Friends and Allies is beyond excited to present our first ever boulder competition, Tjoms in Arms, on Saturday the 18th September 2021.
Since the birth of FA we have always done things a little differently, so don’t expect your typical boulder comp. Yes there will be boulders, prizes, finals and a good time but we’ve added just the right amount of Masala to spice things up a bit.
We are all about our tjommies, teamwork and cultivating a community that encourages all. And we want our first ever boulder comp to represent that. We have put together a new format that encompasses that, a combined team comp, so that you and your maat can be Tjoms in Arms.
The idea is to represent the different space that we are and bring more fun to the indoor comp scene. The idea is that you and your partner encourage each other to climb your best. Working on problems together and figuring it out. It’s less about you and more about two! One of the
reasons for this format is that we love the way we climb when we’re sessioning with a friend, it almost always means better climbing from both of us.
This is a first (for us and the world) so we are quite excited to see how this works. Simply put, you enter the comp as a team. You can team up with someone of the same gender or a different gender and who you choose will determine what category you end up in, male male, female female or female male.
There are three qualifying sessions in the morning, to make it into the superfinals you’ll need to qualify in one of these. In the qualifying session you’ll have two hours to score as many points as you can. There are thirty boulder problems of increasing value and difficulty and we will combine you and your partners’ top ten problems to give you a team score. That combined score gives you an overall ranking which is how we choose the super finalists.
Obviously not everyone can qualify for the super finals or fit into the gym at one time, so we’re going to live stream the super finals on Saturday evening. The super final involves gals and guys climbing side by side on a selection of gnarly problems designed to separate the good from the great and put on a show. While the super final is happening, Spark Cafe will be streaming the action downstairs for the hungry and the thirsty.
Of course, there are some prizes up for grabs as an incentive for glory, we really want to see people throwing down hard and trying 110% on the day, with some extra fun categories for the less performance oriented climber who are here for the vibe and a lekker time. No matter how
strong you are, you can’t climb all day so we’ll have some fun and entertainment to keep you
busy when you’re not climbing your heart out.
Unfortunately but importantly for this year’s comp, we will be adhering to strict Covid -19
protocols to ensure we have a safe and lekker event. There will be a limited number of teams
for each qualification session and a limit on the number of people in the gym during the
qualifications and finals. We have opened up the downstairs area and the studio space to give more space to people but simply if you’re not climbing we would like you to chill in the coffee shop or the beer garden.
In addition to some cool climbing and unique problems, we have a raffle to support Dream
Higher, a beer garden with the makers of Shy beer, a cool themed menu from Spark Cafe with
plenty two for one specials and plenty of space and time for a chat with your old and new
friends. Hosting a comp involves lots of different people and groups, we’d be nowhere without the awesome sponsors and people involved.
Hosting a comp has been on our to do list since before we opened and, hot damn, we are psyched as can be. Grab a friend, grab your climbing shoes and pull through for a day of cool climbing and interacting with our cool community.
Tickets go on sale Monday 23rd August.
