Thursday, July 24, 2008

It's All Change

The comp wall has been fully reset and there's now 31 new problems for you to trash your skin on. Grades are 5+ to 7b++ and there is a wide range of style.

Enjoy!!

Testing & tweaking this afternoon

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Stripping Begins....

...of the comp wall tonight with the resetting completed, 25 new problems, by tomorrow (Thursday night).

Obviously this means the comp wall will be closed from around 5pm today till sometime tomorrow late afternoon. You will just have to play on the other 900 sq. m of wall until then...

Friday, July 18, 2008

Spot The Change

That's probably my worse title yet (and there's been a few).

The change to spot is the new yellow & purple spots (get it? told you it was bad) circuit that Neil Mawson and Sam put up last week. Its a Font 4 to 5+ circuit with 42 problems that are rather technical. Expect drop knees, rockovers, heel-hooks, cross-throughs and small footholds.

The idea behind this circuit was the popularity of our Wednesday & Friday adult improvers sessions where relative newcomers can get free advice & help with their climbing. This circuit should be a must for anyone relatively new to bouldering as it should help with development of good technique and movement.

For those who like small holds and big numbers, try doing the new circuit with sit down starts. It makes no sense whatsoever but it's a bit of fun with some very hard 1 move wonders.

On another note, continuing on with the theme of Climbing Works stickers in random places, here's a few more from the Cliffhanger weekend

Geordie Stef the dog

Ahem!



Stickers even on the Dyno board...

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

All Hail The Ladies!!

The Climbing Works only employ the best staff (it's company policy) and this weekend 2 of them shone at the Cliffhanger event in Sheffield.

In the British Bouldering Championships our own Mina Wudji-wudji placed 3rd in the female seniors. Climbing superbly in both the qualifiers and finals, she was only surpassed by two of the most experienced members of the current British bouldering team - A mighty fine effort!!

Mina cranking hard in the Women's finals
Photo courtesy of Keith Sharples

Away from the competition wall, Lily decided to have a go at the Dyno competition on the Saturday thinking it might be fun and fun it was as she walked/jumped/sprung away at the end of the competition with a new World record of 2 metres!
On Sunday she returned (she was suppossed to be working but we support our staff in their climbing so we gave her a few hours off) for another go and managed to go even further finally landing 2m 10cms!! As this was an official competition she is now the current World Record holder and will be in next year's Guinness book of records.

Check out those stickers!!! Lily going BIG for the Dyno record
Photo courtesy of Keith Sharples

Overall not a bad weekend for The Climbing Works. It must be something in the coffee...or maybe it's the 1000 sq m of climbing surface, varied angles, training facilities & positive atmosphere....hmmmm????

Full report & results of the BBC at UKClimbing and at BMC>>

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Cliffhanger Wall

This week Percy has been let out of The Climbing Works to build the Competition wall for the British Bouldering Championships that are being held this coming weekend (12th/13th July) at Cliffhanger.

Helping with the build were fellow extraordinary wall construction engineers (??) Andy Long & Ian Vickers. As you can see below it's a pretty impressive structure.

Picture courtesy of Alan James & UKClimbing

Along with the three above, both Jamie Cassidy & Jason Pickles will also be helping a hand in problem setting making the competition a must-see event as the boys have a fine reputation for 'interesting' setting.

You can find out all the times for qualifying and the finals at the Cliffhanger website. You can also see the full list of events for the whole weekend.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Sam's Super Summer Specials

As it's raining heavy outside (and we had a bit of a stock check) we've decided to try and create some smiles by doing a Sam Super Summer Special!
What all that means is we've got a full rail of clothing at 50% off RRP instore. Includes Men's & Women's tee's, trousers & shorts. Check them out in The Climbing Works store before they all disappear.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Tales From Abroad

As it's a rainy Saturday afternoon (or more likely a Monday morning in work by the time you read this), we'd thought we'll point you in the direction of some interesting reading. Mr Leo Houlding, no stranger to the Works, is well known for his global travels & over the last year or so he's been travelling quite a bit wearing ridiculous clothing like this...

... all in the name of a new adventure TV programme to be shown later this year. He's written a great blog on his Berghaus page which is well worth reading as it charts his exploits in various corners of the world and has some fantastic photos. So grab yourself a cup of tea & check it out>>

Friday, July 04, 2008

Dutch Sand

Not known for its huge outdoor climbing potential, the Netherlands though still produces some fine climbers and has a very strong climbing community. Combine this with the usual Dutch eccentricity and you get BAZ - A bouldering competition on a beach followed by a huge beach party.

Entering its 3rd year, this two day festival (30th/31st August) consists of a competition for boulderers of all levels ending in a spectacular final, a youth competition, a recreational bouldering day, boulderclinics and many performances by DJ’s, hiphopcrews, dancers etc... all on a seaside beach.

With over 500 competitors expected this should be a pretty unique event so for anyone looking for something 'different' to end their Summer on, this could be it. Find out all the details & see some pics on the BAZ website>>

Thursday, July 03, 2008

A Rather Large Tent In A Big Field

I've just returned from an amazing 5 days in Glastonbury where many a big tent in many a big field was host to some mighty fine music. If you've never experienced Glastonbury I thoroughly recommend it as it's an undeniably amazing experience - music, art, circus shows, comedy & some very weird 'sites' mean there is something for everyone. Indeed, one of the big surprises was just how many families where wondering about the festival.

While at Glasto, I noticed some Climbing Works stickers stuck in some random places (coincidence??). These stickers are available on the front desk and we're currently thinking of running some sort of competition in the future for best sticker photo - weirdest place, highest altitude, should this really be here? kinda of thing. So get snapping now and email your best ones to staff@climbingworks.com. Once we actually think of some decent categories and prizes we'll get the details up on this blog.

Wellies were the footwear of choice at Glasto for a few days - Luckily I had one of the early prototypes of the soon to be in production limited edition Climbing Works welly. It has amazing traction from a combo of Vibram & Stealth rubber...
Glastonbury festival doesn't do things by half - here's their recycling bins, each one individually painted and there were thousands of them

On the subject of big tents in big fields. Next weekend (12 & 13th July) sees the return of the fantastic Cliffhanger to Sheffield. This time in Millhouses park it will be hosting the British Bouldering Championships again. Last year was a huge success with a big crowd watching the 2 day competition and this year it's going to be even bigger.
Our own cheeses Graeme & Percy and running and building the comp / wall respectively with the wall being held in a tent that would not look out of place in Glastonbury.


As the build goes on we'll publish some more photos etc.. on the blog. In the meantime, make sure to check out the Cliffhanger website for full details of all the going on's.