The annual climbing comps are well under way in Gauteng this year, except this year, there is a little twist. Competition has been opened up to novices, opens, masters and veterans as well!! After two qualifying rounds at Wonderwall and the Barn our climbers are amped for the last two at the end of the month!!! Well done to everyone competing and good luck for the next two!
After a lot of hard work and dedication, the 2012 SA selection was held at the Barn. The following people were selected to represent South Africa in the 2012 Climbing world cup in Singapore!
U/15 boys:
Tristan Swart
Oliver Marx
Kathlego Pobe
Jay Jay Curtis
U/15 Girls:
Eran Waldeck
Caitlyn Seargent
U/17 boys:
Dario Hanning
Robert Brown
Brandon van Houten
U/17 girls:
Samantha Stainton
U/19 boys:
Dylan Vogt
Robin Sherwood
Gregory Oudhof
Calrin Curtis
Severin Curtis (reserve)
U/19 girls:
Gillian Bester
Watch this space for interviews with each of the team members!
As you can see from our first post, competition climbing has grown over the last few years in South Africa as a whole. In Gauteng, we have approximately 190 climbers climbing in the NBL 2012. We are hoping to increase this figure and encourage the adults to get involved to by introducing categories for open, novice, masters and veterans in our lead comps! For more information, watch this space!
Last year, for the first time ever, SANCF arranged to send a South African Youth team to the world cup in Imst, Austria! 10 of our very own Gauteng climbers were chosen to participate in the world cup and every one of them had the time of their lives and gained unimaginable experience!
They were:
The U/19s:
Calrin Curtis
“My experience at the 2011 youth climbing championships in Imst Austria was nothing short of one of the best experiences of my life and I had no idea at the trials having only climbed for just over a year that I would be part of this incredible adventure.
My true inspiration and reason for success both at trials and in Austria was the friendship I formed with Pieter. Pieter saw the potential in me when I first started out and if it wasn’t for his drive and belif in me I would never have made it to where I am now. We had a goal together of making the SA team and achieving success in Austria. We trained relentlessly and remained focussed on what we had set out to achieve.
In Austria we maintained this focus and drive whilst at the same time allowing ourselves to experience the amazing place we found ourselves in. It was not I who succeeded in Austria, it was myself and Pieter together and the way in which we managed to motivate eachother and have the right attitude showed in the results that we achieved. It was truly a life changing experience which taught me not only so much a bout climbing but also about friendship and I’m very glad i shared it with such a great friend.”
Gregory Oudhof
Dylan Vogt
Tiffany Wells
“Austria…..Wow…..I can honestly say that the World Cup 2011 has been my best experience to date! I will never forget the beautiful cobble stone streets and the ice cold crystal clear fountains of Imst, the very welcoming Austrian climbing team as well as ALL the other teams who made us “first timers” feel at home! They were so psyched to have all continents participating for the first time!! I went there with the goal not to come last and that’s exactly what I did! I came 42nd out of 48 climbers and in the process gained so much experience from those world class routes! The gym and competition wall was breathtaking and I spent every spare moment climbing on those walls.
The South African team along with all the coaches and parents would have won the spirit trophy for sure…..if there was one…..our friendliness, dedication and support of everyone will never be forgotten by those who took part this year!!!
Being a part of the first ever team to compete in the youth world cup for South Africa didn’t mean storming in and winning medals, it meant learning that you are a tiny fish in a very big sea and it now means we have a visible goal to work towards in SA…..It also meant gaining unimaginable experience in competition climbing that we can now share with younger generations who, who knows, may one day be bringing home medals for their country!!!” www.verticallyunltd.wordpress.com
The U/17s:
Devin Murray
“The best way to train for trails is to find your weakness and focus your training on that aspect. You’re only as strong as your weakest link so until you correct this you will find routes or parts of routes that you will struggle on. Once you fix this carry on pushing what you’re good at. Focussing on endurance is great for lead comps and power-endurance is a great way to train for bouldering. Getting a partner to train with and sticking to a good routine that works for both of you is the easiest way to train.
The world cup is a definite highlight this year as it will be our second year competing this year. It is a very good incentive for training hard and is a good reward for all the time you have put into it. The World Cup is a great way to up your climbing experience as a whole.”
Samantha Stainton
“We were as ready as we were ever going to be. It being our first year there, all the other teams were unbelievably welcoming. We had such fun. The Austrian team was always there if we needed anything. Singapore was amazing, Andrew really made a difference to quite a few of us. Where ever the party was at so was Canada. They brought the most amazing vibe and the biggest smiles. A few of the competitors, such as Rachel Cooper and Alex Johnson will always be friends I can turn to after that trip. Scotty, Art and Dan had me in hysterics every time I was around them. It made the entire trip that much more amazing. Martin had this snickers sticker on his jersey which is now on my desk thanks to Daan.” http://www.justclimbon.wordpress.com
Gillian Bester
The U/15s:
Byron Crofford
Tristan Swart
Eran Waldeck
“Training is really tough most of the time but we try our best to be the best we can, as we always say, you compete as you train.
U19 Females – Gillian Bester
U17 Males – Robert Brown, Dario Hatting, Brandon van Houghten
U17 Females – Sam Stainton
U15 Males – Tristan Swart, JJ Curtis, Oliver Marx, Katleho Pobe
U15 Females – Caitlyn Sargent, Eran Waldeck
The 7th Annual Barn Birthday Bash was held on the 4th of February and was once again a great success! Starting at 9am each category (U/18 male, U/18 female, Open and Novice male) had two qualifying routes to begin with!
