Dynamic Rock

The Ruckus

SRawlinson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:06:19 +0100

Well its that time of year again, and to kick start the Autumn / Winter season we are starting our winter bouldering comp entitled 'The Ruckus'.

This year climbers will have the challenge of 30 boulder problems to attempt with in a set time period. The youngsters, under 14 , can start early from 10.00 with the older rock stars starting at 11.30. then you will have until 15.00 to give the problems your all.

The comp is similar to last years successful format with competitors self scoring and more points being awarded for a 'Flash' i.e doing the problem first go as oppose to complete the problem 3rd,4th or even 20th go which receives less points.

This is a great event for youngsters as well as the older pro's as it gives them the chance to work together and learn from each other to progress their climbing in a fun friendly environment.

Each round costs £7.00 to enter and the competitors best two scores go forward to give their final position and this year champions!!!

see you at the weekend

happy climbing

simon

Welcome!

Adam — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:59:47 +0000

Welcome to the Dynamic Rock Blog!

This is the place to find out all the latest info, news and events at Dynamic Rock. Our old news page can be found by clicking this NEWS link. If you register as a member of the blog you will be given permission to comment on articles - and this will include articles on new routes! There are also galleries, which will contain our pics and yours (simply email any photos to info@dynamicrock.co.uk or bring in a CD!). Also keep an eye out for some special limited time offers that will give you special discounts at Dynamic Rock.

We look forward to your feedback, so let us know what you think by posting a comment now

Thanks for everyones support in making Dynamic Rock a success, and here's to another great year!

Up and coming events in 2009

SRawlinson — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:08:12 +0000

A list of up and coming events that are being run by dynamic rock in 2009. This will be ammended as time goes by so keep checking for new events.

Competiton Update

SRawlinson — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:51:06 +0000

Hi everyone

I'm back from a great trip to Spain with the Junior climbing team and I am catching up on events over the past few weeks. There have been 2 competitions recently of real interest!

The First was 'The Welsh Climbing Championships' which has come to a dramatic finish 2 weeks ago with the final round at 'Boulders Climbing Centre'. The Junior Team were out in force and were in the running to take home some podium finishes.

The Adult categories has been a great success with more adult competitors taking part in every round. It has been a tough series but the eventual winners were Simon Robinson and Donna Carless. Simon has had a great 6 months with brilliant performances inside and out on the rock, including onsights of 7C outside and now becoming the first Welsh Climbing Champion. Donna who coaches the team at Dynamic Rock (as well as owning and running the centre) has also had a brilliant year with some notable Bouldering ascents including 'Launch Pad' at Dinas Rock, and some great routes in Rodella, Spain.

Simon Climbing F7c in Greece

In the younger age groups we had Lewis Gardiner take home the honors with some brilliant climbing, especially in the latter rounds and Bethan in the 17 - 19 age group who although did not have masses of competition continued to score massive scores that would have seen her take first place in any age categories so watch everyone!!!

Lewis using some great footwork

In the 14 - 16 group the competition was hot with 5 or so climbers capable of taking the tittle it was all up for grabs. Ashleigh Wolsey herd was the early leader on the day climbing brilliantly as ever, especially when the going got steep!! Rhosyln who had beaten all the lads before was also eager for success and her flash attempt at route 9 blew the competition wide open when she electrified the crowd with some brilliant climbing but it was to be Morgan Preece from 'LLangorse rope centre' that was to take the title when he came within a whisker of the final hold of route 9 and so win the day and the event!

Morgan showing the winning way

in the 11- 13 age group there was only one winner and the was Robin Cloke who was unbeatable and won all 4 rounds convincingly. he has been steadily improving over the years and is a name to watch for the future. also the was a 8 - 10 age categories and Noah Broome showed ability beyond his years to smoothly climb his way to first place, showing the older climbers along the way that reach is rarely a problem when your as imaginative as Noah.

for a full run down of scores and results see the web site www.welshclimbingchampionships.co.uk and keep your eyes peeled for the bouldering series staring soon.

The Winners of the Welsh Climbing Championships

Also this month has been the start of 'The Ruckus'. This Bouldering series giving climbers of all ages the chance to participate in a fun winter bouldering league with your best 2 scores out of 3 rounds counting the competition is still open to anyone. the Next round is November 14th so hope to see you all there!!!

Round 1 results

8 -10 years

Joel T 103pts

Ethan P 90pts

Jay T 59pts

Ceirion 57pts

Tomo L 30pts

11 - 13years

Robin C 164pts

Richard M 150pts

Owen J 131pts

Rhiannon J 130pts

Emily S 121pts

Kaya B 120pts

Jacob P 102pts

Mathew G 76pts

Gwion L 70pts

Andrew S 69pts

Dafydd O 50pts

14 - 16 Years

Asliegh WH 219pts

Rhoslyn F 189pts

Jordan G 173pts

Owen L 155pts

Maddy W 154pts

Sion L 153pts

Rowan R 150pts

Adult Male

Liam F 281pts

Anthoney B 230pts

Josh R 130pts

Adult Female

Eleri S 110pts

Happy climbing

simon

Rodellar 2009 - part 2

SRawlinson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:04:52 +0000

Rodellar - part 2

Hi all, we have been in Rodellar for 5 days now and skin is getting a little thin with all the climbing that has been going on. We have started to explore all the various crags that exist within the gorge and each one has its own special reason. Each area is known as a sector and in the morning the team have been heading to Sector Bikini as its in the shade. this sector is next to the river and is a great place to warm up on some easyish slabs and then move on to some harder routes such as the great F7a 'Acracia' which after a short sharp start leads to great climbing up a tufa formation!

