ROCFEST COMP
Due to the on-going abnormaly fantastic weather, our team's turnout wasn't as good as that of last year (which coincidentally took place in a heatwave).
Representing the Hangar team were Mike Hart and Michael Hopkins for the men as well as Megan and Olivia for the Junior girls.
Mike had done quite well last year finishing narrowly outside the top 10. This year he went a few places better coming 8th on 263 points behind the British team and eventual winner, visiting beast James Kassay of Australia.
It was Michael Hopkins' first time in the adults after being 15 for what seems many a year! ;) Unfortunately he had a bit of an off day for once coming in joint 18th with older brother Sean on 214, cursing the ridiculous heat and endless number of crimpy skin trashing problems.
Megan did well coming in 3rd in the Junior girls on 159 points, a mere 1 point off 2nd place, with Olivia in 4th on 155. The top 3 girls went in to a final with the positions ending up in the same order as the qualifiers.
ELSEWHERE
Perpetual competition skivers, Rich and Laura made the most of the weather and took off up to the South Lakes for some shaded limestone bouldering at Woodwell. Due to everyone else being indoors or on holiday it meant we could use both of the superb Boss Hog pads, still going strong after over a year, as well as the new batch of Evolv shoes all kindly donated by Rick!
Despite the heat, good conditions could be found at both Middle and O'ert road.
Laura ticked off her first font 7B with a flash of Rigpa and followed this up by climbing Angel Deelite (7A) and then Kiss of the Dragon(7B).
Rich managed several 7Cs in a few attempts with Turbulence, Paroxysm, Ronald Raygun and Griddle Groove but couldn't quite add Backhand Roof to a productive session's work.
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Friday, 25 May 2012
Summer league round 1
Summer Comp Season Has Begun
The summer has well and truly started with an unexpected heat wave following on from a typically atrocious April and early may. We are lucky to have a most excellent wall to train and climb at and the first round of the Hangar's summer league helped to soften the blow of poo conditions outside!
The series will be 5 rounds long with the best 4 scores counting and when the dust settles, we hope that our finely honed athletes will achieve top spot over all of the categories.
In what will surely be a hotly contested men's category, Mike took a 1 point lead scoring 89 to Rich's 88 in 1st and 2nd place respectively. It will be intriguing to see if gangly technique can overcome brutal strength and a 15kg weight disparity!
The adult females attracted interest from outside the usual local crowd with Jen wood top on 51. Laura came a close 2nd with 48 and becky was 3rd on 38.
The junior men's looks to be as tight as in the adults with Dean and Michael both scoring 78 for joint 1st and Charlie close behind on 73.
Lastly in the junior Female, Megan came top with 36 points and seemingly no other contenders! Seeing as a round can be missed, we will hopefully see more entrants for round 2, especially with the problems being a tad less tough than in round 1.
Upcoming Comps
The end of May and start of June always signals the start of Annual summer comps at several walls.
First up is Rock Over Climbing's 'Rocfest' that will no doubt be as tropical as last years event, with temperatures soaring into the 30s and humidity at 100%!
This is followed by the slightly less manic Bloc Party, held at City Bloc in Leeds, that always attracts a high standard of competition. I'll be sure to write a report of how we get on at these events.
The summer has well and truly started with an unexpected heat wave following on from a typically atrocious April and early may. We are lucky to have a most excellent wall to train and climb at and the first round of the Hangar's summer league helped to soften the blow of poo conditions outside!
The series will be 5 rounds long with the best 4 scores counting and when the dust settles, we hope that our finely honed athletes will achieve top spot over all of the categories.
In what will surely be a hotly contested men's category, Mike took a 1 point lead scoring 89 to Rich's 88 in 1st and 2nd place respectively. It will be intriguing to see if gangly technique can overcome brutal strength and a 15kg weight disparity!
The adult females attracted interest from outside the usual local crowd with Jen wood top on 51. Laura came a close 2nd with 48 and becky was 3rd on 38.
The junior men's looks to be as tight as in the adults with Dean and Michael both scoring 78 for joint 1st and Charlie close behind on 73.
