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Bouldering Competition Time Again. Allcord Bouldering Series at Sunderland Wall, Round Three will be at 5pm on Monday 8th February 2010, Activities will start at 5pm and finish promptly at 9pm! Then its full on recovery in time for the 4th and penultimate round of the Climb Newcastle Winter Bouldering Series on Friday 12th February, starting at 1pm until 9pm to try 35 problems from very easy to ridiculously hard, with a guaranteed £500 of prizes to be raffled at the end of the night. Now some advance notice: Last year's Annual Spring Boulder Open at Climb Newcastle was a terrific success, with a fantastic qualification round leading to a spectacular final fought out by the top male and female climbers. This year's ASBO promises to be just as memorable, keep this date free in your diary... Friday 23rd April... more details to follow.  Reported 8th February 2010

The scores are tight, your best four results count!

 

New Routes at the Newcastle Climbing Centre. The route setters have been very busy creating 25 stunning new routes for you to lead & top rope on and 4 new bouldering circuits. The manager Mark Goodings on behalf of the Newcastle Climbing Centre would like to thank customers for there patience during this route setting period. The centre is also the current host to the BMC leading ladder so get down NOW and tick of the 10 routes from 6a to 8a. Rockworks Climbing is a specialist climbing equipment store within the Newcastle Climbing Centre. You can order your gear online and get the goods delivered to your door or alternatively collect from the climbing centre. Reported 4th February 2010

 

Fort William 2010 Mountain Festival. Fort William has announced a Mountain Festival programme, presented by The Outdoor Capital of the UK, that will put Fort William and Lochaber at the forefront of Scotland's events programme in February. The 2010 Fort William Mountain Festival programme of new events and old favourites will take place throughout Fort William from Thursday 11th to Monday 15th February; during the best winter walking and climbing conditions of the year. Mike Pescod, Chairman of the Highland Mountain Culture Association, organisers of the Festival, said: 'Above all the 2010 Fort William Mountain Festival programme promotes the mountains as an attractive, accessible and above all enjoyable place to be. It includes a superb line up of top climbers, mountain filmmakers, inspirational speakers and creative workshops. It caters for everyone of all ages from elite climbers to outdoor enthusiasts and hill walkers to budding wildlife photographers. 'This celebration of mountain culture, showcasing the huge range of outdoor activity opportunities available to visitors to Fort William and Locahaber, is the vision of The Outdoor Capital of the UK. The OCUK presents the Mountain Festival with essential financial backing and logistical support that has guaranteed the delivery of the Festival for the next three years. We look forward to working with the OCUK and its members in order to build a stronger and more sustainable events programme in the future.' Organisers have promised a five day feast of films, lectures and workshops for residents and visitors who want to learn about and celebrate mountain culture. The varied and entertaining programme includes: - 'Party at Nevis Range' - The official opening ceilidh, 2150ft up Aonach Mor, beside Ben Nevis, for an amazing party with altitude! Thursday 11 February - Victory Over Reason: Adventures On The Eiger, El Cap, Patagonia And The Caledonian Canal - A funny and insightful talk about the last 12 months in the life of legendary big-wall climber Andy Kirkpatrick - including a fraught attempted winter solo of the Eiger Direct, sea kayaking in Patagonia, taking a novice climber who couldn't walk up El Cap and a trip down the Caledonian Canal! Friday 12th February - Climbers I've Shot And Some I'd Like To Shoot - Scotland based multi-awarding winning adventure filmmaker Paul Diffley will entertain his audience with a mixture of chat, photos and video clips. Paul will also show 'Single-Handed', the award-winning film about Kevin Shields, the 'one handed climber'. Saturday 13th February - Jimmy Marshall: The Architect Of Modern Scottish Climbing. An evening to celebrate the incredible achievements of Jimmy Marshall and fellow climber Robin Smith when, in February 1960, they climbed six first winter ascents of Ben Nevis on consecutive days. The fact that they achieved this by cutting steps up the snow and ice appears, from the remove of the 21st century, to be almost impossible. Exactly 50 years on to the day two legends of modern Scottish climbing, Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner, will repeat what has been described as the most important week of Scottish climbing ever! (6 - 13 February). Dave and Andy will present their experiences with film clips of the ascents (filmed by Phil Diffley), comparing the 21st Century experience of climbing the same routes using state of the art equipment and techniques with Jimmy's recollections of the first ascents. This is a must for all climbers and outdoor enthusiasts. Sunday 14th February - The Best of Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour - From jaw dropping action to fascinating mountain culture and wildlife the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour has it all. The most inspiring mountain films from around the world will once again be the festival hot ticket. Monday 15 February The 2010 Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture will be awarded to this year's winner on Sunday 14 February. The prestigious award that celebrates outstanding contributions to Scotland's mountains, encompassing sport, theatre, art, photography, film and literature was first introduced in 2008. World-renowned climber and pioneer, Dr Hamish MacInnes, and award winning filmmaker and documentary producer Richard Else were the recipients in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Children and adults will have the opportunity to try out new activities and learn new skills through inspirational daily mountain skills workshops during the Festival. Highly experienced and fully qualified guides from Abacus Mountaineering, in conjunction with Nevis Range, will lead full day courses in avalanche awareness, winter walking and winter climbing. Kinlochleven's Ice Factor Indoor Climbing Centre will be offering taster sessions in indoor climbing and ice climbing throughout the festival. For those keen to explore their creative ideas in a stimulating environment Nevis Pix will run a one day wildlife photography workshop and Wild West Safaris will offer a Red Deer Safari during the Festival. This will be a great opportunity to not only get up close and personal with the herds of red deer at Loch Quoich but also the possibility of photographing Golden Eagles and Goldeneye Ducks. If the kids are tempted by the opportunity of cooking their own soup and making their own sandwiches followed by a wet muddy walk then the Forestry Commission Scotland's Wet Winter Welly Walk will be their Festival highlight.  For full details of the Fort William Mountain Festival programme and to book tickets go to - http://www.mountainfestival.co.uk Reported 27th January 2010

