CWIF 2011
The Climbing Works International Festival
Date: Saturday 5-6th March 2011
The CWIF 2011 will be the 5th year of hosting this competition and as always it will be bigger & better.
As 2010 was such a popular event with 200 competitors climbing, and many more turned away, we've decided to change it from a 1 day marathon to a 2 day event. We felt that to keep the friendly & accessible atmosphere that we always wanted the CWIF to be, it would be better to change the format than lose this ideal.
In 2011, the basic format of the competition will be qualification on the Saturday with the Semi & main Final taking place on the Sunday. We will release more information regarding entering towards the end of 2010. Just keep an eye on the website for more information.
The 5th & 6th March will be the same weekend as ShAFF which means Sheffield will be the place to be if you are a climber.
A video of the 2010 CWIF can be viewed below:
Overview of the C.W.I.F
What's the CWIF?
Well it is a bouldering competition...but with a difference.
NO ENTRY FEE, no isolation for the qualification round, the chance to climb alongside some of the best climbers in the world on problems set by some of the world's best route setters
The CWIF is an absolutely amazing event and one of the best competitions to be held in the UK. We've got an extensive gallery of 2009 on the website and of 2010 on our Picasa page. You can also read an account of the 2009 day on our blog and watch the highlights video of the 2009 event on Vimeo or watch the 2010 competition above.
The Setup
Qualifiers
In 2011 the qualifiers will take place on Saturday 5th March. We will finalise the format closer to the day but to get an idea of what to expect, in 2010 the first part of the competition was a circuit of 30 flash problems that took part from opening till 3pm.
All these problems were on the normal circuit part of The Climbing Works. The circuit is the informal part of the day with the scores being self marked with the circuit starting off easy (Font 6a) and getting very hard toward the end.
This part of the day also includes a Team competition (4 people which are mixed gender) with the highest team score winning £500! You don't have to be part of a team but it makes it a more fun day climbing with your friends.
The highest individual scores from the circuit part of the competition qualified for an on-sight semi final and final on the Berghaus Competition Wall.
Qualifiers CWIF 2009 film
Semi's
The Semi-Finals will take place on Sunday 6th March 2011 and take part on the Berghaus Competition Wall with 16 men & women challenging themselves on 8 set problems. These problems will be judged independently. The 5 highest men & women scores will progress to the finals
Semi-Finals - CWIF 09 film
Finals
The big final will again take place on the Berghaus Competition Wall with the whole wall being reset between the semi's & the finals. There will be 5 men & women problems to decide the CWIF 2010 overall champion.
Final - CWIF 2009 film
There will be a Junior Category (aged U16) and the prizes for this category will be awarded according to the qualification scores. There will not be a semi final or final for the Junior category but if you get enough points you will qualify for the open semi & final.
N.B. Please note there will be NO specially set problems for children. They will compete on the qualifying circuit as set for adults. Although the competition is a fun day, it is set for adults so please be aware of this if bringing your child along.
Prize money
Equal prizes for male open and female open
1st place = £750
2nd place = £500
3rd place = £300
4th place = £200
5th place = £100
6th place = £50
Team prize £500. Teams consist of 4 climbers, at least one of which must be female. The Team prize is based on the scores from the qualification round.
You can register your team on the day or in advance on the registration form.
The Team event is a fun part to the day and can really add to the experience as you climb with your mates. In 2010 we had a prize for the 'best dressed' team and we will do the same again in 2011. Best dressed can be anything from evening wear to your most imaginative fancy dress. The prize will be 'tailored' to the winning team (pun fully intended)
Summary
Register, turn up and pay the normal Climbing Works entry fee, get your score sheet and off you go.
International licenses are NOT required for the CWIF.
To enter a Team we ask that you donate an entry fee of £10 per Team - this will be donated to a charity of our choice. This donation is not compulsory but there's a very good chance that you will not win anything if you feel like the donation is not in your interest ; )
Click here for the rules for the CWIF
So what else is happening at the CWIF 2011?
Well we are still finalising a few things but expect a FREE BBQ, FREE Physio sessions and a FREE after party in a Sheffield club.
There will also be an informal 'triathlon' over the weekend, points awarded for 'performance' at the different events. The 3 events for the triathlon are: taking part in the CWIF on the Saturday, going large at the after party on the Saturday night and getting out climbing on the gritstone on the Sunday.
It may sound ok, but the CWIF will be tough, The Climbing Works parties are pretty fierce (and legendary) and the gritstone can bite pretty hard. This is a proper challenge!
All the other things you might need to know:
Travel information
Sheffield does not have an international airport. The nearest airports are:
1. Manchester. Major international airport served by most airlines including some budget airlines. Approx 80km from Sheffield with a direct train line from the airport to Sheffield. For train details seewww.nationalrail.co.uk/
2. Doncaster (also known as Robin Hood airport). Small airport with only a few useful flights but worth checking out www.robinhoodairport.com/ About 40km from Sheffield. Get the bus to Doncaster Interchange and then a train to Sheffield
2. Nottingham East Midlands. Approx 50 km from Sheffield served by budget airlines. No direct trains to Sheffield - you would need to get a bus to Derby or Nottingham and then a train to Sheffield. There is a direct National Express Bus service between East Middlands airport and Sheffield, one hour journey. Check their website for times.
3. Leeds-Bradford. Approx 80km from Sheffield served by budget airlines. No direct trains to Sheffield - you would need to get a bus to Leeds and then a train to Sheffield.
For details of all of the budget airlines that fly go Britain go to www.thebigproject.co.uk/budget/index.htm
Why is it all free & why is The Climbing Works hosting it?
Why free? well it's not because of the huge amounts of sponsorship we will receive, that may just cover the BBQ costs. CWIF 2010 costs us about £10,000 to put on and we will get, at most, a third of this back in sponsorship and a bit of increased footfall on the day
We do it simply because we want to give something back not only to our customers but to the competition scene in the UK. We want to create a competition that will attract not only the best climbers in the UK but also the best from Europe and further abroad. Percy and Graeme have been involved in the competition scene for many years and are both disappointed that some aspects of the scene seem to be dieing in the UK. Our aim is to try and reverse this, along the way have a competition that is fun, enthralling and entertaining.
The CWIF IS a competition with a difference, you can climb alongside some of the best climbers in the world while enjoying testing yourself at what ever level you climb. The semi's and final should hopefully get you psyched & motivated enough that you'll send your projects next time and more importantly, enjoy your climbing that little bit more.
Remember Carlsberg don't do climbing competitions but if they did........