Our team in good spirit ready to take on Rodellar

Also on the Morning hit list is 'El Camino' which is a fantastic sweep of immaculate limestone gently overhanging and set high above the river. This sector hosts over 30 routes ranging from F5 to F7b and the team have been having amazing success with Rowan Rumble crushing every F6c in his path!!!

Rhos has also shown amazing climbing skills at this sector by climbing 'Tomo Castanazo' F7A+ on her 2nd go (she fell from the final hold on her onsight)

Rowan Powering up a F6c

Maddy has recovered from her early slip into the river to climb many routes in fine style ticking many classic routes along the way - although i think she has still fallen in the river every day as well.

Maddy cruising up a F6B+

There is a very quiet lad on the trip with us called Chris and he has been trying his hand at some very hard routes indeed. In fact most of the valley Know Chris by now from his 'Sharma' style screams whilst taking massive falls from high up on big climbs. He also ticked his first Euro 7A today which was great to see as he has come close on so many this trip.

Chris on 'El Delfin' F7C+

Beth has been quietly going about climbing many routes in flawless fashion, From a 30mtr 6c to short bouldery test pieces. But she really did save her best performance till literally the last moments of her trip ( Beth and Rhos sadly had to go home today, we miss you guys ) When she stepped up to the plate and tied on to the sharp end to tackle the massive arch of 'El Delfin'. This massive feature is visible from all around the valley and has to be on the tick list of any climber coming to Rodellar and with its big grade of F7c+ it takes many scalps. In fading light Beth seized the moment and climbed out of her skin to show us all how it should be done and although she did not top out she climbed way past the rest of the teams high points and amazed the locals!!!

Beth climbing in the fading light on 'El Delfin'

We have a few days remaining before we head back home so we are hoping that there are some more great moments to come, but already we have so many personal bests including Rowans first F7a Flash, Rhos first F7A+, outside, Liz onsighted her first F7A!!!, and much, much more.

Rhos on a F7A

Happy climbing

Simon

Leading Ladder 2009

DonnaC — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:32:58 +0000

The BMC Leading Ladder Competition Series is back at Dynamic Rock from the 14th November

For those of you that ...

Rodellar 2009

SRawlinson — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:39:14 +0000

Rodellar 2009

DynamicRock Junior Climbing Team

Euro Trip

It is the October half term and for a few of the climbing squad that means it is time for there first taste of European climbing. Myself and a group of 10 other climbers have headed out to Rodellar, a climbing mecca in the north of Spain. Found next to this isolated village is a massive Gorge / Canyon that has endless climbing possibility's. there are climbs of all styles and grades but if steep routes are your thing, you will be well catered for here!!! Some of the caves are breath taking and by seeing the reaction of some of the junior climbers they are also very inspiring. we have just finished our first day and it has been great with every one climbing well on some of the more modest classics to get going, plus some brilliant 7a's on great rock formations that you just don't find very of tern such as the amazing arch found high on one side of the canyon.

Chris climbing high up in the Rodellar gorge

The weather is brilliant at the moment and hopefully it shall continue and allow these young climbers to have a truly brilliant first euro rock trip!

Happy climbing

simon

p.s its already been very memorable with Maddy first having her hand trapped in a car door to then fall into the river, quickly followed by her mother! Roz has amazed everyone with some brilliant climbing, Chris has scared everyone with his dive straight in approach but boy its exciting!! Rowan appears to be on a constant sugar high and is bouncing of the walls although this seems to have given him supper climbing powers so watch out Rodellar we have a whole 7 days left!!!

Round 3 Welsh Climbing Championships

SRawlinson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:30:13 +0100

Round 3

Welsh Climbing Championships

This Sunday Dynamicrock was shut to the public as the Welsh Climbing Championships was in town!!! It was round 3 of this new event and with around 70 climbers battling it out to become the Welsh climbing champion the stage was set for a great days climbing.

Chris Shepherd climbing the scary Arete that was route 6.

The event has been massively popular with climbers attempting 10 routes on the day with their highest position of the day giving them their final score, and Sunday did not disappoint! There was some breath taking climbing from all again with many climbers giving their all to try and try and try again to gain higher and higher holds on the routes. For the first time in the series so far there were some tricky slab routes that needed careful attention even from the hot shots!

Rhiannon Jacob on route 2

The event had a great atmosphere with climbers sharing ideas on how to tackle the routes and encouraging each other to push on even when the going got tough. There were competitors from all over wales and as far a field as Plymouth! Once again it was the younger climbers who really took centre stage and from the moment Morgan Preece topped out on route 9 the touch paper was lit and we were off.

Morgan Preece topping out on route 9!!!

In the younger category Alex Water-House was giving Robin Cloke a run for his money with some brilliant foot work that dazzled the crowd. Noah Broome once again showed he is capable of overcoming any height issue with some crazy maneuvers that only he seems to be able to pull off.

Robin Cloke winning the 11 - 13 year Category

In the adult event there was a very close field in the male and female categories and it really came down to the wire to separate them, with Simon Robinson and Donna Carless eventually coming out on top.

Simon Robinson on route 8

With the final next week in Cardiff it is set for a tense finish in most of the different age classes so hopefully see you there for 10.00am Sunday.

For those who missed out on the weekend or fancy a go at the comp routes, the routes will stay up so you can see how you would have faired.

For full results see the website

www.welshclimbingchampionships.co.uk

happy climbing

simon

Welsh Climbing Championships round 2

SRawlinson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:08:50 +0100

Welsh Climbing Championships

round 2

Another weekend and another round of the Welsh Climbing Championships, this time the event moved from Llangorse to the capital and Boulders climbing centre. The format remains the same for the whole series 10 routes, 8 hours and the higher you get the more points you get.... if only it were that simple.

