The BMC International Meet was a great success despite the ‘Mordor’ like conditions of Llanberis Pass!
The BMC Meet took place in the heart of Llanberis Pass from Sunday 8th to Sunday 15th May 2011 at the Climbers’ Club hut – Ynys Ettws. 69 climbers from 24 different countries attended. 32 of these were our international guests, all of whom had never climbed in North Wales before. Some had never even climbed trad! They were teamed up each day with our UK climbers who took them out and showed them the full North Wales trad climbing experience.
The rain in Llanberis Pass did nothing to dampen the spirits of our keen climbers. Each day teams quested off to find dry rock and were rewarded for their commitment with plenty of dry weather at various venues (full crag list below). Baiba Zale from Latvia who had never climbed a traditional route before led her first E1 (Precious Metal, at Pen Trwyn) on the final day of the Meet. Rehmat Ullah from Pakistan did his first ever rock climb following Elfyn Jones up Hail Bebe (V Diff) at Bwlch y Moch. Shinta Ozawa from Japan climbed Strawberries (E7) ground-up on his third attempt. Benno Wagner and Paul Sass from Germany both steadily onsighted Tonight at Noon (E6 6b) a strenuous Lleyn test piece.
Throughout the week some excellent presentations were given. Jonas Paulsson from Sweden showed a great film called Crackaholic about traditional climbing in Bohuslän, Sweden. A discussion on ‘Bolts, Style & Ethics in World Climbing’ was chaired by Dave Turnbull (BMC CEO) and Pat Littlejohn. Listen to the audio podcast
The event was a great success and the UK host climbers did a sterling job by using their high level rain avoidance tactics. This was matched by the unwavering psyche of the international guests. As one UK climber said “on any other week I’d look at this weather forecast and consider staying in to watch TV, but the motivation of the guests is infectious, we have climbed every day!”
The BMC would like to thank all the UK hosts and the Climbers' Club. Thanks to Mountain Hardwear for providing the tents, sleeping bags, plus some prizes for the final night party. Thanks also to DMM and The North Face for donating prizes. A big thank you goes to Huw, Stefan and their team who worked all hours keeping 70 plus hungry climbers extremely well fed.
Watch the film of the BMC International Meet 2011.
UKC event report & photos
Crags visited
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Gogarth (Main Cliff, Yellow Walls, Holyhead Mountain, Rhoscolyn, North Stack, Upper Tier, Castell Helen)
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Ormes (Pen Trwyn, St Tudno’s)
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Llanberis Pass (Cromlech, Grochan, Carreg Wastad)
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Slate (Vivian, Rainbow, Serengeti)
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Tremadog (Craig Castell, Pant Ifan, Bwlch y Moch)
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Lleyn (Ty’n Towyn, Porth Ysgo, Craig Dorys)
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Ogwen (Idwal Slabs, Tryfan Bach)
Country list
Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, USA, England, Wales and Scotland.
Host & guest comments
“Wow, what a week, this has been very special” Baiba Zale (Latvia)
"It was really wonderful week of good climbing. I’ve learned much about trad climbing and that’s what I like most. Hosts were generous and hospitable. Precious experience" Katarina Manovski (Serbia)
“It was a pleasure to be with everyone and climb together” Jay Hack (USA)
“This Meet will be a memorable moment in my life, thank you” Luis Silva (Portugal)
“Thank you for an awesome week!” Becky Lounds (UK)
“Excellent event, brilliantly put together and great fun” John Carr (UK)
“I loved every minute!” Andi Turner (UK)
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