Welcome to Behind The Wall, a weekly newsletter published every Saturday.
Each week, I highlight the favourite things I’ve watched, read and listened to from the world of indoor and competition climbing. I also keep track of what climbing competitions are coming up and where you can buy tickets. (If you are new here, you can read old editions on the Behind the Wall page.)
This week, we got a bunch of indoor bouldering videos featuring the boulders from the British Bouldering Finals, climbs set at The Font in Wandsworth for Toby Segar and Toby Roberts, a TAMY coordination battle, and Richardsons shared their experiences on the boulders at the opening competition at a new Rose Bloc gym in Montreal. Erin McNeice shared her reflections from the Seoul World Cup. Matt Groom is back commentating on 2 more disciplines for the Climbing Influencer Olympics. Finally, we learned more about what it takes to be an entrepreneur in the climbing space.
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Watch
- The Seoul Debrief | Erin McNeice. Erin breaks down her performances in Boulder and Lead at the Seoul World Cup.
- Matt Groom is BACK for 2 BONUS EVENTS Climbing Influencer Olympics | Anna Hazelnut. Matt Groom commentates 2 more disciplines, blind clip sticking & rope colling, at a test event for the Climbing Influencer 2028 Olympics, hosted by Anna Hazelnut.
- Hardest Blocs In Britain? | Catalyst Climbing. Louis is joined by Michaela Tracy, Hana Hunt and Billy Ridal to try the Men’s and Women’s final boulders at the British Bouldering Championship held in Last Sundance, Leeds.
- Coordination Team Battle | TAMY Climbing Channel. Narasaki Tomoa & Meichi take on Amagasa Sohta & Yamada Kodai in a battle of co-ordination problems on the TAMY YouTube channel. As usual, English subtitles are available.
- Richardsons Climbing shares a behind-the-scenes view of the opening competition at the new Rose Bloc climbing gym in Montreal, Canada. They share their experience in both the qualification round and the semi-finals and final rounds.
- Toby Segar & Toby Roberts take on climbs set by 2 Headsetters, even they struggled! | Bouldering Bobat. Jake Mason sets some boulders for Toby Segar and Olympic Gold medalist Toby Roberts to climb at The Font in Wandsworth, London.
- Can I turn Will Tennyson into a Real Climber? | Magnus Midtbø.Magnus introduces YouTuber and recreational bodybuilder Will Tennyson to climbing.
Listen
- How To Be an Entrepreneur with Andrew Potter | Climbing Business Journal Podcast. John Burgman talks to Andrew Potter, who opened a climbing gym in Kansas City after leaving the army, about open gyms, how difficult creating software is, and the importance of resilience.
2024 International Climbing Competition Tickets
The World Cup season has wrapped up, but we do have the Asian and Pan American continental championships, a 4-lane speed test event in Madrid, Spain, and a couple of Winter Bouldering Comps.
Here is a rundown of climbing competitions to watch out for the rest of the year.
- Oceania Boulder Championship in Perth (Australia) November 16 – 17.
- Pan American Championship in Santiago (Chile) November 18 – 24. Tickets are yet to be announced.
- Master of Fire (Le camp de base, Belgium) December 6 – 7. While passes are sold out, individual tickets are still available.
- Les Grips (Montbéliard , France) December 14 – 15. A new competition in Montbéliard, France, with some of the best international athletes competing, including Toby Roberts, Mejdi Schalck, Narasaki Tomoa, Brooke Raboutou, Natalia Grossman and Camilla Moroni. Tickets are available.
That’s a Wrap
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Behind the Wall. Let me know what you think at behindthewall@insideclimbing.com or DM @inside.climbing on Instagram.
See you next week!
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