Page 56 - 2018 AMA Summer

SPORTCLIMBING
BOULDERMANIA
By Kenny Geoghegan
Following the Armed Forces Bouldering League, a team of the strongest climbers from across the
three services was selected to travel to Belgium in order to compete in Boul- dermania – An international level military competition organised as a European military bouldering championships.
A team of nine climbers was initially selected, however complications saw that team reduced to five climbers who made the trip to Belgium. Work complications saw a few of the RAF climbers drop out, leaving SAC James George flying the flag for the RAF. The remainder of the team was made up with Army team climbers – Capt Amy Johnstone, Sgt Kenny Geoghegan, LCpl Miles Hill and Spr Andrew Mawhinney.
Day one of the competition saw approx- imately 150 climbers arrive in Belgium to tackle a tough qualification round of 35 problems which were set between F5 (easy) to F7C (very hard). Having spotted that the French had a team comprised mainly of climbers based in Chamonix, and one IFSC world cup climber, it was obvious that it was going to be a hard day at the office.
Five hours and a lot of lost skin later, SAC Mawhinney, LCpl Hill and Capt Johnstone had all qualified for the final the following day – Sgt Geoghegan missing out on a spot in the finals by just one position, and SAC George missing out by Three.
AfterarelativelysuccessfulfirstdaytheUK Armed forces climbers competing in the finals engaged their strength and began an incredibly difficult set of finals problems. A mix of technical slabs, long traverses and steep power problems donned the walls during the final and the entire arsenal of the UK team would be tested.
After a brief slip on the technical slab, SAC Mawhinney then powered through the hardest problem of the finals to see him finish in first position ahead of a world cup level athlete - a feat which may scare a few climbers in next years bouldering league!
‘A great performance by the UK team, and the Army and RAF climbers who took part has given us an incredibly strong finish to the bouldering season on an international level’
Capt Amy Johnstone improved on her fourth place qualification to split the French team and take a well deserved second place overall for the women.
Combined team scores in the team event saw the UK Team finish second overall, just behind the French team. A strong performance by the Belgian team saw them take third spot on the podium.
UK and French Team
Bouldermania team
A great performance by the UK team, and the Army and RAF climbers who took part has given us an incredibly strong finish to the bouldering season on an international level. The future is bright for Army and UKAF bouldering.
A massive thanks to the Belgian climbing team for inviting as along every year. It is always a fantastic event and something the UK is incredibly grateful to be a part of.
Of course, no trip to Belgium would be complete without stopping off in Fon- tainebleau en route home. The team enjoyed 2 days of bouldering in the forest of Fontainebleau before heading home back to the UK to prepare for the upcoming lead season.
Until next year.
2nd Place women
56 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER