Tara Hayes does Isles of Wonder (8B)

Tara Hayes, who did her first 8B last year, has completed Isles Of Wonder (8B) in Ogwen valley. The 27-year-old finished her competition career in 2022 after being part of the GB team for 14 years. Her best results were a silver in the Youth World Championship and in 2019 she was #12 in the European Championship.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I was psyched to try Isles of Wonder as soon as I saw a video, it's a straight up line with cool moves in a great location. I first tried it last summer and after a couple of sessions knew it was within my capabilities. I was hitting the last hold (excluding the top out) from the start so I was confident it would go. I then went to Rocklands for a month and unfortunately didn't get back to try it until May this year. After 1 session of re-learning the moves, I felt like I was in good enough shape to get it done. I knew I needed to try it consistently to give myself the best chance so I ended up having about 7 sessions in the last month. I felt closer each time but still lacked the belief to stick the last hold (it looks really far when you're setting up for it!), despite feeling OK in isolation. Thankfully on Friday I was in the right headspace to get it done and managed to execute the moves really well and find some extra try hard. Overall it's by far the most commitment I've put in.