posted on 31/05/2007

Event: British Bouldering Championships (BBC)

Ryan Pasquill, CWIM. Photo: Messenger.
The British Bouldering Championships (BBC) is the national championships in the UK.
Since it’s inception in 1998 the BBC has gone on to be a very popular event but has also seen some changes. Originally it was a single event, then turned into a series of events but for 2007 it has gone back to a one-off event. But we’ve gone big, with the BBC’07 being part of a much bigger event, Cliff-hanger

But no matter how many rounds there are there are always a few basics that are the same every year. There is always a male & female, senior & junior British Bouldering Champion.

The format and rules for the BBC have been fairly consistent now for many years. The qualification round consists of 10 problems under ‘normal British rules’ i.e. no isolation, 3 attempts on a problem whenever the climber chooses and 10.7 or 4 points dependant upon whether the problem is completed on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd attempt. The one slight difference from normal British rules is that a bonus or tie break point is available for ‘holding’ a specified hold. The finals for the BBC are run on the same rules as World Cups etc. So a set number of problems (5 is the norm in BBC’s) and each climber is given a maximum of 6 minutes to attempt a problem and are allowed as many attempts as they require within that time period. They then have 6 minutes rest before trying the next problem.

The scoring for the finals is, however, significantly different from the qualifiers. There are no points as such. The winner is the one who does the most problems in the least number of attempts. If there is a tie after looking at number of problems then the number of bonus/tie break holds are looked and also the number of attempts to get those bonus holds.

By BMC