The Youth Climbing Series regional rounds are over for 2010. Now just the UK final, being held on 12^th June at Ratho remains...

The Youth Climbing Series is a series of competitions for young climbers aged 8-16, organised by the British Mountaineering Council, Mountaineering Council of Scotland and Mountaineering Ireland. 3 regional rounds are held in each area, with competitors qualifying to take part in the UK final, at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena, Ratho. The Northern Ireland YCS 2010 was a big success, with over 60 entries and a very impressive standard of climbing across all the age groups. The 2010 series was generously supported by Jackson Sports and Cotswold.

The 2010 series kicked off at Hotrock climbing wall. The 2010 YCS kicked off on Saturday 30th 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 were set by Eddie Cooper, Ricky Young and Paul Swail.

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 place in the 14-16 female category, with Yolanda and Vanessa Woods in 2nd and 3rd. Andrew Colligan, Vincenz Wörle and David Hopkins took the 1st, 2nd and 3rd 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.

Round 2 took place at Belfast’s Ozone wall. It was a busy day- the biggest turnout for any single round to date, with 45 young competitors taking part. Thankfully we had plenty of volunteers on the day, with a number of former YCS competitors lending a hand. Routes and problems were set by Eddie, Ricky and Rob Hunter.

Rachel and Andrew continued to dominate the 14-16’s, but competition for 2^nd and 3^rd in these categories was very close. In the female, Vanessa and Yolanda Woods were 2^nd and 3^rd respectively, while just 4 points split Eoin Acton (2^nd) and Vincenz Wörle (3^rd) in the male. In the 11-13’s Jamie and Dominic put in outstanding performances throughout the comp flashing everything! In the end they could be split only by climbing a tie-breaker on the 14-16’s route, when Jamie took first by a narrow margin. Jonathon Cooke came 3^rd. 11-13 girls was also an extremely close finish, with just Eleanor just 2 points ahead of Victoria. Kate Monaghan finished 3^rd.  In the 8-10’s Martin came first again, with Patrick Watson in 2^nd.  Anna Webster, from the Winders Club in Dublin came first.

The final regional round was held at Gortatole wall. It was great to see some more local climbers in Gortatole this year, partly thanks to Hanging Rockers’ Club’s youth initiatives and the turnout was very good overall, with plenty of people travelling from Belfast and Dublin to enter. This time the routes were Eddie Cooper, Joe Walls and Angela Carlin’s creations, with Eddie making a huge effort to come down and set, despite also having committed to work in Belfast the same day.

Again in the eldest category, Rachel and Andrew won out, with Andrew reaching the second last hold on the intimidating final route, and Rachel making a very good attempt at its powerful final section. Behind Rachel in the female category was Vanessa Woods and in 3^rd was Rachel Hodgson, whose performance was particularly impressive given that this was just her second competition. Yolanda retained 3^rd place in the overall ranking. In the boys Vincenz and Eoin took 2^nd and 3^rd place in the male category for this round, and in the overall ranking. In the 11-13’ girls Vicky and Eleanor were even closer this time, with only one point separating them, but Vicky was the winner of round 3, while Eleanor was first in the overall ranking. Kate Monaghan was 3^rd. In the boys it was another close finish, with full points for both Jamie and Dominic but Jamie won on count-back, having flashed all the boulder problems. Ciaran Curran was 3^rd at Gortatole and the overall ranking went to Jamie (1^st), Dominic (2^nd) and Saul (3^rd). 8-10’s went to Martin and Patrick, with the overall ranking being Martin Cervenka (1^st), Michal Cervenka (2^nd) and Patrick Watson (3^rd). In the 8-10 girls, Miriam came 1^st and Madelyn 2^nd in round 3, while overall Madelyn came 1^st and Miriam 2^nd.

Thanks again to the sponsors and venues who generously support the YCS, as well as to the route-setters and our team of volunteer judges and belayers. Well done to everyone who competed and especially to those who have qualified for the final in June!