La Sportiva Winter Bouldering League and Petzl Lead Climbing Championships

As the nights grow darker and the weather declines, the La Sportiva Winter Bouldering League and Petzl Lead Climbing Championships are here to keep your psyche levels high and your climbing technique tip-top!

The La Sportiva Winter Bouldering League has a social focus. This is a competition aimed to bring climbers of all ages and abilities together, to climb the great problems, improve their skill levels over the season and most of all, have fun!

The Petzl Lead Climbing Championship represents a new age in indoor lead climbing competitions, which unlike boulder comps are few and far between. Furthermore, each round has a £1500 fund of prizes. The dates are:

For more information on the individual rounds of both the La Sportiva Winter Bouldering League, including dates, times and route-setting information, please see each climbing centre's website:

Manchester Climbing Centre

Harrogate Climbing Centre

Reading Climbing Centre

The Osprey Mutant 28/38 - any route, any season...

The Mutant is an award-winning pack designed for year-round ascents. Super light, flexible, strippable and seasonally versatile you can rely on this perennial climbing partner. The pack is perfectly designed for cold and snowy ascents, coming equipped with a snow-shedding back-panel as well as side ski carry loops and dual ToolLock system allowing quick and secure ice axe attachment.

Don't mistake this for purely a winter climbing pack however. In the summer you might be feeling the heat but you will definitely reap the benefits from the EVA die-cut ventilated shoulder harness. As well as the Mutant's ability to strip 380g from the total pack weight by removing any features you don't need. There is also a convenient internal hydration sleeve, compatible with Osprey's Hydraulics reservoir.

Access to the pack is key and Osprey have got this nailed. The main entry to the Mutant 38 is through a floating and removable top lid, which means you can overload your pack like a packhorse or remove the lid totally for greater head clearance and lighter weight. Whilst lesser climbing packs have minimal weather protection and compression when in this mode, the Mutant 38's performance doesn't suffer.