Round 2 - Report

Brunel University, Uxbridge, 10 December 2000
After our success at the last round we were looking for some improvements this time.

The venue was new to all of us and, on arrival, was a pleasant surprise. Plenty of space for competitors and spectators. A light, airy atmosphere and a good variety of problems. Mr Gore and Mr Cousins volunteered as judges which was just as well! There were more competitors and appeared to be less judges than last time.

As the competition got underway it became clear that taller competitors had a distinct advantage; many climbs were much easier with a long reach and our smaller pupils suffered because of this.
Many of our team struggled with the unfamiliar surface of the wall and found it polished, unpredictable and difficult to 'read'. Nevertheless the atmosphere of fun and friendliness prevailed and everybody enjoyed taking part.

Callum Harris, at his first round, made an excellent effort and scored a surprising 47 points.
Mark Watkins was recovering from a sort of gastric flu thing and did amazingly well to finish fourth.
Mikey Evans made some impressive moves to reach fifth place.
Our domination of the top of the table was blown apart this time by some new entrants who were known to us and I suspected were on top form. Still, Tom Gore achieved a well deserved first place and won himself some shiny toys.

Richard Sharpe was placed 31st in the men's category, six points behind James Fogden (oops!). He wants some arm extensions for Christmas.

I was gratified to hear so many compliments coming our way; mostly surprise at the high standard of our competitors; many of whom out-performed some of the adults. This praise was well-deserved and all those from Dane Court who took part can be pleased with their conduct and performance.

Next is Amersham on 14th January 2001; not the best venue and populated by a group of strong local climbers.

So; get prepared, train hard and be tall!

Mr Alderson

PS: The ClimbUK website has a report on this round.