Young Climbers Festival 2022 - comp report and scores

Another year, and another Young Climbers Festival is done. The first summer for a couple of years with no restrictions and no mask to hide those try-hard faces.

Whilst there were many families taking advantage of the lack of restrictions to go on some long awaited holidays, the Young Climbers Festival was once again one of the most popular events in our calendar.

With the day returning to its usual format, 9-14 year olds in the morning with an exciting CWIF style final to conclude the session, and 5-8 year olds in the afternoon. The day was fun, chaotic and as lively as ever, with participants climbing right up until the last minute!

Jump to results (click here)

9-14 Year olds

An early start for these competitors but this didn’t stop them as they gave it their all for 2 whole hours of climbing! 20 blocs meant that the climbers had plenty to get stuck into, varying in difficulty from amenable to really really hard.

Getting a good spread of problems to accommodate the spread of ages, height and ability, and at the same time creating a split with the scores for each group is always a challenging exercise for our route setters. As usual they delivered a great selection of climbs, testing competitors with a variety of different techniques, holds and wall angles.

Of course we had to throw in the usual selection of swinging problems, Sam Whittaker was particularly proud of his wrecking ball swing into a toe hook which required a lot of coordination and helped to split the competitors.

At 11am the end of the competition was announced, and coaches frantically added up the scores. The top 4 male and female competitors were then invited to take part in our CWIF style final on the competition wall. The climbers managed to keep their cool in front of an audience and all final problems received at least one top (much to the setters relief).

When the finals had finished, the presentation began, with a podium and prize giving for each age category. As usual, everyone who entered the competition received a medal (kindly donated by core), certificate and a prize, rewarding all their efforts. The top 3 results for each age category got a bag full of goodies from our generous sponsors.

Jump to results (click here)

5-8 Year olds

The afternoon competition took place in The Mini Climbing works, with the younger but equally determined competitors. After a big group warm up and a briefing, the competition began. The 5 & 6 year olds had 12 climbs to try, and the 7 & 8 year olds had 15.

The problems were spread across the mini boulders, main walls and our Monkey Space. The Monkey space has become a staple in our coached sessions and, as always, it was a firm favourite among the young climbers. A couple of tie breaks in this round meant that everyone was on tenterhooks waiting for the final results.

For all of those that didn’t make the podium, just like the other rounds they were awarded a medal, prize and individual award..

Those awards included

• Cheer Master

• Most Improved

• Future Coach

• Awesome Attitude

• Wow Factor

• Most Unusual Beta

• Fancy Footwork

• Dyno Master

• Slab Star

• Top Teckers

Results for age categories (click here)

The Young Climbers Festival has always been a competition for everyone, no matter what their ability or climbing level is. It’s fantastic to see so many strong competitors who are regulars of the youth competition scene get psyched and test themselves, but it’s even more amazing to see our recreational climbers, and even beginners get involved and have a go. The format of this competition, with coaches taking groups round, means that anyone can enter and get the experience of a competition in a fun and supportive way.

A big thank you to all of those people who continue to make this competition successful. Not just our wonderful coaches and route setters, but also all of the competitors and the parents that bring them along each year (and particularly those that get up early to bring their kids down to our morning session).

An even bigger thank you to the sponsors of this event who continue to deliver amazing prizes. Every year we cannot believe the generosity and support we get for this competition.

This years sponsors are

Beta

Core

DMM

Moon

North Face

Porter Pizza

Rock Tots

Scarpa

This years tshirt, certificates and stickers were all designed by the very talented own Seb. As well as being a talented graphic designer, also works on reception for us at The Climbing Works.

Also a final thank you to Dom Worrall for all the amazing photographs. He almost didn’t make it this year, but due to a cancelled holiday he made a last minute appearance - which we can’t thank him enough for.

We hope to see you all again next year!

Ruth Harrington

Young Climbers Festival 2022 Results

5 - 6 Years Female

5-6 Female

1. Bate, Gracie

110

2. Waterhouse, Anastazja

99

3. Aimee Durrant

66 * tie break

4. Ailsa Campbell

66

5. Shillitoe, Martha

63

6. Johnson, Abigail

50

7. Jones, Evie Charlotte

48

8. Fletcher-Campbell, Evelyn

46

5 - 6 Years Male

7 - 8 Years Female

7 - 8 Years Male

9 - 10 Years Female

9 - 10 Years Male

11 - 12 Years Female

11 - 12 Years Male

13 - 14 Years Female

13 - 14 Years Male

Female Finals

Males Finals