Climbing.ie
UUJMCFor most, the Climbing Intervarsities 2012 started on Friday 2nd March but for a few people it started many months ago keeping the plans hidden behind the scenes until it was time to emerge and unleash one EPIC weekend.
The weekend began with a small group of UUJMCer’s meeting at noon at the Ozone to begin stripping the wall of holds before routes could be set, along with a few lengthy runs to fetch extra crash mats from various places around the country.
Later that evening saw the much anticipated presentation in the Holiday Inn from Ian Parnell; the extreme mountaineer, climber and journalist. He illustrated his amazing personal experiences of mountaineering in Alaska and Scotland through unique photographs and footage of his adventures, which at the end had UUJ for one and probably many others eager to get out onto the snow and ice for some epic adventures. After a few drinks at the bar and mingling amongst the clubs, the festivities uprooted in search a dance floor and cheap alcohol! Lead by UUJ, the extroverted bunch landed at EVISSA with cheap entry, a free shot and a great night’s craic to start the weekend.
Come Saturday morning the excitement was building for the beginning of the competition. The 15 problems, set by Ricky Bell and his merry men, stretched across the whole of the Ozone’s climbing wall. Thankfully the routesetters left the feature bouldering section free from routes so a warm up wall was appreciated by most.
With the routes having a range of difficulty, from the easy going to the question mark crazy problems, they proved a perfect challenge for most, yet for a selected few it was a seemingly a trivial matter scoring nearly full points.
As the day progressed the easier routes were abandoned as the crowds gathered to the yellow bouldering wall where the harder routes were set, including the infamous problem 15 adding an extra spice of enjoyment to the competition (Check the gallery page for the video). As time drew closer to the 4:30pm deadline a series of ooooos, aaaahhhhs, go on’s and congratulatory applause were on the increase until the announcement rang to stop climbing.
Later that evening once everyone got back to their accommodation, the preparation for the night ahead in Scratch began. The theme “When I grow up I want to be a…” gave large scope for interpretation with a mix of every fancy dress costume you can imagine! As the night progressed, the climbers all moved to the dance floor, busting many a move which may or may not have been alcohol related but it appeared all were having fun. The celebrations rolled onto the wee hours of the morning with a few spin off after parties for the hardcore climbers among us!
As Sunday’s competition commenced, some appeared to be still drunk from the night before, while for others the party claimed several victims leaving grim hangovers as consequents but everyone soldiered on to show their faces eventually (even a certain captain arriving at 3!).
As the top rope and lead competitions got under way, members of UUJMC sifted out the holds for the climbing wall to continue the infinite task of fitting the routes back to the pre-competition layout (the odd hold being substituted for another similar hold, perfectly acceptable of course)!
The routes for both the top roping and leading proved for the many to be a challenging affair with people dropping like flies off the wall, but as the top climbers from the day before hit the wall they made it look easy. As the final few climbers took the spotlight, the captains meetings took place to find out everyone’s thoughts on the weekend and confirm who would be next years hosts…with Trinity bravely taking the torch!
As the scores were quickly tallied up and the awards where sorted, everyone took their positions for the anticipated prize giving (with very generous sponsorship from Decathalon, Tiso, Cotswold and Jackson Sports)! A big congratulations to all the winners, particularly TCD taking the Best Club and of course the spot prize winners for their extra entertainment over the weekend!
As captains rounded up their troops and everyone said their goodbyes, each club started their tiresome journey home following yet another successful Climbing InterVarsities!
A big thanks to everyone who came to the weekend making this years competition such a success! Thanks to the route setters, sponsors and to all of UUJMC who worked continuously to pull off this years event! Also special thanks to QUBMC who gave a helping hand over the weekend and offered continuous support to UUJMC!
Looking forward to next year when we all meet up again at Climbing Intervarsities 2013 hosted by TCD!