Adam Pulling hard on the upper roof of route 8

The event has been extremely popular with over 70 entrants attending both rounds! Round two was a different set up to round one with boulders being much more open plan it was possible to see everyone in action at any one point. And the routes were great fun with some brilliant climbing taking place in all classes it was going to be a long tough day to come out on top. The junior climbers from the Dynamic Rock team went about the day with great enthusiasm and produced some fantastic results with Robin Cloak wooing the crowd early with a brilliant attempt at Route 8 finishing 2 holds short of the top!!! Ashleigh Wolsey-heard also pulled out all of the stops with an incredible flash attempt on route 9 that ended only one hold shy of a certain top out, also of note was Ashleigh's dad Simon in his first competition finishing 8th!!!

Morgan Preece high on route 9

All team members climbed well and many are worthy of praise but special mention should go to Rhoslyn Frugtniet who was simply brilliant with an amazing display that took every ones breath away. I have been lucky in that i have seen Rhos climb around the country at event from British Team Trails to local bouldering comps but on Sunday she showed exactly why everyone who sees her climb is left gobsmacked, an effortless flow saw her top out on 8 of the 10 climbs and she came with in a whisker of topping out on the remaining two. Her score was even more impressive (972 out of 1000) in that she had the highest score of all categories including the adults!!!!

Rhoslyn Winning Round 2

The day was on the whole fantastic and a big well done to all who took part - thanks to all parents who suffered and see you all at our place next weekend - 11th Oct.

Tom Bonnert currently ranked 2nd in the Championships

For full scores see the Web site

www.welshclimbingchampionships.co.uk

Welsh Climbing Championships - Round 1

SRawlinson — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:25:04 +0100

Welsh Climbing Championships

Round 1.

Llangorse Multi-Activity centre.

This weekend saw the first round of the Welsh Climbing Championships, and with some of the best weather we have seen in a long time we were all indoors!

Donna Climbing to 1st place !

The Dynamic Rock Climbing Team made the journey up to Brecon to compete in round one and they were not alone with over 70 climbers entering this this 1st round it was set to be a busy day. The climbers had to tackle 10 routes of increasing difficulty within six hours.

Liam Fyfe climbing on the unusual hanging feature at Llangorse

with the crowds queuing for routes became a problem for some, especially if you wanted to start on route 1 with the other 70 climbers! but this soon spread out for most climbs and competitors from all over wales and beyond were climbing high and doing well.

Beth Climbing along side a sponsors banner also taking 1st place!

Due to the scoring system, every hold on every route is worth points and the higher you climb the more points you can amass, and we all now what points make...... This had a great effect on the younger climbers encouraging them to attempt the harder routes that normally they would leave alone as even touching the start holds help.

New team Members Maddy, Cai and Owen did extremely well in their first outing for the Dynamic Rock team, all placing above 6th in the respective age groups.

A special mention to Ethan Peter who scored a massive 809 pts to take 2nd place in round 1 and Robin Cloke who ranked 1st in his age group!!!

Anyway its all going on again in two weeks at Boulder in Cardiff for Round 2, and as its your best 3 scores out of the 4 rounds nothing is over yet!

see you all soon

happy climbing

simon

for full results see

www.welshclimbingchampionships.co.uk

Over 70 new routes

SRawlinson — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:03:54 +0100

New Routes at the centre!

We have been shut the past week for our annual refurbishment. This involved tearing the place apart , taking every hold of the wall, taking all the flooring out of The centre and generally making a big mess! From there we had 4 days to put the place back together.

In this time we have re painted the whole centre cleaned every hold reset all the walls and bouldering walls, we have also put some new foam down in the bouldering room.

The up side to you for all of this is we now have over 70 new routes for you to try and the centre looks as good as new again.

Paul Walters opening the new revamped bouldering wall

So we are open as usual again 1200 till 2200 week days and 1000 till 1800 at weekends, see you soon.

Happy climbing

simon

New Kids On The Bloc

SRawlinson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:47:45 +0100

New Kids On The Bloc

Bouldering Competition

This Sunday was the first bouldering competition to be held at Dynamic Rock this season, and it was to be an exciting new concept - Juniors only!

Megan showing great skill and determination on the hard red traverse.

this under 18 event was aimed at giving the younger climbers at the centre a chance to show there worth and they did not let us down. we had over 30 entrants to the competition which was a very good turn out for this time of year and they certainly attacked the 31 bouldering problems with much vigor.

Tomos looking comfortable on very, very thin holds!

The climbers aged between 8 and 17 had the chance to climb 31 boulder problems in 3hrs, with 10 points being awarded for a flash (climbing the route on there first attempt) or 5points for a subsequent attempt. the routes were advertised as being between VB and V4 but in reality the route setters got a little excited with a few routes and one is more like V7!!!!

Chris on one of the hard steep routes.

The best thing for myself about the day was seeing the determination and never say die attitude that all the participants showed throughout the morning with children climbing until there skin was red raw from trying so hard!

The winners of the Bouldering Competition

Thanks to every one who turned up and gave it such a good go, to all the parents that spent 4hrs helping out and to Charles for setting the crazy log swing problem. keep an eye on the blog or at the wall for future events and ill see you all soon.

happy climbing

simon

Results

8-11yrs

1st Owen Jones 195pts

2nd Emily Slade 184pts

3rd Jacob Pugh 150pts

12 - 13yrs

1st Rhodri Maiden 234pts

2nd Matt Northcott 164pts

3rd Andrew Shepheard 135pts

14 - 17yrs

1st Chris Shepheard 262 pts

2nd Sion Lewis 242 pts

3rd Jordon Goldup 227pts

Welsh Climbing Championships

SRawlinson — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:46:25 +0100

This autumn, a new climbing competition will be launched in Wales. The Welsh Climbing Championships has been born and will start with its first round at Llangorse Activity Centre near Brecon. The competition is for all ages from 7yrs and upwards and follows a similar format to the successful BMC Leading Ladder.

