Competition Info

(Minimum Age 35) Age Groups: 35-39 40-44 45-49 50+
(Open Division)
Age is as of the 1st January 2003.

SPORTS FEE: $35.00 p.p. includes individual access to the competition centres for the duration of the competition. See FAQ for details regarding equipment hire and purchase for this event.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Arrival. The doors will open for warm up and the handing out of registration/score sheets at 9am for all three rounds. (please note that this registration sheet includes a waiver for use of the PCYC facility; all competitors must sign this waiver to participate in the competition. You you will be required to register for each round upon arrival and get a score sheet.
Climbing will start at 10am sharp (see rules and regs for competition format, etc).

Competitors are welcome to use the PCYC facilities to warm up. The PCYC is open to the public during the day, however the climbing wall and competitor section will only be accessible to competitors and officials.

Loss and Theft. Competitors are advised to place all valuables in a safe place as the PCYC will not be held responsible for any loss or theft that may occur whilst on the premises.

Safety. All rings on fingers must be removed. In the event that you cannot remove it (without taking the finger off as well), strapping tape must be placed around the ring and finger to completely cover the ring. It is recommended that you remove any other jewelry that may interfere with the rope or be caught in the process of climbing (e.g dangling ear rings, watches, etc).

Any open sores or cuts must be covered with suitable covering to ensure that no blood spill will occur during the event.

Long Hair must be tied back so as not to interfere with the 'go slow' pulley, or any mechanism in the belay system.

Climbers should ensure that they follow adequate warm up procedures and are fit and ready to participate before attempting to climb.

Belayers will be on hand to assist with any belaying of competitors. Ropes are all floor anchored and use a go slow pulley system and 'Wild Country' rocker device as a belay set up. No alterations may be made to the belay mechanisms or set up established by the PCYC.

Climbers wishing to belay each other may do so but will be required to adhere to the methods used by the PCYC which are either the 3 step or 5 step belay method, the American 'rope friction' belay method WILL NOT be permitted.

The PCYC and competition organisers reserve the right to refuse any one to belay if they feel that they are not capable of meeting the standards required by the PCYC (this will not affect their opportunity to climb in the competition). Any climber not wishing to belay may choose to select one of the belayers on hand to belay for them. Please note that this is a competition and climbers will be belayed with enough slack to indicate that there is no assistance from the top rope in their progression up the climb.

Climbers will not be permitted to use their own ropes or belay devices, however they my use any other equipment they require to compete in, such as shoes, harness, chalk bag.
Climbers will be required to wear shoes of some description (horse riding boots ARE NOT acceptable). Climbing shoes of any description are highly recommended but not mandatory.

Climbers will not be allowed to climb with any superfluous gear (i.e. climbing racks) attached to their harness or person.

Chalk is allowed, loose chalk is discouraged, but there will be a vacuum on hand for particularly messy climbers that choose this option (you have to operate the vacuum yourself).

Climbers supplying their own harness should ensure that it is in good condition, (i.e. no obvious excessive wearing, cuts, loose stitching, fraying), that it has an approved tag on the harness (i.e. no seat belt harnesses or strap harness), it has buckles capable of being doubled back and it is less than 5 years old. The PCYC staff and competition organisers reserve the right to refuse the use of any harness that they believe does not meet the minimum safety standards (they will happily supply you with a hire harness free of charge to compete in). A limited number of harnesses are available (free of charge) for competitors who do not have a harness, but competitors should not rely on this availability (see FAQ) and are strongly recommended to purchase their own harness.

Full body harnesses are acceptable but not recommended.

Method of attachment to all climbs will be with a dual carabineer attachment, you will need to supply one carabineer for the competition.

Clothing Clothing should be a comfortable fit. Restrictive clothing is not recommended,(e.g. jeans) nor is excessively baggy clothing. Style and taste is all a matter of opinion.

First Aid There will be first aid on hand, we will ensure that Erindale Pharmacy has an adequate supply of band aids and strapping tape, the Turner PCYC will have these items available for purchase at the front counter.

