Rocktober 2023 | Report & Results

Saturday 14 October saw CityROCK Cape Town jam-packed with climbers frothing to get their send on in the 2023 Rocktober indoor climbing festival and, good golly, was it a day to remember! Read on to catch up on the day’s action, see who claimed victory and check out some gorgeous snaps by Brendan Kuhnert…

THE QUALIFICATIONS

Rocktober started off strong with Boulder qualifications from 8 to 10 am, followed by Top Rope and Lead qualifications from 10 am to 1 pm, with the finals scheduled for later in the day – along with plenty of other fun in between. The stakes were high, with vida e caffè donating R25 000 of cold, hard cash for the first-place prizes.

After a quick briefing at 8am, it was time to get going! 30 problems were set up for the Boulder qualifiers, with 10 routes each for Lead and Top Rope, and the atmosphere was electric as everyone hit the walls ready to fill in their scorecards.

Following a full morning of crushing, everyone was ready for a lekker break at lunchtime while our master of spreadsheets, Chevaan Patience, tallied up the scores. Along with popcorn and refreshments, hungry competitors could feast on vida e caffè’s full menu, plus boerewors rolls and burgers fresh off the grill. As an extra treat, the team from SCARPA South Africa hosted an all-day demo session, offering eager climbers the chance to test out some of their top-range kicks.

SPECTATOR COMPS

Over 80 competitors took part across the three disciplines, with many accompanied by friends and family who could enjoy the good vibes and mini-spectator competitions (prizes up for grabs, of course) running throughout the day. These included kid-friendly games like Pin the Chalk Bag on the Climber and a Dead Hang Challenge, plus other classics such as the Jumar Challenge, Dyno Challenge, Pinch Challenge and Crate Stack.

Competitors and spectators alike enjoyed testing their skills and winning some fun spot prizes, and by 3pm all the finalists (6 men and 6 women per discipline, except for lead which had ties) had been announced and notified, so we settled in for a lekker show starting with Top Rope finals at 4pm, followed by Boulder and Lead from 6 to 8pm.

QUALIFICATION SCORES
(qualifying finalists in bold)

TOP ROPE

---

BOULDER

Female

Male

---

LEAD

Female

Male

---

THE FINALS

The Top Rope finals saw the climbers tackling challenging auto-belay routes on the CityROCK speed wall, with the masses gathering on the mats below to watch the action. Never have the people been so amped up for top-rope climbing, and the cheers were roaring as each brave soldier took the spotlight. Everyone put on an excellent performance, with the women facing a particularly tricky start on their route, and the men’s competition seeing some action as one of the climbers, Dale Warburton, burst through the gym doors at the last minute to complete his run.

TOP ROPE FINALS

Once the Top Rope champs had been determined and awarded their well-earned R2500 cheques, we were ready for the big show everyone had been waiting for – the Boulder and Lead finals!

The lineup was fierce, with most of the final spots being snatched up by Western Cape Climbing young guns. Each gender had 3 boulder problems and 1 route to face – a tough challenge ahead for the finalists that made it through to both Boulder and Lead.

The crowd gathered around the gym’s slab and overhang walls for the Boulder finals, with a combination of technical and dynamic problems set up. It was wonderful to watch each competitor take the stage and show off some truly fantastic climbing, with several nail-biting moments and very enthusiastic screaming coming from the spectators, especially for top senders Nicholas Allan and Rauen Krohn.

BOULDER FINALS

Once Boulder was wrapped up, we headed into the Lead finals, and even though the event was running behind schedule, the psych was still as strong as ever.

The lead routes were set up through the arch, making for a great finale and a challenging climb for the anxious competitors. After a group viewing, climbers were led to the wall one by one to have their turn, with men and women climbing simultaneously. Cheers were once again abundant and the tension was high as competitors made their mark, just a few moves separating one from the other. Nicholas and Rauen once again came out on top, to uproarious applause, each being the last to climb and the only competitor to top the route.

LEAD FINALS

PRIZE-GIVING

After a long and glorious day, it was finally time to crown our Boulder and Lead winners, with the first-place victors earning a nice, fat R5000 cheque. Of course, Nicholas and Rauen both put on an absolutely stellar performance which earned them each first place in both disciplines – needless to say, they’ve got some new adventure funds to enjoy! Second and third-place champions were treated to goodies from the event’s many sponsors: The North Face, Black Diamond, Scarpa, First Ascent, Petzl, La Sportiva, Buff and Osprey. 

All in all, Rocktober 2023 was a smashing success and a truly special event to be a part of. A huge thank you goes to Timothy Larsen for being a fantastic MC and social media videographer, along with the one and only DJ DANX for bringing the perfect tunes and keeping the stoke high. We must also raise a glass to the route setters who brought us such fantastic climbs, in both the finals and qualifiers: Raymond Jones (Chief Setter), Matthew Johnstone, David Gerber, Grant Bender, Chevaan Patience, and CityROCK Pretoria setters Daleen van der Merwe, Elmer Kok and Tristan van der Merwe.

Check out many more beautiful snaps from Brendan at the buttons below, and make sure to grab your tickets when the next Rocktober rolls around!