Local Talent - Eleanor Hopkins

I recently caught up with Callendar based climbing machine Eleanor Hopkins. This extremely talented young athlete is one of the most exciting prospects within British competition climbing at the moment. Even though she is still relatively new to the sport, she has worked hard and is now competing at the highest level. Eleanor recently won the British Team trials in youth c category (which she still has two full years left to compete in), beating an extremely experienced and competitive field on her way to doing so. It is also worth noting here that the final route in her category, which Eleanor came very close to on-sighting, was graded 7c/7c+. This bodes well for competing internationally in the future, as these are the kind of grades she will be coming up against in her category.

Keep an eye out for this talented young lady, as she has all the potential and professional approach to her training required to step up to the international stage. I'm just looking forward to 6 years down the line when she will start doing battle with her idol in the senior category! I think a certain climbing super star will be pretty nervous about that prospect!


How old are you and how long have you been climbing?

I’m 13 years old (14 in April) and have been climbing for 3 years this Christmas.

How did you get involved in climbing?

I first got involved in climbing at an October Kids Camp at Callander (near Stirling), I tried out the wall and I was hooked, So my dad learned to belay and I got my first pair of climbing shoes and harness at Christmas. I started to go about once a week but became a bit more serious when I joined The Young Explorers of Scotland climbing and activity group and then went to my first competition.

What made you want to try competition climbing?

The second round of YCS wall was at my local wall so I went along, not really knowing what to expect and came 2nd, a couple of weeks later I went the third round and overall came 3rd. That meant that I had qualified for the British Final held at Ratho and from then on started to do more and more competitions and got more involved in the sport.

You recently won the British Team Trials/selection Competition, How did this feel?

It is the most amazing feeling when you know you have climbed to the best of your ability and all your hard work has paid of! I am very pleased and happy with my result and would like to thank my coaches for all the help they gave me.

You train more professionally than any climber I have seen. Could you give us a brief run down of how you train?

I train 6 times a week with one rest day:
Monday: At home, strength circuits and rowing machine circuits
Tuesday: Climbing at Ratho
Wednesday: At home, strength circuits
Thursday: Climbing on home board
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: Strength and Conditioning Training at Herriot Watt University. Climbing at Ratho
Sunday: Climbing at Ratho

What would you say your strengths are?

Crimps, steep walls and training.

What would you say your weaknesses are?

Very powerful moves, slopers and dynos (but getting better!).

Have you climbed outdoors?

Only a couple times, twice at Malham and once at Benny Begg, on my first trip to Malham I managed to red-point my first route ever, Frankenstein 7a+.

Which competitor inspires you most from the British Junior competition circuit?

Natalie Berry

Which competitor inspires you most from international competition circuit?

Natalie Berry

What are your future ambitions (short term & long term)?

My short term ambitions are to do more outdoor climbing and compete at the EYS and Worlds, and my long term ambition is to qualify for the final in an EYS and on-sight an 8a outside.

What advice would you give to any young climbers reading this, who are thinking of taking up competitive climbing?

Climbing is an amazing sport at any age or level and if you are thinking about taking part in competition definitely go for it! Have a good time and give it your all but don’t be disappointed if you slip or fall, when I went to the British Finals the first time I came 27th and the following year I came 1st equal. Just remember to always stay motivated and set yourself goals that you can achieve and give it everything you’ve got! Always have a good time and enjoy what you’re doing.

Scottish Youth Bouldering Championships 2010

Hi Folks,

Invites are on thier way out shortly by e-mail and snail mail for SYBC10 to all qualified competitors (remember top 5 in each age/sex group from YCS09) but just in case there's any doubt here's the definitive list of competitors, so you know what's coming!

Scotland North


Nikki Addison
Sofie Hvide
Dawn Longworth
Lauren Sandbach
Jessie Smith
Ellen Macaskill
Ellen Barber
Abbey Niven
Sarah Wardrope
Rebecca Kinghorn
Amy Ryan
Keri MacLennan
Rosie Slater
Caera Douglas
Ruairidh Macaskill
Scott Donaldson
Jamie Peden
Joseph MacInnesHall
Dylan MacKenzie
Steven Addison
Calum Irvine
Rhys Maslen
Alasdair Johnstone
Leakey Sam
Stephen Dent
George Kerr
Henry Kerr
Scott Robertson
Rory Cargill

Scotland South


Rebekah Drummond
Eleanor Hopkins
Lyndsey Forsyth
Rachel Carr
Sophie Stanistreet
Jaime Davidson
Abigail Blunt
Christie MacLeod
Abi Beautyman
Ashley Lawne
Claudia Charlwood
Kirsten Taylor
Rachel Tennant
Gabriella Stewart
Elle Hogarth
Alexander Bosi
William Bosi
Euan King
Michael Burrell
Angus Davidson
Gregory Gaughan
Calum Forsyth
Jamie Drummond
Andrew Barr
Alasdair Darroch
Robert Davidson
Jason McDonald
Harry Spence-McCarthy
Jamie Blair

The competition will take place at Extreme Dream Aviemore Saturday 16th January 2010. More details going out with invites and reggy forms etc..

Lets get ready to rumble!!

Al

Crushing Dunkeld

I spent last Thursday Friday at upper cave climbing on remarkably dry rock, considering it was pouring down both days. I was joined for a sports climbing sessions by super strong British Team Kids - Jonny 'always moaning' Field, Natalie 'Fajita Wrapper' Berry and Robbie 'man sized power scream' Philips. Robby had already ticked everything at the crag, so was psyched to just get some training in on the rock. Nat and Jonny, however both had their eyes on ticking some of the local classics.

As always with these two, I was blown away with how easy they made everything look. Nat climbed here briefly when she was about 2 and a half & Jonny had never tried any of the climbs before! They started off by making light work of Hammish Teds, both flashing (Nat Retro)it with ease. Nat had tried the route about 56 years ago, but could remember nothing about it. They then moved on to the crag classic - Marlena. Nat got very close to flashing this route, cruising the technical crack section only to be denied the flash on the last move across to the chains. She then swiftly dispatched it with ease on her 2nd go. Next was Jonny 's go and he didn't disappoint! He made swift work of the crack section and after some aggressive snatching up the presses near the top he found him self clipping the chains. Not bad effort flashing your first 7c at 15. Especially considering the technical nature of the climb!



The 2nd day was spent on Silk Purse with both Nat and Jonny making good progress. Both look like they will tick the route next time they visit. We then finished off with some bouldering action at the base of the crag.



