Shauna Coxsey defended her title in fine style at a thrilling British Bouldering Championships while Dave Barrans won the men's event in a display of raw power and consistency. But with Cliffhanger cancelled following days of heavy rain, it was touch and go whether the event would happen at all.

Monsoon conditions plagued organisers and route-setters the day before the event, and they almost downed tools when the decision was taken to cancel Cliffhanger.

At one point there was water  running down both sides of the wall, and the main overhang held so much water it was seeping like a limestone crag in Derbyshire. But the team persevered, and with the big top up and the wall built, the circus came to Sheffield's Graves Park – despite the weather.

Thick fog covered the park – and filled the tent – as dawn broke, but by the time senior competitors started to arrived for registration, the cloud was lifting and the sun even managed a brief appearance.

Cliffhanger Festival: reduced to just the British Bouldering Championships

Qualification was busy for the men, with 53 competitors including 15 IFSC Juniors on the mats vying for their chance on each of the ten problems. A flashed ascent earned 10 points, a successful second ascent seven, and a third four. Old hands had figured out the easier problems and some turned in impressive qualifying scores in the mid 90s – and in a fast time.

Most stronger competitors had finished their qualifying session in under two hours. Dave Barrans kept himself fresh for that afternoon's final with an hour-long blitz that had him resting his arms while the madness continued. At the end of the session there were some tired-looking climbers coming off the mats.

The men were immediately replaced by 23 Senior women, including four IFSC Junior climbers, with some impressive performances from a very strong field. Charlotte Garden did well as a Junior to come close to making the final, but the last eight contained no surprises.

The final was four blocs, with climbers having three minutes for each one. Unlike the ruck for qualifying, finalists were on their own as they tried each problem in turn, with a woman and a man on the wall at the same time.

The men's event came down to consistency and fitness, and Dave Barrans had lots of both. He looked immensely powerful cruising to his first British Bouldering Championship victory as the only competitor to climb all four problems. But Adam Watson and James Garden were not far behind him in second and third.

The women came out with all guns blazing on the first very shouldery problem. The reigining champion fell off her first attempt on the first bloc, as pressing powerfully onto her shoulder aggravted an existing long-term injury.

This allowed American Alex Puccio, currently resident in Sheffield, to take the lead, which she held right up to the last bloc, her advantage that one missed attempt from Coxsey.



Mina Leslie-Wujastyk: climbing well and looking strong in the final

Only Mina Leslie-Wujastyk reached the level of these two, as the title came down to the wire on the fourth problem. All the women bar Leslie-Wujastyk failed to top out so Shauna knew she had to climb it to retain her title – and that she did on her very  first attempt. Her brilliant year continues.

With no rain overnight, the Junior event next day was good to go. With 60 boys and 44 girls split between the IFSC Youth A, B and C categories, it was going to be a busy day.

The boys were split into two qualifying groups and organised chaos on the mats swiftly followed. Some strong performances from the front runners in both the girls and boys qualification meant they finished early and  missed queuing for last-minute problems at the end of the session – inevitable with this format of qualifying.



Max Ayrton latching the final hold on his final problem

The final was an excellent display of young British talent. In the boy's event Dominic Burns from Youth B showed his experience of international competition, having recently won a round of the European Youth Cup Bouldering, and calmly flashed every problem in great style. Although they qualified above him, Max Ayrton and Hamish Pokatar couldn't match his cool and Burns finished in top spot.

The girls problems were set pretty hard and although Molly Thompson-Smith, and Hannah Wilson styled their way to the top of problem one, that was the last top the crowd saw. The rest of the blocs were burly mantels and dynos, and it was an amazing effort from Molly on the final problem, getting within one hold of the top, that sealed the win for her.

RESULTS

Vew the full results here

Watch these exclusive clips and many more on BMC TV:

WATCH BMC TV: British Bouldering Championships 2012 by Image Impossible

Thanks to Ian Burton at Image Impossible for the video

The BMC would like to apologise to Sidonie Graham for a mistake made by one of our hard-working volunteers which meant that she should have been in the final, and unfortunately was not. Sidonie is an incredibly talented boulderer and will be one to watch in the future. Please accept our apologies and we will make sure that this does not happen again in the future.

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