This year we have 4 walls hosting the event with each wall opening its doors at 10.00am to give you 6hrs to test your skills against 10 routes between F5+ and F8A. If you fancy yourself as the first Welsh Climbing Champion then check out the website for more details plus photos and updates on each round.

The Event has been kindly sponsored by DMM, Go Compare.com, Mountain Fuel and Metolius who will be supplying prizes for the champions!

Each round costs £12 to enter.

Competition T-shirts are supplied.

www.welshclimbingchampionships.co.uk

New Kids On The Bloc

SRawlinson — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:31:35 +0100

On August 23rd we shall be running a Bouldering competition for young climbers. the aim of this competition will be to have a fun mornings climbing and to introduce young climbers to competition climbing. Age Categories will be available between the ages of 8 and 17 years of age.

The format for this competition is pretty relaxed with climbers encourage to attempt as many of the 30 problems as they want within the 3hr time frame, they may also have as many goes as they wish on the problems. The overall aim being to complete as many as possible!

this is also a good opportunity for the young climbers taking part in the NICAS scheme as part of this requires that they participate in a climbing competition.

any how if you have any questions contact myself at the wall or ask at reception next time your in.

happy climbing

simon

p.s keep your ears open for some exciting news in South Wales regarding competition climbing, coming soon.

Climbing in the Summer Sunshine (in Spain)

DonnaC — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:27:18 +0100

Climbing in the Summer Sunshine (in Spain)

Last week I took the opportunity to tag along on a sport climbing trip to Rodellar, Spain. Initially I thought “Spain, in July? Surely it’ll be too hot?” however, as I did some research into the area I came across several comments suggesting it is the perfect location for a summer climbing trip due to the climbing areas being located within a gorge area and therefore many walls being in the shade throughout the day. Indeed, International climbing database 8a.nu recently rated Rodellar as the best limestone sport crag in the world in terms of easy access, route quality and ambiance. So how could I say no!?

Rodellar is a huge limestone valley area deep in the Sierra de Guara, about 3.5 hours west of Barcelona and is absolutely gorgeous. We camped at the Mascun camp site which is ideally located for the climbing areas as you can walk to them all in around 15 to 20 minutes depending which ones you’re going to. It’s a lovely site with good facilities and a nice bar/restaurant and a basic shop.

There is a great variety of climbing in the area with sectors of exciting overhangs, steep caves, vertical walls and slabs, with a mixture of routes to suit most styles whether you favour tufa, jugs or crimps and as we found, if it does get too hot you can have a siesta by the ice cold river which runs through the bottom of the gorge.

As with most Spanish sport climbing venues there are many hard routes which you can watch the locals working with the usual European flair but with routes ranging from 5+ to 8c there is plenty to suit all abilities.

We experimented with a few different sectors at different times of the day to find the most comfortble locations as it was nearly 30 degrees out in the sun! There is a bit of polish in some areas - to be expected in such a popular area, but there are so many routes you can always move on and avoid it. We all did a bit of falling practice to build confidence and get into the mood for redpointing some harder routes and it seemed to work! Leanne did a fantasitc job achieving her first 7b+ and Nikki put in an amazing effort getting so close, had we had 1 more day it would have been hers.

I would definitely recommend a visit and will certainly return my self. Thanks to the ladies (Nikki, Leanne and Megan) for making it a really enjoyable trip!

Donna

Cliff-hanger 2009

SRawlinson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:08:49 +0100

Cliff Hanger 2009

British Bouldering Championships

Summer is in full swing, Wimbledon is over, there was no British winners. But next up in the Climbing calender was an event that was sure to leave us with a UK winner or two as it was the turn of the BBC (British Bouldering Championships). This annual event was held amongst the Cliff-Hanger outdoor festival held in Mill House park in Sheffield. The wall is purpose built for the event and is an amazing spectacle all held within a huge circus style marque!

Competitors have 3hrs to attempt 10 problems with the best 8 going forward to a head to head final. Dynamic Rock junior climbing team had six climbers attending the event for the first time. The young climbers were in a large field of 90 hardcore climbers from all over the UK.

Ricardo climbing well at the BBC's

Once the clock started they set about showing there skill, strength, power and determination to great effect with some brilliant displays. Roz and Maddy both went well in the junior female categories with very impressive results, 10th and 12th respectively, and when you consider this is against the best in the UK they can be very proud of what they achieved!

In the boys class it was to be Christopher's day, with a very determined effort as he strode into 18th place! Robin, Ashleigh and Richard all climbed amazing well showing the strength in depth around South Wales at present.

Beth and Paul (The Ruckus Champion) entered the adult event which is a daunting prospect especially when you consider the people you are up against including people who regularly podium finnish in world cup events! Both did themselves proud and gave very good displays with Paul being described as "Very Strong" over the commentary !

The Team meet the pro's

Once the comp was over the Team had an extra training session with two of Britain's top climbers Gareth Parry and Steve McClure. These two climbing greats gave them a work out on a purpose built bouldering wall giving them hints and tips and answering a lot of questions the guys had, so a massive thanks to Five Ten, Gaz and Steve for making the day even better!

As if this wasn't enough we spent two afternoons on the grit, bouldering on the real stuff!

Thanks to all the Team members for a great weekend, to all the parents for making it possible and see you all there next year.

happy climbing

simon

for full results click here

Shop Sale @ Dynamic Rock

SRawlinson — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:41:52 +0100

Black Belt @ Dynamic Rock

SRawlinson — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:31:42 +0100

Congratulations!

