MAMMUT CLIMBING CHALLENGE!

The Mammut Climbing Challenge starts January 13th and runs until February 10th

To take part, pick up a score sheet from reception. With your climbing partner, attempt the routes as often as you like, but always ground up.

Once you fall off you must lower to the ground and try again.

You'll get four weeks to have a go at 4 top ropes and 8 lead routes - graded from F5 - F8a.

The routes will be set on the Furnace, Main Wall and CragX vertical wall.

It's free to enter so you've no excuse not to have a go!


PRIZES:

Each week a Mammut 'single' rope will be raffled off using names from the scoresheets.

Overall winners (top male/female, and top U16 male/female) will each win a Mammut rope!

Foundry Indoor Clubs over Christmas

Christmas weekend - no Spider Club
Wed 29th - no Adult Club
Thur 30th - Youth Climbing Club may run depending on booked numbers
Sun 2nd - Spider Club as normal

We are running 2 extra Spider Club sessions:
Wed 22nd 10:30 - 12:30
Wed 29th 10:30 - 12:30

Foundry Christmas opening times.

As normal The Foundry will only be closed for three days over the holiday period, infact we are open (almost) as normal throughout the Christmas/New Year period.

Christmas Eve - OPEN 10am-6pm
Christmas Day - CLOSED
Sunday 26th - CLOSED
Monday 27th - open as normal, 10am-10pm
Tuesday 28th - open as normal, 10am-10pm
Wednesday 29th - open as normal, 10am-10pm
Thursday 30th - open as normal, 10am-10pm
New Years Eve - OPEN 10am-6pm
New Years Day - CLOSED
Sunday 2nd - open as normal, 10am-8pm
Monday 3rd - open as normal, 10am-10pm
Tuesday 4th - back to normal

CragX will be closed 25th/26th December and 1st January.
CragX will close at 6pm on 24th and 31st December.

Livingstone wall Re-set

Ashley has reset all the routes on the Livingstone wall. There are 22 routes from 3+ to 6b+.

Foundry Bouldering League - Round 2 Results

Despite a disappointing turnout due to the weather there was a great atmosphere down on the wall.

The full results for both round 2 and the league so far are HERE

Event Sponsors:

Bouldering Comp - tonight

Despite the weather tonight's bouldering round will take place as planned.

For those unable to get here due to the snow, don't worry it's the best 3 of 4 round so you will still have a chance to make up your score in the New Year. But for those of you who do get here, with reduced numbers of climbers you will have a better chance of winning one of our spot prizes.

The whole Wave has been reset this week, so even if you miss the competition there is lots to have a go at over the weekend.

Event Sponsors:

We are open - Thursday 2nd Dec

Busses are out of hibernation and I have just got into The Foundry.

Main roads are clear of snow, but Mowbray Street is very slusshy so do please take care if you decide to drive.

We are open

Despite being closed this morning The Foundry is now open. Main roads in the City Centre are clear of snow and we hope to be able to stay open as normal this evening.

We are planning to be open tomorrow morning, but please check the blogg before travelling as mother nature may have other ideas.

Foundry Bouldering League - Round 2

Despite the snow Rob and Tim were in early this morning to start preparing for round 2 of The Foundry Bouldering League.

This Friday (3rd December) from 5pm

£2 entry (plus your normal climbing fee) with all climbers entered into a raffle to win a range of prizes, including Five Ten rockshoes, CragX gift vouchers and goodies from Beta Climbing Designs.

Event Sponsors:

Bouldering re set and Round 2 of the bouldering league

Starting last Friday, Rob and Tim re set the Level 1 and Kids circuits. On the 30th half of the level 2 level 3 will be stripped and reset. Then on Friday Rob will set another 25 NEW problems for the bouldering comp starting at 5pm in the evening.

Livingstone wall reset

The Livingstone top rope routes will be re set over this week form 4's to 6b+.

New routes on main wall

Complete reset of the right section of the main wall with lots of routes in the 6's from Rob and Dave. Rob has also reset two routes on line E.

Holds for sale

We are retiring and selling off lots of holds. They ususally go fast so if you want some get down here quick!

Steve Mcclure sets hard new training route

The Main wall now sports a new 8a+(or more?) from Steve for all of you who have climbed everything else on the prow!

Dry Tooling in the Mammut Sponsored Furnace!

The Furnace now sports not only a handful of new routes, but is also now sponsored by Mammut.





Mammut have kindly provided brand new quickdraws for the whole of the Furnace.

Dry tooling is also back for the 2010/2011 season. This year Tim Hill has set some awesome routes with purpose built wooden axe placements.

Dry tooling sessions are £10, and run for the last two hours of every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

We provide all the gear, so there's not much of an excuse not to have a go!

WINTER BOULDERING LEAGUE - ROUND 1 RESULTS AND PHOTOS

Tom Bonnert tackling the notorious 'brain' 

Round 1 results for the Foundry Winter Bouldering League are now available to download from foundryclimbing.com as a PDF.

Gav Harness breaks out from behind the desk to rip it up on the wave.

Look out for the next three rounds of the winter bouldering league. These will be up as events on Facebook. But just to be sure you all know, the dates are:

3rd December
14th January
11th February

Ed Hartley in the traverse corridor.

Darren Attew placed 7th with 213 points.

Joe Broadhead tops another problem.

All photos © Tom Napier

Once again, many thanks to our sponsors:

Foundry Bouldering league results Round 1

The first round saw 49 competitors attempting 25 problems set by Rob Napier and Steve Yeoman. Top score for men was David Skoczlas with an excellent 244. Top female was Diane Merrick with an impressive 220 in 4th position overall. In the youth category top male was Joe Swales at 197 (12th overall) and top female was Beth Hoyland with 142 (23rd overall), both solid performances. Some pictures and the full score sheet will follow!



Event Sponsors:

Mammoth changes are afoot

Thanks to sponsorship from Mammut the Furnace now sports a nice Mammoth logo, plus new Mammut quickdraws.

The middle and left sections will be reset over the next couple of days, so you can look forward to a selection of new routes for the weekend.

Dry tooling

There will be no dry tooling session on Monday 1st November as we are running the first bouldering competition. Next session will be Friday 5th starting 7.45pm till 10pm.

Something is stirring in the Furnace......

Well, it's Monday, and a certain Mr. Tedstill and a Mr. Hall have undertaken a mammoth job in the Furnace.......

..... watch this space!

CLIMBFIT IS COMING! - Starting October 25th...

Dry tooling is back!

New dry tooling routes for the winter season will be set this Thursday/Friday by Tim Hill - a climber and Foundry staff member who likes his mixed winter routes.

This year the dry tooling routes will also have logs and sleepers to tussle with as well as drilled resin holds!

The routes will be open starting Monday 18th 7.45-9.45pm.

You get 2 hours for £10. This includes gear - helmets with visors plus axes on leashes. You can bring your own axes provided you have springy leashes with your axes (or we may be able to provide leashes).


Dry Tooling sessions will be running every Monday/Friday evening 7.45-9.45pm and weekends 5.30-7.30pm.

All new Kids Cicuit

Many of the problems were used in the comp last Saturday. Some have been changed and a couple more added for very young ones! This time within the 20 problems Rob has set more of a range from easy to quite tricky.

Results from Saturday's Youth Comp!

We had 18 competitors in Saturdays comp, all trying 2 top ropes and five boulder problems specially set by Rob. The event went really well - thanks to the parents on hand to belay and score. Special thanks to Jim and Penny Watkin for organisation and results compilation!

Well done to all those who took part!

Meanwhile the winter bouldring league starts Monday 1st November (1st day back after half term). There will be some problems set just for kids as well as adults so do come along and give it a go. As ususal lots of raffle prizes on the night including FiveTen rock shoes and Beta Climbing Designs kit (Sterling ropes, Climb On, Bleaustone/Lapis holds), CragX vouchers.


BRYCS next year will be February 5th.


Girls 8-10
Pippa Watkin 476 1
Tia McKenzie 471 2

Girls 11-13
Georgia Hoyland 500 1
Emily Allen 495 2
Bethany Browne 483 3
Bethany Jennings434 4
Dana Windle 417 5
Lucy Clarkson 402 6

Boys 11-13
Thomas Lee 482 1
Alex Hall 435 2
Ben Lee 434 3
Harry Levick 354 4
Stephen Belk 352 5
Joseph Fowler 347 6
John Cracknell 310 7

Girls 14-16
Beth Hoyland 469 1
Pareesa Tai 458 2

Boys 14-16
Oliver Bisseker 309 1

Youth Climbing Friendly Comp! Saturday 9th October

The Foundry is putting on a friendly youth comp intended to give young climbers a chance to have a go at a couple of top rope routes (one on the vertical wall and one in The Furnace) plus 5 boulder problems. Rob Napier will be setting for the comp next thursday 7th/friday 8th.

There are 3 categories ages 7-10, 11-13, 14-16. There are CragX shop vouchers for first boy/girl in each category and other prizes generously supplied by Beta Climbing Designs.

Entry is £6 and the centre will be open from 9.30am for registration. Jim Watkins (BMC Area Youth Coordinator/Foundry Academy) will be in charge of sorting out belayers / scorers from the parents present so expect to be given a job to do if you are a parent! Rob Napier will be there all day to sort any technical problems.

BMC Leading ladder 2nd - 17th October

The Leading ladder is back for 2010/11. Ten routes to choose from6a to 8a. Score cards are £1. You can attempt the routes as many times as you like in the allotted time period.

The Foundry Cafe will be fully open from Monday 27th September.

As usual we will be offering a range of hot/cold sandwiches, burgers, homemade specials and the all important chip Buttie.

Take advantage of free Wi-Fi access whilst you enjoy a latte. Or get a panini to stave off the hunger pangs, whilst you're waiting for your climbing partners to arrive.

Main wall prow now reset and new Level 2 bouldering circuit

The prow is completely reset by Rob Napier and Steve Yeoman (new recuit from Bristol Climbing Centre). By the end of today we will have finished setting the 15 degree wall to left of the prow and have re set the Level 2 bouldering circuit.

Rob setting on Bleaustone wall











Steve setting on 15 degree section of main wall

Setting on main wall

There will be route stripping and resetting on the main wall on wednesday this week and next week during the day up to 5pm.

New route setting

The Livingstone wall will be re set on Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th followed by the whole of the Vertical wall and Foundry slab on Thursday/Friday.

New Guide Books for Font and Rodellar.......

One can get a little overwhelmed at the numerous Fontainebleau bouldering guides on offer. Certainly, in my experience, not all of them are great - some have decent area topos, others fare better at illustrating individual boulders. The lack of a clear guide for navigating the endless bouldering areas in the forest can, quite frankly, be a pain in le derrière....

The first instalment of Jacky Godoffe's new set of Font guides offers a glimmer of hope however. At first thumb through, Font à Bloc seems a bit spartan. Don't let the austerity of this guide fool you though. What it does offer is clear topos of the areas it covers, then a nice big photo of every bloc and a big red line showing where each problem goes. Throw in a brief description of each problem and how it starts, and what you have in front of you is a rather good Font guide. Definitely worth checking out. 

 

Also in the shop this week, we've got the new Rodellar guide (have a look here). Once again, clear pictures illustrating the line of route, coupled with decent area topos make for a very useful guidebook. There's some pretty decent photography in this one too.

Important Information about Dragon Cams

We've received some information about a recall of certain SIZE 6 DRAGON CAMS from DMM.


From DMM's website:


"DMM International has identified a raw material problem that may affect the strength on certain models of the Dragon Cam in size 6 (Product Code A7056A).....


..... The units affected were made between the 28th April and the 30th June and there are 604 units in the market that could be affected. The affected units have one the following serial numbers. The serial number is located on the back edge of one of the two centre cam lobes. If you own a Dragon Cam 6 with a serial number listed below then you should immediately discontinue all use of this product."

Here's a link to DMM's website (including the list of serial numbers of affected cams):

Dragon Cam recall

They've also posted a pdf which goes into a lot of detail about the recall. Here's a link to that too:

DMM International Recall on the Dragon Camming Device in size 6 

To re-iterate, if you think you have one of the affected units, you should discontinue all use of the cam, and contact DMM.

Right then.

The renovations to the right hand side of the main wall are now complete! There's all sorts of new angles to get on, with no more sieges through the awkward stepped roofs. 

It's looking a tad bare at the moment, as setting is still ongoing (Rob is busy setting as I type).

But next week, the right hand side will be open, with a veritable smorgasbord of routes to go at.

These new renovations really make the most out of the space on the main wall, and the variety of climbing on offer now will undoubtedly spice up training sessions down the wall this season.....

.... didn't climb on the right hand side before? Bet you do now.

Wall Build Progress

Rob and Ben are making good progress with improvements to the Right section of the Main Wall.

The structure is now almost completed and they are ready to set to work with paintbrushes to finish the job off.

Main wall improvements

Starting Monday 19th Rob Napier and Ben Tedstill will be making some changes to the 'double roof' section of the main wall.


The two upper sections of roof will be filled over with flat panels to allow for improved routes and to make it easier to add extra volumes on the routes. Four of the quickdraw bolts will be re-positioned during the new build.

Autobelay

For a trail period The Foundry has one autobelay installed, so even if you don't have a partner to belay you can still have a go at the routes on line 8.

This is a trial period only - the autobelay will be in use from now untill the 18th July

There is no extra charge for using the autobelay but before using it for the first time you must complete a short registration form, explaining how to use the equipment safely.

Complete re-set of wave

Rob has been hard at it this week and completely re-set the Wave and Bleaustone bouldering walls.






So if the Peak is too hot to climb, come down and take advantage of the high power fans whilst you work at the new circuits.

Cliffhanger 2010

Millhouses Park, Sat 3rd and Sun 4th July.

As well as hosting the IFSC Bouldering World Cup, Cliffhanger 2010 will have a wide range of free "come and try" activities for kids of all ages.

CragX will be bringing our Pull-up Challenge (how many can you do in 1 minute?), plus a new challenge which will be revealed on the day.

It's only a few days before the event and we are still busily collating special offers and bargains. As a quick guide there will be lots of hardware, harnesses, helmets and ropes with discounts of around 20-50% off. Plus clothing bargains, mostly with at least 50% off.

Froggatt guide back in stock

The first batch didn't last long but the main shipment is finally here and we have good stock of the brand new Froggatt guide.

BMC Young Climbers Series Final

Last weekends final saw 187 young climbers competing at Ratho. This number included young climbers who regularly climb at The Foundry and Foundry Academy members , all of them representing the 'Peak ' region. Well done to all of you who took part. Jake Beech (2nd/33 in 11-13boys), Thomas Lee (6th/31 in 8-10 boys), James Waterhouse (7th/33 in boys 11-13), Abigail Rivett (19th/26 in 8-10 girls , Pareesa Tai (19=/33 in 11-13 girls) and Finn McKay (15th/33 in 14-16 boys). The Peak region came 2nd out of the 11 regions, so a great result.

The BMC is running an Open Youth Climbing Competition at Ratho on 24th July. Entries need to be returned to the BMC by 16th July. Entry forms and further information available at http://www.thebmc.co.uk/competitions

New Kids bouldering circuit

Rob and Josh (our new work experience recruit!) are re setting the whole of the kids circuit. With a total of 18 new problems, theres lots to have a go at for those aged about 5 years upwards. Grades range from font 3 to font 5a. Entry price for under 7's is still £3.50 with no charge for the adult signing kids in. Children of 7 to 15 years are £4.

Core DVD now in

We've been getting badgered for a while about when Core DVD would be here. It's been out for a while on this BluRay nonsense but is now finally here on proper DVD.
Featuring Nalle Hukkataival, Matt Wilder, Fred Nicole, Kevin Jorgeson and more it promises to be quite a crushfest.

And for those inspired By Fred to get out there and pull on some swiss boulders - we have just taken delivery of the new SwissBloc vol1. Covering Magic Wood, Sustenpass and much more. This is the first of two volumes by Gebro Verlag (Publishers of EBloc, IBloc and BlocHeart, which SwissBloc replaces).

New Froggatt guide is here

At last it's here. BMC Froggatt to Black Rocks. The definitive guide to the Eastern edges from Froggatt southwards. This new guide follows the current BMC pattern, routes and boulder problems in the same guide with full colour photo topos throughout and lots of inspirational photos.

Available in the shop or online at CragXClimbing.com

The fans are out!

The big fans are out for the summer to cool your body and mind while bouldering on the wave or woodie.

New bouldering circuit

Rob has now reset most of the problems on the 'Elite' circuit starting from f6c+ up to f8a. Due to popular demand he has also left on a few of the existing problems in this circuit so if you haven't done them yet you have a few more weeks to try!

Spring Bank Holiday

The Foundry will be open from 10am - 6pm on 31st May.

Route setting this week.....

Rob and Keiron have been setting on The Furnace lead wall and the Livingstone top rope wall. Rob will also be re-setting the elite bouldering circuit this friday with problems from f6b+ to f7c.

Outdoor Climbing Dates for Children

The dates for climbing in the Peak District are:


23rd May
12th June
4th July
24th July


To book on to any of these days, either speak to an instructor at the Foundry, or fill in the booking form