 

Red Chili Rock Shoe Demo at The Newcastle Climbing Centre on Tuesday 26th January 2010. Try the new Matador and Urban Climber rock shoes for the evening and enter a prize draw to win the pair of your choice! Check out the Newcastle Climbing Centre website for more details. Also the bouldering comp results are here. Reported 25th January 2010

 

The Junior British Climbing Team will be in the North East on 23rd and 24th January. "We will spend the day at Climb Newcastle on the Saturday and at Newcastle Climbing Centre on the Sunday. This is the first time the Team has trained in the North East perhaps something to do with team manager Ian Dunn being from Hartlepool and me coming from Barnard Castle. We have 40 on the team. Five of the team members are in a new Elite category and will be given the opportunity to compete in a full European Youth Series." Jane Newman, assistant manager. Reported 20th January 2010

 

Newcastle Climbing Centre. Get down this Friday evening 5pm till 9.30pm for the second round of the Cassin & Camp Boulder Comp your best two scores count so you haven’t missed out on the prizes. Its free all you pay is your entry fee – all score cards in by 9.30pm. Check out the Newcastle Climbing Centre website for more details. Reported 18th January 2010

Climb Newcastle Winter Bouldering Series Results. A huge entry battled it out on another great set of 35 problems. Nigel Callender amassed a terrific score of 328 to win ahead of Rich Gill. Charlotte Telfer surprised everyone with her excellent result ahead of Karin Magog meanwhile Steve Crowe surprised himself by narrowly beating Martin Waugh (who should have known better, climbing with that injured shoulder) and Charlottes dad Karl Telfer in the old mans category. Sid Graham scored a fantastic 237 as first Junior female, while first Junior male, Tom Rookes with 290 points was also joint 7th overall.   Reported 18th January 2010

Climb Newcastle Winter Bouldering Series is Back... this Friday January 15th is the 3rd round of the Climb Newcastle Winter Bouldering Series. The scores are tight but the series leaders are beginning to emerge with Rich Gill and Karin Magog inching out to a slender lead, things are more open in the crucial mini rivalries lower down the rankings! And if you haven't yet joined in the North's most popular climbing event yet, here is the essential information... You have from 1pm until 9pm on the day to try 35 new black problems which range from very very easy to very very hard. Write down your scores on the scorecard generously supplied to you and hand that in, it is also your ticket to the massive raffle which will take place at around 9:15pm. In addition you can also win £50 from Climb Newcastle owners Andy Earl and Chris Graham's pockets by taking the creatively named £50 problem challenge...basically they set a 'tricky' problem and the first person to climb it wins the cash - simple as that ;-) That's about all you need to know. There's more info, photos and results from the previous rounds and more on the Winter Bouldering Series page. http://events.climbnewcastle.com/wbs0910.html Reported 13th January 2010

 

