Page 8 - 2009 AMA Summer

Army Bouldering Championships 2009
The Army Bouldering Championships took place at JSMTC(I) on 7th Feb. 67 competitors managed to struggle through blizzards and icy conditions across England to reach what turned out to be idyllic sunny conditions on Anglesey! With a new sponsor, DMM, on board and lots of prizes the conditions were set for an chal- lenging and exciting day.
The format for this year’s competition had changed to bring it more in line with civilian competitions. 24 problems, ranging from V0 up to V8, were attempted over 4 hours followed by a head to head final for the top few in both the male and female categories. Jon and his team from the wall had man- aged to conjure up some ‘interesting’ prob- lems including the obligatory long reach or two, plenty of upside down climbing and even a monkey bar swing! All designed to separate the men from the boys it certainly
AMA TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT PROJECT 2009
achieved the aim. As ever there was some- thing for everyone and even the novices and first timers managed to throw them- selves at and succeed on things that looked impossible.
The competition at the top was fierce and 5 men went through to the final, all having scored 200 points or more. The climb-off consisted of 3 problems to be attempted in any order, on sight and all in less than 5 minutes. OCdt Ollie Lewis from Sheffield UOTC triumphed, but only by the narrowest of margins from Capt Tom Odling and Cpl Tom Moulder. The women’s event was even closer. Capt Kitty Court and OCdt Katie Harrop had tied in the eliminators and tied again in the final! A super-final was needed and Jon conjured up a special problem in a couple of minutes which Kitty got closest to completing. In the other categories Cpl Gary Reed won the Vets (over 35s) and
OCdt Dowling from Northumbria UOTC won the male U21. The team event was won by Sheffield UTOC. The best of the guests were Surg Lt Steve Glennie from the Royal Navy and Cadet Hannah Beresford from the Defence Sixth Form College.
Thanks must go to Commandant of JSMTC(I) for allowing the competition to take place and to DMM for their sponsor- ship. The greatest thanks go to SSgt Daz Williams for organising the event. Without Daz’s hard work in securing the sponsor- ship, coordinating the entries and all the behind the scenes admin there would be no competition. 2009/2010 will hopefully see the introduction of an Army Bouldering League with a number of events through- out the winter culminating in the Army Championships back at JSMTC(I) early in 2010. Full details will be published on the AMA and Army Sport Climbing websites.
Congratulations
Congratulations go to the winners of the Winter 08 Gear Giveaway; the names you will be pleased to know, were drawn out of a very smelly and battered climbing helmet!
Steve Turner and Roy Swales from Hamble have both won the MULTIMAT competi- tion, winning an IceMat 1.8, a self inflating IceMat 100 and a fleece cover
worth £225. They both got the correct answer of 15 Tog and will be
sleeping very comfortably. www.multimat.uk.com
Howie Barnes, now living in New Zealand and Lisa Golova knew that Andy Kirkpatrick could not spell Aconcagua and get to curl up with the latest winner of the Boardman-Tasker award for mountain literature. www.psychovertical.com
What? – When? – Where? – Who? – Contact? –
Ex Northern Altitude
10–29 Aug 09
Cordillera Blanca Peru
A team of 8 AMA Members WO2 Geordie Taylor
94781 2780
The closing date for applications to WO2 Geordie Taylor is 1 Jun 09.
Applicants should ideally have an Alpine Mountaineering Proficiency award and some alpine experience or be able to attend JSAM to gain AMP 18—25 Jul 09. There will be a personal contribution of approx £500.
The aim of Exercise Northern Altitude is to fur- ther develop AMA mountaineers by carrying out alpine mountaineering at higher altitudes in the Cordillera Blanca Mountains of Peru. The experience gained will prepare the partic- ipants to compete for places on future AMA and JS expeditions to the Greater Ranges.
New AMA logo
6 ARMY MOUNTAINEER
Although the prize money has been awarded, we are still receiving sub- missions for the new AMA logo. If you’d like to have a go and perhaps see your design on future publications and AMA merchandise then please submit them to the journal editor. The new design will be selected at the AGM in June.