anychance of updated results please

there seem to be a number of competitiors in catagorie A who should be in Cat B, surely if you enter as someone who climbs up to 6b then its reasonable to think that its unlikely they will be climbing 6b+ or higher in every round. What is there in the way of quality control on this?

If someone scores higher than the predicted on sight level of the category, e.g. can on sight 7c in category B where the predicted is 7a. what will happen? will they stay in group B or be moved up to the next?

When will the updated results be released?
Thank you

The whole point of the leading ladder is to help climbers improve, so if anyone is getting a lot better and is potentially straddling to categories or should be in the next category up they are contacted by the guys here in the office and there results and category position discussed, normally with the outcome of being moved up to the next category if they have improved that much.

We have done this quite a few times already this year, so it sounds like there are some climbers training hard and using the leading ladder to push their grade up a few notches which is great!

Cheers

Rob Adie

When and where is the final being held?

I thought GB team members were supposed to be in the elite category?

The Leading Ladder Final will be held at Reading Climbing Centre on the 14th April. More information to follow.

All GB team members must be in the C category. Some climbers may have been selected for the team in December, after the leading ladder had started. They will be upgraded accordingly.

Cheers

Rob Adie

still need some work on scores in catogory 1 and 2 as top one or two seem to be above suggested grade level

Please can you tell me when rounds 11 & 12 will be posted?

I love this event,and think its a good training tool, that encourages all types of climbers to stretch themselves, but I'm concerned on the fairness of the categories, 335 and 375 points in the men's category A, 450 plus in men's B ?????

Are these correct?? seems some anomalies in scoring, also will the full results be available at some point?

cheers

Does the leading ladder encourage true sportsmanship? looking at the results sheet the answer has to be a resounding NO. just look at the scores that people are entering in the categories, surely we should be able to rely on a sense of decency for entrants to put themselves in the correct category?

Here's the maths

Category A lead up to 6b = 80 points x 3 = 240 points
Category B lead up to 7a = 140 points x 3 = 420 points
Category C lead up to 8a = 200 points x 3 = 600 points

simples!!!!!

Hi im joint 10th with celyn what happens?

problems of score seem to be across the board -juniors (male and female )as well as the adults - should and could have been sorted long before this point !!!

Re comment 17. Categories are not quite as clear cut as this, because on the back of the scoring sheets it says something slightly different to the website. One says 'can climb' (ie, redpoint) the other 'can onsight'. At your limit, this makes a big difference. Also, if you're NOT considering yourself an elite climber, the only choices are A & B. And what if certain venues are simply a bit soft? Personally, I reckon a vets category would help.

i agree with comment #20 ,onsight and redpoint make a huge difference but while one soft venue can account for some scoring issues the size of the margins suggest the climbers are well above the standard.i also agree about the elite group-surely the GB team have enough comps without this "fun" one or maybe there should be a fourth section just for them !! also think this should have been managed way before now as previous posts have suggested .

Another thing which distorts the results is the number of rounds which you have entered. According to the rules you have to enter 3 rounds to be eligible for the final. But elsewhere on this website it states "The top 10 from each category will be invited to the final and you must have competed in at least 2 rounds to qualify." ( http://www.thebmc.co.uk/bmc-leading-ladder--national-final-info ). And in previous years there have been people in the final who have only competed in 1 round.

But the results show the TOTAL of your best 3 rounds. This means that (for example) someone with 210 points after 3 rounds is equal to someone with 210 points after 2 rounds. According to the rules, the person who has entered 3 rounds will get into the final although the other person is a obviously a better climber. Is this fair? (I suspect that they will both be there but that's not what it says in the rules).

I think it would make more sense, if the minimum requirement is 2 rounds, to look at the results from your best 2 rounds, rather than 3, for a fair comparison. Alternatively, take the AVERAGE of your top 2 scores, or your top 3 scores if you have entered more rounds. Average scores would mean you could also compare people with only 1 round without doing any arithmetic.

A further problem is the moving of climbers from one category to another, (usually upwards) during the competition. There is no provision in the rules for changing category, but it does happen.

I don't want to be negative - I think the leading ladder is an excellent competition - but perhaps the organisers could take another look at the rules and make them clearer and more consistent with what actually happens in practice!

The difference between onsight and worked is absolutely key. I can onsight 6c (on a good day, if the style suites me). I can often work a 7a route and get it. So what group should I be in! Also the style of routes varies a lot - at the first round I went to the routes had been set 'comp style' with a far harder section at the top. This was so pronounced that I basically didn't hand a card in and gave up on the entire leading ladder as utterly demoralising. Another universal bug-bear is routes with very long moves which can totally derail a petite lady climber. Please can route setters realise that making a route harder does not automatically mean making the moves longer!!

Hi Guys,

The leading ladder has changed over the last few years and this year especially it has been very competitive, with lots of climbers entering and we have seen lots of climbers progress through the categories climbing better every year, which is what the leading ladder was designed for.

It was also designed to be a fun and friendly competition, to allow climbers who would not normally be interested in the intense experiences that say the British Lead Climbing Champs. gives a chance to climb competitively but in a more relaxed environment. As the competition has evolved over the last couple of years to the position we are in now, it has been very difficult to evolve the rules with it, as the self categorisation and self scoring system we currently have in place is not an exact science like regular competition climbing. Especially with walls setting the routes themselves the route grades are not always consistent across the UK which makes universal scoring very difficult.

We are now at a point where the BMC is in the middle of the guys who are putting themselves in the wrong category and those that are selecting themselves into the correct category, which is a very awkward position to be in. At this stage it is too late to make any changes for the final this weekend. But I would like to totally overall the competition structure and rules to really improve the competition for next year.

At the end of the final on Saturday I would like to hold a short focus group for any finalist that is interested to come and voice their views on the rules, how finalists are selected and how we change the category structure. You are the climbers on the ground competing in the leading ladder and you should get a say in how it is run.

So I look forward to seeing you all and anyone who wants to be involved in shaping the Leading Ladder into a better competition for 2013 please see me at the end of the event.

Kind regards,

Rob Adie
BMC Competitions Officer