Steve McClure Master Class at Newcastle Climbing Centre. Spring is in the air and that Easter trip will soon here. Maybe you would benefit from a Master Class with Steve McClure to help get your self back into shape? There will be three master classes on Sunday 17th January 2010, each lasting 1.5 hrs with max of 4 people per class. All participants must be registered Newcastle Climbing Centre members with the ability to lead 4+. The class times are: 10.30 – 12.00 1.00 - 2.30 3.00 - 4.30 For availability and booking please contact Newcastle Climbing Centre via their website. Act soon to avoid disappointment!  Reported 12th January 2010

FRANCE Haute Provence by Adrian Berry reviewed by Karin Magog. This is Rockfax's latest guide and certainly doesn't disappoint. It basically covers the area east of the main autoroute du soleil, between the towns of Gap in the north-east and Avignon in the south-west, or in crag terms Ceuse in the north and Buoux in the south. The guide covers fourteen crags in total with some of the other well known crags in the guide being St Leger, Volx, Sisteron, Orpierre and Les Dentelles. The area is divided into four geographical regions each of which come with the usual detailed info such as map, where to stay and local guidebooks. The individual crags then have their own intro giving you an idea of what to expect from the crag, best time to visit and how to find it. As you would expect each crag also comes complete with clear photo topos, which give an excellent indication of what to expect from the climbing. The guide seems well balanced with a good mix of high and low grade venues and routes, therefore offering something for everyone. Obviously this area has many outstanding crags and the author needed to be selective, however I was still disappointed to find Ventavon missing for example and some of the routes I'd done at both Buoux and Ceuse didn't make the cut either, but I know it's impossible to put everything in. The action photos are okay, generally reinforcing the nature of the climbing at that particular crag rather than inspiring you to do a certain route. However, for me the one of Toby Dunn climbing Mariotte at Combe Obscure really stood out. If you ever wondered what a 7c slab would be like check out page 183 – horrendous! One design feature that I wasn't too keen on was the see through textboxes on top of some of the photos. It's a good space saving idea I agree but personally I would just make them white, less distracting. On the whole the guide seems well researched and pretty accurate, however, one typo that stood out was the sentence that suggests that the Cascade area at Ceuse gets the sun until late morning when in fact that's the only time it's not in the sun, a very important difference. On the whole an excellent, well put together guide and a good effort by Adrian. For a sport climbing holiday this area of France should be high on everyone's list of places to visit, making this guide an essential buy. FRANCE Haute Provence by Adrian Berry is be available now, price £21.95. More reviews here. Reviewed 9th January 2010   FRANCE-Haute Provence by Adrian Berry Published by Rockfax

Winter Climbing in the North East. The most popular venue in Northumberland is Bizzle Burn in the Cheviots. Many of the quarries in Teesdale and Weardale Cringle Crag on the North York Moors will be in good condition but getting to them on the the roads may be the crux just now! Winter walks can be challenging and rewarding, however the sandstone outcrops get very soft when they get wet and should not be considered appropriate venues for ice axes and crampons. Cliff Lowther has reported good fun conditions up at Bollihope Burn if you can get there! See more on his blog: http://www.roxcool.co.uk/blog.asp?BlogID=62. There are 20 or more good lines estimated III - VI+. It doesn't really look suitable for leading at the moment (friable rock and thin and/or potentially loose ice). The best top rope anchors are off a fence about 70m back from the edge. Some posts are extremely rotten, while others seem pretty good if paired up. Franco Cooksons exploits up on Cringle Crag on the North York Moors are described here: http://francocookson-climbing.blogspot.com/. However the superb summer classic Night Watch at Whitestone Cliffe has been hacked and scratched by selfish winter climbers, leaving lasting scars, so please choose your routes wisely! Read the North East winter climbing thread on UKC.  Reported 6th January 2010

High Force December 2009     Photo: Steve Crowe

 

Allcord Bouldering Series at Sunderland Wall. Round two is on Monday 11th January 2010, 5pm till 9pm. Reported 6th January 2010

 

Yoga for Climbers. A 6 week programme starts Thursday 14th January 2010. Basic Yoga postures and breathing exercises with an emphasis on how these exercises can help your climbing. Also round two of the Cassin & Camp Bouldering Series is on Fri 22nd Jan from 5pm till 9.30pm, remember your best two scores count. For more details check at www.newcastleclimbingcentre.co.uk.  Reported 5th January 2010

