We are looking forward to this year now that the events of 2020 are well behind us and our operations are sure to remain uninterrupted for the foreseeable future. 2022 is looking to be an exciting year at Westway Climbing as we make some changes here and there, but also modernise some things and engage in new partnerships with exciting companies and events.
Content:
- Competitive Scene
- Speed Wall
- New Team Members
- Shoe Demos
- A Farewell to Manuel
- Social Climbing in London
Competitive Scene
At the end of February we continued our partnership with The BMC and GB Climbing by being host to the weekend long Lead Trials for the International Lead Team; the athletes chosen will represent GB in international competitions this year. It was a pleasure to have BMC Route Setters Yann Genoux, and Zoe Woods in the centre putting up the routes for the team to climb on. These routes range between 7B+ and 8C, with 6 routes being above 8A. Not many centres can boast having that many hard lines for elite athletes to train on.
Amongst the chosen team members for the year was Molly Thompson Smith, ex Westway Squad Climber who set the high point on all the routes, which makes us very proud!
Amongst the younger climbers, current Westway Squad Climber, Willow Petrobelli, was the best junior athlete behind Erin McNeice, resulting in a selection for the competitive team. Toby Roberts achieved the best overall performance in the junior category.
Speed Wall
The speed wall has gone up once again – we are using it for something special this time around. ITV and the Celebrities involved in THE GAMES have been using our facilities to train for a speed climbing event in the program. It’s been a pleasure to work with the team, and an awesome chance for us to flaunt our sport. The Games will have a live recording of the Men’s Speed Climbing Finals on Friday 13th May where some of our team can be seen doing their thing!
New Team Members
We’ve had quite a number of new members of staff join us in the past 4 months. We’d like to welcome to the following Departments:
Coaching Team:
Jonny Ainsley, and Paola Neal-Fagan.
Front of House:
Lukas Vilimas, and Peter Healy.
Shoe Demos
We were joined by Jason from First Ascent in an Ocun Shoe Demo at the end of March. We are looking forward to being host through the rest of the year to many more shoe demos with the other brands we have available to purchase in our shop. Shoe demos are a great opportunity to become familiar with new brands you’ve either not encountered before. They are an opportunity to try new shoes on the wall and to have a dialogue with a shoe manufacturer. Buying shoes can be daunting but frequent shoe demos will help everyone become more knowledgeable on the topic.
A Farewell to Manuel
Manuel will be leaving us at the end of May. Manuel has been working at Westway Climbing for almost 7 years, 3 of which was as Head Coach.
Social Climbing In London
Our Club Night has been seeing decent foot traffic and with the new WhatsApp group, QR code available at the climbing desk ,climbers are able to add themselves to the chat and build relationships with anyone who has been in the session. We hope these sessions provide a way for climbers to make new belay partners and to improve the overall community of the gym. Club Night is included with your membership, or costs the standard entry fee. We will be adding more social sessions for the new-year as well so keep an eye out for those.