Hello everyone!

In Montreal from December 5 - 7, 2008, Canada will host the North America Continental Championships (NACC). This is the first time Canada has had the honour to host this event so it should be an exciting time for our sport! The event will have sport (lead) and speed climbing events for open competitors and all youth categories (no bouldering).

The youth team will be selected as detailed on the CEC website.

For the open team, we are able to send 10 males & females to this event. To select these team members, we are hosting two qualifying competitions - one in the west and one in the east. Those competitors interested in representing Canada in Montreal are strongly encouraged to attend one of these events as the top three male & female competitors from each event will receive an automatic invitation to join the event in December.

Here are some details of the two qualifiers:

Western Canada - Climb 306, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - October 19, 2008

Eastern Canada - Delire Escalade, Quebec City, Quebec - October 25, 2008

The format for each event is as follows:

- each competitor will have two flash qualifier routes
- for those that make finals, there will be one onsight route

Also, besides the open categories, there will be routes for all adult ability levels at each of these competitions so everyone can get involved. Check with the individual gyms for more details about this…

Complete CEC and international rules will be in place for each of the rounds so please make sure you are fully aware of the rules before you compete.

If you cannot make one of the qualifiers, or do not make the top three at one of the competitions, there will still be an opportunity to join the team. An application process will be available online in October to apply for the remaining spots on the team. Details of the application process will be provided at a later date.

I encourage all of you to attend one of these qualifiers as we have very few sanctioned rope competitions in this country. With this start, I am hoping we can include a national championship before next year’s NACC as well.

Please take a look at the link for the NACC for more details about the event: http://www.nacc08.ca/main.php

Chris Neve

Adult Climbing Coordinator
Competition Climbing Canada/Compétition d’escalade Canada (CEC)
http://www.competitionclimbingcanada.com

Tour de Bloc - Official bouldering circuit of the CEC
http://www.tourdebloc.com

Beta Clothing Designs Inc. - Official uniform provider for the Canadian National Open Climbing Teams
http://www.betaclothing.ca

Gripped, The Climbing Magazine
http://www.gripped.com

Heyyy Chris!

Good news!
I’ve been climbing hard during the summer. And now I wish to participate at the qualifying comp. But I’m very inexperienced in traveling in Canada, so i wish to know whether there will be a pre-organized group from here Toronto, who’s going there together. Or is it better by airplane? Any suggestion?

Thanks a lot!

Hedvig