UKC

Anybody else go today? What did you think? seemed to be mostly retail stalls or people trying to convince you to visit wales!

Only thing i can think to suggest having a look at is the new DMM Anarchist and Rebel ice axes as very cool axes with its hot forged shaft rather than the usual tubular extrusion. also has a built in leash clipper, all very nice!

Anyone spot anything else worth a look at?

In reply to epik: I went and it was pants apart from the bouldering, spent just a couple of hours watching that. I was hoping to pick up a new Wild Country superlight harness but there was nothing there. All the big stores were just catering for the walking crowd, who were easy to spot as they were walking down the ailes 4 abreast and just stopping with no warning!! However a good mention for the little Ben Moon stall which had some real bargains on, x3 tops for £20 and good quality stuff, trousers for £20 as well.

In reply to Ady Short:

yep, it was ok, agree on the bouldering comp being the highlight. I guess it was always gonna be a trade show with a few extras.

best buys were on the HB stand I think. An old school sticht plate with spring on for £4.

and the bouldering class with planet fear, really good small bits of advice, worth a go.

In reply to Ady Short:

i think you summed it up perfectly, not catered to climbers at all! seemed like there was nothing realy there that i couldnt have seen by going to my local cotswold or slush'n'rubble, i even got asked to join "the ramblers" - the cheak of it!

Did strike me though why do none of the big brands show off any of there cool stuff? why do they only take their boring stuff to these shows? i go to shows in the hope of seeing something unusual (portaledges, hanging tents, special titanium axes made for a certain climber for one route) or the like not the usual millets shop stock!

not got the sparkle of alot of the other shows held at the NEC, bring back the climbing show as was in '99.

In reply to epik: some of the talks were quite good. and there is a stall that sells nice sausages

In reply to epik:

Anyone get nabbed by PGL, 'work for us for £60 a week'.

Is there any new stuff to have a go at this year?

I went today (sat) and was very disappointed. Has turned out exactly as BIKE did, couple of good years for Billy Bargains then it becomes a site for multiple shops to sell what they sell at normal prices anyway. V12 last year was excellent, spent lots with them, this year, if you blinked, you missed their stand. Was all geared up to buy a pair of DMM flys - nothing. HB was about the only place with bargain buckets - thankyou.

In reply to KA:

it was also interesting to see that on the BMC come and try it climbing walls the belayers were all wearing helmets. While the belayers on the 'ice' wall, were helmet-less. mmmm clever!!!

In reply to Phil Lyon:

Bouldering comp was good! And a new World record for women - at least - in the dyno competition!

Sandrine Levet looks good for the final, thought she'd blown her first attempt at the final problem today, but she worked out that she'd gone wrong, reversed, and put herself right and latched the dyno first attempt...

Only other competitor to finish the final problem took 3 attempts....

In reply to Dominion:
Agree, i found the bouldering really good. The two top people, french and russian, were in a class of their own, amazing to watch. Dyno comp was fun,

In reply to Adam Rooke:

Did you see who won the mens dyno competition? New World Record? I left at then end of the women's...

The women's world record looked soft, considering that all of the competitors did it - although some took 2 goes...

At least the women beat the world record - and by 25cm. Soft? How come? The men didn't even equal their's.

In reply to KA:

It looked soft 'cos all 7 competitors equalled it, 4 at the first atempt - so the previous record was soft...

...and then a mistake by the organisers to raise it from 1.90m to 2.10cm at one go. And all failed...

Download to 1.95m, and I think all got it by the 2nd go, some "easily" at the first attempt...

There weren't all that many eliminated until it went back up to 2.10m for the 2nd time. Only 2 succeeded at that.

And the Austrian girl who set the new WR got 2.15m at her first attemt, and the USA girl (Ashley?) failed - just - after 3 goes.

That says the original 1.90m record was a bit soft, if all 7 competitors equalled it...

The New Record looks hard as nails though!

In reply to Adam Rooke:

And purely as a matter for discussion....

The final 3 problems (thinking about it) in the Women's qualifying each needed - as far as I could tell - a right hand latch first...

Would you have been at a disadvantage if you were a lefty?

(NB I have no idea whether those routes were typical, but the 3 hardest routes all required a right-hand first, and - obviously - a left hand to demonstrate control on the hold... No other way to do those moves)

Just curious....

In reply to: I had to sit through 45 minutes of a mind numbing Peter Duncan 'talk' hell because someone i was with wanted to see him for some unknown reason. Mick Fowlers talk was disapointing.

