Scottish Youth Climbing Championships 2009
(in association with Boreal)

A report by Alan Davies (Extreme Dream) of an inaugural competition in bouldering for young climbers in Scotland

Sunday 8^th February was one of the coldest days of the year so far this year, but young climbers from across Scotland were on hot form at the Scottish Youth Bouldering Championships, held at Extreme Dream Aviemore for the first time.

This inaugural event was launched to create a national ranking system for young boulderers in Scotland. Wall Manager Alan Davies commented, “With the snow causing chaos across the country, its amazing to see the level of commitment these kids, and their families, continue to show to the sport. Just travelling to get here from Aberdeen, Fort William or the Central Belt would have been the first challenge for a lot of the guys today!”

Competitors were put through the mill on 15 qualifying problems varying from easy angled but hold-less slabs, to horizontal roofs. The semi-finals and finals took things to the next level with competitors negotiating hanging panels suspended from the roof, and then onto the giant roof itself!

Of note was the strength, in numbers and on the problems, of Edinburgh’s Quickdraw Club, based from Ratho. The number of red hoodies worn by competitors and parents alike is a good sign in these early days of the club. Coaching by Scotland South Area Youth Coordinator Neil McGeachy has been boosted by an impressive commitment from youth superstars Natalie Berry and Jonny Stocking as mentors, and the results are evident already.

Amongst the podium places were British Squad members Ellen MacAskill (14-16 years) Jaime Davidson and Dylan Mackenzie (both 11-13 years) taking first positions in their groups. Also taking top spots were Angus Davidson and Rachel Tennant (8-10 years), and Calum Forsyth (14-16 years), all Quickdraw members.

Of the many other impressive performances on the day, one outstanding performance was Scotland North’s young Rosie Slater (aged 8) who took third spot only just missing out on second after a climb off in her group in her first ever competition!

“The level of natural ability all kids possess at climbing is frightening. These guys show what can be achieved when natural ability is built upon with hard work and dedicated training” added organiser Scott Muir.

Full results are available on the Scottish Youth Blog