Rochdale to host first national disability climbing competition

Arco climbing wall at Climb UK, Rochdale

The first national disability climbing competition is to take place in Rochdale on Sunday 25 April.

Taking place at the Climb UK indoor climbing centre in Rochdale town centre, the event provides disabled people with an opportunity to have a go at climbing in a competitive environment.

It will be run in friendly surroundings with lots of experienced people on hand to assist. If successful it should become an annual event.

Three different categories of entry will accommodate people with different levels of mobility.

The competition will also be open to people with sensory impairments and people with learning disabilities.

Competitors will have to climb three roped climbs and three boulder problems and will be given a score on each one dependant on height gained. The climber with the best score in each category will win.

There will also be a rope climbing category which will be based on speed; the fastest climber to climb to the top of the rope will be the winner.

Special guests at the event will be two inspirational mountaineering figures from the world of disability sport – Norman Croucher and Jamie Andrew.

Norman Croucher OBE, despite having two below the knee artificial legs, successfully set out to climb one of the world's 14 mountains which exceed 8,000 metres, or as he put it "join the 5-mile high club", and has been carrying out high altitude mountain challenges for over 40 years.

Jamie Andrew is the Scottish mountaineer who had his hands and feet amputated following a horrific accident in the French Alps. Miraculously, despite this, Jamie has carried on with his mountaineering career and has made some amazing ascents all over the world, raising many thousands of pounds for charity along the way.

In partnership with the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) and Climb UK, the event is being co-hosted by Link4Life and builds on the work that Link4Life's disability officer, Graeme Hill, is doing to broaden the range of activities available for disabled people in the Borough.