Page 50 - 2019 AMA Summer

SPORTCLIMBING
INAUGURAL
IFSC-STYLE
BOULDERING
COMPETITION
By Patrick Snow
This year we held the first IFSC-style inter-services bouldering competition, to gear us up for the Olympic year in 2020. The event was held in North Wales over 22-23 Feb 19 and was a huge success, with over 80 climbers competing for the title of the strongest boulderer in the Armed Forces. The event culminated with the finals in which the best climbers came out one-by-one and spent 4 minutes grappling to solve each of the fiendishly difficult problems in front of the crowd.
Plenty of climbing was done. Lots of pizza was eaten from the ‘pizza oven van’ outside. Much merriment was had. Many thanks to the organising team: the Army and RAF Team Captains, Kenny Geoghegan and Paul Easton respectively.
The weekend also included the final round of the 2018/19 Armed Forces Bouldering League (AFBL) and the prize-giving for the overall league. This year was particu- larly notable (for me, if no-one else) since after several years of also-rans I finally managed to top the results table!
These photos, taken by the JIAG Media Team, should give a flavour of the competition!
A reminder: the AMA puts on a variety of climbing competitions throughout the year. Information about the competitions are available from: the live forecast of events (MODNET SharePoint); a versioned copy of the forecast of events (secure members’ area of the AMA website); DINs for most of the individual events; and the AMA Facebook page, on which I regularly post announcements. Get stuck in.
Inters: Format
Fri 22 Feb 19
Sat 23 Feb 19 - afternoon
Armed Forces Bouldering League Round 6 (final round)
Inters: finals
Open entry
Top ~6 in each category (Women, Men, U25Men)
Sat 23 Feb 19 - morning
Inters: semi-finals
Pre-selected single Service teams plus wildcard entries from AFBL 6
Inters Podium (Men)
AFBL Podium (U25 Men)
50 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER