Tag Archives: climbing

Annual bouldering competition returns to Sheffield

Hundreds of amateur and professional climbers have been taking part in Sheffield’s internationally renowned bouldering competition, the Climbing Works International Festival. The Rab CWIF 2020 is one of few competitions of any sport that allow members of the public to compete alongside climbing professionals. Sheffield Live! will be carrying live broadcast coverage of the Rab CWIF 2020 Semi Finals and Finals. Join us from midday on Sunday, Freeview 7, Virgin 159 or live stream on www.sheffieldlive.org.

Climbing festival returns to Sheffield

The Rab Climbing Works International Festival returned to Sheffield at the weekend with more than 400 competitors taking part in the two day event. Many are hoping to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games where sport climbing will make its debut. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!

British Bouldering Championships take Cliffhanger to new heights

The 2017 British Bouldering Championships, at Devonshire Green, was the showpiece of the Cliffhanger Festival, celebrating adventure sports and outdoor pursuits. Sheffield city centre was transformed into a giant playground with activities including mountain biking, skateboarding and orienteering. Hundreds of people came to watch the return to Sheffield of the British Bouldering Championships with the best climbers from around the UK competing to see who can scale the set piece walls. Simon Thake reports for Sheffield Live!

Top student athletes compete at BUCS Nationals 2017

The British Universities & Colleges Sport Nationals (BUCS) brought over 6000 student athletes to Sheffield for three action-packed days at venues across the city. Now in its fifth year, the BUCS Nationals 2017 include indoor athletics, badminton, swimming, karate, fencing, shooting, judo, trampolining and climbing. Previous BUCS competitors have included local Team GB stars Max Lichfield and Bryony Page. Simon Thake reports for Sheffield Live!

Win 2 tickets for the Brit Rock Film Tour on 30th November

Brit RockThe Brit Rock film tour is the first home grown adventure tour to emerge from the vibrant UK film making industry.

After the success of its inaugural 2014 launch the tour is back with a bang for 2015. Brit Rock comes right from the heart of the UK adventure scene, with liberal splashes of the inimitable British spirit.

And Sheffield Live has 2 tickets available to win, courtesy of Sheffield Students’ Union & Heason Events.

Focused on mountains this year, the tour will feature three stunning films: Wild Atlantic (Craig Hiller), Operation Moffatt (Jen Randall) & Citadel (Alastair Lee), the world’s first mountaineering documentary filmed entirely in 4K.

Leading adventure film maker Alastair Lee is back with a brand new mountain film for 2015, Citadel, featuring UK alpinists Matt Helliker and Jon Bracy embarking on a first ascent in a stunning and remote corner of the Alaskan wilderness. The world’s first 4k mountain film, a truly amazing spectacle.

This feature is supported by the BMC TV production by Jen Randel and Claire Carter, Operation Moffat, an inspiring and charming archive account of Britain’s first female mountain guide, the amazing Gwen Moffat (now 92).

Adding to the program will be the superb short Wild Atlantic, a montage of all things climbing on the west coast of Ireland by climbing photographer Craig Hiller.

To enter the competition just email your name, daytime phone number and your answer to the following question to comp@sheffieldlive.org by NOON on Monday 30th November:

What is the name of Britain’s first female mountain guide?

By entering you accept Sheffield Live’s standard competition terms and conditions. Over 18s only.

More about the Brit Rock film tour.

Adventure film fest back and supporting Sheffield Hospitals Charity

Tickets for the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival go on sale from this week from the Showroom Cinema – and the 9th ShAFF is set to be the biggest yet.

More than 100 films will be screened at this year’s ShAFF, taking place from 4 – 6 April 2014, thanks to additional venue space at Sheffield Hallam University’s Pennine Lecture Theatre and more screenings at Red Bull’s outdoor Cityscape Cinema at the amphitheatre.

Sheffield Adventure Film Festival launched the ShAFF 2014 trailer on BMC TV this week ahead of its cinematic screening at the Best of ShAFF 2013 at the Showroom Cinema on Thursday 13 February and YouTube release on Tuesday 18th February.

There were over 200,000 views of the 2012 and 2013 ShAFF trailers; this year’s was been produced by Peak District adventure and outdoor photographer and filmmaker Lukasz Warzecha and his Polished Project colleague Wojtek Kozakiewicz.  The soundtrack is ‘Life in Glorious Stereo’ by Sheffield band Screaming Maldini.

You can watch the trailer here:

The expanded programme includes more family-friendly Young Adventurer sessions and a dozen feature-length films as well as ShAFF’s popular Adrenaline, Spirit of Adventure and specialist sports film sessions.

It also includes more cycling films as part of ShAFF’s ‘Tour de Cinema’ partnership with DocFest as part of the Yorkshire Festival in the run up to the Tour De France.

