The second season of the Ten4 Bouldering League wrapped up last Friday with the Crimps coming out on top but that’s just a minor detail, according to Freestyle Bouldering Gym’s Chris Eather.
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Winning is nice but Eather said the 10-week competition is more about growing, meeting people and improving one’s health.
“It’s not so much about winning, it’s about the 10-week block because it’s a positive thing to do on a weekly basis,” Eather said.
“From our standpoint, we’re trying to bring it [bouldering] to everyday people because the benefits of it are unreal, socially and physically.
“A 10-week block is enough to see and feel progression.”
On the physical side of things, boulderer Scott Chapman is a perfect example of reaping the rewards from the sport.
Chapman had a bad back but watching him traverse a wall now it’s hard to tell he ever had any problems.
“The mental and the physical side,” Chapman said when asked what he enjoys about bouldering.
“On the physical side of things, one of the benefits I have taken from it is the freeing up of my back.”
Season one of the Ten4 Bouldering League saw 33 boulderers turn out for the competition but in season two that number swelled to roughly 100.
Eather said the culture at the gym coupled with the social and welcoming nature of the competition draws people in .
“It it does itself. When the recipe’s right, it’s a good cake,” Eather said.
The way the competition is set out sees teams of three to six boulderers given an hour to tackle the wall.
There are different colour-coded routes on the wall, each worth a different amount of points.
Each boulderer can tackle as many routes as they like in the hour with the highest four going towards the team’s score. The new season will start when school returns.