Eleven climbers from the Yukon youth climbing team got on the ferry in a snow storm with enough snow to create a snowman on the stern deck. After almost three months of training, everyone was stoked and ready to participate in the 2011 "Post Turkey Pull-down" indoor climbing competition at the Rock Dump Climbing Gym in Juneau, Alaska.
With over 50 participants and 35 boulder problems, climbers were ranked according to their four best climbs over a four hour period. After a couple hours on the wall, forearms were starting to fail, but the tenacious Yukon contingent kept climbing. Two of our athletes, Drew Spicer and Seamus Beairsto, were among the top 6 overall scores and made it to the finals. They each had 5 minutes on four different problems, ranging from V5 to V8. It was a tough workout for both Seamus and Drew, but a great experience.
Overall the club placed well and provided serious competition to local Juneau climbers traning on a gymnasium that we would dream to have in Whitehorse. In the female category, Ella Parker and Amaya Cherian-Hall came out with second and third place rankings, respectively. Henry Beairsto, Julian Moore and Casey Parker also placed in the beginner category. Everyone improved tremendously and is climbing harder problems than before the Juneau event.
The next out-of-territory competition will be in April. The team will be putting on a climbing competition in Whitehorse between now and then.
Thank you to the volunteer coaches for helping to train these athletes three times a week at the FH indoor climbing wall. A big thanks to Kathleen McDade for organising the competiton and coaching as well. Thank you to Greg Oldridge and Shane Dooley for their commitment at the gym as coaches.
Stay tuned for more info on the upcoming bouldering competition. Hope to see you there!
