Photograph by John Miskelly Photography

The Youth Climbing Series is a competition series for young climbers aged 8-16, jointly organised by the British Mountaineering Council, Mountaineering Council of Scotland and Mountaineering Ireland. Regional rounds take place across the UK, followed by a final, to be held this year at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena, Ratho.

The 2010 YCS kicked off on Saturday 30^th January at Hotrock Climbing wall. There was a real buzz for this year’s first round, with 36 competitors taking part and a good number of parents coming along to show their support. People had travelled from all over Northern Ireland, and further afield- Dublin, Galway and Sligo all being represented!

The routes and problems had been set by Eddie Cooper, Ricky Young and Paul Swail, and were designed to challenge everyone, from the youngest competitor to the eldest and most experienced... All the competitors had to attempt 3 routes and 3 boulder problems, with the difficulty increasing and more points gained for each hold reached.

All the competitors put in a fantastic effort, but at the end of the day, there were clear winners in each category. Rachel Cooper won the top places in the 14-16 female category, with Yolanda and Vanessa Woods in 2^nd and 3^rd. Andrew Colligan, Vincenz Wörle and David Hopkins took the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places in the 14-16 male. In the 11-13’s Jamie Rankin finished first in the male, with Saul Calvert close behind, while in the 11-13 females Eleanor Lawrence finished ahead of Victoria Colligan on the routes, despite Vicky’s excellent performance in the bouldering. The 8-10 winners were Martin Cervenka and Miriam Woods. Full scores are available here

Thanks again to everyone who helped out, to Tollymore Mountain Centre for the use of the wall and to Jackson Sports and Cotswold for their sponsorship. We hope to see all the competitors again in 27^th February at the Ozone, for round 2