Scottish National Bouldering League Round 3

ROUND 3 REPORT

By Kevin Howett

 

Round three followed on very quickly from the previous round and was held at Transition Extreme on 2^nd December. The setters were Matt Berry, Jay Carr, Ashley Dean, Michaela Howett and Noah Thorpe and by all accounts they did a great job.

It was the usual suspects in the Male Vets. The two main contenders, Gareth Yardley and Dave Douglas, battled it out for top dog status, with Gareth taking the win (just), although his lead has now extended to 55 SNBL points. Dave Hainsworth came 3^rd which pushed him ahead of previous third placed David Watt by 23 SNBL points. This remains the closest fought category in the league.

Only one competitor attended the Female Vets category with Helen Rowlands adding 100 SNBL points to take her to 1^st place overall. But Helen is only 10 SNBL points above Koon Morris, so it could all change rapidly in the next round, although she is now well ahead of the other three competitors in the category.

In the Male Junior category the only SNBL contender was Euan Farmer travelling up from Peebles to compete and gain 100 SNBL points putting him 200 SNBL points ahead of his nearest competitor. He may well be unassailable now? There were no competitors in the Junior Female category so Emma Davidson remains 1^st and Ella Yip 2^nd overall.

In the Male Adult category there were 11 competitors. With local GB Team member Max Milne missing (attending the GB Development Squad Selection weekend) the field was wide open for points. Nick Rodger and Matthew Ian Woodhead both made the journey to clock up their third round and increase their SNBL ranking from 5^th to 3^rd and 11^th to 8^th respectively. The winner at TX was Steven Aitken in his first round taking him into 5^th place overall whilst Angus Harrison-Smart gained a credible 2^nd place taking him from 15^th to 4^th place overall. However, Calum Cunningham clings on to the lead by half a point ahead of Jack Mckechnie and they have a round in hand.

Finally in the Female Adult category previous round winners Lucy Ross and Rachel Carr were absent (Rachel was coaching for Mountaineering Scotland at the GB Development Squad Weekend) which allowed Ajda Remskar and Bex Whithead to place 1^st and 3^rd respectively and gain some additional SNBL points taking them into 1^st and 2^nd place in the league. Adja is now 114.5 SNBL points ahead of her nearest rival, so she will take some beating now. Alison McDougal came 2^nd at Transition in her second SNBL round bringing her up from 22^nd to 5^th overall in the league – the biggest increase in rankings so far! Competing in their first SNBL round were Annarlle Harris and Jemma Hulbert, picking up 4^th and 5^th place respectively and so coming into the league in 10^th and 12^th.

Check the full Round 3 results.

We are grateful to Psychi for supporting the Scottish National Bouldering League with prizes. Psychi is a UK-based fitness and climbing brand which offers a climbing essentials range with all the basic climbing and bouldering essentials. All its products are designed in the UK and tested by experienced athletes whose core values of quality, performance and design are at the heart of their business.