.
A fellow part-timer, Nicolea, and I made a pact to promote to Open category together. Upon hearing this, our colleague, Hilman, offered to coach us for free during his spare time. Nicolea and I would then join climbing competitions with Hilman's name written on the back of our shirts (I kid you not!)
My part-time stint ended as I matriculated in NUS on August 2014. There, I joined the NUS Varsity Climbing Team. In my first year of university, I managed to finally promote to Open category. I was a self-proclaimed "part-time student, full-time climber" then.
I helped in organising NUS Boulderactive (BA) for all the 3 years I was in university (and continued helping a couple of years after I graduated as well). In my participation, I learned how to set boulder problems, how to be a route judge, how to brush holds properly, how to spot a climber correctly, how to survive on 3 hours of sleep... then compete the next day... One of my biggest takeaway I have from organising BA was when we started to do live-streaming. I was given the opportunity to try being a live stream commentator, and eventually I continued this role for other non-NUS-organised competitions as a sub-side-gig (you'll find me in YouTube here and there).
One thing I really loved about being in the team is the annual end of year outdoor bouldering trip. When I was in university, we went to Hong Kong, Qingdao, and Khon Kaen. I continued to go with the team to outdoor bouldering trips even after I graduated. As a Dino (this is what we call NUS climbing team alumni), I ventured to Baguio and Hampi with the team.
On my final year of university, I ran and was elected as the women team's captain. As a team, we managed to maintain our position as the top varsity climbing team in Singapore. Outside of university, I went ahead to get my license to teach and certify people for Sport Climbing Level 1 and 2. I continued to take on coaching gigs and climbing programmes throughout.
After I graduated, I took on a full-time job with Boulder Movement as a Programmes Executive in 2017. It was my job to create climbing classes, manage the scheduling of these classes, and teach them as well. I was also involved in getting corporates to come to the gym and hold events with us. On top of that, I also managed the day-to-day operations of the gym. A couple months into the job, I joined Rockmaster 2017 and there I got my very first Open podium.
In 2019, I left the climbing industry and I am pursuing a full-time job outside of it. I am now coaching on a freelance basis. That said, I still actively join climbing competitions. In fact, in 2019, I joined the full leg of the inaugural Southeast Asian Boulder League in which I travelled from Singapore to Malaysia to Thailand. I hope to continue travelling the world to climb and to continue on my journey.
I started this climbing journal to keep track of my climbing growth and stories. I know, a bit too late, but, hey, it's a start.
