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The K2 Climbing Championships for 2008 were held at The Gap State High School on 20 July, and proved to be an absorbing and entertaining display of Queensland’s best and brightest climbers, who came to challenge themselves against an amazing array of routes.
The age-group categories progressed smoothly, with the finals climbs testing climbers to their limits. Youth C female came down to finals performance, with all three competitors topping out both heat climbs. In the end, Chelsea Clemmey prevailed to take top spot. By contrast, most of the other categories were well split, with heats and finals sorting everybody out.
We thought we’d survived without having to split any prizes, but the Open A Male category caught us out late in the day: Tom O’Halloran and Daniel Tirado tied for first place, forcing a super final. As we couldn’t use any of the existing climbs to challenge them further, Matt C and his team set a 10-metre boulder problem for the lads to lead, and they promptly scored exactly the same for the super final as well! A quick consultation with the rules yielded the decision that there should be no further attempts to split the guys, and they were declared joint winners of the Queensland title for 2008. Warwick Donaldson came third on a count-back, indicating just how close the competition in Open A Male was.
K2 was the main sponsor of the event for the second year running, donating prizes for open categories and the raffle, as well as ropes for the lead finals and T-shirts for all competitors and volunteers. A huge thanks to Winton, Brad and Luke from K2 for their support. Pinnacle Sports came through again for the age-group prizes, donating thousands of dollars’ worth of courses for various activities. Thanks to AJ and Paul for their ongoing support of competition climbing in Queensland. Paul from Explore Fitness also donated prizes for Junior and Masters categories, and we look forward to seeing the results of his personal training sessions on the prize winners.
A huge thank-you goes to the people at The Gap State High School, particularly Ebony Smith, for their support and assistance over the competition weekend. It’s an amazing venue, and we’re very lucky to be able to hold competitions there.
Thanks must go to the army of volunteers who donated their time and skills to assist with the setup and running of the competition. The route-setting team, led by Matt Cochrane, produced a stunning range of climbs, which challenged all competitors to the limit of their abilities. Cass Crane and Mindy Coles organised the volunteers for the day, including the judges, belayers, isolation marshalls, administration staff and BBQ chefs. Mindy also doubled as Head Judge, and somehow found time to compete and place fourth in the Open A Female category. Suzie O’Halloran and Lea Cunningham ran the registration desk with devastating efficiency, and Anna Crane worked tirelessly all day, collating and calculating the results for each category. Pete O’Halloran produced all of the marketing material, including posters, flyers and advertisements, and backed up to place third in Masters Male. Phil Box was the official photographer, and could be seen suspended from various points, snapping action shots of the climbers throughout the competition.
