This winter saw our first independent league, named the Great Rock Over Winter League, or GROWL for short. With so many winter leagues out there, we aimed for something a bit different here at ROC, and set about organising full day events, suitable for any age and any ability level. And with half of the entrants being Beginners and Juniors, including climbers completely new to the sport (less than six weeks experience), we definitely achieved this!

We ran four events, one a month, over the winter. Each event was a stand-alone competition, with individual prizes for each category. As well as the prizes for each round, we had overall cumulative prizes for the whole league. Competitors were asked to complete at least three of the four rounds, with many of them coming to all four.

The prize fund was HUGE – Annual Passes, 12 climb passes, Rock Over Clothing, Big Wheel tickets, B&B vouchers, meal vouchers, boulder mats, chalk bags and buckets, thermal layers, climbing shoes, hand-made cakes, beer, and £1200 CASH! Contributed by DMM, Cotswold, Boreal, Evolv, Metolius, Helly Hansen, Frog and Bucket, Lammars, Great City Attractions, Love2Eat, Park Inn, Proper Maid, and Rock Over Climbing.

With all this to compete for the competition was fierce, but still accessible. With the NIBL occurring over the same time period (the final of which Rock Over Climbing will be hosting on the 24^th March), some of the more seasoned competitors opted to only compete in that, leaving the GROWL league open to climbers such as Craig Bailey, winner of the Adult Male, or Chi Huo Cheng, placing 3^rd in the Adult Male League.

Other climbers, like Jennifer Wood, decided to compete in both. And with a very respectable 2^nd place overall, she did very well indeed! Let’s hope her NIBL score isn’t too affected!

Being our first independent league, the GROWL was partially set in-house. And with great customer feedback we decided to set the final round completely in-house. This went down great, and with a consistent spread we knew we’d done well! Each round grew in numbers as well, as we got better and better at spreading information and promoting the league. By round 4 we had well over 100 competitors for the day! Overall, over 200 people completed at least one stage, with over 40 people completing all 4 rounds.

Alongside the GROWL we had a Dry Tooling series after each round, attracting the attention of winter superstar Andy Turner more than once! The Dry Tooling had its own set of prizes, including Boreal shoes, Passes and Beer. Each round saw around 10 competitors battle it out on a range of increasingly difficult climbs. One round even had a dyno! We ran inductions in dry tooling for anyone who was interested in having a go, which included GROWL competitors, such as Pippa Watkin, 3^rd place in the 5-10 Female league.

Overall, the GROWL was a huge success, both for many competitors, and for us here at Rock Over Climbing. Each round ran smoother than the last, and with increasing numbers each time that was no easy task. And, according to our customers, each round was an improvement on the last.

A huge thanks to all our customers, and to our sponsors for helping us make the GROWL what it was – fun for everyone!

Bring on GROWL 2012/2013!

Check out the most recent pictures from Round 4

The 3rd Annual ROCFest is on its way! With a huge prize fund, including cash prizes for 11-15s!

Saturday 26th May we will be hosting our 2nd Birthday, and 3rd Annual ROCFest. It is a full day event, with music, food, raffles, spot prizes, and, of course, fantastic climbing.

With loads of categories, the ROCFest is suitable for anyone, at any ability level! So come on down, have a climb, some food and drink, and then watch some of the UK's best climbers battle it out in a spectacular final.

Previous ROCFests proved to be a huge success, so make sure you don't miss out on the next one. Check out previous photos here.

More information to follow.

Thanks to:

Rob Lilley

James Godwin

Stu Owen