Finally I was treated to some rather unusual chat on the journey home. The 3 youth spent 50minutes (yes that's 50 minutes!) playing a word game that basically consisted of them speaking, but replacing the first letter of each word with a B. I spent 45 minutes testing my will power as I resisted the temptation to drive in to on coming trucks, just to make them stop! I am sure when I was a teenager, I had more interesting things on my mind than word games!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ross Kirkland - Putting EYS fitness to good use

After competing in the Edinburgh round of the European Youth Series (EYS), Edinburgh based climber - Ross Kirkland joined myself and Adam Hughes on a short trad trip to Northumberland and the Peak. Ross Kirkland is 16 years of age and has been performing well on the British Junior Competition circuit for well over 8 years now, achieving some great results along the way like 2nd place in 2008 Team Trials and 8th in his first ever Senior British Lead Climbing Championships. This consistency lead to his selection in 2008 to the British Junior Climbing Team, thus allowing him to go on and represent his country in international climbing competitions.

Away from competition, Ross's other main climbing passion is trad climbing and he had been looking forward to putting some of the fitness gained through training for the EYS to good use on the rock. It has to be said though that bouldering is not one of Ross's strengths and he was curious to see how he would cope on the short powerful styles of climb found in Northumberland and the peak.

He need not have worried, as he took every thing in his stride and ticked his way through a very impressive selection of routes over the three days. The trip started off with a day at Back Bowden climbing with other Ratho instructors Pamela, Martin and Ally. Ross swiftly warmed up on the 'Arches' HVS 5a, then went on to solo the short and crimpy wall of 'Pin-Up' E2 6a. Ross stated that he really enjoyed both of these climbs, but was keen to attempt something a bit more challenging. Time for 'Lost Cause' E4 6b, a safe but brutally powerful and committing County Classic! If I am to be honest I thought Ross would struggle with the powerful nature of this climb! How wrong could I have been, with Ross making swift work of flashing it and even stopping mid route to remove his sweater (poser!). This was Ross's first E4 and was climbed in great style. Adam also had a great day climbing the 'Tube Direct' E5 5c, 'Lost Cause' & 'Uncouth Youth' E4 6a, all of which, Ross seconded. Ross finished off the day seconding me up the crags classics of 'on the Verge' and 'Right to Reply', both of which he cruised.

The second day saw us descend on Frogatt, keen to keep up the momentum of the successful first day. Ross had decided that he wanted to spend the day getting in some lower grade mileage. So he started off with a swift on sight of 'Strapiombante' E1 5b. His ideas for the day soon changed when he sat watching myself and Adam flailing our way up the huber Classic 'Stapadictomy' E5 6b. Realising it was safe, Ross decided to strap it on and give it a go. After a valiant flash attempt Ross dispatched the route ground up in good controlled style. Bearing in mind this is the boys' first real trip to the grit, this is a phenomenal achievement. Especially when you consider that he climbed his first E3 in June earlier this year. Ross basked in his glory and chilled out seconding Adam and myself on routes for the rest of the day.

We were joined on the final day by trad wad Tony Stone. Ross opted on a more chilled out session. Spending the morning bouldering around and climbing easier routes up to a grade of HVS. He rounded off the day with some exciting spotting duties while Tony on sight soloed the classic Pebble Mill E5 6b. Followed by seconding Adam Hughes' impressive lead of the same route. Sadly I didn't enjoy the same pleasure, managing to turn in to a gibbering wreck on the same climb, when I couldn't reach the final break, resulting in a rather feeble opt out for a safety line, much to the amusement of young Rosco! I will never forget looking down in a panic to see young Rosco rolling around on his back in hysterics. Loving how supportive my climbing partners are!!!!!

I was truly humbled by just how well young Ross performed on the trip, to tick E5 ground up on his first real trip to the grit is good going. I am sure there will be more big trad ticks to come from this young lad in the future.

For more Pics check out Adam's Blog

http://www.hughesmountaineering.blogspot.com

Local Talent - Glasgow Paul

I first met young Paul Williamson ('Glasgow Paul') around 4 years ago, when he came along to our Saturday BRYCS club. It was very apparent from day one that he already had 2 of the most important traits required to succeed in climbing – 1. a determination to push himself, and 2. mutant strong fingers!

Paul has progressed through the ranks as a climber over the last few years with some impressive results in regional, national and international competitions. Five years on he is very much established him self as one of the most talented and promising young climbers on the British Competition Circuit.

Paul's talents don't stop at just plastic pulling either. Ever since a very successful first outdoor climbing trip to Orpierre in 2006, he has gone on to tick some very impressive climbs throughout Scotland, Britain and Europe. He is now also very much established as a member of the 'west coast dumby squad' and is well on his way to maintaining the Dumbarton tradition of pushing Scottish bouldering standards forward to new levels. Just a pity he is a Celtic fan!

Achievements to date:
2009 Scottish Lead Climbing Championship
2009 Represented Britain in European Youth Series and the Youth World Cup
4th 2008 British Lead Climbing Championships
2008 Was awarded full team status on the British Climbing Team
Multiple F7c red-points in France and in the UK
7B+ on-sights in France and in the UK
V8 boulders in the UK

Future Ambitions:
to climb in the Buttermilks in California
hopefully do some pretty hard boulder problems
to climb F8c one day (maybe at Dumbuck?)
to climb the Overlee project, (V very hard!?!)




Paul has recently been selected to represent Britain in the up and coming Kranj round of the European Youth Series. Good luck dude and get stuck in!

Thanks MCofS!

This year saw 4 very successful youth climbing development events take place at EICA Ratho. These events were designed to support and motivate young Scottish climbers of all ages and abilities. As well as promoting participation pathways into the sport at all levels. These events could not have taken place without the support of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS), who provided funding to assist with the organisational and operational costs of running these events. They also assisted with the expenses cost of volunteers assisting on these days.

This continued commitment from the MCofS to supporting Youth Climbing within Scotland is very much appreciated by all of the kids, parents and volunteers, who benefit. As a coach, instructor and volunteer, who gains a lot from being involved in such initiatives, I believe that the level of enthusiasm and standard of climbing on display from young climbers in our country is truly inspiring. The MCofS is largely responsible for helping these young climbers through providing a network of support (i.e. coaching, competition, outdoor/indoor instruction and information).

2009 Mountaineering Council of Scotland Youth Development Event Details

Event 1 – Young Climbers Introduction to On-sighting (26.04.09)



Aims of Event
- To offer coaching and assistance to young climbers, who want to develop their route reading and on-sight climbing skills.
- To create more awareness of the sport & generate interest in what can be achieved in climbing.
- To show current pathways in place to assist young people in becoming more active within climbing

This day was a huge success with 3 separate work shops taking place aimed at supporting climbers from entry climber level, through to national competition climber.

