Beacon Boulder Bash

The nights can be long and hard in the winter around here; this winter started with such promise, with the heavy snowfall in December, but soon transpired to be cold and wet, leaving us climbing enthusiasts with neither rock nor ice on which to ply our trade. Something had to fill the void, and thankfully in October the local Beacon Climbing Centre began their annual Aggregate Competition.



For those unaware of an Aggregate, the centre resets the boulder problem on a one/two weekly basis, and having paid your nominal £2 entry fee, you simply come along every week and tick off the ones that you can do. Keep ticking enough, and you'll make it into the final one-off comp at the start of the spring. Here at Joe's, we were proud to have two members of staff in the final comp last night.



The climbing started in a flurry of activity, with Jon Grigson and Pete Edwards among fourteen other local boulderers, competing for cash prizes and glory. The problems: hard. The competition: strong. Both managed very respectable scores, with Pete finishing with 13 points from a possible 24, and Jon on 11, which considering the difficulty of the problems was no mean feat. Pete said afterwards, "I'm a little disappointed with my final place, but it was tough, and i gave it my best shot. It was a fun event, and a good winter, so many thanks to the Beacon for all their hard work over the last six months."



A good atmosphere took the true competitive nature away from the event, and a social afterwards at the Fricsan ensured success for all involved. Congratulations to all the competitors, and many thanks again to the Beacon Centre. The event will start again next year, and is sure to be bigger and better.

For information on the Beacon Boulder Bash, click here.