Last weekend saw the 2025 edition of the Climbing Works International Festival take place, with local, national, and international competitors testing their mettle on top tier boulders.

With all but one of the semi-final boulders seeing a top - and that one boulder seeing multiple climbers come just short - the setting team found just the right balance, with problems one and four in the men's and women's rounds respectively becoming the 'must top' boulders of the round, and all others providing a greater challenge through which the forty climbers could be separated.

The men's side of the draw saw a particularly strong showing from the international team, with Sohta Amagasa, and Mikael Mawem making the men's final, alongside a British contingent made up of Sam Butterworth, Dayan Akhtar, Jim Pope, and Max Milne, whose semi-finals top of M2 - the only one of the round - gave him a perfect score of four zones, four tops, in four attempts going into the final.

The women's final had international representation from Bibi Hamers - who qualified in second place behind Fae MacDougall - with Isabella Edgington, Climbing Words regulars Izzy and Connie Bridgens, and Eugenie Lee making the final six. As with the men's round, it was the second boulder of the semi-finals that was the hardest in the women's semi's, with the Bridgens sisters and Fae coming agonisingly close, but no-one quite able to find the right position to launch for the final hold.

The women's final appeared to start off slowly with the first four climbers making light work of the opening boulder. As can always be the case in competitions, however, the audience were being lulled into a false sense of security. Second place semi-finalist Bibi Hamers came out, and where the previous four had made the boulder look steady, she took almost the entirety of her four minutes to secure the zone. With twenty seconds left, she rushed to secure the top, couldn't find the right sequence, and fell with just a few seconds left on the clock. 

Last out was Fae MacDougall, first place qualifier for the final. Whilst it has been the dynamic jump to the zone that Bibi struggled with, it was the first move - a lache to a smeary balance on a volume - that saw Fae struggling. She managed the move on her second go, and came close to securing the zone, but thereafter was unable to find the balance point. She left the first boulder without any score on the board, the only climber in the round to do so.

Unfortunately, for Fae, it was this one boulder, ultimately, that came between her and the top spot. The only climber to not reach the zone on F1, she then put in an accomplished and assured performance, the only climber to climb all three of the remaining boulders, each of which she climbed on her first attempt!

Fae's efforts were enough the secure her third place, just behind Isabella Edgington, whose three tops and four zones saw her narrowly beaten by the consistency of Eugenie Lee.

Eugenie improved steadily throughout the round, finding Tops of the first three boulders in three, two, and one attempts respectively, before coming painfully close on her flash attempt on the gruelling final boulder - a powerful and gruelling expedition up the steepest part of the wall. She was - unsurprisingly! - unable to muster up the energy to finish the boulder off, but she'd done enough to take home the 2025 CWIF title.

In the men's final, all six finalists found the top on M1, but Mikael Mawem's top was arguably the most entertaining. With just over a minute left on the clock, Mikael pulled on for what was likely his final attempt on the boulder. He climbed smoothly and confidently, and the top looked guaranteed, yet upon reaching the final hold, he found himself unable to control the wild swing of the final move. 

Upon landing, however, Mikael laughed and gestured to the route-setters, suggesting that all might not be quite as it seemed. Upon replay, and in slow motion, it was clear: the hold had moved, ever so slightly, whilst Mikael was still controlling the swing - talk about power...

The setters upped the screwdriver to the 'superhuman' torque setting, went back up the ladder and tightened the final hold. Meanwhile, Mikael was being told exactly how much time he had left on the clock when the event occurred, to which he appeared to respond with the assertion that as long as he had one more attempt, that would be enough - and it was.

It was M2 where Max asserted his dominance.

Last out on a horrendous crack boulder that had seen all competitors stuck, both literally and figuratively, Max battled through to claim the flash. It was clear that he was going for a perfect round, and with two flashes across the first two boulders, it was certainly on the cards.

M3 went first go as well, meaning Max had nine out of ten fingers on the CWIF title going into the final boulder. He reached the final move, geared up, hesitated, and then fell. Second attempt it was, he capped the competition off with a quick backflip, before collecting the trophy.

As always, it was a comp with exciting boulders, brilliant individual performances, and a warm and informal atmosphere. Livestreams below, and get CWIF 2026 in your diary.

Semi-Final Livestream:

Final Livestream:

The CWIF couldn't happen without support from these great brands:

The Climbing Works is proudly raising funds for Climbers Against Cancer as well as The Alzheimer's Society. You can buy tickets to the Mega Charity Raffle until April 20th at 20:15, get your tickets here.