Overall, I enjoyed the show, although I agree with some of the posts further up this thread there didnt seem to be much for climbers there

In reply to epik:
....and why is it always on a good day for being on the the rock!
Agree with the comment about the sausage stall ( venison and mushroom went down well)
Anyone else go to the Jim Perrin talk - thought it was an entertaining 'taster' for his book.

In reply to Dave Cant:

Yeah half an hour sat on the M42 in beautiful weather certainly rubs in the whole "should have stayed at home and climbed" plus i didnt even find this magic sausage stand!

In reply to epik: Yeah not bad, was hoping for some more gear places, dmm were good, 3 4cu's for 60 quid! could not miss out there! The planet fear technique class was good to, oh, and whipping the marines on thier rotating walls!

In reply to Dominion:
The last route looked horrible, two mono pulls, must havve hurt them! They were all favoured for right handed people, it didnt seem to bother them though
Womens dyno comp seemed easy, not as excitin as the mens one, but then that was just stupid

In reply to Adam Rooke:

I did wonder... I was also wondering whether the route setters would know in advance if they had several lefties in the comp, and whether that would make a difference to the route they set... All the really hard moves on the last 2 routes looked very right-hand centric (NB It's possible there were no lefties, so it made not the slightest difference - I asked, as I did not know, plus I am pretty much right-sided, certainly for strength moves)

In reply to epik: Rarely have so many ramblers been gathered together!

I saw people in the full rig: Red socks, Brasher boots and even one women with a trekking pole!( this was before it opened on Fri so she had'nt bought it at the show!)

I won't bother next year, one reason i stopped working in a climbing shop was due to all the sad gear freaks coming in!

In reply to steve @ work:

now you come to mention it i noticed a few people fully kitted up with treking poles. fare enough they may have bought them at the show but why they felt the need to use them in the show rather than carry them i will never know. looked like they had walked straight in off of Dartmoor!

Yeah not sure i will go next year, even thought about exhibiting this year but god im glad i didnt now!

Last time I went was 2 years ago and it was much the same then. If anything I think it was slightly better this year than two years ago. Basically there were some good speakers to go and see and a couple of good stalls + loads of the same old sh1t you can see in a shop.

I too don't get why they are not showcasing their best and latest stuff. The only exception to this seems to be jackets - which you can look at in Slush & Rubble or Field and Trek in Birmingham anyway. I wanted to look at a good few tents in "Tent City". I thought ME, Terra Nova, Macpac etc... might like to have their new models up so everyone can see them - ME especially as they are just entering the tent market now - but all there was were are few Vaude + the contents of Milletts. Oh, and some tents for if you want to go shooting things in Africa. Tent Shitty.

Had a good time though. Will just have to pester the staff in S&R to get the old carpet pegs out.

In reply to Andrew Dolman:

Seemed ok to me too - some good bargains. Are people unhappy that there wern't climbing stalls handing out free gear or something? The walking trade is MUCH more significant to retailers than climbing so no surprises re the stands. Had a chat with CB an his book had an extra 60 pages in it repeated - now thats a bargain

In reply to steve @ work:


For many people a trekking pole is a good high tech version of a walking stick and invaluable for leg and back problems.

Would you have thought it odd if she was on crutches?

In reply to timjones:


one woman was on Sunday!
The Poles I can understand, it the full gear turnout that makes me smile, especially since we're inside and its not far to the car park. Poles to help you walk ...yes, full winter kit (black)...?????

In reply to Yorkspud:

No just wish there were more climbing brands! It is the national climbing show yet didnt see one portaledge, one haulbag, what about the tent that spent 24hours on everest summit or the hanging tent al powell used on his last new route? what about those funky one off ice axes DMM did for tim emmett to compete with i wouldnt have minded a go on them on the ice wall. did anyone spot a video shop where i could buy/watch all the newest climbing vids?

In general the show seems more like a walkers shop than an outdoor "show"! not very flashy or interesting and in comparison to other industries (or even climbing shows in the states) it was poor!

In reply to Paul Leader:

I saw man, woman and child with poles but man was trying to sell woman and child poles and was teching them the science behind how to use them properly!!!!

C*

In reply to timjones:

people on crutches rarely carry full mountain packs!

In reply to epik:

Epik,

You have been in the trade and know this already, but I might as well clarify why there are not many climbing manufacturers/retailers selling climbing gear at the show.