Yasmin Grainger is a member of our Dynamic rock junior climbing team, and as if training twice a week wasn't enough she has another passion. For the past 7 years Yas has been taking part in Karate lessons at Shukan Ryu Karate club at Penlan Leisure center. In this time she has achieved many amazing things including becoming International KATA Champion last year!

But Last week she reached a major mile stone of becoming a Black Belt in Karate! This has taken years of dedication and plenty of hard work.

Yas being awarded her Black Belt

All the staff at Dynamic Rock would like to say a massive congratulations to Yas and wish her all the best with what ever she decides to set her sights on next!

happy climbing

simon

BMC Youth Climbing Series Final 2009

SRawlinson — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:06:20 +0100

BMC Youth Climbing Series Final 2009

Last weekend, the final of this years Youth Climbing Series took part in London! Young climbers from all over the country filled Westway climbing Center to bursting for the chance to battle it out in the UK Final.

Entry to this competition is a long path with Regional rounds taking place earlier in the year, from there the top juniors headed of to North Wales to battle it out in the Welsh Final.

The top 3 from the Welsh Final are then invited to take part in a UK final were they will come across young climbers from all over the UK who have gone through similar regional rounds for the right to attend!

The Team from Wales was strong as ever this year and come Saturday morning they found themselves looking around the massive facility of Westway scoping out there 3 Boulder Problems and 3 Routes they compete upon.

and from the first move right until the last the juniors did not disappoint, they climbed brilliantly with great confidence and there usual flair! All of them put in great displays in front of a large crowd which for many was there first experience of a large UK Comp making there efforts even more incredible.

The Day was Fantastic with a great atmosphere and a very well run Comp by the BMC, Westway climbing center and all the Volunteers that make this possible every year. Next year we shall hope fully be back but know we have targets to beat and these young climbers are hungry so watch this space.

For full results click here.

happy climbing

simon

Fontainebleau Trip 09

SRawlinson — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:45:57 +0100

Fontainebleau Trip 09

For those of you that have heard of Fontainebleau it will need no introduction, for those of you that have not yet discovered its delights, you are in for a treat!

DynamicRock is providing a trip to this world famous bouldering mecca, situated approximately one hour south of Paris. The area has thousands of boulders of all shapes and sizes offering the climber every conceivable texture, angle and style of climbing. add to this the setting of a tranquil forest with a sandy floor and it becomes easy to see why this area is so famous around the globe.

We will be running our trip this year from the 1st August for 7 nights (Saturday 1st - Saturday 8th)

Accommodation is booked at the MaisonBleau (www.maisonbleau.com) a new gite complex in the heart of the forest, which is minutes away from the main climbing areas. the gites offer a relaxing place to stay and unwide from days out at the boulders. set within 17th century farmhouses some features include Communal area, chill out room, indoor bouldering room and slack line.

Spaces are limited - 10 in total so early booking is advisable.

The Cost is £249 and includes

Accommodation

from Saturday 1st August - Saturday 8th August

A Guided, Fun introduction to Fontainbleau

Bouldering Advice

Problem Selection, On sighting, working routes etc..

Breakfast, Lunch and Evening Meals

Put your feet up and let us do the cooking

Bouldering Pads

Although we are not at liberty to provide transport, arrangements will be made as a group once numbers are confirmed. An approximate cost of ferry charges and petrol is an additional £75 per person based on 4 sharing a car.

To book on the Font 09 trip we will require a minimum deposit of half the overall cost (non-refundable).

Out and about with dynamicRock

SRawlinson — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:34:08 +0100

Out and About with DynamicRock

Well Summer is pretty much under way and we have had some great sunny weather, and here at dynamic rock we have started our summer series of courses aimed at getting climbers outside onto the real stuff!

First of the Junior climbing team spent there half term training sessions outside, with a session at Dinas Rock and one at Rotherslade on the Gower. Both sessions were great fun although we did get attacked by midges at Dinas Rock with some of the team looking although they had chicken pox by the time we left! the juniors climbed on the newly cleaned roadside crags and bouldered at Kennelgarth wall.

Ashleigh bouldering at Dinas

At Rotherslade we spent the evening Bouldering at a location known locally as "sewage Pipe" for obvious reasons, although its not as bad as it sounds . the guys and girls had a fantastic time making endless challenges up on the funky rock formations and caves that are found there. they also finished the evening with a BBQ on the beach!

Maddy Bouldering at Rotherslade

Away from the Junior Climbing team we have run several courses the first of which was the "Trad climbing" weekend.

This weekend course is aimed at giving climbers the skills needed to start Trad climbing on the Local cliffs in our area. The subject of Trad climbing is vast and many books on techniques and skills are available but our courses are aimed to give the chance to try these out for real on the crag whilst under the supervision of our Instructors.

Dave Phillips Teaching on our Trad Course.

The courses is not aimed at climbing hard I should point out that for the weekend we will be climbing on relatively easy ground to concentrate rope work skills and keeping yourself and your climbing partner safe.

The first Trad course this year was a great Success with all climbers completing there first lead climbs, and this came to a great finally of climbing Great Tor, a classic 4 pitch Route on the Gower.

Chris on his first trad lead

The Weekend just gone also saw the second Sport Climbing Trip. This Time we climbed on the Gower at a crag known as Watch House. This is a delightful Slab of Limestone tucked away below South gate and the National Trust car park. Although its gentle angle at first glance may give the impression that the climbs will be quite simple, upon closer inspection the holds turn out to be quite small and good foot work is the order of the day if success is to be had.

