Martin Berghand attended and took part on Saturday and it was fantastic to have him there. He witnessed first hand what a tremendous atmosphere there is among events like this and he said he was proud that they could support such grass routes events. He was also so impressed the age and gender range of the participants. The youngest is 10 years old ( Sophie) and the oldest is 62 ( Tony). The crowd showed their appreciation when I introduced him so he left in no doubt that is a group of people who love the Series and really appreciate how it needs their kind of support. I would also like to thank our others sponsor at this point. The prizes have been superb and really add so much value to each event.
This Series was also given tremendous support from the MC of S for the youth side. Although the junior female numbers have not increased, the junior males have and there is a strong support for the feeling that we some Olympic champions in the making ready for 2016.
MCofS
Each venue takes a risk by running an event. They are closing down for normal business in the hope there are enough entrants to cover the days expenses. As the Series grows in popularity this is becoming less of an issue, but they need thanks for taking the risk in the first place. They also have to put in so much hard work route setting as it is never as straight forward as just putting holds on the wall…..tooling without hanging logs doesn’t exist any more!
Glenmore Lodge has been very proud to co-ordinate the first two Scottish Tooling Series. As a National Centre we were told there was a need for such an event. There obviously is and with the support of the venues and sponsors we are really proud we have been able to help it on its way. I will be leaving the Lodge in February and it seems the perfect time to hand over the role to the group of people who have made the Series their own.
Pete Hill has offered to lead the co-ordination for 2010 along with Neil Silver who did the website for this year completely in his own time. They are hoping that all participants give them feedback from this year good and bad so they can keep the momentum going for many years to come.
I am not sure how they will manage to upstage the hand made trophies designed and made by Scott Webster and Graeme Hepburn. Petzl ice picks in oak plinths – now is that stylish or what?!
I have had an amazing time over the past two years and look forward to taking part in the coming events except I will no longer have an excuse to shout at everybody!
Thanks to everybody for making the Series such a fun event to be part of.
The more STS results are also up here and the full leaderboard will be up shortly.
The finals had all the tension and noise effects that any good final should have. Loads of ‘go on!!’ ‘ ohhhhhhhhhh’ and ‘ahhhhhhhs’. There were some amazing gymnastic diplays and some cracking falls and all ending with smiles. We needed to have a super final too for a couple of the categories and when we thought they could give no more, they had to come and perform
The Scottish Tooling series has got everyone off to a head start training for the Scottish Winter this year but in the mean time others have been quietly training in their own time around the country in preparation for some cold white days on the hill!
Follow the image links to see loads of great training info on their blogs!
Malcom Kent
has spent the summer building a monster training facility in Copenhagen and since it’s completion has been putting it to good use:
Malcom's Monastry
Dave Mcleod – Dave is focusing on his winter project
Bomber Placement!
Kev Sheilds - Since moving to Fort Bill Kev has found a new home for his training wall!
Kev trying to pull the holds off !!
Iain Parnell – takes on the pull up challange!
Iain Parnell's training rig!
Alan Halewood – Having a DT wall in the basement means that the whole family can get involved!
What a turn out! What nearly great weather! What a great final display by Steve Johnson! What an inspiring lecture by Andy Turner! All in all a great day was had by all.
There were only two competition places left from a potential 60. As the momentum for the Scottish Tooling Series grows, so does the enthusiasm, humour and radical moves. The first two time slots had dry clear weather. The final 20 had their sense of humour challenged as the heavens opened and the rain came down…and down…and down. I did not hear one winge, only that they had a great time. That is the kind of people these events love!
The other joy of these events is the range of ages that take part On Saturday the youngest was 12 and the oldest was over 50+. There is also a great increase in the number of women. The mystery of tooling is going as more and more people realise this sport is fun and totally inclusive.
Mark Chadwick and Scott Webster set the problems. They managed to really stretch the top climbers while allowing the new comers to get some points on the board and enjoy the challenge. The final was a traverse followed by a steep and technical overhang onto a hanging log. They thought they had over cooked it as all the other finalists failed to get past the ¾ point. Then the last to come out of isolation was Steve Johnson who managed to almost make it look easy and the crowd let him know it as they cheered and chanted him onto the last move.
Andy Turner ran beginner workshops and a master class and then presented a totally awesome lecture on his past year of activities which included Nepal, the Alps and Scotland. The images and chat really captured the audience and left them chomping at the bit for winter conditions.
Thanks again to the sponsors for the all the great prizes that were received with big smiles and open arms.
Round 4 of the Scottish tooling series will be at Glenmore Lodge this Saturday (the 21st of November). The qualifiers will be held on the two granite tower in the grounds of The Lodge.
The Granite Towers
The towers provide a very realistic experience of Cairngorm mixed climbing and competitors will need to wear crampons.
Throughout the day Andy Turner will be running beginner and master class tooling workshops and he is also going to present a lecture after the qualifiers at approximately 5pm.
Places for the comp and workshops are still available – pre booking advised. Call Glenmore Lodge on 01479 861256 for more info.
Sharpen your tools and we hope to see you on Saturday!
With over half the 2009 series behind us the leaderboard can now start to take shape!
With attendance at three events mandatory for series participation a number of players remain in the wings but the series will shake out over the remaining two legs!