Jay Jay climbing his qualifying route
Nicolas Murray figuring out the beta on the technical roof section on his qualifying route
Marijke Te Stege getting through the overhang on the open women’s route
Caitlin Sergeant – Gauteng Youth Pocket Rocket!
After a quick lunch of boerie rolls the climbers headed back into the gym to compete in the semi finals. There was close competition amongst the categories and climbers had to work hard to make it into the final.
Tristan Swart entering the roof of the U/18s route
Rachel Sealy-Fisher clipping on the technical girls U/18 route
Devin Murray shaking out on his final route
Sabrina Veiga climbing outstandingly for her first lead comp!
AJ concentrating on the clip of his final route
As much as it was a friendly competition there was still prizes to be given away…
Open men: 1st: Robin Sherwood, 2nd: Severin Curtis who unfortunately had to leave before prize giving, 3rd: Arnold de Beer
Mens Novice: 1st: Christian Behr, 2nd: Carl Burth-Durham, 3rd: Dylan Johnson
U/18 male: 1st: Tristan Swart, 2nd: Devin Murray 3rd: AJ Bosman
U/18 female: 1st: Caitlyn Sergeant, 2nd: Sabrina Veiga, 3rd: Rachel Sealy-Fisher
Open women: 1st: Gillian Bester, 2nd: Julia Worfel, 3rd: Marijke Te Stege
Thank you so much to Paul Bruyere for hosting this event and staying up all night to set the amazing quality routes they we always have look forward to! Thank you to the following sponsors of prizes: 5.10, So-ill, Edelrid and Mad rock
And then it was time to relax…..and enjoy some slacklining
Gauteng Climbing was born in 2009 out of a need to grow the sport of climbing in our province.
Initially only primary schools had competitions, Crawford Lonehill Prep, St John’s Prep, Heron Bridge and St Peters Prep. They organised these competitions between themselves but little did they know that a new breed of climber was about to emerge from their competitions.
In 2006 only 30 young climbers took part in the round robin tournaments organised mainly by Brett Nicolson and Jeanette Fuchs. Their dedication and love of climbing was imprinted on many a young mind. 2008 saw an increase of 100%, things started to look good…
That year Neil Margetts organised to take Gauteng’s finest youngsters to Durban, Kwa Zulu Natal to compete against their best climbers and our climbers did themselves proud with first, second and third placing.
The Team from left to right: Back row – Kyle, Mischa, Gabe, Sam, Matt, Aiden. Front Row – Emile, Danni, Eran, Lloyd, Michael.
Our amazing young female climbers.
2009 saw a dedicated group push the sport forward and the Gauteng Schools League was born.
More schools and commercial venues were contacted, and dates for competitions set for 2009. Initially the high school competitions were run the same way as the primary schools and Johannesburg and Pretoria ran separate leagues.
May 2009 saw 63 Johannesburg and 35 Pretoria High school climbers become part of Gauteng Climbing’s history. Our sport had grown by 120 percent!
All other provinces were contacted about the possibility of holding a National Competition, something that had not been held in over a decade. The provinces were highly receptive and Gauteng were to organise this. With our youth team chosen and training days organised, we were excited for our climbers to compete with the rest of the country.
First Gauteng Team – Seniors – From Left to Right, Back to Front;
Wesley, Sarel, Ebert, Alex, Dylan, Renard, Chris, Lorna, Yolande
Monica, Des, Gert, Sheldon, Darren, Robert, Elizabeth, Lloyd
Kaleigh, Gillian, Tiffany, Sam, Eran, Gabe, Mischa, Matt.
(Missing – Jess, Catherine, Thomas)
Nationals was set for 2nd and 3rd October at Wonderwall and The Climbing Barn and the team were ready to take on the challenge. No one was sure what the outcome would be, but all were excited about competing. We had 83 competitors from around South Africa about to descend on our province.
Gauteng won in 2009 and have gone from strength to strength in the National Competitions.
In 2010 the National Boulder League was expanded to include an U 18 section. Pretoria and Johannesburg combined had a total of 69 climbers competing in the Gauteng section of the league.
19 climbers qualified for the National Final held at St Peters Prep in April 2010. Gauteng won 6 out of 12 medals at the competition.
Gauteng Team 2010 Competing in Kwa Zulu Natal.
2011 saw an even bigger pool of climbers compete in the NBL and the format was changed to include U 19, U 17 and U 15.
Gauteng Climbers won 13 out of the 24 medals that were on offer at Rhodes University.
Gauteng Team 2011
In 2011 we took our biggest step thus far and had eleven of our Youth chosen to represent South Africa in the Youth World cup in Imst, Austria.
The team was as follows:
U/15 male: Tristan Swart, Byron Crofford. U/15 female: Eran Waldeck. U/17 male: Devin Murray. U/17 female: Sam Stainton, Gillian Bester. U/19 male: Calrin Curtis, Gregory Oudhof, Dylan Vogt. U/19 female: Tiffany Wells.
We now have expanded our leagues to include Opens, Novice, Masters and Veterans and have a total of 42 competitions set for 2012.
We wish everyone the best of luck for the coming year.
Gauteng Climbing 