Charlie climbing at Watch House

The Climbers all enjoyed the day with everyone completing many routes graded between F4 and F6b. Rowan Rumble should take a special mention for managing to lead a F6a in his massively over sized trainers ( although i do not recommend this ) well done also Charlie and Angharad for completing the first lead climbs (having never lead before inside or out) Tim for taking a great all action fall and Ben for holding him! Also Eleri for having her first ever go at outside climbing and completing her first outside lead!

Climbers enjoying a great sunny day at Watch House

We have a whole summer timetable of up and coming courses and Trips for you all to get involved in this summer and Autumn from Deep Water Soloing in Pembroke to Bouldering in the french paradise of Fontainblea.

check out the Up and coming events page for a full diary of courses to keep you outside this Summer.

happy climbing

simon

for more pics of courses see the photos section

for info on the crags mentioned in the blog check out the South Wales Mountaineering club Wiki online Guide book

BMC South Wales Area Meeting 9th June

SRawlinson — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:50:15 +0100

BMC

South Wales Area Meeting

The next south wales area meet will be taking place on the 9th June starting at 8pm at Dynamic Rock climbing centre.

Topics for meeting are;

BMC's Welsh officer, explain what it is, and gather suggestions
Gower climbing festival this summer
Crag restorations
Bolt Workshop

These topics are flexible, and topics can be added on the night.

See you there

Stuart Llewellyn
South Wales BMC national council rep

Half Term Activities @ Dynamic Rock

SRawlinson — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:07:09 +0100

Half Term Activities at Dynamicrock

Mon 25th May is the start of half term week for schools! And I'm sure you will all be looking for fun activities to participate in over the week so we will be running some Outdoor climbing days for young climbers!

These sessions will run for two hours and be similar in structure to our indoor NICAS/Young Climbers Club sessions. They will include some bouldering and top roping but with the added bonus of being outside on real rock!

Last year at Rotherslade

for each session you will meet your instructor at Rotherslade beach were he will take you to the climbing area and all climbers will be supervised by a qualified instructor for the duration of the activity.

So weather its just that your looking for some thing different to try or you want to use your indoor skills outside on the rock book on to one of the sessions below.

session cost: £15

to book or for more info contact the centre or ask at reception.

Monday 25th May Session 1 11.00 - 13.00

Session 2 13.30 - 15.30

Tuesday 26th May Session 1 11.00 - 15.00

Session 2 13.30 - 15.30

Friday 29th May Session 1 15.00 - 17.00

click here for map to the meeting point.

Happy climbing

simon

The EYS selection day

SRawlinson — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:07:11 +0100

European Youth Series

selection day

On the weekend just gone (9th - 10th May) three junior climbers from South Wales made the long journey north to Scotland and the international climbing stage of Ratho! The aim of the trip was to take part in a selection day competition being run by the BMC to help decide which climbers will be going forward to compete in the EYS (European Youth Series) which is being held in Edinburgh on the 19th & 20th September. With this in mind Beth, Roz and Ash took part amongst a strong field of climbers from across Britain (around 70 competitors) by attempting to flash 2 qualifying routes. The walls at Ratho are staggering being steep, Steep & Very Steep but also long compared to many walls in our area but the 3 brave climbers from South Wales held there own with Roz Flashing her first Route and coming very close to Flashing her second route.

Roz Flashing one of her qualifying routes

Beth Climbed smoothly throughout the event and had the unlikely task of tackling a tricky slab as part of her qualifying route. this she did with ease and qualified for the final of her category.

Beth climbing high on the new STEEP comp wall

Ashleigh who has been leading under a year also showed brilliant power and technique to battle with some very hard routes and gain his place in the days final. So all 3 made it to the last 10 in there respective classes and the stage was set for a tense afternoon.

Ashleigh climbing up the super hard final route

Beth, Roz and Ash all climbed well in there final reaching excellent high points on there given routes, with Roz coming close to topping out!

A special Congratulations to Roz as she was put on a provisional list of climbers to compete at the forth coming EYS which would be a remarkable achievement and one she should be very proud of. as the weekend finished we all had a fantastic trip enjoyed the climbing laughed lots as we found ourselves bouldering (its funny when presented with the largest climbing wall in the UK you play on the boulders still) and 3 climbers from south wales all placed in the top 10.

all in all a great weekend

for more info and results

click here

happy climbing

simon

NICAS @ DynamicRock

SRawlinson — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:44:08 +0100

NICAS at DynamicRock

When we first opened our doors to climbers a few years back we also started a pilot scheme aimed at new climbers. This scheme was run at several walls around the country and is now known as NICAS (National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme) and is now nation wide with most climbing centres around the country offering NICAS as a path into climbing for young climbers. the scheme takes climbers through the skills required to become a safe indoor climber. It takes place over 5 Levels that are split into 5 distinct learning phases.

1. Foundation Climber

An entry level aimed at novices that recognizes their ability to climb safely under supervision. Find out more about foundation climber

2. Top Rope Climber

Aimed at promoting good practice in climbing and bouldering unsupervised on an artificial wall. Find out more about top rope climber

3. Technical Climber

A more advanced top roping and bouldering level that focuses on developing technique and movement skills. Find out more about technical climber

4. Lead Climber

Concentrates on the skills required to both lead climb and belay a lead climber. Find out more about lead climber

5. Advanced Climber

The top level that focuses on improving performance, a deeper understanding of climbing systems and the wider world of climbing. Find out more about advanced climber

It is with great pride that I can announce that Chris Shepherd has become our first climber to complete NICAS level 5 !

Chris Shepherd with his Level 5 Certificate

A massive well done to Chris from the whole team here at DynamicRock, a second bonus for Chris was he lead his first F7A a few days later, so all is going very well for the lad!