Lastly in the junior Female, Megan came top with 36 points and seemingly no other contenders! Seeing as a round can be missed, we will hopefully see more entrants for round 2, especially with the problems being a tad less tough than in round 1.
Upcoming Comps
The end of May and start of June always signals the start of Annual summer comps at several walls.
First up is Rock Over Climbing's 'Rocfest' that will no doubt be as tropical as last years event, with temperatures soaring into the 30s and humidity at 100%!
This is followed by the slightly less manic Bloc Party, held at City Bloc in Leeds, that always attracts a high standard of competition. I'll be sure to write a report of how we get on at these events.
Friday, 27 April 2012
Making the most of the bad weather
Team members Rich, Laura and Michael have been getting out a little in between the constant rainstorms that have been plaguing the UK over the last few weeks.
Llandudno
First up was a trip to the familiar Marine Drive, a guaranteed wet weather option when the rest of the uk is gopping.
Laura ticked through the up problems in Split Ininity cave and Rich conquered a nemesis in the super frustrating blind slap problem of Bell Pig . Not to be outdone Michael got the tricky heel-toe to stick on Broken Heart and made no mistakes, finishing smoothly up Clever Beaver for another good cave tick.
With the cave being a bit busy (roughly 20+ people trying to climb!), a trip up the hill to Breck Road was in order. Rich managed to flash Breck Road and Texas Karaoke Massacre before flying off the cut loose on Swing of Fire and getting it 2nd go.
Laura managed to get Burning Sphincter and was really close on Breck Road only to slide off the top holds.
Braichmelyn & The Pass
With a sunny and cold day forecast we had planned to visit Crafnant valley but an unforecast shower swept through and we headed to Bethesda to check out the Braichmelyn 'Super Bloc'.
It is an old skool razor crimps venue once frequented by the likes of John Redhead who put up some horrificly finger unfriendly problems. Laura had done Central Wall before and quickly added the sitter to this, before a rapid ascent of Klemov Crack. Rich climbed Central Wall SS, The arete SS, Spring Juice and finally Klimov Crack which cost a split tip! :( Michael did the Arete SS and Central Wall SS before declaring the venue not to his tastes and waited until we moved on!
Amazingly, we managed to get parking in the pass and after a brief rewarm, Laura crushed Johnny's Wall SS while we watched on amazed! Rich attempted Diesel Power but found the left crimp a bit hard work with a freshly split tip and tape on. He got the moves worked out but a redpoint wasn't on and the day was rounded off with a trip to Georgio's for ice cream in Llanberis!
Llandudno
First up was a trip to the familiar Marine Drive, a guaranteed wet weather option when the rest of the uk is gopping.
 |
| Michael preparing to take the Swing of Fire |
Laura ticked through the up problems in Split Ininity cave and Rich conquered a nemesis in the super frustrating blind slap problem of Bell Pig . Not to be outdone Michael got the tricky heel-toe to stick on Broken Heart and made no mistakes, finishing smoothly up Clever Beaver for another good cave tick.
 |
| Rich finishing Swing of Fire |
With the cave being a bit busy (roughly 20+ people trying to climb!), a trip up the hill to Breck Road was in order. Rich managed to flash Breck Road and Texas Karaoke Massacre before flying off the cut loose on Swing of Fire and getting it 2nd go.
Laura managed to get Burning Sphincter and was really close on Breck Road only to slide off the top holds.
 | |
| Laura on Breck Road |
Braichmelyn & The Pass
With a sunny and cold day forecast we had planned to visit Crafnant valley but an unforecast shower swept through and we headed to Bethesda to check out the Braichmelyn 'Super Bloc'.
It is an old skool razor crimps venue once frequented by the likes of John Redhead who put up some horrificly finger unfriendly problems. Laura had done Central Wall before and quickly added the sitter to this, before a rapid ascent of Klemov Crack. Rich climbed Central Wall SS, The arete SS, Spring Juice and finally Klimov Crack which cost a split tip! :( Michael did the Arete SS and Central Wall SS before declaring the venue not to his tastes and waited until we moved on!
