Page 7 - 2007 AMA Summer

The Army Festival o fClimbing
he Army Festival of part in the new outdoor sport TClimbing has recently of Crag - Pointing.
the team competition. The team had three disciplines to attempt; a speed climb relay, an on-sight lead and five boulder problems. This pro­ duced a very exciting event with the final wining team, NUOTC, clinching victory by one point! The new format may see the team event as a separate competition in the future.
quented areas. The winners, who tallied up an incredible 1500pts, were Capt Mark Stevenson and Mr Rich Mayfield (AMA). Mark and Rich are preparing to attempt to climb 60 routes over a peri­ od of five weeks this summer in aid of Mountain Rescue. You can follow their progress and make a donation at www.hardrockchallenge.org.u k
taken place in North
Wales. The event, part of thTehe wall staff had prepared Army Mountaineerinegight routes for the elimina­
Association’s 50th anniver­ sary celebrations also incor­ porated the Army Sport Climbing Championships. Just over 70 climbers gath­ ered at Capel Curig Training camp for a week of climbing and other activities.
tion rounds, every competitor had to attempt each route in order and each route was progressively more difficult. This ensures that competitors were fully warmed up prior to tackling the harder routes.
On the Tuesday evening Lt Col Dave Wilson gave an excellent presentation on the Everest West Ridge expedi­ tion. This had the audience
Most of those taking part
arrived on the Monday in
preparation for the first of the
competition elimination
rounds at the Joint Service enthralled for most of the
In the evening local climber and climbing legend Pat Littlejohn gave a presentation on rock climbing in Africa and Alpine Mountaineering in the Tien Shan. This was an inspi­ rational talk and showed what
Mountain Training Centre climbing wall. Those not com­ peting on the Tuesday were able to explore the crags of the Ogwen Valley and take
evening as the story was told.
Wednesday saw the second group of climbers attempting their elimination rounds and
climbers to seek out less fre­
By Mike Smith
Climbers not involved in the
elimination rounds continued
collecting points towards the
Crag-pointing competition.
Pairs of climbers climbed
routes and gained points
according to a pre-designed
matrix. Popular routes and
roadside crags incurred a can be achieved by a small penalty to encourage team of climbers.
fVr 11
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