2022 YCS Grand Final at RockStar Climbing Swindon
This year’s Youth Climbing Series Grand Final took place on the 26th to the 27th November at RockStar Climbing, Swindon
A total of 217 competitors took part, with 22 making their way down to represent Scotland. It was great to cap a full year of competitions off with this YCS Grand Final. It’s been a long time coming but it looks like the competition circuit is back and in full swing following a disruptive year or so because of the pandemic.
This year’s competition showed an interesting mix of routes, with some exciting moves to help split the pack, and a tough boulder round that truly put the competitors to the test!
To get a better glimpse into how it all went check out the pictures on our Flickr page HERE
The Results
The Scottish team showed their strength in coming 5th out of the 10 regional teams. Despite not managing the highs of last year (in which 3rd was achieved) we still managed 4 podium positions and another 4 top 10 finishes, with several competitors upping their rankings from last year’s competition. No bad going at all!
Stand out results came from Lily Moss who came first in her category, Euan Loynd who managed third, and Cameron Maclean and Rueben Langlands who came second and third respectively (only being split on count back!).
A full break down of the results can be found HERE.
Friends in Far Away Places
As an illustration of the spirit of climbing we’d like to give a special mention to Sam Maugham who was an honorary Scot for the competition. Sam has competed in all the YCS competitions since he was able to, and this marks his last year. Unfortunately for Sam he missed the booking deadline for the region he lives in, but not for Scotland’s YCS rounds.
So, taking advantage of the rules that state that as long as you take part in each of the rounds within the same region you are eligible to compete and progress to the Final, Sam did just that. He made his way up to Scotland for each round and then successfully made it into the final – as a representative of the Scottish Team.
It certainly could be seen as an oddity to have someone from London representing the Scottish Team at the YCS finals. But regardless of people’s thoughts on this we’d like to highlight the spirit that Sam showed in his motivation to take part in the competitions and the nature in which the Scottish youth climbing community welcomed him!
It’s a great testament to how climbing can bring people together, and a great view to the future to see our young climbers coming together in this way.
Thank you…
And to finish we of course must give a great big thank you to everyone that helped put this competition together. From Zoe Spriggins at the BMC, Scott Forsyth the Jury President, and all the other volunteers, organisers, route setters and the wall.
It’s easy to get caught up in the competitive tension and forget that those behind the competitions are trying their best to put on a good event, quite often with limited resources.
So, thank you to everyone! Can’t wait for next year!