Another weekend of amazing action saw strong climbers from all over the country gathered at EICA Ratho in order to battle it out and claim the title of British Lead Climbing Champion and British Speed Climbing Champion.
Qualifiers
Day one of the British Lead Climbing Championship (BLCC) started with all the qualifications for all categories and also the British Speed Climbing Championship (BSCC) qualification runs, all taking place at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena: Ratho .
Each category had two qualification routes, created to test every aspect of the technical ability from the crowd of climbers vying for the title. Trickery and cunning was required, as well as buckets of strength and power, to surmount each climb thanks to the excellent route setting team for 2018: chief setter Yann Genoux, accompanied by Andy Long, Gavin Symonds, Max Ayrton, and Emma Twyford.
The route-setting team had all the necessary tools to create the thrilling test-pieces thanks to Beta Climbing Designs , who supplied enough world-class, next generation crimps, slopers, pockets and jugs to satisfy even the most jaded setter. You name a hold, we had it!
Each climber was tested to the limit of their abilities, and once the chalk had settled the top climbers from each category went through to the finals held on Sunday.
VIDEO
Lead Climbing and Speed Climbing Finals
Sunday morning was buzzing with energy, isolation opened, the tension was electric!
First out to tackle their final routes was the Female Youth C category, who were climbing a sustained and long yellow route, and Male Youth B, who were on a tricky orange number.
Willow claimed the first high point of the day, laying down the gauntlet for the rest of Female Youth C. Several strong performances followed and the high point finally fell to Gwen who claimed top spot on this category.
Male Youth B were on a steep orange route with slopers, dynos and a technical volume section. The athletes made light work of the lower section but many were confounded by the volumes. However, Daniel found a way and went on to complete the route while Alfie tantilisingly came close to the top.
Next out, Male Youth C were on a yellow steep number while Female Youth B had a blue brute of a route to contend with. The girls battled upwards with several strong performances and an almost too-close-to-call moment of who would win the category. In the end Katherine claimed the top spot, with Tilly and Louise nipping at her heels.
The boys headed up a technical yellow number, with crimps, slopey holds and rails. A strong battle ensued between Oscar and Tom, but Jack managed to top the route and take the win.
Not to be outdone by the younger competitors, Female and Male Youth A categories stepped up to the plate. Female Youth A were also on the blue brute and cruised the bottom section, with the first high point claimed by Martha. Emma and Hannah followed in an intense battle where both topped the routes! Fantastic efforts from both but Hannah’s stronger performance in the qualification round saw her take the Youth A title.
Male Youth A were tested on a technical purple number on the right hand arête. Samuel and Stephen put in fine performances, but the cool and collected climbing of Finley saw his way to the top of this route and the win.
Finally, the Seniors and Veterans were waiting in the wings. Alex Waterhouse was on the mic as compere and the wait was over as these powerhouses showed us how it’s all done!
The veterans were climbing the long, technical yellow; strong performances from Koon and Liu saw them claim the women’s and the men’s titles respectively.
Meanwhile, the Male Senior route caused biceps to bulge on fierce undercuts and fingers to bleed on micro crimps. A tough battle ensued between Hamish and Will. Both were agonisingly close to grasping the top hold, but in the end Will claimed the top on count back. Jim Pope claimed the bronze medal. A great watch.
In the Women’s, Emily had the crowd on the edge of their seats when she dropped the second to last hold to claim the first high point. Hannah and Molly came next to battle it out. Both climbed fluidly and swiftly to the top of the route with ease, which meant the title would be decided via count-back. Molly secured the win as she topped both qualification routes.
And if that wasn’t enough, the speed finals started; there were trips, slips, and falls, missed pads and some super close races. What a great end to a weekend of competition! Find the full results of the BLCC 2018 and the BMC Lead Cup 2018 below.
Special thanks:
Must go to everyone that helped create yet another world-class competition amongst Britain's top athletes.
All the volunteers: judges, belayers, bringers of tea
Allan and Scott for running the speed competition
Simon for being an excellent Jury President
The awesome route-setting team
Our sponsors: Beta Climbing Designs , Berghaus , Rock Over
The amazing competitors
And anyone else I may have forgotten at this late hour.
See you for the next one! Zoe Spriggins, BMC competitions programme manager.
Results: BLCC
Senior Category
1. Will Bosi
1. Molly Thompson-Smith
Youth A Category
1. Finley Wood
1. Hannah Smith
Youth B Category
1. Daniel Smith
1. Katherine MacDougall
Youth C Category
1. Jack MacDougall
1. Gwen Morgan
Veterans Category
1. Liu Yi-De
1. Koon Morris
Results: BSCC
Senior Category
1. Will Bosi
1. Jen Wood
Junior Category
1. Samuel Butterworth
1. Louise Flockhart
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