More boulder comp photos....

Check out some more boulder comp photos from Gilles Moulin here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rathocomp/

Fun Boulder Comp 2011 Results and some Photo's

Here are the results from yesterday's Fun Boulder Comp:

U13 Boys

1 William Bosi 195
2 Robert Davidson 180
3 Sam Harlend sendra 180
4 Rory Cargill 177
5 Jamie Pendan 175
6 Rory White 167
7 David Medzybrodzki 163
8 Harry stansfeild 157
9 Ruraidh Middleton 146
10 Evan Davis 127
11 Findlay Johnson 126
12 Euan Farmer 122
13 benFindlay 102
14 Evan Rasmussen 89
15 Guy Mathison 89
16 Declan Currie 87


U13 girls

1 Rebecca Kinghorn 180
2 Eilalh Vass Payne 177
3 Emily Eadie 172
4 Kirsten Grey 172
5 Gabrialla Stewart 172
6 Keira Farmer 170
7 Morgan rodgers 165
8 Kirsten Taylor 164
9 Ellie Hogarth 156
10 Jodie Brown 154
11 Erili Geddes 107
12 Freya Baxter 99


13- 16 boys

1 scott Keir 200
2 Jamie Drummond 200
3 Steven Addison 197
4 Angus Davidson 186
5 Malcolm bradley 181
6 Scott donaldson 170
7 Ruaraidh Macaskill 163
8 Alex Bosi 150
9 andrew Hairsworth 93
10 Scott Govens 32



13-16 girls

1 Rachel Carr 197
2 Sophie Harper 147
3 Amy Anderson 146
4 Nikki Addison 145
5 Simla Green 139
6 Christie Macleod 107
7 Lyndsey Forsyth 106
8 Megan Saunders 79
9 Victoria Boyd 44
10 Hannah Dewar 30


Rec. Men
1 Alexei Matveyev 162
2 Gordon McKillop 161
3 John Sharples 147
4= Mike Lewis 145
4= Mitch Figures 145
6 Robbie Carruthers 140
7 David Carruthers 139
8 Grant Saunders 134
9 Colin Mcpherd 120
10 Ian Brown 108
11 Martin Wood 107
12 Alex Scott 93
13 Mark Hammonds 83
14 Dave Brown 77
15 Tim Squires 70
16 David Wilson 55
17= Tom Jones 50
17= Sean Hiddleston 50
19 John Macleod 45
20 Paul Gowens 40

Rec.Women

1 Nicola Bishop 135
2 Gail Robertson 54
3 Avril Gall 50
4 Dawn Thomson 47
5 Kim Picozzi 45
6 Emily Raemaekers 22


Adv. Men

1 Will Atkinson 197
2 Eddie Barbour 184
3 John Brown 170
4 Andrew Simpson 162
5 Alex Gorham 160
6 Dylan Mackenzie 157
7 Kris Devlin 149
8 Mike Rudden 147
9= Ross Henighen 137
9= Merlin Floate 137
11 Paul Williamson 134
12 WDC 102
13 David Gudmundsson 101
14= Nick O'Grady 100
14= Fraser Harle 100
15 Lukas Solanka 99
16 Paul Raeside 94
17 Fraser Gibson 87
18 Donald Slatter 60


Adv. Women

1 Natalie Berry 125
2 Anna Wells 114
3 Xiao Xian Goh 93
4 Lasma Seitinsone 92
5 Eva Sparreboom 72


Vet. Men

1 Ruairidh Mackenzie 149
2 Neil Shepherd 146
3 Peter Roy 144
4 Robert Durran 137
5 Kevin Gibson 114
6 Dave Hainsworth 90
7 Ed Payne 52
8 Gregor Hannappel 50
9 Sandy Carr 49




















Thanks to Will Carrol for the photo's http://io-photography.co.uk/

Volumes Chapter 2

Setting for Saturdays Fun Bouldering Competition started today which meant that our nice new batch of volumes were put up in the bouldering room. Here's a wee taster of what to expect...

