BLCC & BBC: British Competitions

These are competitions open to any resident in the UK in the disciplines of bouldering and leading. They are operated by the BMC.

British Lead Climbing Championship (BLCC)

BLCC & BBC NEWS

BLCC 2011 SPEED CLIMBING AS WELL! The BLCC 2011 was held at EICA: Ratho on the weekend of October 15th - 16th. For the first time it included a Speed Climbing Championship on the purpose built speed wall in the Arena. The competition is open to anyone resident in the UK. There are 11 categories of Youth, Junior, Senior and Veterans for climbers born between 1967 and 1992. The new BSCC had 32 entrants in 4 categories (Female & Male Junior & Senior) with Scottish climbers taking all the top places. The were 32 entrants for the BLCC with some good results for Scottish climbers in the Junior and Youth categories. See the link below for a report by Avril Gall

2011 BLCC & BSCC Report HERE Full Results from the BMC website HERE 2011 BBC Report HERE 2010 BLCC Report HERE 2010 BBC Report HERE 2008 BLCC Results HERE 2009 BLCC & BBC Results HERE

First held in 1991, the BLCC was originally a multi-round series using a format essentially the same as that of international leading competitions: all rounds were on-sight with climbers kept in an isolation zone until their turn. However, in 2007 the BLCC became a single event competition using a format that is the same as the European Youth Series – 2 routes during the qualification round that are climbed ‘flash’ i.e. the routes are demonstrated and the climbers can watch followed by the finals which are ‘on-sight’. The 2007 event was held in front of a none-climbing audience at The Blackpool Towers.

Categories are: male & female, senior & junior.

Scoring in the BLCC (and other leading competitions) is simple. The higher up the route the more ‘points’ you gain. Each hold is assigned a score. To touch a hold gains that score as a ‘minus’ (e.g. hold 25 gets credited with 25-), to ‘hold’ the hold credits 25, and to make progress towards the next hold (but don’t touch it) credits 25+. The actual ranking for the qualification round is a bit more complicated though with square roots of the multiple of the ranking from each qualification coming into play.

 

British Speed Climbing Championship (BSCC)
EICA: Ratho has the only IFSC speed competition wall in the UK. Speed competitions are carried out on two parallel routes of identical length, profile, design and difficulty (Records Format). The routes are demonstrated by the national route setters, there will be no isolation for these routes. All routes shall be climbed with the competitor secured by top-rope, belayed from below.

Each competitor climbs both routes in qualification and only one route in the final rounds. The fastest time from either of the two routes will count towards final qualification. Both routes are climbed simultaneously and the competitors always climb in pairs. When a competitor has finished his/her attempt on one route, he/she is added at the end of the starting list of the other route. The starting order for the first qualifying route is random.

The final round takes place as a series of knock-out heats, decided by the climbing time on the route in qualification. The final round may thus consist of the following stages: an eighth final, a quarter final and always a semifinal and a final – the number of stages in the final is determined by the number of competitors qualifying. Its fast and its furious and great to watch. This may be the discipline that is used for the 2020 Olympics if climbing is one of the new sports accepted.

 

British Bouldering Championship (BBC)
Since it’s inception in 1998 the BBC has become a very popular event. Originally a single event, it changed to a series of events and finally for 2007 it has gone back to a one-off event as for the BLCC. Like the BLCC there are male & female, senior & junior categories.

The format and rules are as follows: the qualification round consists of 10 problems under ‘normal British rules’ i.e. no isolation, 3 attempts on a problem whenever the climber chooses and 10,7 or 4 points dependant upon whether the problem is completed on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd attempt. Bonus or tie break points are awarded for ‘holding’ a specified hold. The finals are operated on the same rules as World Cup events: a set number of problems (usually 5) and each climber is given a maximum of 6 minutes to attempt a problem and are allowed as many attempts as they require within that time. They then have 6 minutes rest before trying the next problem.

The scoring for the finals is significantly different there being no points but the winner is the one who does the most problems in the least number of attempts. If there is a tie then the number of bonus/tie break holds held and also number of attempts to get those bonus holds is used to separate the competitors.

For full details of all British Championships can be found on the BMC site at: www.thebmc.co.uk