The costs involved in exhibiting are extortionate. The space for the DMM stand cost over £12k and without support from Mammut/V12 we could not afford to attend. We clawed back some monies by selling discontinued items via V12, but the profits from that don't get near the outlay. We attend because it the best opportunity to meet the public and let them see the full range of kit.

The same situation is obviously true for other hardware brands. The only reason HB are able to attend is that they are willing to sell direct and don't share/split the turnover with a retailer.

Retailers do not sell climbing kit at the show because they need to recoup the cost of their stands and climbing kit does not make them anywhere near as much money as clothing.

I would love to see a climbing area dedicated to the more technical/esoteric aspects of the sport. I would love to have more space to explain how we develop/make our kit. There are lots of thing we could do to make this a really interesting show for climbers. Unfortunately I can't afford it.

If you feel strongly about the matter then contact Brand Events, who run the OS show.

http://www.brandevents.co.uk

email: outdoors@brandevents.co.uk

Regards

Simon Marsh

DMM International

In reply to simon marsh: I'm not volunteering, but I organise (smaller) conferences, exhibitions and events...

Would it be possible to organise an outdoor and marquee type of event for climbers, independant retailers and the industry?

Obviously, the NEC are going to charge the earth, along with the conference organisers, but what if a race course or similar was hired?

I'm not suggesting that the OS be boycotted or anything, but maybe set up something in addition with what climbers really want to see, where exhibitors are not having to be supported because of huge exhibition charges...

I am fully aware of the work involved - this idea just came off the top of my head!

In reply to simon marsh:

Flipping heck £12k!!!!

I think maries alternative idea is better with a cost less than £14 to get and £6 parking would be nice too!

C*

In reply to Bingly Bong:

We are already thinking along these lines, which is why we came up with the idea of the Trad Fest that will be held in the Llanberis Pass in June.

We will be advertising this properly very soon, but essentially it is a big get together in the Pass; socialise, climb + party.

It is planned for June 4th/5th.

Regards

Simon Marsh

DMM International

In reply to simon marsh: Cool

If you need any 'support', email me

Thank goodness I had a complimentary ticket! I had a great day at he show on saturday and the bouldering was fantastic to watch. I see the show as more of a way of getting people to get into the outdoors rather than a place for enthusiasts to go and get cheap gear. But it would have been nice to see complete ranges of gear from brands.

At least the show seems to be growing from year to year so we can only hope for the future! Shame that the 'Climb 05' part of the show seemed to have been pushed to the back and slotted in amongst the rest of the show!

In reply to simon marsh:

Now your talking, already put it in my diary!

As you say i am aware of the costs involved in these type of shows and no way slaggin off DMM as your stand was probably one of the more interesting one there just seems a shame that a)more brands don't attend, and b)it doesn't seem to have a very climbing atmosphere. I am sure i have seen you at OR in the states at some point and the show (although trade only) seems to have a better set up and feel. the climbing section is much more clearly defined.

Even though it was trade only i seem to remember there being an unofficial speed ice climbing comp going on aswell as conrad ankers "how to put a portaledge up" on the practice climbing wall which was very funny to watch. That is all i am saying if as a show we could have more very public shows and activities. would also help if the climbing was easier to see like climb'99 when you could virtually see the climbing wall from all the shops so could watch and shop at the same time.

Still i will email brand events and i look forward to your do in the pass!

p.s. i personally think the organisers should also scrap their stupid rule regarding the amount of discount shops can give! if shops want to give stuff away at stupid prices let them!

In reply to epik:

I went on Sunday. I thought the bouldering was great, but bar that not much else around and I'd have left pretty early without that.

Got a pair of moon pants cheap but failed to win anything in the raffle and spent too much money on beer.

I spent the rest of the time takin the p@ss out of ramblers in red socks, rucksacks and walking boots. I bet some of them had survival bags just in case they got lost on the way back to the car park.

PS what has Ben Moon done to his hair?

In reply to simon marsh:

good idea re trad fest in June - would do my best to attend and climb !

In reply to epik:

did anyone manage to see ben moon's new hair style?

In reply to 2Pumped:
>> PS what has Ben Moon done to his hair?

Hah we won the 5.10 shoes in the raffle so we had a great time.I was pretty surprised the raffle only raised £1000 as there were some pretty good prizes for a quid.
I was also pretty surprised at Ben Moon's hair - as was my wife who wanted to know who the pyscho on the clothes stall was.
He isn't as scary as he now looks though

In reply to biscuit:

Ben's new hair? details please (photos even better)!

In reply to epik:

http://www.mohicanpress.com/magua.html

without the top part of the hairstyle