Beastmaker 1000 and 2000 now at EICA:Ratho

All you fingerboarders out there will be happy to know that the EICA:Ratho now have a Beastmaker 1000 and 2000 for your pulley straining pleasure.



The guys at Beastmaker say the 1000 for those operating in the Font 5 to 7c region (VS-E4/5) and the 2000 for Font 7a to 8b (E4-E11).




You can download some really useful training advice from the Beastmaker website:

http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/products1.htm



Gaz finding out if his joinery skills are up to scratch....

Oh la la, New Volumes at EICA:Ratho!

Having worked in climbing walls for well over a decade now, the big change I have noticed over the past few years has been the introduction of volumes onto the climbing surface. Volumes really allow you to open up the variety of movement you can create whilst setting, as you no longer have to climb face on, on flat panels. You can incorporate 3D style climbing which adds so many more posibilities when setting. Volumes also allow you to constantly change the climbing surface as you can remove them and re-position them as you like.



The down side to volumes is that they are fairly expensive if bought commercially, however, if you're handy with a saw, plainer and drill the best method is to build your own, unfortunately, this isn't quite as easy as it sounds. I have built a few basic volumes in the past and have always found the most difficult part being able to keep the volume lying flush against the wall. I think I have spent a fair few hours hand plaining my volumes until they sit this way, usually with the volume decreasing in size and my usually pretty relaxed demeanor vanishing fairly rapidily....



Luckily, on the way to work this week I mentioned my volume building dilemma to Mr Gilles Moulin (french man in top pic). "I am building something like this all the time in France" was his reply.



So, with the help of a handy frenchman (Gilles) Calum Forsyth, Gaz Vincent and myself, we locked ourselves into the empty unit next to Tiso's (sorry Bruce for all the noise!) and got to work designing, building and painting some pretty radical volumes.



I'm pretty happy with the results and I really think that they'll add a new dimension to climbing at Ratho. You can see the fruits of our labour when we show case our new volumes at the EICA:Ratho Fun Bouldering Comp on Saturday the 19th February from 11am-4pm.



A special thank you has to be given to Gilles for sharing his secret french volume building formula with us. He definitely deserves a big high five if you see him in the arena!

EICA:Ratho Fun Bouldering Comp Saturday 19th Feb 2011 11am-4pm

The EICA:Ratho will be hosting a fun bouldering competition on Saturday 19th February 2011 from 11am till 4pm.

The comp is aimed at climbers of all ability levels and will be a great social occasion. We have 6 different categories: Recreational VB-V3, Intermediate V3-V5,Advanced V6+, Veteran 45 yrs+, Junior 8-12 yr old, Junior 13-16 yr old in both Male and Female. Each category will have 20 brand new problems of the highest quality, incorporating the best volumes and holds that Ratho has to offer. Basically, it's a great opportunity to have an awsome bouldering session with like minded people.

Also, there are some top prizes from our kind sponsors: Holdz, DMM, Entre Prises, Tiso and Reach Climbing Coach with each competitor recieving a free comp T-shirt and 1 free after comp beer!

Entry fee will be £15 for Adults and £10 for Juniors. You can register on the day or you can save £2 by pre-registering now and also reserve your comp T.

Pat and Chris say, "It will be a cracking good day of cranking for climbers everywhere!"

New holds+New routes=Big smiles!

It's been great to hear all of the really positive feedback from those of you that have been climbing on our recent batch of new routes. Sometimes you just get it right. This usually means a good spread of grades that follow the cleanest lines on the best parts of the wall using the tastiest holds. I guess it's also a combination of some milder weather, some awsome new holds and some dedicated route setters. All of which have put a real spark back into the arena after a abnormally chilly December! Well, if you don't believe me, here's the proof.......

This is 8 year old regular, Evan Davis (left) before attempting Calum's new Fluro Yellow 6a. Notice there is only a slight grin on his face.

This picture (right) was taken moments later. The grin has turned into an obvious smile! All because of a new route and some new Florescent yellow Core holds.....

