Category Archives: News

Friday the 16th of March sees the grand final of Boulder Manchester, the city’s biggest bouldering competition. With some great prizes from our wonderful sponsors, there will be a lot of happy people at Manchester Climbing Centre by closing time, not just competitors, but raffle prize winners too!

This round will be set by TeamGB member and top routesetter Dave Barrans, so you can be sure that all the problems, from V0 to V8+, will be top notch, and for all the hardcore boys and girls out there, there’s a chance to see just what world-cup problems are like to climb!

There will be the chance to win £50 on the now infamous John Dunne cash prize problem. Another cunning problem set by Manchester Climbing Centre owner and top climber John Dunne, everyone managing to top out the problem will be entered into a draw to win the cash!

So head on over to the Manchester Climbing Centre on Friday thew 16th of March for your last chance to score some points in Boulder Manchester. Festivities begin at 6pm!

The competition is going well, with some great results handed in over the last rounds, well done to everyone!

There is one more round to decide what will be a closely-fought battle for the top slots in most of the categories! There are a host of great prizes to be won, so make a note in your diary for round five, to be held on Friday the 16th of March 2012!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Dave Barrans will be heading over to Manchester Climbing Centre this week to set round three of boulder Manchester!

Team GB member Dave Barrans will be creating thirty brand new competition problems for you ready for the next round of Boulder Manchester, the city’s biggest bouldering competition.

If that wasn’t enough, John Dunne will also be busy, setting another great cash problem.

So whatever your reason for coming along, to win, for fun, or to be in with a chance of winning some hard cash, then Boulder Manchester is the comp for you.!

Head on down to Manchester Climbing Centre this Friday, the 13th, for Boulder Manchester!

We’re dressing up & Selling John Dunne for Charity!

Ok folks, Boulder Manchester falls on the same night as a great charity event, Children in Need. To mark the event, round two of Boulder Manchester will have a few quirks!

To start off, if you fancy competing in fancy dress, then it will cost you £2, which goes straight to charity, a worth-while investment when you consider how cool it would be to compete against Darth Vader or a pantomime cow (we’re not sure how that would work, but my, it would be funny!).

Of course there will be plenty of opportunity to donate, so bring some change, but if you want to give to Children in Need, yet get something in return, we’ll be holding a blind auction for a John Dunne Masterclass. The top four bidders will receive a masterclass from MCC owner and legendary climber John Dunne.  We can’t promise he’ll dress as Pudsey Bear, but he will certainly help you improve your grade, whether you are new to the sport or looking to push your next grade.

In the event that the same amount is bid, priority will be given to people bidding at the centre, but you can bid by phone if you can’t make it to Boulder Manchester, just call 0161 230 7006. The date of the masterclass can be arranged to suit the winners, so don’t hesitate bid away!

Yes, that’s right folks, it nearly time for the next round of Boulder Manchester at Manchester Climbing Centre! The team will descend on the bouldering walls from Thursday to set another batch of cunning problems to test us all. Team GB member Dave Barrans will be back setting world-cup standard problems supported by the cunning guile of Andy Jack! John Dunne will be setting another cash prize boulder problem on the evening; the prize is a roll-over £100 this month, who will claim the prize, nobody knows!

The fun starts from 6pm on Friday the 18th of November, just pick up your free scorecard from the MCC reception when you arrive. To keep you entertained in the meantime, check out the video of Dave Barrans making light work of John Dunne’s October cash problem:

We announced back in August that John Dunne would be setting problems for Boulder Manchester. Well he surprised all by setting a cash prize bonus problem!

The cash prize boulder problem was set to emulate real outdoor gritstone climbing and proved a real challenge for everyone competing in round one; so much so that it repelled all suitors! John will be setting one of these problems in each round, and the prize fund will roll-over until someone does the problem on competition night! The prize fund for round two is now £100!

So head on down to check out the previous offering, it will remain up until the reset for round two, when there will be another chance to try a brand new test-piece set by John. More importantly, be sure to come along for round two to be in with a chance of leaving £100 better off!

Last Night Saw the Opening Night of Boulder Manchester!

The heart of the Manchester climbing and bouldering community helped to make the first night of Boulder Manchester a huge success yesterday, with huge supprt from both regular Manchester Climbing Centre climbers and those from farther afeild. A special welcome to a large number of new student climbers competing in Manchester for the first time this year. Such an ecclectic mix really makes for a great competition this winter, with a real sense that everyone is in with a great chance of winning!

The bonus problem set by Manchester Climbing Centre owner John Dunne went down a storm, with anyone completing it being eneterd into a draw to win £50. The problem dispatched all suitors however, so the £50 will roll over to next month, when there will be £100 up for grabs!

The results from round one will be up very soon, keep your eyes on the results page.

We look forward to seeing you for round two on the 18th of November!

It’s official, the Boulder Manchester competition dates have been announced!

The dates for the competition are:

Friday 14th October 2011

Friday 18th Novemeber 2011

Friday 13th January 2012

Friday 10th February 2012

Friday 16th March 2012

Dave Barrans will be setting round one along with guest setters including John Dunne himself, it’s going to be the coolest and most fun competition for miles!

No other bouldering competition offers John Dunne problems!

Boulder Manchester are proud to announce that legendary climber John Dunne will be providing guest-setting for a number of rounds of the Boulder Manchester bouldering competition series! With a string of impressive first ascents and significant repeats throughout one of the most impressive climbing careers to date, John, who is Managing Director of Manchester Climbing Centre, will be sure to add a unique flavour to the event, setting problems reflecting his varied climbing experience. He is just as keen to set really interesting problems to get novice climbers thinking as he is to provide test-piece routes to challenge the country’s top flight boulderers.

IFSC World Cup Athlete Setting for Boulder Manchester

It has been confirmed that Dave Barrans will be joining the team of problem-setters to bring you Boulder Manchester. Dave is no stranger to competition climbing, as a member of the British Bouldering Team he has some very impressive results to his name. He regularly sets at Harrogate Climbing Centre, as well as dedicated bouldering centres such as The Depot in Leeds. When not pulling on plastic, Dave climbs just as hard outdoors. We are excited to have Dave setting for this year’s Boulder Manchester, and we know you will love his problems. Stay tuned for more setting news!

Gecko (assis) 8b+ from dave barrans on Vimeo.