The day started with a 4 hour mock competition for Scottish Based British Team members and young Scottish climbers on the MCofS Scottish Climbing Team. These talented climbers spent time practising the skills required for route mapping and putting this knowledge into practise on the wall. As a coach, it was truly humbling to watch the standard of young climber Scotland has to offer at the moment.

The afternoon activities were split into two separate sessions with British/Scottish Team members staying back to provide coached sessions on route reading to Youth Climbing Series climbers and Quick-draw volunteers offering introduction to climbing sessions to beginners.

Every climber to attend the event was given information about ways in which they can access outdoor climbing sessions, through initiatives like ‘MCofS Real Rock’ and
‘Adventure Edinburgh’.

Event 2 – Young Climber’s Introduction Demonstrations & Flash Based Climbing in Competitions (14.06.09)



Aims of Event
- To help prepare young Scottish climbers for this years 2009 Youth Climbing Series finals.
- To create more awareness in the activity and generate interest in what can be achieved within the sport.
- To show current pathways in place to assist young people in becoming more active within climbing.

This was a great day for every one who attended. Again the days activities were split into three workshops catering for complete beginners, Youth Climbing Series Climbers and National Competition level climbers!

The day started with a Mock Youth Climbing Series(YCS) competition for all of the young Scottish climbers representing their region at this years’ final. This event was also attended by various other YCS competitors from throughout Britain that wanted to test their skills against the Scottish youth! British Junior team members were on hand to offer tips and advice on competing to all of the youngsters.

The afternoon consisted of two sessions; with British & Scottish junior team members taking part in a workshop looking at gaining helpful information from watching route demonstrations. Top British competition climber- Alan Cassidy was on hand to demonstrate the routes and also offer tips on watching and learning from demos.

The mobile climbing Tower was also on hand throughout the afternoon to offer complete beginners the chance to try climbing. These future young climbers were also given the opportunity to observe the top level competition climbers in action and draw inspiration from what can be achieved in the sport!

Again every climber to attend the event was given information about ways in which they can access outdoor climbing sessions, through initiatives like ‘MCofS Real Rock’ and ‘Adventure Edinburgh’.

Event 3 – Introduction to Climbing – Summer School (04.07.09)



Aims of event
- To offer a full day of free climbing activities, aimed at introducing young people to the joys of climbing.
- To increase awareness of pathways into the sport through indoor climbing centres, Adventure Edinburgh and MCofS.

This event consisted of 3 climbing based workshops aimed at introducing novice climbers to bouldering, top roping and abseiling. These sessions were ran by EICA instructors and MCofS volunteers. Resident British Team Member Ross Kirkland was also on hand to offer encouragement and top tips to the kids throughout. The 30 youngsters that attended the event were also given the opportunity to attend a lecture & video by Pamela Miller on ‘Life beyond the Climbing Wall’.

Every new climber also received a goodie bag stuffed full of free gifts and information on climbing walls throughout Scotland, coaching programs at Glasgow climbing Centre, EICA: Ratho, Alien Rock, Extreme Dream, Avertical World and Inverness Climbing Centre, as well as initiatives such as Adventure Edinburgh and MCofS Real Rock sessions.

Event 4 –European Youth Series (EYS) Preparation Event (06.09.09)



Aims of event
- To prepare British competitors for the Edinburgh EYC. This takes place on 19th 20th September 2009.
- To create more awareness of competition sport climbing and generate interest in what can be achieved in the activity at international level.

This event was attended by all 34 British Team members representing the United Kingdom in this year Edinburgh Leg of the European Youth Series. MCofS and British Team coaches were on hand to run workshops on warming up within competition, dealing with isolation, watching demonstrations, route mapping and preparing your self mentally & physically. The event also consisted of a mock run through of an EYS, providing the competitors with valuable competition experience and time on the new competition wall at EICA:Ratho. Hopefully this day has played a part in helping our country’s young climbing super stars for their big day.

Running in conjunction with this event were reduced cost mobile tower slots and introduction to climbing sessions, ran by MCofS volunteers. New climbers were also provided with information packs and encouraged to watch the top British climbers in action throughout the day.


All of these events have been great fun for the 100’s of young climbers and numerous volunteers involved! Hopefully some valuable tips, advice and motivation has been passed on along the way too! Again a massive thanks has to be made to the Mountaineering Council of Scotland for making these events possible!

footwork tips

The first and must important part of achieving good climbing technique is learning to use our feet effectively. We hear lots of people saying certain climbers have good footwork, but what does it actually mean?

In my opinion the two most important factors of good footwork are;
1.) Being able to place your feet quickly and precisely.
2.) Being able to transfer your weight over your feet.

1.) Be quick and precise:
When we are placing our feet we should be aiming to use the front of our rock boot as much as possible. This means the inside edge, outside edge and the front point! This allows us to be precise with our foot placements when standing on smaller holds, allows us to twist and turn when climbing by simply pivoting on our feet, and minimises the chance of our feet slipping off.
Using this part of our feet also allows us to gain more force and height from the foot placement. Think about how your foot works when jumping, you flex your feet and push off from your toes. Its the same principle when flexing your foot to stretch for a distant climbing hold or flexing your foot when powering up for that dyno! Obviously, we also have to learn when it is appropriate to heel hook or toe hook (usually of very steep ground), but the majority of foot placements should be made as above.

How do we improve this?
It may sound simple, but looking at your feet when you place them helps. Make a conscious effort to look at the foot hold, and place your foot exactly where you are looking. If you are clumping around with your feet, banging them off the wall each time you place them or hoping about on a foot hold to readjust, you are wasting valuable energy when you climb. The easiest way I have found to practise this is to think really hard about it when you are climbing easy warm up climbs, slow down and really concentrate on placing your feet quietly in control. As you improve at this, begin to attempt climbing these routes quicker, but still be precise and controlled with your feet placements. Over time this will improve your footwork on all of your climbs. Another training tip I have for improving this is to attempt climbing boulder problems in the EICA: Ratho arena using features only for feet. This will help you learn how to trust standing on small holds, it will help you improve your judgement with foothold selection and it will also help build up core strength as keeping your feet on small holds when climbing steeper problems requires a lot of body tension!.

2.) Transferring your weight over your feet:
Spend time during your next session watching a really good climber on a route up our main lead wall. As they move up the wall you will see them transfer their body from side to side or twist their whole body each time they reach for a hold! The climber is doing this so that they can move their weight over the foot that they are pushing off, thus moving in the most efficient way. If your weight is over your foot when you push up on it, you use far less pulling energy in your arms! A really good climber to observe doing this is Nat Berry, as she is phenomenal at this technique in climbing. Her amazing level of flexibility in her hips, allows her to transfer her weight over any foothold regardless of how awkwardly placed they are!

