Masters Rock Climbing– 2007

By Deryn Williams, photos by Paul Whitfield

The first ever New Zealand “Master’s Climbing Competition” took place in Auckland last Saturday, March 10th. A scorching day in every way!
The idea behind the competition was to create a fun, social event to celebrate rock climbing and bring climbers of all different abilities and ages together. It was also cunningly designed to give the older “masters” an opportunity to show the kids how climbing is supposed to be done!
There were four age groups for men and women: Kids: 0-39 yrs; Masters 40-49 yrs; Grand Masters 50-59 yrs and Old Bastards 60+yrs. Climbers had the chance to participate in Speed Climbing, Individual Climbs and Lead Climbing in Pairs.
The crowds gathered in the sunshine at Mt Eden Quarry on Auckland Grammar School’s grounds and first up watched Speed Climbs on the Short Side. Two climbs were demonstrated and the rules explained: stay within the white lines, no falling or hanging on the rope. The climbing order was then established, and the race was on! Everyone had a go (even me!), and the crowd was very supportive, even towards the Christchurch usurpers, one of whom ran away with the Kid’s first prize (well done Kent Fiddymont). The Russians also outclassed the locals, with Janya taking the Women’s prize (1:33min), and her husband Tim Gorobets being the fastest climber overall, with a speedy time of 45 seconds for both climbs. Peter Mobberley was only a fraction behind, at 46 seconds, and Bruce Calvert, in the Grand Masters section, showed he could keep up with the youngsters, with a time of 1:12min, while Hans showed the doctors that he didn’t need their medical clearance!
Next up was the Individual Climb on the Long Side. This was an original, never-before-climbed, traversing route of about grade 18. Gena and Alexander had been busy setting this up for weeks, trying to find a route that would be new and challenging but not impossible for most people. The first crux came at about 4m high, where you needed to work your body around an arête with very little to hold onto. Nearly a third of the competitors slipped off at this point. If you made it past that difficulty, the next part required a long stretch to reach the quickdraw conveniently placed just out of reach. Again, the masters strutted their stuff, with Paul Whitfield flying to the 16m top in only 1:56mins, beating the Kids (Andrew Somervell in 2:41min) and the Grand Masters (Peter Mobberley in 3:33min).
By this time the sweltering sun had sucked the energy out of many competitors, and it was a reduced field that took up the last challenge of the Lead Pairs Climb. The idea was to lead-climb the route as safely and stylishly as possible, with a compulsory belay and changeover point about a third of the way up. Paul Whitfield and Colin Megson worked well as a team, using their protection effectively (even testing it by falling on it!), and just managed to outscore David Ackery and Peter Mobberley, despite the latter’s impressive rack!
It was a great family atmosphere (even 4-week-old Agathe came down to watch!), and Hans, still showing his climbing spirit at 79yrs old, was an inspiration to us all!
The competition was organised by Auckland Alpine Club members, Alexander Scherbakov and Gena Sibaev, and was supported by Bivouac, Outdoor Action and Simond (www.iclimb.co.nz).
A great day was had by all and the organisers
are planning to make it an annual event.
Start practising now!