A suggested donation of £1 from every ticket sold will go towards supporting Sheffield Hospitals Charity raising the £5,000 that is needed to provide a satellite blood fridge in the resuscitation room of the Emergency Department at the Northern General Hospital’s Major Trauma Centre.

Festival Director Matt Heason said:  “Lukasz and Wojtek have done a cracking job taking over the reins of producing the ShAFF trailer from Alastair Lee and it’s fitting that it opens with Leo Houlding in Al’s new film ‘The Last Great Climb’.

“We’re particularly proud to be supporting Sheffield Hospitals Charity, especially as ‘Risk and Reward’ is a theme that reoccurs in so many of this year’s films.  We’re also grateful to Screaming Maldini for letting us use another of their tracks.  Their energetic, soaring orchestral sound is a perfect backdrop for the incredible footage that we’re privileged to screen.”

Nick Cox from Screaming Maldini said:  “We’re delighted and honoured to be involved with this amazing film festival for the second year running.  Seeing our music set to such incredible feats of human endurance, strength and death-defying bravery makes us feel immensely proud while at the same time immensely physically inadequate!”

Sheffield Hospitals Charity Director, David Reynolds said: “ShAFF is a hugely successful event so I’m delighted that the festival is supporting Sheffield Hospitals Charity this year and the delivery of emergency care. I’d like to urge everyone attending the event to please support our fundraising efforts to supply a satellite blood fridge.  Having immediate access to this facility is vitally important for severely injured patients, who are losing blood. No time will be lost collecting blood from elsewhere within the hospital which means you can be sure that every penny donated will have a direct impact on the care of patients at a time when they need it the most.”

What next?

  • we’re featuring ShAFF on this Friday’s Business Live show – 9am on Friday 14 February – tune in then!
  • visit the ShAFF website
  • watch the trailer above
  • Anyone who wishes to support the fundraising to provide a blood fridge can visit sheffieldhospitalscharity.org.uk or or donate via Paypal
  • There are two more Best of ShAFF 2013 screenings – at 8.15pm on Thursday 13th Feb and Thursday 13th March – details here

Climbing competition: rulers of Foundry ‘wave’ declared

Stu Littlefair climbing in the final of F-BO14. Image: Neil Bentley

Stu Littlefair climbing in the final of F-BO14. Image: Neil Bentley

Some of the UK’s leading climbers competed alongside keen Sheffield participants in the fast-growing sport of ‘bouldering’ in a competition at Sheffield’s Foundry climbing wall this weekend.

F-BO14 (the Foundry Bouldering Open) attracted many of the UK’s top competition climbers, including many current British Bouldering Team members, to test their strength and technique against its famous ‘wave’ bouldering wall.

The competition began with a first round of 25 boulder problems; the 72 competitors could have up to 4 attempts at each one.  The top scoring 6 men and 6 women then went through to a final where they each had to grapple with 4 more tough problems on the famous ‘Wave’ bouldering wall.

Eventual winners were Shauna Coxsey and Martin Smith – who each took home a £350 cash prize.

The winners of the juniors’ competition (aged 10 to 17 years) were Gracie Martin (who also came 5th in the women’s senior final) and Jack Ainscough.

Neil Bentley, the Foundry’s General Manager, told Sheffield Live that the competition had a “great fun atmosphere throughout with some amazing climbing by the determined competitors.”

Results

Men’s Final Results

  1. Martin Smith
  2. Ethan Walker
  3. Stu Littlefair
  4. Nathan Phillips
  5. Thom Arnold
  6. Cailean Harker

Women’s Final Results

  1. Shauna Coxsey
  2. Michaela Tracy
  3. Diane Merrick
  4. Ella Russell
  5. Gracie Martin
  6. Katie Maxwell

Full details of junior results and team results are available on the Foundry website.

What next?

  • Last year we interviewed Sheffield climbers Mina Leslie-Wujastyk and Lucy Creamer in our show ‘Steel Fingers, Steel Wheels’ – details are here

Sheffield hosts British Climbing Championships

A competitor at the British Climbing Championships (Photo: Jamie Veitch)

A competitor at the British Climbing Championships (Photo: Jamie Veitch)

Brand new Sheffield climbing wall Awesome Walls – which we have written about here – opened with a high profile event this weekend (5-6 October) when it hosted the British Lead and Speed Climbing Championships.

Day 1 of the competition featured the youth and veteran lead climbing categories. A full breakdown of scores and results in this categories can be found here.

Day 2 featured the Senior Lead climbing, and the Junior and Senior Speed climbing competitions.
In the lead climbing events:
  • Ed Hamer retained his Male Senior title;
  • 15 year old Molly Thompson-Smith, who’d won the junior Female A lead category the previous day, also won the Senior Female lead category, and won it convincingly by topping out on all the routes! Molly is the youngest ever winner of a Senior GB title
  • A full breakdown of scores and results for the Senior Lead categories can be found here.