How do we improve this? This is a really important skill to master, as the whole point of good technique is 'minimising the amount of energy used in our arms' ! The less energy we use in our arms, the longer we can climb on a route before we get tired. Learning to transfer our weight over our feet makes us more efficient at how we use our feet and reduces the strain on our arms, thus making us more technical climbers.
The best way I have found to practise this technique is to spend time on the slab areas in the wall. Practice climbing the routes with one hand, but really concentrate on getting the upward motion from your legs!. If you have to pull with your hand to make a move, stop and think about your feet and body position, then try again. Once you have mastered this, make things harder for yourself by attempting these climbs with no hands. You can place your hands flat against the wall, but you are not allowed to touch any of the holds. It is impossible to achieve this without transferring your weight over your feet!

Finally start experimenting with how we can use twisting to help us transfer our weight over our feet. Again use the slab area to begin with. Force yourself to only use the outside edge of your climbing shoe, in order to do this you will have to twist your whole body round each time you stand up on a foot. An easy way to think about it is to say to yourself - 'if I am standing up on my right foot I have to twist to face left, if i am standing up on my left foot I have to twist to face the right'!

Spend a bit of time each session concentrating on practising good footwork and you will become very good at using your feet. Remember, there is more to being good at climbing than just getting fitter and stronger! If we don't move well when we are climbing we are not going to climb to our full potential!

Warm up guidelines

Hi guys, Recently I have been very impressed to see that many of the BRYCS kids have been making the effort to come in and put some additional training in away from the club. This is awsome, as climbing more than 1 day a week is only gonna help your over all development as climbers. Just thought I would use this forum to offer some basic tips on training that might help you on your way to rock stardom.

Tip number 1: WARMING UP AND WARMING DOWN!

This is the single most important thing to get right with your training, as failure to do it correctly may result in poor performance, longer recovery time between sessions or even worse injury! Remember kiddies if you can touch your toes, how are you gonna tie your rock boots up? Just ask Billy boy, he has been forced to climb in slippers for years coz he didn't stretch as kiddie!


Warming up is not something you should rush, it takes me between 25 and 30 minutes to warm up properly before I train. I ease my self in gently and concentrate on slowly getting my body and brain prepared for what it is going to be doing when I climb. Coming in and jumping straight on to a steep boulder is a bad plan of action and may result in your head exploding (OK that's a bit of an fib, but it could result in strained fingers or other climbing related injuries).

Three important stages of warming up;
1. Cardio Vascular- Before you do anything, you have to raise your heart rate. It is important that you get the blood pumping round you muscles and also warm up your body. You don't have to run a half marathon, but running round the arena a few times or running up and down the stairs a few times would be a good idea.

2. Climbing Specific- This stage should involve super easy climbing and it serves the purpose of warming up all of the exact climbing muscles you are gonna be using. It also gets your brain working and ready to climb. The key is to ensure that the climbing you do here is super EASY. Traversing the bottom of the lead or top rope wall is a perfect way to do this. Another good tip is to concentrate on your technique and footwork during this stage. Thinking hard about transferring your weight over footholds and being very precise with your feet. If you start a session concentrating on climbing well, then you are more likely to continue this throughout the rest of your session.

3. Flexibility - Stretching and basic mobility exercises are the third and final part of the 3 main warm up stages. You all know lots of good climbing related stretches. Think about every different part of your body you use to climb and do an exercise for it. If you are stretching, try to hold each stretch for at least 10 seconds. It is also worth including some mobility exercises like arm swings, leg kicks, jumping and hopping on the spot etc. These will help warm up your joints and muscles through a full range of movements. Remember guys flexibility is a huge part of being a top climber, so stretching is an important part of your training!

These stages are written in this order for a reason. You should try and avoid stretching or working flexibility before you have raised your heart rate or carried out some easy climbing. Stretching when your muscles/joints are still cold increases chance of hurting yourself when you are doing it. Finally, you have to note that the warm up doesn't stop there! you have to then gradually ease yourself into routes or bouldering. Don't just jump straight on a 7a or a grade 6 boulder problem. Start on a 4+ then work up to your 7a attempt.

WARMING DOWN is just as important as warming up, but it doesn't take quite as long. I spend 5 minutes doing easy boulder problems, traversing or very easy routes. I then finish off carrying out the same stretching routine I carried out for the warm up. Making the effort to warm down will help your body wind down after a session and will speed up the time it takes your muscles to recover after a session.

Hope this helps and keep up the hard work guys!

Profile of a Youth Climbing Series Champion.

How long have you been climbing for?
I joined Rocksters in November 2007, but started seriously when I joined BRYCS February 2008.

How did you start climbing?
My mum’s friend Cicci took me climbing and I was apparently really good so I kept going once a week to Rocksters.

Where do you train? EICA Ratho

You were a gymnast before you started climbing, do you think this helped you?
Yes it’s made me more flexible and also helped me with some balancing skills.

What is the YCS?
Youth Climbing Series, it’s a climbing competition for children age 8 to 16.

Who should try the YCS?
Anyone who thinks they would do well or even enjoy it.

You were the 2009 YCS British Champion, how did you prepare in terms of training for this competition?
I went climbing 4 times a week and focused on the type of climbing I expected to be in the competition and built up my strength, I also ate healthily in order to give me more strength.

What is the hardest thing about dealing with climbing competitions?
Probably the fact that you’re not sure how good people are going to do, and possibly the fact that your competitors are watching you all the time.

Have you ever climbed outdoors? Where?
Yes I’ve been to Malham cove in York, Rosyth quarry just outside of Edinburgh and others places with the Quickdraw Climbing Club. I also climbed in Krabi (Thailand) this year as part of our summer holiday.

How does this compare to climbing in doors?
It’s different and can be more technical because it’s not as easy to plan your route.

What future ambitions do you have within the sport?
I would like to make it on to the British team, compete in the Europeans and hopefully the Worlds in 2010.

Do you have any tips for other young climbers that want to improve and do well in competitions?
Focus on doing well yourself and not how others are doing. Don’t be afraid to go for competitions and have fun.

Adam Hughes account of Italy/Austria Road Trip

Climbers:
Adam ‘Begbie’ Hughes (Hughes Mountaineering)
Neil ‘Geek’ McGeachy (EICA: Ratho)
Jonathan ‘Weegie’ Stocking (British / Scottish Junior climbing Team)


After a conversation with Neil near the end of the winter season about the climbing he has been missing out on by sports climbing and cragging mainly in Britain, we got talking about the dolomites. By the time we had finished we were checking rotas, and had an objective, the Brandler-Hasse on the Cima Grande. At an apparent E5 (7a+) and one of the most sort after routes in the Alps, it was going to be good. After a few weeks talking about the trip we thought that it would be a good opportunity for Johnny to experience something different. Secretly, it was nice to have another rope gun along. This would be the first alpine experience for both of them, and what a place to start. So, the team was set, the goal an exciting and challenging one and training about to start.

