The
Scottish Mixed Masters 2014
Autumn, when summer begins to wind down,
the colours start to change and most importantly of all winter is only weeks
away. This Halloween however with temperatures well into the double figures it
seemed a very distant dream. For winter climbers patiently waiting for those
early season routes all was not lost though. The competition season was here!
On Saturday November 1st
climbers from across the country converged in Kinlochleven for The Scottish
Mixed Masters. The event, held annually at The Ice Factor, is open to climbers
of all abilities with a number of people holding tools for the first time. This
year the event is in aid Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team.
The heats consisted of 15 problems spread
throughout the ice wall, rock wall and bouldering room. As always the route
setting team had been hard as work and boy did they deliver! With a real brilliant
variety of routes it wasn’t long before the field began to spread out with a
number of familiar names coming out on top.
As usual at these competitions the
atmosphere was amazing, the building filled with shouts of encouragement.
Competitors cheering each other on, not even a hint of rivalry. This is the
beauty of Scottish Tooling competitions; fun is always the highest priority.
Time waits for nobody and as 3 o’clock
rolled around those with routes to complete made a last ditch effort to attempt
everything in time. Once all the scorecards were in and the scores tallied it
was clear that it was going to be a good final.
The highlight of any competition is
watching the finals. The crowd closes in around the route and you can feel the
excitement start to build. First up were the men’s Veterans. After some strong
performances (and a fantastic upside down face first fall into the wall by
Gordon Lacey) it was Ian Durham coming out on top followed by Simon Yearsley in
Second and Gordon Lacey in third.
Next up were the women and as usual they
came out fighting. First up was Susan Jensen who was sporting by far the
coolest safety glasses of the day. Out Second was Emma Powell who at just 13
years old was the competitions youngest entrant. Don’t let her age fool you though;
she’s strong as an ox! Fiona Murray was out next giving a very strong
performance falling just short of young Emma’s high point. Last out was Anna
Wells and after a small slip near the start she managed to recover and cruise
to the top taking first place.
The last final was the men’s and route
setter Steve Johnstone had certainly provided a challenge. First out was Andy
Inglis who managed to push through and take third place despite some glove
issues early in the route. Will Woodhead and Tim Miller were out next but
suffered some early upsets pinging off low down on the route. The last two
competitors were Harry Holmes and Scott Grosdanoff. Both extremely strong
competitors only being separated by time in the end with Scott making the lower
section of the route look easy!
On Saturday night once everyone’s arms had
recovered and maybe even a pint or two it was back downstairs for Simon Yearsley’s
talk on “The Emotions of Scottish Winter Climbing”. If you have never seen one
of Simon’s talks they are gripping, funny and are guaranteed to get you psyched
for winter climbing.
We would like to thank all of our event
sponsors. Without their help the event wouldn’t be half of what it was. They
are: Rab, Sherpa Adventure Gear, Ice Breaker, DMM, Schmoolz, King Kong
Climbing, Holdz , SMC and MCofS.
See you all next year!
-
The Ice Factor Team
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