The BMC Leading Ladder Final took take place on the 24th April 2010 at the Leeds Wall.

the top 10 climbers from each of the age and gender categories in the Improver, Recreational, and Elite groups were invited to the final of the BMC Leading Ladder.

Each finalist had to climb 5 routes over a 6 hour period, the points were added up, and a winner decided in each category.  After a hectic and fun time the results are below after this report from Naomi Buys:

Report from Naomi Buys
"I arrived at the leading ladder final not knowing what to expect as it is the first time I had taken part in this national competition. The day was blessed (or cursed!!) with glorious sunshine but there were lots of competitors milling about in their red t-shirts who had made the effort to be there. I was impressed by how great the kids were at throwing themselves at hard routes - there were power screams, big falls and 100% effort.

There wasn't a great turnout in my own category but it was soon augmented by Zoe who requested an upgrade from the middle group to Elite - she then proceeded to totally outclimb me! There were a couple of routes to choose from at most of the grade levels so we picked the ones that looked to suit us best. The 7a and the 7b went down very easily but we had seen lots of strong guys struggling on the 7c. We made a tactical decision to get as many points as we could on the bouldery 8a and 8b before trying the pumpy looking 7c. Zoe held a hold higher than me on the 8a so I knew I had to give it everything on the 7c. Unfortunately, my stamina deserted me and I fell off at the hold before the bonus. Zoe reached the bonus in fine style to clinch the 2010 Elite women's title. Good for her!

All the categories seemed very closely fought. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top next year. Perhaps I will have to put some extra training in!

Overall, I really enjoyed the day and the whole process of the qualifying rounds too - they really helped my to push myself leading, not being scared or saying "take", just going for the moves. I'm sure this will help a lot with my outdoor route projects. Many thanks to Rob for organising it."

Naomi Buys


Results

Improver Female Under 16
1. Naomi Tilley
2= Natasha Allcock
2= Elissa Bryant

Improver Male  Under 16
1. Connor Byrne
2. Alex Waterhouse
3. James Waterhouse

Improver Female 16+
1. Jacky Tyrie
2= Donna Carless
2= Liz Collyer

Improver Male 16+
1. Mark Young
2. Mark Hilton
3. Ian Hopkins

Recreational Female U16
1 Rachel Carr
2 Charlottle Garden
3 Tara Hayes

Recreational Male U16
1. Will Smith
2. Buster Martin
3= Robin Lloyd
3= Billy Ridal
3= Michael Hopkins
3= Brendan Gallagher

Recreational Female 16+ 
1. Holly Rees
2. Steph Shepherd
3=  Bethan Frugtniet
3=  Alison Cairns
 
Recreational Male 16+
1 Sean Hopkins
2 Mike Bean
3 Ian Bennett

Elite Female U16
Alice Waterhouse

Elite Male U16 
1 Jonny White
2 Thomas Bonnert
3 Edd Mowbray
 
Elite Female 16+
1. Zoe Ogden
2. Naomi Buys
3. Hannah Beresford

Elite Male 16+ 
1. Adam Watson
2. Drew Haigh
3. Eddie Barbour

Complete scores here
 
The BMC would like to thank the Leeds Wall, all those that turned up on the day and made the BMC Leading Ladder Final 2010 such a great day, and especially all the volunteers who enable such events to take place.

Look out for the next BMC Leading Ladder series that will start in the Autumn.

More information about BMC Leading Ladder

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