Being the weakest link in the trio I was keen to get as fit as possible after a good winter season. Things started well, straight back on E3 to get the head back in gear and ticking 7b+ as the first sport route of the season. I couldn’t have hoped for a better start. Then at the beginning of April I hurt my back very badly. After going through the usual ‘it will be ok in a couple of days’ process it was clear it was going to be a little longer. Long story short, 4 months later, only 10 days cragging under my belt, we where in the Dolomites. Good job the other two are fit.





After driving for two days we decided to get the muscles moving on an easy route and see how we were climbing together as a three. We chose the South Face (Cassin Route) VII- (E2) on the Cima Picola. This is a short route at 300m with some good climbing and excellent situations. The perfect warm up and one I would recommend to people who are thinking of climbing in the Dolomites. All went well, as we moved quickly up the route with only a little bit of grip at the loose bold sections. Even the decent went well with only one minor rope jam in the 6 or so abseils down the rubble filled chimney, Result. Once we had packed the kit away we headed over the shoulder to have a look at the Cima Grande North face. It was just as big as I remembered from my last trip here, and from the look on Neil and Johnny’s faces it was a lot bigger than they had thought. With nervous excitement we were psyched to return tomorrow.




Thursday morning saw a 4 am start and an excited walk around to the route. We were the first people there and got started straight away. We had a mix of topos that I had found on the tinterweb, all of which where not overly clear about the starting two pitches. I started and thought that I had linked the first two pitches and belayed below a good looking pitch, pretty happy to be on the move. The others came up quickly and Neil took over for the next stint. After another pitch and a half the climbing was suddenly much harder than it should have been. Even after mine and Johnny’s helpful comments to push on and man up, Neil was back at the belay. It appeared that we had wandered onto the Super Directissima. A little harder than planned at E7. A quick retreat and a rather bitty chat with another Italian climber and we had the right direction, over there! Very helpful. We headed over there but things still didn’t go to plan. So we bailed, with the view of coming back tomorrow and going the right way, simples.

A less enthusiastic 4 am start and an even less enthusiastic walk back to the route saw us ready to start again. We all felt a little pressure to get up the route and this made things a bit more focused. Armed with a better sense of direction I ran up the first pitch. The second pitch involved easy but bold climbing that went sideways, down, then up. No wonder we got lost. After this things became a lot more obvious. We made very good time, block leading and climbed at the same time as two seconds. After what seemed like a very long E5 already, we arrived at the crux section. Johnny did a sterling effort linking a solid 6b pitch into the first 7a pitch. After some hard sustained climbing he ran out of quick draws short of the belay. This gave us all an atmospheric hanging stance. I took over and did a short section to get us to the main, better belay. From here Neil went into over drive, leading the next three hard pitches. A truly inspiring thing to watch as he power screamed his way though some extremely tiring sections. Things eased off after this but tiredness and frustration at the never ending final sections





caused some entertaining mood swings. I earned my keep on the last five or so pitches which took in some bold and less solid climbing to take us to the top. With not much daylight left, cloud coming in fast, we needing to descend quickly. This proved to be a bit difficult. It appeared that only one of us had remembered to bring a head torch. We managed to descend the abseils with the help of a French couple, but with no head torches the down climb sections were too dangerous. This was the first time I have been benighted, and hopefully the last. After a very long and cold night with much manly hugging to keep warm, the light came back and we could pick our way down the descent. By 7am we had made it back to the car and could finally get some food, but what an experience.





After a rest day and some fishing we decided to leave Italy and head to Austria. Johnny has the world cup coming up and needs to do some hard sports climbing to train. He had heard about a valley called Zillertal near Innsbruck, so off we went. It was a Sunday when we drove over, thinking that this popular tourist valley would have many tourist info office to help point us in the right direction. NO! It would appear that they don’t do Sunday. After driving around for about three hours looking for crags in this Austrian Mecca of granite sports climbing we decided that another rest day was not the worst thing. Next day we had more luck at the tourist info, but no luck at the climbing shop. Looking through the window we could see all the guide books on the desk, but the shop only opens 3pm to 6pm (what is that all about). More frustration and pastries later, we were 30 euros down but new where we headed. I have forgotten to mention that it also appears to rain all the time in Zillertal. So, having found some steep looking crags in Ginzling, we finally got on some rock. The climbing was awesome. Due to everywhere being mostly wet, even though the weather improved as the week went on we climbing in Ginzling the whole time. This was no bad thing. There are many sectors, but we where based in the Bergstation. Sector By The Way provided some good routes to warm up on, as well as breaking up the trudge up the hill to sector Sterne. Despite the climbing being very burly and bouldery, we all enjoyed it. Johnny flashed a hard 7c I was working and made very short work of his first 8a+. Neil made a quick ascent of 7c and worked a number of harder climbs. I even managed to on sight a hard 7a+, which felt like something special after the preparation I hadn’t had for the trip. The final day climbing before the drive back saw us doing a little bouldering. With no mats and some bad landing we didn’t push things out. It only when you climb on the boulders you can see how this would help on the routes, a good way to get used to the rock and climbing style.















Overall, a successful trip with some excellent climbing in fantastic setting. Defiantly recommended.

Thanks to my sponsors Edelrid for great kit.
Jonny would also like to thank his sponsors Metolius, Evolv & Prana. He would also like to thank the MCofS & Birnie Trust for financial support towards the trip!

Comp Report from Alan Cassidy

Scotland's young climbers' training seems to be paying off at both the British bouldering and leading championships. All the young Scots put in great performances on the day with some very positive climbing and showing of the talent that lies in abundance these days north of the border.


Nat Berry made the smooth transition from Junior to Senior taking the BLCC crown at Ratho with consumate ease. Mutant only just describes Jonny Stocking who did the deed in the junior males at both the BLCC at Ratho and the BBC in Sheffield. He was joined on the podium by another young Johnny, Jonathan Field this time who's training paid off with a fabulous 2nd place in Sheffield and was only denied 3rd place on the BLCC podium by the presence of a foreign vistor in the form of Israeli climber Alon Gurman who took 2nd place.



There is great strength in depth in the junior field with the list. Ellen McCaskill took 4th and 6th at Ratho and Sheffeild respectively and was joined in the Ratho final by an up-and-coming name; Eleanor Hopkins, a strong tip to take on the mantle of Nat Berry in the future. After less than a year of starting to lead climb she grabbed 6th place. By all accounts both competitions had great showings from all the other Scottish juniors.


