Competitions & Reset

So the last couple of weeks has seen more new problems than we know what to do with, which can only be a good thing for you.

First up was Round 2 of the Northern Universities Bouldering League which had 30 new orange problems of all grades.

Im afraid quite a few of these problems have already been taken down but have been replaced by new problems so its all good.

Round 2 of Boulder Leeds was last Friday.  25 new problems were set of all grades from very easy to very hard.  A big thank you to everyone who came along, if you didn't make it don't worry as you can still try all the problems plus the new ones myself and Ben set over the weekend.   

  

A big thank you to Mammut for supplying us with the prizes.  There will be a break for December and the Christmas period so the next round will be January 25th.

Competition Time

The winter indoor bouldering competitions are well underway.  Boulder Leeds is back again with round 1 already complete at the Leeds Wall.  Round 2 will be here at City Bloc on Friday 30th November.

Before that though there is still quite a bit of setting going on.  Tomorrow half the small bay will be set with problems of all grades from pink to green.  The week after all the bright orange problems will come down and will be set Tuesday ready for the NUBS, Northern Universities Bouldering Series, on Wednesday 21st November.  PLEASE NOTE: The competition starts at 3pm and runs til 6pm, the wall will be very busy during this time.

The problems for the NUBS will only be up for about a week before they are taken down ready for the following week and round 2 of Boulder Leeds.  So, plenty to keep you occupied for the next few weeks.

Bloc Party 2012

On June 9^th City Bloc hosted its 4^th Bloc party competition. 

The competition has been growing over the last few years, not only in reputation but also in the number of strong competitors and this year was no exception.

With 40 qualifying problems of all different levels the competitors had plenty of fun challenging climbs to play on. The problems set by Ben Meeks and Martin Smith were catching people out left, right and centre with a good mix of styles making it tricky enough to keep some of the strong guys and girls from succeeding.  With that being said many good results came out of the qualification round with a very impressive 387 out of a maximum of 400 from Dave Barrans which took him into the finals in first place in the adult male category. Qualifying in first place in the adult female category was a very strong looking Leah Crane with a great score of 328. For the Junior Male and Female title this year we had Tim Wrigglesworth and Natasha Smile who had very respectable scores and both showed they wouldn’t have been out of place mixed in with the adults.

                                                 Dianne Merrick concentrating hard in the final.

Once qualifying was complete the top 5 male and female scores went through to a final to really test the climber’s skills. Both sexes had 3 problems to try with each one having a different style to the last. The first problems style was thuggish and powerful or American as we like to call it. The second style was technical including lots of volumes and trickery and the third style was dynamic involving lots of leaping around. This mix of styles showed that female winner Leah Crane has a great set of skills as she only fell off once in the finals and took victory over British Team Member Dianne Merrick who was narrowly behind, with up and coming youngster Hannah Wilson taking third place. In the male competition it was quite a close call with all of the competitors having a moment of brilliance making it look like they could win, but in the end Dave Barrans took the title again for 3 out of the 4 years Bloc Party has been running. Tom Newman wasn’t far behind for 2nd place and our very own Louis Parkinson was an excellent 3^rd place.

Thanks and congratulations must be given to all the competitors who made it a great atmosphere and a great event. Thanks also go to Metolius , Rock Technologies, Scarpa and Core for sponsoring the event and giving us some great prizes.

Full results can be found in the news section on our web page.

Bloc Party FAQ

With Bloc Party about to hit us like a truck i thought i would hit you with a bit more detail in the form of some FAQ's

What time does it start? 12pm

How much is it? £10

How many problems are there? 40.  You will have 3 attempts to complete a bloc, 10 points for first try, 7 for second and 4 for third attempt

How long do I have? 4 hours

I cant get there until 1pm, can I still enter? yes but you will still have only until 4pm to finish

Are the problems all really hard? no, there will be something for everyone from easy pink climbs at around font 4c right the way through to salmons at 7cish

Is there a final? yep, it starts around 5pm.

How many people in the final? top 5 men and ladies

Im rubbish i never win anything, why should i do it? Spot prizes will be thrown out during the day and to anyone who we feel deserves a prize for trying really hard.  Also, you will get to see some of the countries top competitors battle it out in the world cup style final

Who is setting the problems?  the usual duo of Ben and Martin who are especially excited about setting with brand new holds from Core.


So there you go.  If you have any other questions give us a call or email us at info@citybloc.co.uk

Comp Wall Reset

Thanks to everyone who came to the final round of Boulder Leeds on Friday, full results to follow. If you missed the comp don't worry, all the problems are still up and lots and lots of new blocs set yesterday from red to green.


Our resident Dave Grohl lookalike Leon in comp mode focus

If you like to have a dabble in friendly competitions, then keep a look out for info on our Bloc Party coming up in June.

2012

Happy New Year everyone. Hope you all had a successful 2011 and are looking forward to 2012.

So whats coming up in 2012 for City Bloc. Well first up some of you may have noticed the steep looking board upstairs in the gallery, this is our new training board.

If you look closely at the pic you will see that the board is symmetrical. The idea being once you complete a problem you then complete the symmetrical version thus ironing out any weakness in your armour. Brilliant! The holds have been supplied by the beastie boys aka www.Beastmaker.co.uk. Now these guys love their wood and have crafted some beauties for us. For those not in the know wood is absolutely great to train on as its super kind on your skin so no trashed tips before heading to the crag. The fact that its quite smooth also means you grip just that bit harder so strength gains are inevitable;)

For those who enjoy nothing more than just lazying around dangling from their fingertips the fingerboard has also been moved upstairs to the gallery. Keep your eyes open on this area in the near future for further developments.

Competitions:

The 3rd round of NIBL (Northern Indoor Bouldering League) is at City Bloc on Saturday 14th January. Registration is at 11am with the comp starting at 12pm. 25 problems for men and women ranging from 6b to 7b+.

Then on 17th February round 4 of Boulder Leeds. Again 25 problems from around 4a to 7b+, head to the bottom of the news page for more info

Bloc Party will also be making a return for its 4th year but more details will be available later.

Finally, the City Bloc team would just like to say thank you to everyone who came down over 2011 and look forward to a crushing 2012;)