NICAS sessions are available at the centre on the following days

Mon 16.30 - 18.30

Tues 16.30 -18.30

Thu 19.00 -21.00

Fri 16.30 - 18.30 plus 19.00 - 21.00

Sat 10.00 - 12.00 plus 12.30 - 14.30

Sun 10.00 - 12.00 plus 12.30 - 14.30

Sessions last two hours and cost £10 per session

for more info on NICAS check the web site www.nicas.co.uk

happy climbing

simon

Kalymnos 2009

SRawlinson — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:07:09 +0100

Kalymnos 09

For those of you that did not know, I have been away for the last month climbing in Greece, again! Last year a few of us went on a last minute trip to the sport climbing Mecca that is Kalymnos. This small Island found near the more famous island of Kos has in recent years become a major attraction for climbers around the world, due to its great weather, food but most of all the climbing is fantastic.

Chris Savage Climbing F8b

On our last trip we headed straight to the obvious Grande Grotto, this massive Amphitheatre takes centre stage in a giant sweep of limestone sitting just a short walk from the village of Massourii. This huge Cave has some of the most impressive Tufa formations in the world! which allow for some incredible long steep lines to be climbed such as 'Priapos' a 35m monster line that just goes on for ever, and if you are up for some clever rope work (two ropes and two belayers) and you own a massive amount of quick draws then you can carry on and climb a huge 55m pitch in one go! These distances may not appear huge to the Pembroke veteran but when you see that they are 20 to 40 degrees overhanging the whole way then you start to understand how impressive the terrain really is.

Jon Freeman on his way to Onsighting F8A

Our trip last year was very very good and we all vowed to return as soon as possible and the start of April found us all back on the Island with a few extras, it was almost little Swansea at one point! This year we explored the island more checking out other 'Sectors' to see what they have to offer from the incredible Sikati cave to the more well know 'Sector Spartacus'. What we found was a tremendously varied area with lots of different styles of climbing being found within a small area from Tufa ridden caves to Pocket covered walls!

Nickola Taylor Flashing a F7A at Sector Spartacus

In a Month we saw some incredible Climbing take Place with notable achievements from the Swansea climbers with many of us achieving personal bests:

Micheal Griffiths who Onsighted his first F7A

Liz Collyer Redpointed her First F7A and completed her first 6C Onsight

Jon Freeman Onsighted his First F8A

Simon Robinson Flashed his first F7C

Stuart Llewellyn did his first F7a Onsight

Liz Pulling hard on the Tufa

These are Just a few of many brilliant moments of our trip which i would recommend to anybody, as the island caters for all grades from F3 upwards. it is slightly more expensive to fly to Greece than Spain but in my opinion Kalymnos should be on every body's tick list for place to go!

so any way i'm back in the UK know and its raining but hey come October i'll be back on the Island!

simon enjoying a month of sun and great climbing

Happy climbing

simon

Leading Ladder Grand Final - 4th April

DonnaC — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:58:59 +0100

Leading Ladder Grand Final Report

The Grand Final of this year’s Leading Ladder Competition took place earlier this month ...

Leading ladder finalists

SRawlinson — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:22:06 +0100

The Leading Ladder This winter you may have noticed that we have been running a national competion, The Leading Ladder. Th e idea behind this is that climbers can go to various walls around the country and score points by trying to flash up to ten routes! the finalists are listed below and all highlighted climbers are from the swansea area so a massive well done and all of you that can please try and get to Sheffield on saturday and have a fantastic day. Happy climbing simon Leading Ladder Finalists 2009
	Elite FU16		Elite MU16			Elite Male			Elite Female
	Name	Points		Name	Points		Name	Points		Name	Points
1	Shauna Coxsey	500		Jonathan Stocking	575		Adam Jeeworth	586		Beth Monks	490
2	Kitty Wallace	486		Luke Tilley	575		Drew Haigh	575		Charlie Kelly	468
3	Suzie Zitter	470		Jonathan Field	522		Alan Cassidy	566		Hannah Beresford	446
4				Paul Williamson	511		Simon Rawlinson	557		Rebecca Hall	420
5				Joshua Farrell	500		Robin Sutton	542
6				Tom Middlemas	492		James Garden	540
7				Edd Mowbray	440		Andrew Towers	540
8				Adam Fidler	350		Rob Haigh	535
9							Ross Kirkland	530
10							Nick Moulden	520

	Recreational FU16			Recreational MU16			Recreational Male			Recreational Female
	Name	Points		Name	Points		Name	Points		Name	Points
1	Jaime Davidson	466		Randy Roby	475		Tom Hart	540		Harriet Hall	440
2	Charlotte Garden	435		Sean Hopkins	460		Craig Bailey	480		Gill Peet	420
3	Rhoslyn Frugtniet	401		Tom Bonnert	451		Julian Heath	467		Sarah Batson	395
4	Eleanor Hopkins	374		Michael Clayton	400		Tony Ball	465		Joanna Goorney	380
5	Alice Waterhouse	371		Jacob Bloodworth	361		Simon Robinson	465		Tanya Meredith	360
6	Emily Fell	346		Matthew Roby	350		Josh Ramsden	443		Alison Cairns	351
7	Olivia Ratcliffe	330					Stuart Lancaster	435
8							Dale Comely	431
9							Ian Dunn	430
10							Dave Godley	430