In the seniors Ross Kirkland’s battle with qualifying route 2 was great to watch and as young climber continuing to improve the future is getting brighter in the senior competition too. As for the more senior seniors, Roddy Mackenzie put a few demons to rest and got into a well deserved final at Sheffield where he finished 6th and Alan Cassidy surprised himself and many others with his 4th place at Ratho
And for those who say "but what have they done outdoors?" the answer is quite a lot really! The highlights (but by no means the only things going on) belong again to Mr Stocking; flashing 8a with Mussel Beach at LPT and working his way through the trad. Onsighting E5 is a doddle E6 has been ticked and the Brandler-Hasse is in the pipeline...the future is in safe hands.



Comp report from - Alan Cassidy British Team Member
Alans sponsors include- Pod Sacs, Metolius & Evolv.

Brandler - Hasse Training

Jonny Stocking, Adam Hughes and myself are about to set off on a Dolomites adventure, with the aim of ticking the classic 17 pitch E5 'The Brandler Hasse Route' on the Cima Grande. This jaw droping line follows a steep crack and corner system up an amaizing lime stone pillar and was first freed by German rock star - Kurt Albert in 1987. It was also famously solo'd by Alex Huber in 2002. We will most definitely be using ropes on our attempt as I tend to turn to jelly on the shortest of high ball boulder problems without a rope.

Adam has already climbed the 'Comica Route' on the same face, but Jonny and my exeprience of big rock routes only goes as far as trips to Gogarth and Mingualy. Not quite on the same scale! Because of this lack of experience, Jonny and myself decided that we needed to put in some extra training preperation for the big trip. With this in mind we headed to the classic North East sea cliff venue of Earnshaugh. This is a rather esotoric crag, that on first apearances looks as though it is about to fall down. Thankfully the rock quality is much better than first appearances might suggest and the crag offers a number of quality single and multi pitch lines in a steep and atmosheric setting.

We had decided that we were going to practice functioning at a level similar to that of Brandler Hasse Route in as quick and efficient a manner as we could. So we set our self the target of trying to climb the 3 classic 3 pitch E5 lines of the crag. As we hadn't arrived at the venue until after 3pm we both agreed that even if we were tired or we were running out of light, we would still ab in and attempt to climb all three in the one evening, or deal with the situation if we could not.


We started off with probably the most tried of the routes at the crag - Necromancer E5 5c, 6a, 5b. This is probably the least steep of the 3 routes and after a steep 5c Jamming pitch, you are faced with some rather thin 6a climbing on a sea grass covered slab. After a bit of scetching and flailing around the crux we soon found our selves sitting at the top of the crag avoiding the temptation to chill out in the sun and jumping straight back on the abseil.

Jonny had his sights on his first E5 onsight. He was determined to attempt the crux pitch of 'Prehistoric Monster'. A steep thuggy and yet technical 6a pitch with a huge amount of exposure. Quite a pitch to jump on for your first E5 onsight attempt! Things started of smoothly as I lead up the initial 5b pitch and began to bring jonny up on second. However, as he reached the belay it became apparent that he had left the guide book at the base of the crag. I then lowered him back to the base to retrieve it before attempting the crux pitch. Again Jonny climbed the first pitch, this time with the guide book in hand and proceeded to psyche him self up for the E5 onsight attempt. He was looking very focussed and geared up with speed, deperate to get the attempt underway. He then chalked up and prepaered himself to get stuck in. This build up was cut short by his useless belayer (myself), managing to drop one of his rock boots from the stance. A stupid mistake that would have much greater consequencies in Italy! A rather fed up jonny, lowered off again to collect the rock boot and climb the first pitch for a 3rd time. Finally he was ready to set off on his pitch. As always with Jonny, this went smoothly and he made the pitch look more like V diff than E5, and we soon found our selves sitting at the top of the crag, trying to avoid temptation to chill out.

As the light was starting to run out, it seemed to take a lot more motivation to ab straight back in this time. Yet back down we went and headed for the final of the 3 star classics 'Thugasaurus'. After Jonny climbing the first pitch, which was the same as the last one, for the 4th time today-sorry dude! I set of on the middle 6a pitch which lead to awesome steep juggy sustained climbing through a series of roofs and corners. Then Jonny quickly dispatched a steep technical fingery 6a pitch too finish. We finally got our chance to chill out at the top of the crag.

No sooner than we had pulled up the ab rope, the realisation started to dawn that we had only climbed 9 pitches similar to the difficulties expected on the Brandler Hasse and we were both Knackered. Add another 8 much longer pitches to the equation and I dont even want to imagine how we will feel. After a short conversation it was decided that another Italy training trip was in order and we both agreed it was agood idea to head to Gogarth within the next fortnight! Bring it on!

The Old Man Of Stoer

On Saturday Ruairidh MacKenzie took a group of 6 kids & 6 adult belayers (all who have climbed outdoors with him before) to the Old Man Of Stoer, the trip had been an idea of Ruairidh's for a couple of years.

We all arrived on Friday night and camped at the lighthouse leaving at 10.30 on Saturday morning for the hour walk to The Old Man of Stoer.

If we had listened to the weather forecast the trip would not have gone ahead but Ruairidh assured us that all would be fine and sure enough we could not have had better weather.

low tide was at 12:10 and all the kids were geared up and abseiling down to the ledge to wait for the other 7 climbers already on The Old Man to have their climb before they crossed on a tyrolean.

All 6 kids made it look easy and were all up standing on the top for a group photo before the long abseil back down, scramble back up the cliff and back to the tents for much earned food and celebrations!!

Scottish Youth Climbing Championships 2009
- Results

A massive thanks to all the competitors and thier families/tag-alongs for making the SYCC09 go with such a bang! The standard of youth climbing is phenomenal in Scotland at the moment, and all of the kids who competed should be proud of themselves. Scott and I were tweaking final routes til 1 in the morning trying to account for the raise in standards but they still weren 't hard enough! Please note that all SYCC09 competitors automatically qualify for the Scottish Youth Bouldering Championships, and will recieve invites once a date has been confirmed, probably in the autumn. It looks like another exciting year in prospect with funds secured through the MCofS for further youth development thanks to the working group and its parents. Scott will keep you all posted with more news of this soon.