9 year old Amelia Blunt happily leading Geeks Leading Ladder Florescent Green 6a+ on the Hanger Wall. Some people have even said that just looking at the new holds can put a smile on your face....

We have nearly finished a complete change over of routes on the Tower Top Roping wall. Luckily we have had the use of a very useful Cherry Picker that has made setting on the 27m Tower a far easier task (I have come very close to Deep Vain Thrombosis on more than one occasion whilst setting the Tower on ropes!).

Robbie giving the Tower a make over and avoiding DVT!

Unforntunately there are still some side effects to route setting all day!

We try to keep everyone that climbs at EICA:Ratho happy with new routes so we havn't forgotten all you boulderers out there. Iain Sneddon has been on a mission recently adding some really thought provoking problems to the Bouldering room.

You may want to thank this man if you've been enjoying the new problems on the back wall of the Bouldring room!

We will keep you updated with all route setting developments as they happen. In the mean time enjoy your climbing.....

BMC Leading Ladder @ EICA:Ratho

The EICA:Ratho is currently hosting a round of the BMC Leading Ladder Competition series from Saturday 15th January to Sunday 30th January.
We have been hosting these competitions for the past 3 years and they have always proved popular with local and visiting climbers alike.

The format is simple, you buy a score card for £1, you choose your category: either under 16's, over16's, Improver (F6b/6b+), Recreational ( F7a/7b) or Elite (F7c/8a) and you get to try and on-sight 10 new routes graded from 5+ to 8a. If you succeed on a route on your first attempt you get maximum 20 points, 2nd go gains you 15 points, 3rd go 11 points, 4th go 8 points, 5th go 6 points, 6th go 8 points with any subsequent attempt, however many, gaining you one point. The perfect score therefore is 200 points.

The idea is that you can travel to walls around Britain that are hosting these comps, test your on-sight skills and if you feel you have done well, enter your top 3 score sheets and possibly gain entry into the National Leading Ladder Final.

If you fancy trying the Leading Ladder at EICA:Ratho you find all routes bar one on the new Entre Prises "Hanger Wall".
Route setting at EICA:Ratho is never an easy task as the size and volume of climbing here is massive. A special thank you has to go out to a few special individuals that helped to strip and set the Leading Ladder routes all in under 72 hours. These people are:

Gaz Vincent: Responsible for stripping the "Hanger Wall" in under 2 hours and setting the Black 6a, Black 7c and the fingery Green 8a.

Mark McGowan: Old school climber with some new school ideas. Who says 6b+'s can't go through roofs?


Neil McGeek: National route setter and all round nice guy, kindly taking time out of his busy full time climber schedule to set a tasty Fluro Green 6a+ and pumpy Pink 7b

Calum Forsyth: Inspiration for the Fluro Green 7a and also on how to flash 7c routes after not putting a rope on for 2 months (not that i'm envious in any way!)

Neill Busby: Creator of the Fluro Orange 6b, Pink 6c and Fluro Green 7a and probably many 1000's more routes at Ratho over the years!

Many thanks to Holdz and Axis for the speedy delivery of some mighty fine new holds!


Dylan McKenzie cruising the Pink 6c before his Steve McLure bat hang impression!

Iain Croply crusing Gaz's Black 6a

BMC Youth Open by Calum Forsyth

My name is Calum Forsyth. I work and climb at the Edinburgh international climbing arena (Eica) in Ratho, just outside Edinburgh. I have been climbing for about 8 years now and have done many competitions, these have been mainly regional and national, including the Youth Climbing Series and British team trials. I have now competed in three team trials, in the previous two I have finished in 6th place and 8th place. the most recent team trials I entered was on the 27th November 2010, at Awesome Walls Climbing Centre, Liverpool,. This was my second trip to this wall.