Amazingly, we managed to get parking in the pass and after a brief rewarm, Laura crushed Johnny's Wall SS while we watched on amazed! Rich attempted Diesel Power but found the left crimp a bit hard work with a freshly split tip and tape on. He got the moves worked out but a redpoint wasn't on and the day was rounded off with a trip to Georgio's for ice cream in Llanberis!
NIBL Results
After the Grand Final at Rock Over Climbing Centre we had several of our team in the medals and a couple just missing out in what turned out to be quite a competitive first series.
In the Adults Becki came 4th overall in the Women's.
Rich and Laura didn't compete in enough rounds due to disappearing on various trips to Australia and Fontainebleau but will hopefully compete in next years more successfully!
The Junior categories were where the team did best.
Michael won the U16 boys with Charlie in 2nd and Hangar regulars Matty and Severin coming 3rd and 4th.
In the U16 girls Olivia came 3rd with Megan just behind in 4th place.
To round it all off, ageing hustler Andy scraped into the Vets at a sprightly 40 and claimed 1st place against a field of old warriors (who were mostly held together by tape and Ibuprofen).
Hopefully we can make a better show of it in the Men's and Women's in next year's NIBL as well as upcoming comps and stop the juniors and vets from showing us up!
In the Adults Becki came 4th overall in the Women's.
Rich and Laura didn't compete in enough rounds due to disappearing on various trips to Australia and Fontainebleau but will hopefully compete in next years more successfully!
The Junior categories were where the team did best.
Michael won the U16 boys with Charlie in 2nd and Hangar regulars Matty and Severin coming 3rd and 4th.
In the U16 girls Olivia came 3rd with Megan just behind in 4th place.
To round it all off, ageing hustler Andy scraped into the Vets at a sprightly 40 and claimed 1st place against a field of old warriors (who were mostly held together by tape and Ibuprofen).
Hopefully we can make a better show of it in the Men's and Women's in next year's NIBL as well as upcoming comps and stop the juniors and vets from showing us up!
Sunday, 11 December 2011
NIBL Round 2
A good number of our team headed over to the Climbing Works in Sheffield for round 2 of the NIBL. The weather was pretty grim so we weren't missing prime conditions on the grit!
The problems were all on the comp wall which caused a bit of a traffic issue and getting on some problems was a bit of a nightmare due to crossing lines and people just jumping on without looking across.
That aside, conditions were primo once you ran about and got some blood into the fingers and toes. The heater over by the campus board was the perfect method for avoiding frostbite during rests.
In comparison to round 1, the problems were a fair bit trickier with a lot more steep stuff and a fair bit of dynamism required. There were some heinous volume only creations and precarious slabs on poor footholds which caused problems for most of the competitors.
Rich managed 6th place in the mens which was won by a fair margin by Dave the guns Barrans. In the womens Becki took 3rd place and Laura 4th.
Andy won the mens vets for his 2nd win out of 2 with Merseyside legend Ian Hoppo in 3rd.
In the junior boys Michael took 1st place with Charlie 2nd and another Hangar youngster Matty Travis in 3rd to make a clean sweep of the podium places.
In the junior girls Olivia took 3rd place with Megan just behind in 4th.
The next round will be over at City Bloc in Leeds in Mid January and we will hopefully get another good turnout.
The problems were all on the comp wall which caused a bit of a traffic issue and getting on some problems was a bit of a nightmare due to crossing lines and people just jumping on without looking across.
That aside, conditions were primo once you ran about and got some blood into the fingers and toes. The heater over by the campus board was the perfect method for avoiding frostbite during rests.
In comparison to round 1, the problems were a fair bit trickier with a lot more steep stuff and a fair bit of dynamism required. There were some heinous volume only creations and precarious slabs on poor footholds which caused problems for most of the competitors.
Rich managed 6th place in the mens which was won by a fair margin by Dave the guns Barrans. In the womens Becki took 3rd place and Laura 4th.
Andy won the mens vets for his 2nd win out of 2 with Merseyside legend Ian Hoppo in 3rd.