Without further ado:

8-10 girls

1st Rachel Tennant
2nd Rebecca Kinghorn
3rd Elle Hogarth
4th Amy Ryan
5th Gabriella Stewart
6th Kirsten Taylor
7th Rosie Slater
8th Keri Maclennan

8-10 boys

1st Stephen Dent
2nd Scott Robertson
3rd Jamie Blair
4th Robert Davidson
5th Rory Cargill
6th Henry Kerr
7th Alasdair Darroch
8th George Kerr

11-13 girls

1st Nikki Addison
2nd Rachel Carr
3rd Dawn Longworth
4th Rebecca Drummond
5th Lyndsey Forsyth
6th Sofie Hvide
7th Ishbel Henderson
8th Megan Saunders

11-13 boys

1st Dylan Mackenzie
2nd Angus Davidson
3rd Ruaridh MacAskill
4th Alexander Bosi
5th Jamie Peden
6th Euan King
7th William Bosi
8th Scott Donaldson
9th Joseph MacInnes-Hall

14-16 girls

1st Jaime Davidson
2nd Ellen MacAskill
3rd Abby Niven
4th Christie Macleod
5th Ashley Lawrie
6th Abigail Blunt
7th Ellen Barber
8th Sarah Wardrope
9th Jessie Smith
10th Abi Beautyman

14-16 boys

1st Paul Williamson
2nd Steven Addison
3rd Callum Irvine
4th Alasdair Johnstone
5th Rhys Maslen
6th Calum Forsyth
7th Sam Leakey
8th Scott Grosdanoff
9th Jamie Drummond
10th Andrew Barr

Thanks again from all at Extreme Dream, and hope to see you all pulling hard at the wall, or the crag soon.

Al @Extreme Dream

Youth Climbing Series Final - Preperation Event

Have you qualified for this years YCS final? Or did you miss out and would like to gain valuable experience before next years series? If the answer is yes to either of them, get booked on to the MCofS/EICA/Quickdraw YCS Preperation Event. This day long coaching event will consist of lectures and workshops from Scottish & British Team coaches looking at how we get the most from our climbing in YCS finals. There will also be various British Team kids on hand to offer tips and encouragement throughout the day. There will also be a fun 'Mock' YCS comp on the day, with comp style routes and boulders set to test your skills against. Thus, giving you all valuable experience of competing before the big day arrives. If you want to perform well in the YCS, make sure you dont miss this event!

Date: 14.06.09
Time: 10am - 4pm
Cost: ITS COMPLETELY FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! (thanks to the MCofS, Quickdraw Club and EICA for funding it!)

Booking: Advanced booking only on 0131 333 6333. Or at desk in Ratho. (Limited to 30 slots, first come first served basis!)

Extreme Real Rock Trip

On the 16th and 17th May EICA: Ratho coaches Neil McGeachy and Neill Busby ran a trip to the sport climbing Mecca of Malham Cove for Scotland South British/Scottish Junior Team members. For all of the kids, this was their first trip to a crag notorious for fiercely technical routes that are almost always hard for the grade!


Over the two days the young climbers tested footwork and route reading skills on a selection of routes and after a bit of time adjusting to the new challenges of climbing outdoors, they soon started ticking of some of the classics the crag has to offer.

Rachel Carr made a highly impressive sport climbing debut , managing to on-sight 'Begozzi and the Ledge Lizzards' 6A+ as well as top roping a selection of 6C's and 7A's. Callum Forsyth also made an impressive start to his sport climbing career, by top roping a selection of classic routes from 7A - 7B. Eleanor Hopkins was on fire as always making swift work of red-pointing 'Frankenstein' 7A+/B, as well as top roping a selection of other 7A & 7A+'s. Jonny Field carried on from a successful debut season to outdoor sport climbing last year, with numerous on sights of 7A+'s & 7B's including 'Yosemite Wall', '7th Aardvark' and 'Something Stupid'.

As a climber and coach, I was truly blown away by how easily the young climbers transferred their indoor climbing skills to real rock with such ease. Especially at a Crag as technical as Malham Cove!

European Youth Climbing Series - Selection Day

European Youth Series (EYS) - Selection Day

The 19th & 20th of September will see EICA: Ratho hold their first ever round of the European Youth Climbing Series. This event will bring together the top junior climbers from all over Europe to test their skills on EICA's world class new Competition Wall - 'The Hanger Wall'.

As host nation for the event, the British Junior Climbing Team are allowed to enter 6 competitors in each of the six categories. Normally there are nowhere near this number of junior climbers on the British Climbing Team, therefore action was taken to hold a selection event to highlight the best 36 young climbers in the country. The EYS Selection day was held at EICA: Ratho on Saturday the 9th of May and saw over 70 of the country's most promising competition climbers descend on Edinburgh with the dream of gaining a chance to represent their country on the international stage.

The event consisted of 2 qualifying routes for each category, with the top 10 placed climbers progressing to the final. A selection of British Team coaches were also on hand to study the form and skills of the climbers on the day, to ensure all possible information was collected with regards to finding the best young climbers for the job. As usual, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland - Scottish Climbing Team rose to the occasion and showed some tremendous displays of strength and determination that lead to some very impressive results for the Scottish climbers.

Once again Scotland has shown at a national event that their youth climbers at right at the forefront of competition climbing. Congratulations to all who took part and good luck in the forthcoming British Championships and in September at the Edinburgh EYS! Also a big thank you has to be made to Edinburgh Leisure who once again assisted with route setting and made the EICA: Ratho climbing arena available for the event free of charge. Their continued support along with that of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland is currently helping Scottish youth climbing progress to exciting new levels within the sport.

Results for Scottish Kids:
Youth C (Year of birth - 1996/1997) This category are too young for EYS and were there to gain valuable experience!
Female
1st Eleanor Hopkins
2nd Nikki Addison
3rd Rachel Carr

Male
3rd Dylan MacKenzie

Youth B (Year of birth - 1994/1995)
Female
4th Jaime Davidson*
11th Ellen Barber
14th Christie Macloed

Male
4th Alisdair Johnstone
6th Stephen Addison

Youth A (Year of birth - 1992/1993)
Female
4th Ellen Macaskill*
5th Jessica McCaskey*
6th Jasmine Ryan
11th Abbey Niven

Male
1st Jonathan Stocking*
2nd Ross Kirkland*
4th Paul Williamson
6th Jonathan Field
11th Callum Forsyth
12th Liam Watson

Juniors (Year of Birth - 1990/1991)
Male
1st Robbie Philips*
3rd Connor Robertson
4th Jaimie Barron

* Climbers who have gained a place on the British Team for September's EYS. The other climbers will be assessed again on their performance in July's British Climbing Championships.

Spain limestone trip

I have just returned from a trip to Terradetts in the north of Spain with ex BRYCS/YCS climbers Greg Boswell, Ally Swinton and Jonny Stocking. Although the weather was not the best, 2 weeks of solid rain and snow! some pretty radical ticks were achieved by the squad!

