BB NINE anniversary comp

Our birthday comp is back!

Book online (event details below):

Details:

After a couple of years with no birthday party, we're extremely excited to be be able to celebrate being NINE in style again this year, on Saturday 19th March!

This is our annual BIG comp day, with top class route setting this year from international routesetter Yann Genoux, Evie Cotrulia and the BB Team, exciting prizes, special challenges, tasty food and drink, and more.

The event will be a celebration of everything we love about climbing. It's about friendly competition, exploring new and exciting climbs, sharing it all with friends, and most of all having fun. The day is based around three parallel climbing competitions - the Open Comp, the Fun Comp and the U16 Comp. Whether you're a seasoned competitor, or just enjoy your climbing and want to give something different a go, there's something here for you.

Over £1500 worth of prizes to be won!

The top competitors will battle it out for a tasty cash prize pot, with £150 on offer for the winner of the Men's and Women's Open events, cash prizes for the top three finishers in each event, and hundreds of pounds of additional prizes for other competitors including many random prizes that all entrants have an equal chance of winning!

PRIZE CHANCES FOR EVERYONE!

As well as a free BB t-shirt for every competitor, there will be loads of chances to come home a winner even if you're never going to make the finals, with loads of other prizes up for grabs with help from our generous sponsors.

In addition all entrants to the Fun and Open comps will get the chance to enter a random draw at the end of the night for one of NINE one-month climbing passes - meaning that even the lowest scoring climbers could go home with a great prize.

Timetable:

Expected timings for the day are set out in the table. We're running things slightly differently this year, to try and spread competitors out better across the day and limit overcrowding, as these days have been very busy in the past! Competitors should all pre-book a timed entry slot, and attempt to climb as many of their competition boulders during their alloted slot as they can. There will be special challenges with additional prizes around throughout the day, so keep your eyes peeled.

Showcase Finals

The Finals event at the end of the day is always a highlight of the year, as the top competitors from the Open Competitions battle it out to win the top prize on some specially crafted finals boulders on our Comp Wall in front of a big crowd. This year, the Finals will be a ticketed event to help us manage numbers, with pre-booking costing a small amount which will be donated to charity. There will also be a licensed bar so you can enjoy a drink while you watch.

Make sure you book your Finals tickets in addition to your competitor tickets if you'd like to be there, we'd highly recommend it!

Comp entry prices

PLEASE NOTE that tickets must be booked in advance as it is likely that that the event will sell out.

All competitor entry prices include an awesome comp t-shirt, as designed by BB's very own Sarah Barber!

Any entrants who have not been to Boulder Brighton before will also need to register, which you can do in advance by following this link.

More info:

Fun for everyone

We think competitions should be great fun for everyone, not just those with a shot of winning (which, let's face it, most of us don't!). It's a good way to test your route-reading skills, as well as your general climbing ability. Come with a friend and see who comes out on top, or just come by yourself to see what you can do. If you're not sure if competitions are for you, read about the Fun Comp below and hopefully change your mind.

As well as the competitions, there will be various fun challenges going on, good music to keep everyone in the zone, delicious coffee from Small Batch - as well as our usual cakes and snacks at the cafe. A veritable festival of bouldering in fact. There will also be fantastic street food from the Vegan Earthlings - highly recommended!

Centre will be closed to general climbing

The centre will be open to competitors and ticketed supervisors during their alloted time slots, but closed to general climbing for the day. We will be open again as normal from Sunday morning.

The Open Comp - 25 problems 4A-7B

With setting from Yann Genoux (international competition route setter), Evie Cotrulia, and the BB in-house setting team, there will be plenty of exciting and challenging problems to be had in the Open Comp. We expect to set 25 climbs, graded from Font 4A up to about 7B, to give even the strongest climbers something tricky to get their teeth into. Some problems will be set specifically for female competitors, and some will be shared with the men. Following the initial round of climbing, there will be a Showcase Final round for the best performing climbers - using our 17 metre comp wall for what it was intended!

If you enjoy climbing grade 5s and want a challenge, the Open Comp is the event for you.

Fun Comp - 20 problems 3A-5C

Not everyone can climb 7B, but that's no reason not to be able to share in the fun of the comp. Our Fun Comp will be set at roughly grades 3A to 5C, so anyone who's happy climbing some grade 4s and maybe the odd grade 5 should have a great time. There will be various prizes to be had (not necessarily going to the winners!) to make things interesting, but the main thing is to have fun trying.

The format is very low pressure: there will be 20 problems around the centre, and all entrants will get a tick sheet when they register covering these climbs. You then go around the problems like any of our other circuits, having a go at them in whatever order you fancy. There's no spotlight or pressure, it's just like coming for a normal climb on a circuit, except that you want to try and climb each problem in as few attempts as possible. You get 10 points if you get the climb first go, 7 points for a second attempt, 3 points for a third attempt, and 1 point if you get it at all.

As well as the climbing, there will be other stuff going on - climbing challenges, music, slacklining - all very laid back. If you've never climbed in a climbing competition before, this is your chance! We aim to make the Fun Comp the friendliest comp around, so bring some friends and enjoy yourselves.

Under 16 comp - 25 problems

Climbers under the age of 16 can join one of our morning sessions and compete in their own leaderboards. We encourage any aspiring young climbers to book a slot and give the comp a go. Under 16s will have their own marked problems, though many problems will be shared with the rest of the competition - please note that most routes will be set for adults primarily, with routes not set specifically for juniors. To get the most out of the competition, youth climbers should already be comfortable climbing some of the Font 4s in the centre (mint and grey circuits or thereabouts). There will be 25 problems set.

As with our regular centre rules, any Under 16 competitors must be actively supervised by a registered adult boulderer, unless they have completed our Youth Boulderers' Award and been signed off as able to use the centre unsupervised. Youth Squads from other centres who would like to enter should email [email protected] to organise.

Masters category

We will be awarding separate prizes for the highest scoring Masters in the Open competition. Our Masters category is applicable to anyone born in 1981 or earlier (i.e. climbers who were aged 40 or over at the start of 2022). Any Open Comp finalists will be excluded from winning Masters prizes.

Finals

The top scoring competitors from the Male and Female Open comps will battle it out to see who gets the top spot at the end of the night. Make sure you book a Spectator Ticket to watch some of the strongest climbers around show the rest of us how it's done. We always get a great atmosphere, it's an inspiring and fun night!

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