Food Erindale PCYC is located adjacent a shopping centre which has an array of food available. There will also be a sausage sizzle available to competitors for the cost of a gold coin donation.

Competition Types There is one main format for the competition offered in a roped setting.
The pump fest format provides participants with an opportunity to attempt as many climbs as they like in a set period of time, attempting each climb as many times as they like during that period. Each climb can only be scored once upon completion, or failing completion of the climb, the highest points gained on that climb goes towards the final score. Full points are awarded for 'flashing' a climb (onsiting or getting a climb on the first attempt), reduced points are on offer for completion on second and consecutive attempts. (See rules and regulations for more explanation and examples).

The climbs at the Erindale PCYC will all be done using a top rope connection to the wall. The climbs will be different for each of the two scoring rounds (Rounds 1 and 2) For Round 2 we intend to use climbing holds from an International supplier not often seen in gyms here in Australia.

Gym closure. The Erindale PCYC Wall will be closed to competitors and any one potentially eligible to compete in the competition for the two days (Saturday and Sunday) prior to the event. No 'beta' will be given by route setters, nor will competitors be allowed to access the venue during route setting for viewing.
On the Tuesday between competition rounds, the Erindale wall will be closed to all competitors and public for route setting for Wednesday's event.

Access of the Walls outside of Competition Times. After Wednesday's competition at Erindale, the PCYC wall will be available for climbing, all Masters Games Competitors may access the Wall for a discounted price of $5 per person, per session, for the duration of the games.

Gradings The climbs at Erindale will be graded using the Australian Grading system. As all climbers know, gradings are subjective at best and when translated to an indoor environment can be even more contentious, however the gradings will be posted as a 'guide' for participants.

Route Setters Who they are would be giving too much away, but I can say that we are lucky enough to have some of the best climbers in Australia here in Canberra and amongst them some very competent route setters, there will be at least 5 - 7 route setters setting for the competition, with at least one female setting as well.

Postponement/Cancellation The Erindale venue is enclosed indoors. In the event of the need to cancel or postpone one of the rounds, organisers reserve the right to:
Move the Monday session at Erindale to Tuesday or cancel the event.
Move the Wednesday session to Thursday or cancel the event.
Move the Saturday event to Sunday.

OVERVIEW OF COMPETITION FORMAT? There will be two scoring rounds offered throughout the competition.
The Saturday mini fun comp is not a scoring round of the competition.
Totals from both scoring rounds will be added together at the end of the session on Wednesday. This will determine the overall placings for the competition. Placings will be awarded for each age category.
Progressive scores for competitors will be posted at each round.
In the event of a tie for placings competitors will be awarded placings as outlined by the Australian Masters Games protocols.

Arrival for warm up and registration is at 9am for each round, climbing will commence at 10am sharp.
Competitors may warm up on the competition walls but may not 'work' the problems until the competition starts.
Maximum points will be awarded for 'flashing' (completing first go) any climbs.
Reduced points will be awarded for second and consecutive completion of the same climb.
Each climb may only be scored once on the score sheet but maybe attempted as many times as you like in an effort to improve your score.
The score sheet will indicate the number of the climb, the 'estimated' difficulty of the climb in either a V grading or Australian Technical Onsite grading, the maximum score for the climb ('flashing score'), the score for finishing the climb on second or consecutive attempts (if the first attempt failed to result in a completion)and any notes regarding the route.
Competitors may climb at their leisure during the competition time frame, there is no isolation.
Competitors must notify a judge BEFORE commencing the start of a climb, that they are ready to be scored on that climb.
Judges will provide competitors with the score from that climb once they have returned to the ground. ALL scoring climbs must be signed off by a judge.
(see competition Rules and regulations for more information regarding format, scoring, appeals, technical incidents etc.)

Participants may choose to finish whenever they like, all score sheets must be handed in to a judge prior to leaving the venue.
All climbing will cease at 3pm. Those competitors still on the wall at 3pm will be allowed to complete their climb.