With Indirock open for seven months now, we thought it was about time to run a fun bouldering competition for our community. We decided to plan something which would be open to all abilities and which wasn’t all about winning in the finals – there would be just as much fun in the taking part…

Our head routesetter, Jakub Stec, got to work planning an awesome process which would bring us five rounds over five months, with a big finale in March to celebrate our first birthday! 

Naturally, the whole Indirock staff team got involved in the first round, which took place from 3rd-9th October. For some of us, it was the first time we’d entered a bouldering competition! The word “competition” can spark excitement and a competitive nature in some people, whereas it makes others run a mile. Personally, I don’t like to compete in anything I’m not the best at (which means I don’t compete in much at all!) But I quickly discovered that with IndiBlock Stars, the fun really was in the taking part. 

From the moment I picked up a score card and started reading the first boulder problem, my whole mindset shifted. Because points are given away based on how many attempts you make on a bloc (another word for boulder problem, or the routes we climb), I didn’t want to make any silly mistakes so really took time to read and plan my route. 

Jakub and his team of routesetters Holly Duce, Tom Osbourne and Jack Thomas had planned out a great selection of 25 blocs for round one. They provided plenty of accessible climbs, so I was able to “flash” most of the first ten problems, getting them on first attempt, which felt great! Then it got trickier and I teamed up with some other climbers to work out the beta, or method to climb, bloc 11. In what other sport do competitors team up to help each other?? Only in climbing! 

We had a whopping 80 people take part in round one of IndiBlock Stars, and from those we selected two people to win a mini “Lucky Dip” prize for that round. In this way, everyone has a chance of winning something each round, whether or not they join in again. 

To get to the finals, competitors will need to enter at least three rounds. As well as prizes for the gold, silver and bronze winners for best climbers in our finals categories, we’ll also be giving away prizes for most improved climbers in each category. So again, IndiBlock Stars can be more about your own journey and enjoyment of climbing than about being the strongest climber of them all. 

Did you take part in round one of IndiBlock Stars? Did you notice which style of bouldering or particular technique you might need to work on for future? For me, overhangs always let me down and so I’m signing up to our next workshop, which will focus on overhangs! We also have regular intro courses for adults and more for kids of all ages. Check out our courses page to see what we have coming up. 

Join our overhang workshop, here.

Join our next Adult Intro course, here.

Round two of IndiBlock Stars runs 7-13th November 2022.