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The Triple-Header, New Speed Record and Words With Hannah Block

On January 11, 2015, over 115 of the top sport climbers from British Columbia gathered at the Sport Climbing Association of British Columbia (SCBC) Triple-Header at the Boulders Climbing Gym in Central Saanich.

There were many highlights from the Bouldering and Difficulty disciplines and one important from the Speed Competition. Alison Stewart-Patterson established a new Canadian Women’s record with a time of 11.541 seconds.

After the event, president of the SCBC, Iain Stewart-Patterson, told Gripped, “The winter is going well. The comp season in B.C. is in full swing. We just had our first lead and speed comp of the year. Three athletes made the CEC minimum time criteria to qualify for the Speed World Cup to be held in Victoria in May and my daughter Alison set a new Canadian Open Women’s 15-metre speed record. We will be having our provincial bouldering championship in a couple of weeks. It is busy, but it is good busy.”

Alison Stewart-Patterson during her record setting speed climb of 11.541 seconds Photo Christian J. Stewart Photography
Alison Stewart-Patterson during her record setting speed climb of 11.541 seconds Photo Christian J. Stewart Photography

The event is called the triple-header and was conceived as a way to bring athletes to try a climbing discipline they may not otherwise compete in.

Sport Climbing B.C.

The event ran from Jan. 10 to 11, and used an on-site format for the competitive/ranked categories for difficulty/lead and bouldering. It used the world record format for speed.

Results were taken from qualifying rounds, making it easier to fit the three different disciplines in to one weekend.

Hannah Block

Another highlight was Hannah Block, as she took double gold in Difficulty and Junior Female.

Gripped’s editor Brandon Pullan caught up with Hannah after the triple-header for a conversation about competitive climbing.

Gripped: How long have you been competing and how old were you when you started?

Hannah: This is my fourth year competing. I began competing when I was 13.

G: What was your first comp?

H: The first comp I ever attended was November Sessions at my home gym in 2009. Following that, I didn’t jump right into competing, but having had a competition “experience” already behind me, I was looking forward to gaining the skills and knowledge necessary to compete.

G: Why did you start?

H: Rock climbing first piqued my interest when I attended a friend’s birthday party. From then, I went on to take classes once a week and eventually was asked to try out for the competitive team at the gym. Since then, I’ve really been into training and competing.

G: What do you like most about it?

H: I love how climbing lets me feel both successful and defeated at the same time. It’s also an incredible feeling when I train hard and can actually see results in my climbing and performance. Finally, I love that climbing allows me to forget about everything else that’s going on in my life at the moment and solely focus on the problem or route I’m doing and each movement within it.

G: What was your favourite comp moment?

H: My favourite competition moments are always changing, constantly being inched out by a new, even better moment, or experience. Currently, my favourite comp moment would have to be November Sessions 2014 at my home gym—Climb Base5, where I made my first-ever Open finals. For the past few years my youth categories have been scored in Open, but I’ve always been just a few spots away from making finals. However, this year, this unattainable goal of making Open finals became a reality when I qualified for finals later that night.

G: Who are your climbing heroes?

H: My climbing heroes are all around me. I’m inspired by my fellow teammates and competitors, the incredible coaches I’ve had the honour of being coached by over the years, and of course, multiple professional, World Cup climbers as well, including Canada’s Sean McColl.

G: What are some climbing goals?

H: My climbing goals are changing on an ongoing basis. I always strive to become a better, stronger, more experienced climber than I currently am.

G: Any outdoor plans?

H: I’m definitely more of an indoor climber. I would love to get outdoors more and become a more experienced outdoor climber. I would also love to boulder outdoors—something I’ve never done.

G: What tunes get you fired up to compete? or no tunes?

I love to climb to upbeat songs—nothing specific. I don’t climb with headphones, but I love when gyms have music playing and there’s energy to climb off of.

[shareprints gallery_id=”10864″ gallery_type=”thumb_slider” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”large” image_padding=”0″ theme=”dark” image_hover=”false” lightbox_type=”slide” titles=”true” captions=”true” descriptions=”true” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]Triple-Header Open Lead Results

Women’s Results

1. Delany Miller
2. Alannah Yip
3. Allison Stewart-Patterson

Men’s Results

1. Ryder Hoy
2. Ben Hughes
3. Matthew Wellington

Triple-Header Open Bouldering Results

Women’s Results

1. Alannah Yip
2. Tiffany Melius
3. Delano Miller

Men’s Results

1. Jesse Tapin
2. Gavin Johnson
3. Tristen Gosselin

Triple-Header Speed Winners

Youth D Boys: Connor Jones
Youth D Girls: Lauren Larbalestier
Youth C Boys: Brennan Doyle
Youth C Girls: Stephanie Chow
Youth B Boys: Aiden Doyle
Youth B Girls: Teyha Rogers
Youth A Boys: Jacob Dorian
Youth A Girls: Elena Moss
Junior and Open Male: Tristen Gosselin
Junior Girls: Evelyna Trottier
Experienced Men: Ryan O’Neill

[shareprints gallery_id=”10873″ gallery_type=”thumb_slider” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”large” image_padding=”0″ theme=”dark” image_hover=”false” lightbox_type=”slide” titles=”true” captions=”true” descriptions=”true” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]-Thanks to Iain Stewart-Patterson, president of the SCBC, for information about SCBC and Triple-Header. Photos from Triple-Header by Christian J. Stewart Photography.

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