In the junior boys Michael took 1st place with Charlie 2nd and another Hangar youngster Matty Travis in 3rd to make a clean sweep of the podium places.
In the junior girls Olivia took 3rd place with Megan just behind in 4th.
The next round will be over at City Bloc in Leeds in Mid January and we will hopefully get another good turnout.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
NIBL Round 1
Saturday gone saw the first round of the Northern Indoor Bouldering League held between 6 walls (The Hangar, The Works, Climb Newcastle, City Bloc, West View and Rockover).
There were seperate problems for the Male Seniors and the rest of the categories. Some problems were shared by all with the stiffer ones solely for the Men's comp.
There was a good turnout, a lot of banter and a bit of money raised from t shirt sales to help Andy Earl with his rehab treatment.
After the dust had settled Rich managed 7th in a fairly strong Mens field as did Laura in the Womens, both narrowly missing out on 6th (the top 6 climbers from a minimum of 5 rounds are due to compete in a super final at the last competition in Manchester). Becki took 9th place and Andy won the Vets category.
Our juniors faired a bit better with Michael winning the boys, Charlie 2nd and Dean in 4th. In the girls Megan and Olivia tied for 2nd place just behind the strong lass from up Newcastle way.
I think a few of us managed to fall off a fair few easier problems and could have done better, so hopefully we can be more competitive at future rounds in the seniors and our juniors can keep up the good results!
There were seperate problems for the Male Seniors and the rest of the categories. Some problems were shared by all with the stiffer ones solely for the Men's comp.
There was a good turnout, a lot of banter and a bit of money raised from t shirt sales to help Andy Earl with his rehab treatment.
After the dust had settled Rich managed 7th in a fairly strong Mens field as did Laura in the Womens, both narrowly missing out on 6th (the top 6 climbers from a minimum of 5 rounds are due to compete in a super final at the last competition in Manchester). Becki took 9th place and Andy won the Vets category.
Our juniors faired a bit better with Michael winning the boys, Charlie 2nd and Dean in 4th. In the girls Megan and Olivia tied for 2nd place just behind the strong lass from up Newcastle way.
I think a few of us managed to fall off a fair few easier problems and could have done better, so hopefully we can be more competitive at future rounds in the seniors and our juniors can keep up the good results!
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
More Cave and Comp action
PARISELLA'S & STOKE COMP
With dodgy weather affecting most of the North, Rich and Laura headed over to Parisella's cave.
Rich had a project close to completion and Laura was trying to work on improving at the steep stuff!
Laura managed to casually dispatch Bust Lip (7A+) looking at total ease high up in the roof and Rich finished off a bit of a nemesis with In Life (8A+) across the whole back arch of the cave into Left Wall traverse.
With a successful cave session complete, they headed over to Stoke for the Winter bouldering round 1.
Rich took 1st place in the Men's and Laura 2nd in the ladies (both feeling slightly worse for wear from the efforts in the cave)!
COACHING SESSION
On Sunday. We had Nige Callendar travel down from Newcastle to run a day's coaching session with the team working on specific goal related training, eradicating obvious weaknesses and core conditioning.
We were suitably tired after the 3 hour session and came away with some useful ideas to work on and plenty to think about in terms of structuring our training a little more efficiently.
With dodgy weather affecting most of the North, Rich and Laura headed over to Parisella's cave.
Rich had a project close to completion and Laura was trying to work on improving at the steep stuff!
Laura managed to casually dispatch Bust Lip (7A+) looking at total ease high up in the roof and Rich finished off a bit of a nemesis with In Life (8A+) across the whole back arch of the cave into Left Wall traverse.
With a successful cave session complete, they headed over to Stoke for the Winter bouldering round 1.
Rich took 1st place in the Men's and Laura 2nd in the ladies (both feeling slightly worse for wear from the efforts in the cave)!
COACHING SESSION
On Sunday. We had Nige Callendar travel down from Newcastle to run a day's coaching session with the team working on specific goal related training, eradicating obvious weaknesses and core conditioning.
We were suitably tired after the 3 hour session and came away with some useful ideas to work on and plenty to think about in terms of structuring our training a little more efficiently.
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