The pressure was not only on the competitors – it was on the venue and its build team too. Awesome Walls is a brand new venue, which has been completed just in time for the competition.

Managing director Dave Douglas told Sheffield Live:

“As the deadline loomed for the completion of the new Awesome Walls the pressure was on not only to complete the project but to go one step further and give the competitors a facility that they would next forget. As the keen climbers entered the climbing arena never before has the word ‘awesome’ been
spoken with such truth and enthusiasm!”

What next?

New climbing centre for Sheffield

Sheffield’s climbers are spoiled for choice of where to train and climb indoors, with a new climbing centre, Awesome Walls Sheffield, now open for business.

Located in Newhall, a short distance from the city centre and also just a few minutes from the M1, the new wall aims to cater for climbers from complete beginners through to keen experts.

It is offering vertical, slab and overhanging climbing routes, several bouldering areas and an enormous 23 metre competition wall which overhangs by 12 metres.

Awarded the status of “National Performance Centre” by the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), Awesome Walls will be “officially” opened – by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield – on Saturday 12th October (with a party and BBQ). However, parts of the centre have already opened so climbers and aspiring climbers can visit now.

This weekend the wall hosted the BMC British Lead and Speed Climbing Championships in which “Britain’s best climbers battled it out on the brand new super steep wall in Sheffield, all vying for the title of British Lead Climbing Champion.” We’ll post a news report from the Championships tomorrow.

Awesome Walls joins Sheffield’s roster of existing climbing walls which include the Foundry, The Climbing Works and The Edge. Climbers in Sheffield have access to by far the widest range of indoor facilities of any UK city (as well as the Peak District, with thousands of climbs from easy to very hard indeed, on the local gritstone and limestone cliffs).

Dave Douglas, MD of the centre, provided a quick tour of the new wall in this film from a couple of weeks ago as its build neared completion:

Dave Douglas Talks Awesome Walls from Dave Douglas on Vimeo.

What next?

  • Awesome Walls Sheffield recently sponsored our “Steel Fingers, Steel Wheels” series of programmes about climbing and cycling in and around Sheffield. The series – which you can listen to from the following links – featured interviews with climbers Lucy Creamer (this show also included an interview with Dave Douglas), Andy Kirkpatrick and Mina Leslie-Wujastyk, as well as with representatives from many other organisations involved in climbing.
  • Awesome Walls Sheffield opening party

Interviews with Steve Peat & Mina-Leslie Wujastyk

John Horscroft and Steve Peat

Sheffield Live!’s series of cycling and climbing shows, Steel Fingers, Steel Wheels, today featured a bumper interview with mountain biking legend Steve Peat. Recorded earlier this month by interviewer John Horscroft and Jamie Veitch, the 27 minute interview includes in-depth and candid commentary from Steve.

Steve and John discuss:

– the history and roots of mountain biking
– competing at a high level
– Steve’s plans for the future
– training
– road biking
– the Sheffield scene
– Steve’s three top tips for aspiring riders
– and much more!

And Steve picked three tracks of music which we played between segments of the interview.

Mina in the studio

Today’s show also featured climber Mina-Leslie Wujastyk, excelling in the climbing discipline of bouldering. Mina has recently returned from a trip to South Africa during which she climbed 8 boulder problems graded 8A and one of 8A+ – a brilliant achievement from this Sheffield-based climber. Mina is also a member of the British Bouldering team, competing in the bouldering world cup events and this year came 2nd in the British Bouldering Championships.

Simon Lee of UKBouldering.com was a live studio guest today and explained the intricacies of bouldering and Jon Barton of Vertebrate Graphics featured within a pre-recorded interview too.

This was a bumper 90 minute edition of the show, so our podcasts (available for 3 months) are in 2 parts:

You can listen to the podcast of the first 60 minutes of the show here.

Approximate timings for the 1st hour of the show:

Intro / Simon Lee 0-12 mins; Mina interview 12-22 mins; Simon Lee 22-25 mins; Jon Barton interview 25-33 mins; Simon Lee wrap up 33-37 mins; Steve Peat interview – part one – 37-52 mins; interview with show sponsor, Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative 52-60 mins.

And you can listen to the podcast of part 2 of the show here (30 minutes total) – which includes Steve Peat’s chosen tracks of music and parts 2 and 3 of our interview with Steve.

Earlier episodes of this series have featured interviews with climber Lucy Creamer, alpinist, big wall climber and author Andy Kirkpatrick, a diverse range of cyclists, and representatives from Awesome Walls, UKClimbing.com, Ride Sheffield, CycleBoost Sheffield, Pedal Ready & more.

The series was sponsored by Awesome Walls Sheffield and the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative.