It has been a month since London's newest bouldering venue opened its doors to the public. On Wednesday 4th June Vauxwall's official launch party took place with 3 competitions, spot prizes, special guests, Scarpa boot demo, bar and DJ.

The party started at 4pm with the opening of the Fun Competition held in the Central and Café arches with a circuit set by Scarpa athlete and 7 times British Bouldering champion, Gaz Parry. The idea was to be as inclusive as possible and to encourage beginner climbers to have a go at a competition. Score cards were completed, but alternatively to a standard climbing comp, prizes were given to 10 competitors picked at random rather than the 3 highest scorers.
The Main competition took place on VauxWall's Comp wall and it was set by Gaz Parry, Marmot athlete Leah Crane and The Beastmaker and Scarpa athlete, Dan Varian. The format of this comp was just like a traditional bouldering competition with competitors getting higher points for fewer attempts of each problem. The winners were, in the Male category:

1st Jim Pope, 277 points
2nd Aaron Tan, 276 points
3rd Chau Dennis, 271 points

Louis Parkinson, GB Bouldering team member, also took part in this comp climbing on top form scoring an amazing 310 points out of the 350 maximum. However, as a member of Vauxwall's staff team he wasn't eligible for the 1st prize.

Female category:
1st Lisa Koch 187
2nd Bronagh Cairns 110
3rd Alice Browne 70

The party also saw the launch of the wall's Perma-Circuit, consisting of 15 problems ranging from V1 to V10 set by Dan Varian, using Beastmaker's beautiful hand crafted range of wooden holds. These permanent problems set the standard for their grade in the centre. We are offering a £50 cash prize for the 1st ascent of the V10 problem.

The centre was buzzing with climbers from all over London and the atmosphere was great. We also had a visiting team from Singapore who took 2nd and 3rd in the men's comp. Everyone enjoyed DJ Ordinary's tracks and a beer with free pizza after the climbing.

This was only VauxWall's first event and we can safely say that it was a huge success all around. This is thanks to VauxWall's sponsors, Scarpa and Marmot, Beastmaker, the wall's staff team and of course the already loyal customers who make all the difference!

Gaz Parry commented:

"It is always great to visit and work at new venues. VauxWall is a fantastic addition to the London scene and well worth a visit. One of the most modern facilities in the uk it certainly ticks all the boxes. Looking forward to visiting again."

Here is a video of the day:

VauxWall Launch Party June 2014 from VauxWall on Vimeo.