The Barn 2011 Climbing Competition Report

Report by illona Pelser
Pictures by Jackie Stainton.

Getting a bubble of psyche at an indoor venue is hard to do, especially on a beautiful Saturday morning. But when the routes are designed with devious moves and clever sequences then you are bound to inspire a climber or two.

Or in this case 40 climbers and their supporters all keen to see what happens next during the Barn’s 6^th annual birthday comp to (as Paul put it) celebrate 6 years of Paul managing Pretoria’s favourite climbing gym.

Excitement ran high as everyone was keen to support their friends, fathers and first time competitors. It was difficult to know where to look as climbers on all surrounding walls either breathed their way delicately through the balancy moves or tried desperately hard to push through big throws. Two qualifying routes were used to determine who would crank further in the semi’s.

After a hearty lunch of borewors and steak rolls the competitors were refueled and ready for semi’s. The U18 boys route gave them a rest just before the end crux, giving them time to shake out and stare down their final moves. Those who kept their heads and their power saw their way through to finals. The women were put on a slab route and had to slither their way up the small slopey holds to reach the top while the U18 girls twisted and turned their way up the corner.

To make it to finals in the Men’s Novice category the men had to figure out a technical stemming route whereas the blokes in Men’s Expert had to crank their way through an interesting and gutsy sequence on the bulge. This route then saw them clinging to the stalactite as if it was their new-found love, trying to recover before the last burst of moves.

For the Finals the U18 girls and the Women’s Open were given a route with an interesting yet confounding sequence. Only illona managed to figure it out in the moment and had the strength to pull her through the small holds, waling herself over the orange box feature into a resting position before the final dyno (and if anyone manages to find a more graceful way of doing that sequence please tell me).

The U18 boys were given their chance to hug the stalactite and throw out some dramatic lunges for the desperate last moves. In Men’s Novice category Brendon Salzer and Hannes Mostert managed to stick the bold moves through the bulge with Hannes having just that last bit of stamina to reach the top.

The Men’s Experts had to fight their way through a sequence of hardcore moves on bad holds before exploding through the roof with no rest, frantically trying to out-race their quickly fatiguing arms. It was a close race and in the end Wesley Black managed to come out tops.

Prizes were handed out to all podium positions and nearly every single competitor received a spot prize. The glow of achievement and the drive to push harder in the future settled on the gym.

And then… there was the after party!
Thanks goes to RAM mountaineering for the sponsoring of the prizes.  Thanks to the organisers and to the hard work from James Barnes and Paul Bruyere that went into the setting of the well thought out routes.