Finally, thanks to all the competitors and spectators who came along on the day. Your support and participation is what inspires us to run these competitions in the first place.
Full results are below:
Place |
Name |
Final |
Super final |
Heat 1 |
Heat 2 |
Youth D Male |
|||||
1 |
Al Earley |
17 |
|
20 |
20 |
2 |
Thomas Oram |
8 |
|
16.3 |
12.9 |
Youth D Female |
|||||
1 |
Brittany Cunninghame |
8.3 |
|
20 |
19.3 |
Youth C Male |
|||||
1 |
Albert Bell |
11.3 |
|
19.9 |
14 |
2 |
Oliver O'Sullivan |
9 |
|
14.9 |
14 |
Youth C Female |
|||||
1 |
Chelsea Clemmey |
19 |
|
20 |
20 |
2 |
Gabi Kassulke |
12.3 |
|
20 |
20 |
3 |
Lauren Walker |
10 |
|
20 |
20 |
Youth B Male |
|||||
1 |
Mark Healy |
17.3 |
|
19.3 |
15 |
2 |
Stephen Fowler |
14.3 |
|
19 |
16 |
3 |
Henry Williams |
10.9 |
|
20 |
17 |
4 |
Jeremy Briggs |
10.9 |
|
17 |
15 |
5 |
Mitchell Cunninghame |
10.3 |
|
19.3 |
16.9 |
6 |
Mitch Keft |
8.9 |
|
7.9 |
13.3 |
7 |
Noah Kraemer |
7.9 |
|
11.9 |
14 |
8 |
Jim O'Sullivan |
|
|
17 |
14.3 |
Youth B Female |
|||||
1 |
Lucy Stirling |
17.9 |
|
16.3 |
13 |
2 |
Maddie Hooper |
10 |
|
13.3 |
10.3 |
3 |
Alex Hose |
9.9 |
|
13.3 |
10.9 |
4 |
Perri Hogan |
9.3 |
|
13.3 |
10.9 |
5 |
Joanna Bradley |
8.3 |
|
13.3 |
13 |
Youth A Male |
|||||
1 |
James Campbell |
20 |
|
20 |
18 |
2 |
Robert O'Connell |
16.9 |
|
15.9 |
18 |
3 |
Alex Straw |
15.9 |
|
15.9 |
19.9 |
4 |
David Walker |
13 |
|
8 |
18 |
5 |
Michael Cruickshak |
11.9 |
|
15.9 |
18 |
6 |
Sean Maher |
12 |
|
10 |
12.3 |
Youth A Female |
|||||
1 |
Stephanine Larkin |
17.9 |
|
20 |
16.9 |
2 |
Edwina Peterson |
12 |
|
13.3 |
16.9 |
3 |
Ebony McGeady |
9.3 |
|
10.3 |
12.3 |
4 |
Katrina Middleton |
7.9 |
|
12.3 |
14.9 |
Junior Male |
|||||
1 |
Luke Sparrow |
20 |
|
15.9 |
17 |
2 |
Will Tanner |
13.9 |
|
17.3 |
18 |
Junior Female |
|||||
1 |
Ashleigh Cruickshank |
12.9 |
|
20 |
13.3 |
2 |
Annie Berquist |
12.3 |
|
15.9 |
13.9 |
Open C Male |
|||||
1 |
Ben Mann |
19 |
|
18.9 |
14.9 |
2 |
Thomas McKenna |
19 |
|
14.9 |
13.9 |
Open C Female |
|||||
1 |
Melinda Magnin |
17.3 |
|
20 |
19.3 |
2 |
Tanya Moodie |
17.3 |
|
18 |
20 |
3 |
Jane Cooper |
17.3 |
|
12.9 |
20 |
4 |
Jay McBain |
17 |
|
11.9 |
20 |
Open B Male |
|||||
1 |
Elie Maubarak |
20 |
|
20 |
20 |
2 |
Joe Driver |
18 |
|
20 |
20 |
3 |
Max Crocker |
12 |
|
15.3 |
20 |
Open B Female |
|||||
1 |
Michelle Chua |
17 |
|
13.9 |
20 |
2 |
Amy Petro |
14.3 |
|
13.3 |
9.3 |
Open A Male |
|||||
1 |
Daniel Tirado |
20 |
7 |
20 |
20 |
1 |
Tom O'Halloran |
20 |
7 |
20 |
20 |
3 |
Warwick Donaldson |
9.9 |
|
20 |
20 |
4 |
Sean Doyle |
9.9 |
|
17 |
19.3 |
5 |
James Campbell |
9.3 |
|
20 |
20 |
6 |
Alex Straw |
8.3 |
|
20 |
15.9 |
7 |
Carlos Pachon-Gomez |
|
|
16.9 |
18.9 |
8 |
Brad Babel |
|
|
17.9 |
15.9 |
Open A Female |
|||||
1 |
Cass Crane |
29 |
|
20 |
18 |
2 |
Emily Amies |
19 |
|
19.9 |
20 |
3 |
Stephanie Larkin |
15.9 |
|
19.9 |
20 |
4 |
Mindy Coles |
15.9 |
|
19.9 |
16.3 |
5 |
Isabelle Johnson |
15.9 |
|
19.9 |
16 |
Masters 35-39 Male |
|||||
1 |
Sean Doyle |
20 |
|
20 |
20 |
Masters 40+ Male |
|||||
1 |
Stuart Richardson |
19 |
|
20 |
20 |
2 |
Phil Box |
17.9 |
|
20 |
20 |
3 |
Peter O'Halloran |
17.3 |
|
20 |
20 |
Masters 40+ Female |
|||||
1 |
Janelle Briggs |
11 |
|
11.9 |
16.9 |