Scottish National Bouldering League Round 1

Round 1 report

By Kevin Howett

The Scottish National Bouldering League (SNBL) is now getting into full swing with Round 1 at TCA completed in October.

At the TCA competition there were 69 climbers posting scores from what was, by all accounts a brick-hard (‘Bubble’) comp. In the Male Vets category it was the usual suspects vying for the top spots with Gareth Yardley taking first and Dave Douglas second. Dave Hainsworth was a new name on SNBL lists and gained third, beating last year’s third place winner John Sharples. There were also a few new names in the mix. It was good to see an increase in the number of Female Vets competing. Koon Morris took first by a considerable margin with Debbie Riley and Judith Foster not far behind.

The biggest category is always the Adult Male and there were 31 competitors in round one. With some of the YCS boys now old enough to compete as adults it was hardly surprising they would take the top spots: Max Milne (GB Team) was first and Calum Cunningham (fresh from a year’s wandering round Europe doing big stuff) was second, just one point ahead of Sean Hoare. David Miedzybrodzki, also GB Team, took fourth place. There were 20 climbers competing in the Adult Female category at TCA. Local TCA climber Lucy Ross took first with a score that would have placed her in the top five with the Male category and Adja Remskar second. Adja came second overall last year while only managing three events, so perhaps this year she is the one to watch? Mhairi Thorburn also had a good comp taking third place at TCA showing her training is paying off.

The Junior categories have always been smaller and with some of last year’s competitors now in the adult category there might have been none this year, but in the Male comp the numbers were up. There was only one point between the top three with Euan Farmer and Stephen Keir coming joint first and Fraser Moodie third. Emma Davidson was the only competitor in the Junior Female. But remember it’s the best four results that count to the SNBL rankings from a possible six competitions so there is lots of scope for more juniors to get involved and win some Psychi kit.

Round 2:

The second round is due at the new Alien Bloc on Friday 24 November. The Aliens always put on a great competition and there are lots of opportunities to get your score up and a SNBL ranking. So get along to Alien Bloc.

Check the latest results on the website.