A bustling day of children, climbing, and excitement! CityROCK Johannesburg’s Youth Champs took place on Friday 5 December and incorporated both a Top-Rope and a Boulder round. We had been patiently watching the registrations tick over in the week leading up to the event and could not believe that we had nearly forty online registrations the morning of the event! Best believe we were even more astounded when at the end of registration (only thirty minutes before the comp started) we had a total of fifty-eight children present and ready to climb!
After a short briefing and rundown on the scoring system, the kids set off. The comp structure allowed for two hours of climbing with the kids deciding how much time to allocate to either discipline. Each age group had two high wall routes and could attempt a total of twelve boulder problems, with the top four boulder problems being submitted for scoring. A big thank you to the parents for assisting with spotting, belaying, and scoring on the day. This open format is the most conducive for a big competition and we really appreciate the willingness of all the parents involved on the day.
What was incredibly special about this competition (aside from it being a fundraising event), was to see how many people drove far, just to attend this event. We had many climbers from the Deutsche Internationale Schule Pretoria (DSP) as well as climbers from Pretoria Boys. We had climbers who had competed before and climbers who were taking part in a competition for the very first time. Familiar faces and so many new ones!
The next two hours rushed by in a flurry, and before we knew it, it was time to wind down and tally the scores! Once the scores were rounded up it was time for podium pictures, certificates, and medals. Let’s be honest, the part that all the kids are waiting for – to find out how they faired.
Podiums
Acknowledgements
A big thank you to all the kids that came through for the competition and showed incredible determination and spirit. All the proceeds for the event will be going towards the Emgwenya Mountain Club and assisting them with new harnesses. We are incredibly excited to make this donation possible through the support of the climbing community and look forward to more initiatives like this in the future. Together we continue to move upwards.
Watch this space to find out more about the donation and the impact your support made!
The Emgwenya Mountain Club operates out of Emgwenya/Waterval Boven, Mpumalanga, focusing on youth climbing development and conservation.
