The British Lead, Speed and Paraclimbing Championships took place at EICA: Ratho, Edinburgh last weekend. A busy schedule meant plenty of action and the Paraclimbing competition in particular attracted record participation, showing the growth of the sport ahead of its Paralympic debut in LA 2028.

Important progress was also made in the route setting line-up, as this competition was set by the first-ever gender-balanced team - comprising three women and three men - in a British championships, consisting of Zoe Wood, Lucy Ross, Anna Beam, Alex Fry, Ben Norman and Max Ayrton. In another British Championship first, former GB paraclimber Matthew Phillips joined the route setting team for the Paraclimbing event alongside Gav Symonds, Mikey Cleverdon and Alex Guster. 

A novelty challenge added extra interest to the Senior Lead competition, with a split route shared by both men and women (another first in the UK?) forcing competitors to make a choice...

Senior Lead

In the female senior competition, Paris 2024 Olympian Molly Thompson-Smith demonstrated her form with a perfect competition, achieving four Tops across the three rounds. Newly-crowned British Bouldering Champion Zoë Peetermans matched Molly's performance with three Tops after the semi-final round. The women asked for a harder route for the final, a challenge which was duly accepted by the route setting team, who had something different in mind for both categories. 

The final route was the same for men and women up until a fork at the roof section high on the wall, where the women were sent left and and the men to the right. In an extra twist, the second quarter of the route featured a choice of two lines: a powerful blue section to the left on bigger holds, or a crimpy red section on the right with smaller holds but more secure movements. Both sections had the same number of holds and were estimated to be of a similar difficulty, according to the route setters, and the point was for climbers to choose the style that they thought suited them best. Would they go for the red pill or the blue pill, as the lead character is asked in The Matrix? Most competitors chose the blue option, although the eventual winners - and four podiumists - picked the red route. 

Third-place finisher Fae MacDougall opted for the blue line and fell jumping to the large, slopey hold marking the end of the split section, after which point the athletes continued on the same line before the category split in the roof. Zoë Peetermans also chose the blue line and completed the section, continuing into the start of the women's roof section before falling in a powerful cross-through move to set a new highpoint. The last climber out was Molly Thompson-Smith, who followed the red line and calmly heel-hooked her way to the end-point hold to avoid a powerful two-hands dyno before continuing into the women's roof section. She completed a physical cross-through from a pocket to take the win and kept going until she clipped the top quickdraw, looking composed despite the route setters' attempt to challenge her. 

Fellow finalists Thea Cameron (blue line), Ember Mulhearn (red line) and Hannah Kerr (blue line) were close to making the podium, falling on or around the end of the split section. Thea matched Fae MacDougall's score, but Fae placed 3rd on countback to the semi-final.

In the men's event, Jack MacDougall and new British Bouldering Champion Sam Butterworth were in close contention for the win across the three rounds. Both men achieved Tops on the first qualifier route, while Sam edged ahead by just a '+' on route two. In the semi-final, both were tied on the same score, with Sean Henchion behind in third. In the final, Sean chose the blue line and reached the start of the men's split to the right in the roof, falling on 39. Sam Butterworth opted for the red section and reached a few holds further to score 43. Jack MacDougall was the last climber out and smoothly climbed through the red section before working his way through the slopey men's roof section, falling just short of the Top at 44+ to take the title.

Finley Kerswell, Tom Healy and Konstantin Lopukhin achieved similar scores to the 4th-6th-placed women's finalists, reaching near the end of the blue split section.

British Lead Climbing Championships results

Female Senior

1. Molly Thompson-Smith

2. Zoë Peetermans

3. Fae MacDougall

Male Senior

1. Jack MacDougall

2. Sam Butterworth

3. Sean Henchion

British Speed Climbing Championships

Female Senior

1. Louise Flockhart

2. Pippa Watkin

3  Star Ehiogu

Male Senior

1. Andrew Goodall

2. Matthew Fall

3. Sam Rigby

Female Junior

1. Lottie Wardrop

2. Alice Newby

Male Junior

1. Charlie Wardrop

2. Kenzie Allan

3. Rhys Taylor

4. Edward Newby

British Paraclimbing Championships

Male AL1

1. Nick Beighton

2. Will Ruane  

3. Ciaran Lofts

Female AL2

1. Joanna Newton

2. Esme Harte

3. Laura Armstrong

Male AL2

1. Stuart Sneddon

2. Matthew Armitage 

3. Jonathan Shields

Female AU2

1. Bella Walsh

2. Kirsty Mason

Male AU2

1. Sebastian Musson

2. James Rudge

3. Zac Pomphrey

Male AU3

1. Felix Beranger

Female B2

1. Emily Wright

Male B2

1. Wilson Wu

Female RP1

1. Lucy Keyworth

Male RP1

1. Luke Jamieson

2. Peter McCarthy

3. Laurence Morgan

Female RP2

1. Charly Andrew

Male RP2

1. Jonny Young

2. Steven Harper

Female RP3

1. Mary-Jane Zwinkels

Male RP3

1. Luke Smith

Full results here.