Lead climbing finals were the order of the afternoon on the first day of Roses, which for the uniformed ( myself included) involved scaling the climbing wall with a belayer and attempting to reach as many holds as possible.
To make it even more difficult, because of course that’s much too easy, the climbers have never seen the route previously and so every climb is entirely new to them.
Before they attempt their 2 climbs they were given around 10 minutes to look at the wall and plot their route to success, for which they tried to work it out together, an idea that seems completely foreign to most other sports.
Then the action finally began and despite warnings from onlookers that the route looked difficult Lancaster’s first challenger seemed unfazed, successfully flashing the climb.
Followed by all the other men who each in turn flashed their attempts leaving first time viewers increasingly shocked by the athleticism and skill on display.
The women, attempting a different, seemingly more complex route, were more mixed in outcomes, but no lessers in the range of skills on display leaving me wincing multiple times at the seemingly impossible levels of contortion.
In contrast to the ease at which they flashed the first route, the men’s second route posed all of them significant challenges. The route appeared to dictate that two dyno’s, the fancy term for jumps, would have to be landed if the climber was to complete the whole route.
This was increasingly problematic for the climbers with most of them finding it difficult to complete the first dyno and none of them completing the second. Nevertheless, I was once again impressed by the ability on display.
For the women, the second route also posed a different challenge again requiring either a “dyno” or at least some extreme acrobatics.
This route seemed to me as a first time observer to be particularly suited to certain strengths, with some climbers flashing the route, while others struggled to remain completely in control.
I was quite confused by the scoring but, after some help, it became apparent that it was both individual and team simultaneously. Individually, York placed two climbers in the Podium positions for the women’s event, with only one Yorkshireman placing there in the men’s.
This probably impacted the overall team score with the Women claiming a deserved victory over Lancaster, while the men, though valiant in their effort, placed a close second.