	Improver FU16			Improver MU16			Improver Male			Improver Female
	Name	Points		Name	Points		Name	Points		Name	Points
1	Tara Hayes	375		Michael Hopkins	412		Mike Bean	360		Nicola Evans	300
2	Anna Gilyeat	350		Sam Brannigan	386		Simon Rackley	360		Donna Carless	280
3	Jennifer Wood	320		Ashleigh Wolsey-Heard	366		Joseph Cadwallader	356		Jackie Tyrie	280
4	Sarah Pashley	301		Orrin Coley	320		Bill Davidson	346		Bethan Frugtniet	275
5	Catherine Burgess	300		Daniel Lane	320		Keirnan Brook	325		Louise Humphries	230
6	Ellie Cadwallader	271		Connor Byrne	317		Andy Barnes	300		Liz Collyer	220
7	Naomi Tilley	195		Rowan Rumble	315		Stuart Llewellyn	295		Helen Stuart	217
8	Yasmine Grainger	175		Finn McKay	303		Timothy Selvage	295		Helen Pepper	200
9	Katie Leather	120		Chris Sheperd	297		Nigel Hodson	290		Rachael Parkinson	188
10							Gary Crone	283

The Ruckus Final

SRawlinson — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:28:11 +0100

The End of January is already a blur in the distant past but it was also the start of our winter bouldering series that has finally come to an end. Over three rounds we have seen climbers from all over South Wales come and take part in a hugely successful event that has given us some great moments. The competition was a new format for us, 3hours, 30 boulder problems see how many you can do. It seems a simple formula but it is a lot of hard work to set for, so I would like to thank all of the tireless work that the route setters put in getting the room reset for each comp.

The scoring was also a bit simpler than past events with your best two scores carrying through, to give you a series total, this allowed for competitors that had prior commitments and could only compete in two rounds. So at the final event on Sunday it was all evenly poised with many climbers capable of taking the crown of winter bouldering champion.

Emily Slade showing great talent finishing an impressive 3rd in the under 18s

With just over 30 climbers competing in the final event it was the juniors who started first with huge amounts of enthusiasm they attacked the problems, they showed good technique and cruised up lots of the problems.Do not forget that some of these competitors are under 13years of age and are competing in a under 18 category it is very impressive indeed! of note Owen Jones completing the Yellow route on the steep training wall shows his ever increasing strength reserves, Richard Marrota's ability to keep throwing himself at problems after hours of effort also impressed massively. Morgan and Ashleigh continued there battle from the previous day with some strong efforts on many of the hard problems. I could list all the young climbers involved as they all performed brilliantly. but just look at there scores to see for yourself how well they did, they competed on the same routes as the adults!

The Adult climbers were all very close leading into this final event with many competitors capable of winning it was always going to take something special to seal victory overall. And this event Paul Walters returned with massive power reserves and simply blew the competition apart! His final round score of 277 (out of a possible 300) was incredible and well deserved with some brilliant climbing that if not for a slip on the white problem would have delivered an even bigger final result. with this Paul takes the overall crown and should surely be some one to watch for in the summers bigger comps (BBC at Sheffield ? watch this space)

Paul Walters overall men's winner

For the ladies it was also very tight between the top two, with Donna and Jackie both capable of taking the top spot. Jackie had won the previous two rounds but only just and Donna had closed the gap massively in round two, so it was great to see that they climbed together and on the day they could not be separated with both scoring massive scores of 177. This gave Jackie the title on count back and after a win in last years leading comps shows her great all round ability.

Donna Carless Reaching 2nd place overall

And a big well done to Lewis for showing many slightly younger climbers how to do it keep up the training it is paying of big time for you! and see you on the craggs this year

Lastly a thank you to all that took part this has been a big event for me and to see it so well received has made it all worth while I'm now of for a holiday so see you all soon

happy climbing

simon

The BMC YCS 2009 round 2

SRawlinson — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:47:02 +0100

This weekend was certainly a busy one! and on Saturday at 09.30 the doors opened not to the public, but to some very keen and strong young climbers from around South Wales.

It was with a large amount of pride that Dynamic Rock was to host round two of the BMC youth climbing series, especially as for our junior climbing team it is one of the highlights of the year. After a hugely successful first round in Cardiff a few weeks previously the second round was to prove just as popular with around 40 young climbers staking a claim for a place in the final.

Paul getting climbers in a spin as part of the warm up.

After a good warm up it was down to action and the day would give the youngsters the chance to pit themselves against 3 routes and 3 boulder problems with climbers scoring points for how high they progressed up each route. the girls attacked the routes first with the boys heading for the bouldering room, and much to the older boys delight,confusion they were confronted with boulder problem two "The Box" soon to be renamed "the box of doom".

Dewi tackling "The Box"

the object of this problem was to simply get standing on top of a volume screwed to the wall but this is not easy! as I found out trying to demo the route for some of the parents. But the problem brought out some great displays of sheer determination with Ashleigh flashing the challenge and Morgan finding it easy on his second go. in the junior boys Noah, Ethan and Lois could not be separated and Robin and Richard had only one point between them!

Rhiannon showing great technique

The Girls were busy in the main hall battling with some of the new routes set for them on the main wall. Kaya Blackmore was to leave the main Hall with full points a brilliant effort, whilst the older girls was a tight battle between Maddie and Rhos.

Adam Mathews Blasting up a F6C+

The Boys took over in the main hall with the senior boys taking centre stage with Morgan and Ashleigh both dispatching the final route with relative ease. but the final mention of a brilliant day has to go to two young ladies Emily Slade and Kaitlin Crosfield who after two competitions could not be separated and had to face the dreaded "climb off" for this the two girls took turns on a tough route and who got the highest wins and in this case that meant going to the Welsh final in North Wales. Under huge pressure both ladies did tremendously well but it was Emily who just climbed the higher, and as a great show sportsmanship beyond her years Kaitlin congratulated her. well done to you both!

The Junior climbing team

On a last note it is with great Pride that I can congratulate our entire team, as they have all made it to the welsh final to be held in North Wales latter in the month. Well done and you all deserve it thanks for all the hard work you guys have put in!!!

for full results of the day http://indoorsout.co.uk/#brycs2009results.htm

see you all soon

happy climbing

simon