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Boulders to Host Competition Climbing Clinic – January 3-5, 2014

Central Saanich, BC – The Boulders Climbing Gym in Central Saanich is pleased to announce that they will be holding a Competition Climbing Clinic on January 3-5, 2014, with some of the world’s top athletes and coaches in attendance.

Climbers, coaches and volunteers of all abilities can register for the clinic and have the opportunity to learn more about the sport of competition climbing and experienced climbers and coaches can hone their skills under the tutelage of a world class roster of instructors.

The clinic this year will feature training and mock competitions in both the lead/difficulty and speed disciplines, both of which will be followed by analysis with clinic instructors.  There will also be a competition belaying clinic and a free beginners judging course.  Local coaches are also being invited to sign-up to learn from and shadow our guest coaches.

The roster of world class coaches and instructors participating in the clinic is unprecedented and includes:

Sean McColl, CANADA – 2012 Overall Men’s World Champion and Assistant Coach, Canadian youth team.
Andrew Wilson, CANADA – Ten years, Head Coach, Canadian youth climbing team. Head route setter and head coach at the Boulders Climbing Gym.
Mathilde Becerra, FRANCE – An experienced climber with numerous top ten international and European placements in her accomplishments.
John Ellison, GREAT BRITAIN – Coach and manager with the British youth team, national and international judge.  Founder of Climbers Against Cancer.
Roman Kranjik, SLOVENIA – National coach of the Slovenian climbing team.
Simon Margon, SLOVENIA – Member of the Slovenian national coaching team and an IFSC head route setter.
Chelsea Rude*, UNITED STATES – A competitive climber and assistant national team coach and team manager with USA Climbing (*to be confirmed).
Libor Hroza, CZECH REPUBLIC – One of the world’s top speed climbers, finishing the 2013 season in second place overall, and was European Champion 2013.
Paul Ledet, CANADA – IFSC judge and teacher at Stelly’s Secondary School. Founder of climbing at Stelly’s.
Iain Stewart-Patterson, CANADA – Mountain guide, and instructor in the Thompson Rivers University Adventure Studies Department.  Head belayer, World Youth Climbing Championships 2013.

For athletes, the clinic runs on January 4th and 5th.  All participants will be assigned to a guest coach (a ratio of one to five for difficulty, and one to eight for speed).  With their coach, athletes will make a plan for the mock competition, and receive the de-brief afterwards, including video analysis, and notes to take home.   Cost:  $150 plus GST.  Pre-Requisites:  Ages 14+ (ages 12 and over with special permission from clinic directors); While competition experience isn’t necessary, a serious commitment to climbing is.

For coaches, the clinic starts on Friday June 3rd in the evening.  Coaches will attend a general coaches meeting with the event organizers and other coaches, and then meet with their guest coach to review the weekend’s schedule.  Coaches will shadow the guest coach for the weekend, including de-briefs at the end of the day (maximum ratio two to one).  Cost:  $150 plus GST.  Pre-Requisites: preference will be given to those currently coaching in the sport of climbing.

For volunteers, this is an opportunity to participate and understand more about the world of competition climbing.  You can choose between an introduction to judging both difficulty and speed (and be qualified to judge in local competitions), or learning to be a competition belayer, in both difficulty and speed.  Both courses run fromFriday evening to Saturday evening.  Cost: Free of charge.  Pre-Requisites:   Belayers must be comfortable lead belaying on a number of devices.  For the judging course, there are no pre-requisites. 

Participants may register for the clinic through the SCBC web site at www.sportclimbingbc.ca.  Note, participants MUST already be an SCBC member, or must register to become a member before they can sign-up for the clinic.   The SCBC membership fee for a single event is just $5.  Once registered, users can sign into their  SCBC account and go to the “My SCBC” link on the page and look for the “Comp Registration” link and then select their preference for the clinic (athlete, coach or volunteer).

For more information, contact either of the Clinic Directors – Sebastian Powell (sebastian@climbtheboulders.com) or Kimanda Jarzebiak (kimanda@ascentgr.com) or by calling the Boulders at 250.544.0310

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