I’m giving a slideshow in the Great Outdoors this Wednesday, about my recent adventure climbing and new routing trip to Oman. It starts at 7pm, and is free, though you have to call Great Outdoors to let them know numbers.
IBL promo picture
As posted on climbing.ie:
“We’re delighted to announce that after a gap of several years that the IBL is heading north again!
Tollymore Mountain Centre (www.tollymore.com), on the edge of the Mournes, is Northern Ireland ’s National Centre for Mountaineering and Canoeing Activities. The centre is ideally located for mountain biking, hillwalking, climbing and bouldering so there’s plenty to do in the area after the competition.
The routesetters are:
Michael Duffy, Ricky Bell & Jose Argudo
The competition will be split into two sessions (like we ran in Galway) with a limit of 50 entrants per session.
The schedule for the day is:
Registration: 9am
Session 1: 9.30am – 1pm
Session 2: 1pm – 4.30pm
Prize Giving: 5pm
There will be approximately 10-12 problems to be completed.
There is a system in place which will allow OPTIONAL pre-registration via the Internet so entrants can guarantee their spot in advance. Please go to the IBL page at:
http://www.climbing.ie/index.php/ibl
* You will notice “IBL Tollymore Round 5 Fee” and an Add To Cart button. This will allow payment of the IBL entry fee by PayPal. You don’t need a PayPal account but you do need a credit card.
* In the Confirm Payment page you can add special instructions to the Merchant. Put in here whether you would like morning or afternoon.
* Please email ibl@climbing.ie to let us know that you’ve paid and whether you would prefer a morning/afternoon slot.
* Keep a printout of your receipt and bring it to the comp.
Entry fees on the day are:
Full fee: £12 (€15)
MI members/students/unwaged: £8 (€10)
Juniors: £4 (€5)
Please note that due to renovations there will be no accommodation available at Tollymore itself unfortunately.
There will be plenty of parking space available at the centre.
UPDATE 8th January 2010: That was quick! An announcement today that due to the poor weather conditions, it’s being postponed for a week…….
“Due to the road conditions and the long range forecast we’re going to postpone the event by a week and run it on Sat 23rd Jan instead.
We’re not going to chance tempting folk to drive long distances and also want to do justice to the effort the local climbers put into organising the event and have as many of ye there as possible.
So see you at IBL Round 4 – Sat 23rd Jan
Enjoy the snow & ice while its there!
Regards,
IBL Committee”
IBL promo picture
Neal McQuaid – don’t forget Round 4 is coming up on Saturday the 16th January (8 days away). What better way to burn off some of the Christmas calories?!?!?
As a request from Damien O’Sullivan, organiser of the event:
“Now that Christmas is over it’s time to get back to business. As you all know the IBL is on in less than two weeks, all the pieces are falling into place from an organisational point of view.
I do however need to know approximate numbers of people intending to compete. If numbers are large then I will set up some extra climbs in the hall down stairs. This will involve a lot of extra work, but it will make the competition much more enjoyable and safer.
I also need to let the Water Rock House know how many people will be eating there and attending for the slide show. I really hope that if you go to the comp that you will go to Water Rock House also, the food there is really good, the owner is going us an excellent deal too. There will be a slide show, and music to dance to if that’s your thing.
I will need to know approximate numbers by next Monday, so please send me an e-mail to ……….. [go to this link for his email address - don't want to post publicly], putting IBL as the subject.
Thanks, Damo.”
As for info on the comp, “We have our plans in place and we promise you an excellent days climbing. We intend setting 18 problems, each with a hard and easy variation. There will be problems easy enough for the newest of beginners right up to the most seasoned of strong (wo)men to enjoy.”
Performance Climbing and Coaching Seminar Report
Over the weekend of the 28th-30th of March 2008 the 1st Irish Performance Climbing and Coaching Seminar took place in Tollymore Mountain Centre. The event was hugely successful both from a numbers point of view and also (though it will take a few months) for permanently changing the face of the Irish Climbing Community. The weekend succeeded in raising the levels of available knowledge and increasing the drive towards the availability of high-quality coaching and mentoring as well as high level climbing and mountaineering.
A series of workshops and presentations from internationally respected coaches, medics and sports scientists provided participants with the background knowledge required to form a deeper understanding of how to improve both their own climbing and that of others.
Certain anecdotal research was undertaken over the course of the weekend that was extremely useful in guiding a number larger research projects that will help to shape the future of not only Irish climbing, but the global climbing community. I know for many of you attending you may not have seen the larger plan behind it, but you will in the future.
I want to express my huge thanks to Tollymore Mountain Centre, Sport NI and Outsider Magazine for being progressive enough to be able to see the benefits of an event like this happening and being willing to provide so much support – thanks guys.
I also want to extend thanks on behalf of everyone attending to the presenters – it was you that that enabled the high-standards anticipated for this event to be achieved and could not possibly have been as successful in your absence.
As a final note to all of you that attended – share the knowledge that you gained over the weekend. The event was held in order to raise standards within the community as a whole and to help change the less progressive attitudes that are unfortunately shared by some individuals and organisations, often deeply associated with the sport.
We have a very unique and close scene in Ireland (something that many people don’t realise until they’ve experienced those of other nations) and it is one that I am very proud to be a part of. It is this closeness that will help to make the knowledge generated from the seminar more sustainable and further reaching than just those that attended. Don’t keep it to yourself!!
Nigel Callender
Watch out for more info on the even on Climbing.ie, Outsider Magazine, Climber Magazine (UK), teamgearedup.com, irishclimbingcoaching.ie and the seminar webpage over the next few weeks. Also watch this space for more happenings related to the event.