Another year, another fantastic Young Climbers Festival! This edition also marked the end of an era for our dear Ruth Harrington on her last day as The Climbing Works coaching manager, after nearly 12 years at the helm.
YCF has always been Ruth’s favourite event here at the Works, which is not surprising given the fun, supportive environment created by all our talented climbers and coaches.
The morning session saw the 9-14 year-old competitors being split into small groups and led by their coaches round 20 boulder problems in just two hours, which is no small feat! The climbs have been lovingly crafted by our routesetters to challenge the climbers with a variety of techniques and funky moves, as well as the classic swinging crowd-pleasers. At the end of the two hours, after scores had been added up, the overall top four male and female competitors were then invited to take part in our CWIF style final on the competition wall. The competitors had four minutes on each of the four problems, with four minutes rest in between. Everyone performed brilliantly under pressure, and the audience kept the energy going with their support and words of encouragement.
When the finals had finished, the presentation began, with a podium and prize giving for each age category, as well as the overall finalists. As usual, everyone who entered the competition received a certificate and a medal (kindly donated by Core Climbing) rewarding all their efforts. The top 3 results for each age category also won a bag full of goodies from our generous sponsors.
The afternoon session definitely won the cute factor with our littlest competitors as young as 5 years-old getting their game face on in the Mini Works. After a big group warm-up and a briefing, the competition began for the 5-8 year-old climbers who had one and a half hours to conquer 15 boulder problems. We were so impressed seeing so many determined little people, most of which have never been in a climbing competition before.
When the time was up, the coaches added up the scores once more, followed by a presentation ceremony for each age category, with individual awards and prizes followed by the podium. The centre was filled with cheers from parents, coaches and the rest of the competitors as each climber stepped up to receive their award.
A big thank you to all of you who continue to make this competition successful, from our absolutely wonderful coaches and route-setters, to all of the competitors and parents who return to YCF year after year.
We are forever grateful to our sponsors who continue to deliver amazing prizes for our competitors. Thank you for your ongoing support and generosity!
This year’s sponsors are:
Beta
Core
Moon
North Face
Scarpa
Thank you to the talented Seb Lopez, graphic designer extraordinaire and a member of our reception team, who designed the fabulous t-shirts and stickers that were given to all climbers who took part in the festival.
Finally another big thanks to Dom Worrall for all the amazing photographs he has captured at this event, we love them!
Hope to see you all again next year!
Click here for more photos from the event.
Results can be found here:
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