Earlier this year i suffered an injury to the growth plate in one of my fingers in my right hand, at the time i was gutted, i was climbing well and all i wanted to do was continue, but, i soon realised it wasn't doing any good and i had to think of the long term effect it would have had if i continued to climb whilst not 100%. I set myself a goal of returning to climbing and aiming for the Team trials. I knew I had 6 months to get strong and fit again but I knew it wouldn't be easy and I was right! I was so determined to do well in the team trials, i gradually built up my training programme, I trained 4 times a week with Gary Vincent (Gaz) and the master as we know him, Neill Busby (Buzz). Throughout the six months I found it really hard to stay focussed but with two really great guys spurring me on it was easy to stay motivated and best of all psyched.
As the comp grew nearer my training decreased to easy climbing so not to get tired and injured. I kind off struggled with that one, i wondered why the climbing was getting easier, it didn't seem right but Gaz and Buzz convinced me it was the best way.

On the Friday the day before the comp my parents and I travelled down to the hotel we were going to be staying at. After a 4 hour journey we arrived in Liverpool we met up with a few other people who made the long travel south such as Nikki and Steven Addison (coming from Inverness 7hrs!!!!) , Olivia and Gabriella Stewart, Megan Sanders, William and Alexander Bosi,and Rachel Carr who all climb at Ratho on a regular basis.

The morning of the competition was obviously a nervous one as I didn't have a clue what to expect, the comp routine probably always the same but for some reason it never seems to workout that way! So after breakfast we headed off to the wall for registration. At the wall we were met by Rob Adie and were told what to do, sign in, collect our competition number and our t-shirts (yellow!). Then I was straight off to see what climbs I would be doing. The first route was around 18 meters high on the side wall which started off with two massive orange holds and suddenly it went into the most crimpy route I had seen in a long time and that's when the nerves got worse, bit i convinced myself as it was not very steep climbing, so I should be OK.

On the other hand I looked at my second route and it looked like it was set by the master busby as it was on the steep wave at the back of the wall it was a very awkward looking sequence but as to most of busby routes there is a hard way and an easy way the hard part was finding the easy way of doing it. I had no idea of what number I would be climbing as it was still yet to be decided on in the first route.

When it came to the first person climbing the orange I was watching closely to see how he made the moves and when he fell of I was worried about the grade of climb and then didn't focus on the other three climbers before me as I was so nervous so I went to warm up for 20 mins just trying to stay warm and not get pumped then it was my shot at the climb which had already spat of four other people so I was worried about getting started but after the first few moves I was back to my usual self blanking everything out and whistling to the music in the background as I do to focus my self there was one part of the route everyone kept falling of and I was thinking to my self I no I can't fall of if I want a good score, so I decided to not clip and get to the next good hold before reaching down and clipping and it worked for me so I fought on to the top.
I was so psyched that I had completed the route, but it was now on to the next climb. All I had to do now was wait and see how the other 16 competitors got on before seeing were I would place on the next route. After the results were posted I was only one of eight climbers to do this route and would there for climb on the 2nd one eighth as I was first to top out.

The second qualifier was an awkward looking route which was set by Neill Busby who also works and climbs at ratho. It was on the steep wave wall at the back of the church it started on the corner side of the wave on quite large holds but most of the route was on rubbish holds with a lot of awkward foot placements that were key to doing it. As it came to my climb I stepped up and didn't look at the route before jumping onto it as I just wanted to climb and of I went on this crazy looking climb that was technical from the off the first crux in this route was about five clips up were you had to traverse across this steep wall into a corner and clip then I realised that I was able to double clip which meant less hanging about on small holds trying to clip. After snacking out for a wee bit I then had to make my way across to this big heel hook to balance my self out and pull up for the next hold so after all of that I was totally pumped and was determined to stay on the wall so I fought on until the second last hold before falling off.

Despite not topping out, I was extremely happy with my efforts on this route and I think Buz was as well, he congratulated me on my effort and asked what I thought of the route I replied "it was rubbish!!!! (i told him i was only joking and it was in fact a really cool climb). So all I had to do now was wait and see were I would finish or if I would make it to the final. Once everybody had tried route 2 it was time for us to wait around 20 mins to see who made the finial. When the results were posted, there were 10 people going through and sadly the other 9 didn't quite make it. To my surprise I made the finial in 7th place and was so psyched.