Terradets is a huge single pitch limestone fault with almost 50 top class 30m+ sport routes ranging from French 7a - French 8c+. The routes either follow never ending Tuffa systems up the steadily overhanging left hand end of the crag, or they force their way powerfully through the massive cave and overhanging sector at the right hand end of the crag. The variety of terain and style of route at this crag makes it the perfect destination to both push your on-sight climbing and get stuck into a project or two on the same trip.

We were given the guided tour to the crag from ex EICA: Ratho BRYCS coach & world class sport climber Tom Bolger. It was pretty phenominal watching him dispatch 8a onsight after 8a onsight and come very close to ticking another French 8c+ through the steepest cave I have ever seen. The only thing preventing the chain being ticked being an absolutely soaking head wall for the whole 2 weeks we were out there.

The Scottish kids were on fire as usual and despite constantly being frustrated by wet tuffas and swamp like approaches to the crag, every one mannaged to push their sport climbing grade. Fife climber Greg Boswell mannaged to build on a quick early season tick of Hammish Teddies and red pointed his first ever French 7c 'Avant Max'. He also came agonisingly close to ticking his first French 7C+, falling off the last move on his last repoint attempt on the last day of the trip.

Fellow fife climber Ali Swinton also had a productive trip, ticking his first 7c+ redpoint on 'Energy Posativa' and coming very close to ticking 8a on the trip also.

Finally Johny Stocking was on fire as always, nipping out after blowing away the competition at the Leading Ladder Finals. Johny spent the trip making light work of everything he tried being stopped only by wet rock from ticking his first 8b. He also made a very impressive flash of 'Primera Linea' French 8a. I wonder if 16 years is the youngest Scottish onsight or flash of French 8a!

All in all it was a good trip and every one made the best out of bad conditions. If you want to check out photos or read more about the trip chech ot Greg's blog on;

http://www.gregboswell.blogspot.com/

EICA: Ratho / Mountaineering Council of Scotland - Introduction to Onsighting Event 26/04/09

Hi Everyone,
Just reminding everyone that there is a youth development event at EICA: Ratho on 26th Apri. This event is open to all climbers from YCS level - through to British Team level climbers. The day will consist of lots of onsight/comp practice on a range of new comp style routes set specifically for the day. The day will be split in to 2 halves with British Team Climbers (& invited guests) attending a workshop from 10 am - 2 pm, where they will have a range of national competition style routes to test their skills against on our new Hanger Comp Wall. YCS level kids are welcome to attend this session as spectators and draw inspiration from watching our country's best competition climbers in action.

The 2pm afternoon session will be open to any climber, who has entered this years YCS series. It will consist of a 4 hour workshop with coaching tips on onsight and competition tactics. Plus there will be a range of YCS Comp style routes to test your skills against throughout the afternoon. There will be British/Scottish Team Coaches and British/Scottish Team members on hand to offer top tips and encouragement throughout the afternoon. Please book on to this through phoning 0131 333 6333 it is completely FREEEEEEEEEEEE of charge, so don't miss it. I know it is the day after the YCS, but it will be well worth making the effort to attend!

If you have any other questions, contact me at neilmcgeachy_1@hotmail.com

2009 YCS Round 2

The second round of the YCS was held on Saturday at Inverness Leisure Climbing Wall for the North of Scotland kids and at Avertical Wall, Dundee for the south Scotland kids.

The full results can be found on the MCofS website or here:

There is also a few photos uploaded to Picass web albums, they can be accessed here:

I apploigise for maybe not getting photos of all the kids.

2009 1st Round YCS Series

The first round of the 2009 YCS series of regional competitions were held at Transition Extreme in Aberdeen for the competitiors in the north of Scotland & at EICA Edinburgh for those in the south of Scotland.
The full results can be found here:
And on the MCofS site here:

There will be a link and photos posted on this blog asap.

Scottish Youth Bouldering Championships 2009 Results

Boys 8-10

1. Angus Davidson
2. William Bosi
3. Rory Cargill
4. Jamie Pedan / Robert Davidson
5. .
6. Scott Robertson
7. Mikey Burrell
8. Ruaridh Middleton
9. Alisdair Darroch

Girls 8-10

1. Rachel Tennant
2. Gabriella Stewart
3. Rosie Slater

Boys 11-13

1. Dylan MacKenzie
2. Stevie Addison
3. Ruaridh MacAskill
4. Alexander Bosi / Euan King
5. .
6. Murray Peden
7. Daniel Tennant
8. Calum Wylie

Girls 11-13

1. Jaime Davidson
2. Dawn Longworth
3. Eleanor Hopkins
4. Rachael Carr
5. Nikki Addison
6. Christie MacLeod
7. Lyndsey Forsyth
8. Megan Saunders
9. Olivia Stewart

Boys 14-16

1. Calum Forsyth
2. Calum Irvine
3. Alastair Johnstone
4. Liam Watson
5. Gregor MacGillivray
6. Scott Grosdanoff

Girls 14-16

1. Ellen MacAskill
2. Jade Longworth
3. Ellen Barber
4. Hannah Scouller
5. Jessica MacAskey (out injured)

1st Annual Scottish Youth Bouldering Championships

Sunday 8th February @ Extreme Dream Aviemore 11am - 5pm

Scotland's first youth bouldering championships will deliver a national ranking system for young boulderers across the country. A unique open competition featuring 15 qualifying problems on all types of angle and testing all types of climbing style!. Top quality problems and a fantastic atmosphere are guaranteed!.

Competitors will be briefed at 11am and have 4 hours to attempt 15 qualifying problems with just 2 attempts per problem meaning the pressure will be on!.

There will be finals held from 3.30pm until 5.00pm followed by the results and prize giving, The perfect way to kick off the youth competition season. There will be categories 8 - 10 years, 11 - 13 years and 14 - 16 years (as in YCS)

Entry is £15 plus wall entrance (£5).

To book your child's place please e-mail alan@extreme-dream.com or call Alan on 01479 812466

MCofS Youth Climbing Series 2009

MCofS Youth Climbing Series 2009

APPLICATION FORMS NOW AVAILABLE

The YCS09 competitions will start with the first event on the 7th March.
If you are between 7 and 16 years old and have some experience of climbing at indoor climbing walls and would like to have a go at this fun event, have a look at the Competitions page (for full information, venues and dates).
Complete the application forms and send to us here at MCofS.
Note: For the lower age categories (7-10 and 11-13) you need to have been top-roping / bottom-roping climbs and bouldering at any grade to take part, but to compete in the higher age category (14-16) you need to be confident at leading on indoor walls.
You can compete at all three rounds and try and get into the British Final, or simply compete at the event near you and see what its like.

Go on – give it a try, its fun!