Page 28 - 20145 AMA Spring

Tri-Service Bouldering League at the Outdoor Show!
by Tom Odling
This years TSBL has been the biggest and best ever with over 350 entries to the first 5 rounds. For the first time ever round five was held at the Outdoor Show in the Excel Centre in London’s Docklands. The comp was held on the brand new MOBOCO competition wall. MOBOCO (Mobile Bouldering Company) is a new organisation and round 5 of the TSBL was the first competition to use their brand new 80ft wide by 4.5m high international standard competition bouldering wall. With angles ranging from 20 to 30 degrees overhanging there is nowhere to hide. MOBOCO has strong links to the military and is headed up by a team of three; Pete Skinsley (AMA Vice Chairman Sport Climbing), Alex Haslehurst (DMM Sales Rep and long time supporter of the military climbing teams) and Andy Long (profes- sional wall builder and route setter who sets for the Army Climbing Championships annually). In addition to this the wall was part built by REME tradesmen who welded together the structural framing for the wall!
The competition itself was seriously tough. Even some of the visiting DMM sponsored climbers were having trouble and losing skin – particularly on the 30 degree overhanging jamming crack! Top score on the Day was 190 from a possible 250 by LCpl Tim Read REME but there were 6 others with scores between 180 and 190.
At the time of writing the last round of the league is less than two weeks away but the podium slots are still all to play for going into the last round at the Indy Wall at JSMTC(I) on 28 Feb. Look out for a full report in the next AMA journal.
26 ARMY MOUNTAINEER