Once every competitor had finished we were told we had to be in isolation for 1400hrs, if we were late we wouldn't be allowed to compete. This gave me 30 mins to get all my kit and food together before going down into the bouldering cave which was used as isolation. At 1400hrs we were told that viewing for our route would be at 1430hrs as this 30 mins gave the route setters times to change the routes a little bit. After viewing we were sent back down into isolation and told the running orders of the categories and low and behold my category was out last which gave use 3hrs in total doing nothing apart from trying to find ways to stay occupied. I think isolation should become an Olympic Sport in its own right because its sooooooooo hard!!!!

As I listened to everyones name being called out I was bored beyond belief but I also knew it was getting closer to my turn to climb. Most of all I just wanted to go out and climb (i'm not the best person to keep locked in a room for 3 hrs) I spent most of my time making up stupid boulder challenges with the other competitors who shared my pain. After 3hrs it was my turn to take to the stage on a very hard and incredibly awkward route set by none other than Tom Randell. I had climbed a number of Toms routes at the BLCC's so I knew it would have a lot of heel and toe hooks in it and low an behold there was!

I started this climb as any other, I walked straight out and did what needed to be done which was climb. I climbed the first few moves with a few mishaps but held in there as long as i physically could before making such a bad error by wrong handing myself. I was disappointed because it was a stupid mistake and not a technical or physical error it was my own stupid mistake. I wasn't going to get worked up about it as I made the finial which was already my biggest achievement of the day. After watching the other people climbing the scores were in and calculated. After the scores were posted it was quite a surprise on how closely packed the category was. As the results were posted I was named in 9th position which I thought was very respectable given the time scale I had to train for but I couldn't have had a better time competing. It was also great to meet up with people again, funny sport this climbing thing, meet and greet lots of fab people.

IMST Colors Report - Angus Davidson

Angus was recently selected to represent UK in the IMST Colors Open Competition in Austria. He was joined on the trip by fellow Scots Niki Addison, Gabbie Stewart & William Bosi. Below is a report from Angus on his first ever international competition.

Imst was great. It was a great experience right from the start. Exiting all the way through.

It was amazing exploring Imst. Visiting the centre, going to the restaurants and doing lots of walks, but my favourite thing was the Alpine Coaster. Going up in the chair lifts and going down really fast in your own personal vehicle. The scary thing was the speed, you’re in-charge of the brakes and how fast you go and I recommend it to anybody.

You would expect to have a good nights sleep but no, Church bells ring at 6:00am which woke me up early. You had to be up at 7:00 to get your breakfast and get to the wall for 8:15.Tough times. The wall was fantastic, very steep, but flat at some points and all the climbs were set already. You had to switch from different types of climbing as some were powerful, some sustained and some were just ridiculously hard. Demos were there to save us from the nerves of "how are you supposed to do that?". They made it look easy =-(.The routes had a range from 6b+ - 7b+/7c.It was very efficient up to 10 climbers climbing at once. I topped 5 out of my 6 routes and I ended up in 9th position by the end of the day.

It gave me a lot more confidence for the 2nd day which was tough because the routes were a lot harder. The easiest grade was 7a+/7b and the hardest was 7c.It was a challenging day! The good thing was there was a pizza place upstairs. They did great pizzas and it had a great view of the mountains stretching up into the clouds. A great place to go. For most of the day you had to stay focused. I was in the zone and I topped 2-3 of my routes. I was climbing the best that I could. Overall I came 9th in Europe. I am very pleased of what I have done. Finally the nerves where over and I could relax. Later on that day we went to this tiny cafe just outside Austria. My dad told me how to order a coca-cola in German, but when the order came it was a rhubarb crumble. Thanks Dad.

The experience was ended as I arrived back home, and got into my nice warm bed.