Youth Climbing Series Final 2009

At last it's all over, and with a sigh of relief we can relax for a while. The Youth Climbing Series 2009 is over and the results are in.

It was a great weekend, the Midlands Team all stayed at the same inn which made for a good atmosphere and the kids had fun playing together.

The final was held at Westway Climbing Centre in London. There we split up according to category.

The 8-10 boys were divided in half, two groups of 16. Dom and George Morris were in the same group, but Oli Lawson, also in the Midlands Team, was with the others.

After the first route and two boulder problems, Dom, George and a few other climbers had perfect scores. The second route separated them however, George got fairly high, Dom topped it, and Jack Graham did a dyno for the last hold but missed it. That put Dom in the lead.


George on 1st Route

The final boulder problem changed the situation. None of the climbers managed to complete it, but Jack Graham managed to touch the last hold. Dom eventually managed to touch the second to last hold, which put him in second place to Jack, by just one point. George also did better than most.


Dom on 2nd Boulder Problem

It all came down to the final route. Dom was shocked to discover that he was the first climber and he got three quarters of the way up a difficult and reachy climb before coming off. Jack managed to top the route and raised his fist in triumph, knowing he'd won the competition.

George was last to climb. He struggled past the point Dom had reached but the climb became more and more difficult. He clearly wanted to give up and was shaking his head, but the crowd urged him on. Climbing out of his skin, he almost managed to reach the top before losing his grip.

Then we waited on tender hooks, not knowing what the final result was because we weren't sure how well the sixteen climbers in the other group had done. And then came the announcement, Dom was 3rd, George 2nd and Jack 1st.

Dom and George had done fantastically well, the Midlands Climbing Team have not had anyone on the winners podium since 2005, but this year they had two. And congratulations to Jack Graham, who finally won after coming so close so many times.

And so, after a decent rest, we'll start preparing for next year's competition. Jack, George and many of the other climbers will move up into the next age category but Dom, who's only 9, will stay in the 8-10 boys group.

So next year..... Well let's not tempt fate!