Boulders to Host CEC National Series Competition Saturday

Event is first of two major events to be hosted at facility this spring.

The Boulders Climbing Gym in Central Saanich, B.C., is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a Climbing Escalade Canada (CEC) National Series lead and speed climbing competition on Saturday March 12 at their world-class climbing facility in Central Saanich.

The event is the first CEC National Series event of the competition season in the lead category and the second and final in the speed category, following an event in February in Montreal. Additional National Series lead competitions will also take place in LaPrairie in Quebec from March 19 to 20, Toronto from April 23 to 24 and Edmonton on May 7 and 8 and will culminate in the lead Youth and Open National Championships that will be held in Canmore on May 28 and 29.

Saturday’s event also marks the first of two major climbing competitions that will be held at The Boulders this spring, with the CEC Youth and Open Speed National Championships to follow on April 9, 2016.

Saturday’s competition is also sanctioned by Sport Climbing BC (SCBC) and will feature some of the best youth and open lead and speed climbers from across the country competing in a range of age categories including four separate Youth categories, Junior, and Open. There will also be competition in a number of non-sanctioned categories for all ages and abilities.

“We are extremely excited to host this 2016 CEC National Series event and the Speed Climbing Nationals in April,” said Kimanda Jarzebiak, Director of Operations at The Boulders. “The athletes participating here and those at the Speed Nationals will be looking to secure spots at the Lead Nationals in May, the World Championships in Paris in September and the World Youth Championships in China in November and we are eager and excited to see their progress toward those goals.”

The CEC National Series Event on Saturday will see both lead and speed competitions running concurrently at some points. The speed competition begins with the Open (Youth A and Junior), Masters and Experienced categories from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., while the Youth B,C, D and Recreational age groups run from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.. Awards for the speed competition are scheduled for 3:00 pm.

In the lead competition, qualifying rounds in the Youth B, C, D and Recreational categories run from 9:30 am to 12 Noon, with the Open, Masters and Experienced categories running from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Lead finals in all age groups will run from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. with awards to follow immediately thereafter.

Registration is still open for climbers who want to enter and will stay open until March 10, 2016. The fee is $70 plus HST for both disciplines, or $60 plus GST for one discipline and climbers can register and find more details here.

The public is welcome to attend and admission is free.