The Climb Newcastle winter sale isn't one of those high street sales with good offers only on the junk, it is 15% off absolutely everything in the shop. And that isn't off the RRP prices either, it's off their already low prices meaning there are some real bargains. Why not get yourself down to the centre and kill two birds with one stone, by working off the mince pies while you shop. Alternatively you can check out the range of products for purchase online (www.climbnewcastle.com/shop). Reported 27th December 2009

 

Christmas Opening Hours. The crags are open all hours as usual, the same can't be said about the roads though! Please don't climb on wet sandstone, as the silica bonds are weakened and holds can more easily break doing irreparable damage to the crags (and maybe yourself too)! The climbing wall opening times can be found via the following links: Climb Newcastle, Durham Climbing Centre, Sunderland Wall. For Newcastle Climbing Centre, see details below. Reported 23rd December 2009

Bouldering at Fontainebleau

 

Newcastle Climbing Centre has asked me to pass on Christmas Greetings to followers of Climbonline. Why not combine your last minute Christmas Shopping with a last minute climbing session! NCC have the perfect gifts for climbers all under one roof... * £10 & £20 vouchers ideal stocking fillers these can be purchased at reception, and used for entry to NNC or indoor course (does not include SPA or CWA)10 and 20 climb punch card (must be a registered member of the centre). More info...  Their opening hours over the festive period are as follows:

 

Eden Valley Mountaineering Club, Winter Lecture Series – 2010. All Lectures At Penrith Rugby Club Monday - 11 January, James McHaffie "Rock Climbing From Keswick To Grand Capucin Via Madagaskar" 7.30pm - Admission £5.00. More details here. Reported 20th December 2009

Climb Newcastle Winter Bouldering Series. There was a huge turn out for round two and the problems were as interesting and varied as ever. The £100 rollover prize problem eventually fell to Paul Smith despite some fine efforts from Rich Gill early on. However Rich won on with 337 out of a possible 350 points. Karin Magog put in a powerful performance to score 301 as first female. Karl Telfer and Ali McDonald were first in the vets, whilst in the under 16 categories Sid Graham and Tom Rookes are taking an early series lead. The full results can be found @ climbnewcastle.com  Reported 12th December 2009

Climb Newcastle Winter Bouldering Series. This Friday, 11th December, the Climb Newcastle Winter Bouldering Series is back for round two and if you weren't at round one this is your chance to come and see why this is probably the UK's most popular indoor climbing competition! You have until 9pm on the day to try 35 super new black problems from very very easy to very very hard, get a score, enter an unbelievably generous raffle with hundreds of pounds of prizes, try and win £50 cash, NO HANG ON, £100 cash (it's a rollover) from the Climb Newcastle owners and generally have a really really good time! There's also overall prizes and trophies for juniors (U16s), adults and 'proper' vets (45 and over!) with 4 out of 5 scores counting from the series rounds, and with tough problems at round one you've every chance of catching up if you missed it. There's more info @ climbnewcastle.com See you there? Reported 7th December 2009

 

Dave Birkett Lecture and film at the Newcastle Climbing Centre. Dave Birkett has been at the top of his game for over twenty years, with countless first ascents in the Lakes and beyond. A brilliant climber and certainly the finest the lakes has ever produced. And although his forte is ‘Trad’ routes Dave is no weakling and has also excelled at bouldering and has many sports ticks to his name including the Lakes only 8B+. More details about the lecture can be found here. Watch clips of Dave Birkett climbing at the Posing Productions web site.

A few tickets still available for the Dave Birkett Lecture this Saturday 5^th Dec 2009

·         7.30     Take your seats

·         7.45     Wild Country FREE give away

·         8.00     Lecture start

Keep your ticket to gain a free climb and all for £10  Reported 4th December 2009

 

ALLCORD BOULDERING SERIES RD ONE - will be held at Sunderland Wall on Monday 7th December 2009 Activities will start at 5pm and finish promptly at 9pm! Round Two will be at 5pm on Monday 11th January 2010 Round Three will be at 5pm on Monday 8th February 2010 Reported 1st December 2009

Climb Newcastle Winter Bouldering Series got off to a great start with an excellent turn out. Paul Smith and Charlie Telfer looking stronger than ever despite the tough set of problems this time. Sidonie Graham and Tom Rookes topping the junior categories and Rick Barnes & Ali McDonald were first vets. James (I want to be a Vet) Hunter had to settle for 30th Senior with 248 points. Round Two is on Friday 15th December. Details of future events here.  Reported 27th November 2009 Click images to enlarge