"Many schools and climbing walls have clubs that climb once or twice a week and this competition is for them," said Chris Gatland, 48, the president of Auckland Sport Climbing Club.
Climbing runs in the Gatland family. Chris, who is not a climber, has been involved in sport climbing for about five years, supporting his son and daughter who climb competitively.
His eldest son, Chase, represented New Zealand at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Scotland and has also competed in South Korea and Austria. His daughter Erica, who is keen to follow her brother's success, this year won the Oceania Championship for females under-18. Erica has also won several national bouldering trophies.
Chris said sport-climbing has unique appeal.
"Sport climbing athletes like winning like any other athletes, but they also like the competitions because it gives them an opportunity to really compare themselves to others, set goals, see the improvement and also socialise with other athletes who share a common interest."
Gatland wants to see the sport grow at the grassroots level. He is hoping many climbers, of all ages and abilities, from Auckland and Hamilton and everywhere in between will travel to all three events of the regional series.
The Extreme Edge in Panmure is expected to host the biggest of the three events as it is the main centre for climbing in Auckland and around 120 competitors will attend that event.
The Extreme Edge in Glen Eden has never held a competition before and is excited about being part of the new series.
Gatland hopes they can turn the series into a successful regular fixture.
"Once we have some momentum we would like to see Sport Climbing supported by the ASB College Sport."
He said that the regional events are critical to getting young people into the sport at a competitive level.
"Sport climbing is much like BMX biking, skate boarding and other extreme sports where many kids do it for fun or to make a YouTube video but we have talent in New Zealand that is amazing and capable of competing at an international level. Without these organised events our best climbers could only be seen outdoors in remote places or on YouTube."
Most will climb on a top-rope rather than lead climb as in a national competition. These factors combine to make this competition an easier grade, more accessible format and they expect lots of interested from younger climbers. It is a shift from the 2012 National Cup which was a two-day competition that has more challenging climbs and a higher level competition.
"This regional is designed to be accessible to a wide group of recreational climbers so will be an easier standard than a national competition but at the same time we expect to see some of our national and world ranked climbers come along and spice things up a bit."
The format is based on the national competition format, which is based on the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) competition format.
Each competitor has two qualifying "difficulty climbs". They are graded by how far up the route they can get before coming off the wall. The top eight competitors will progress to a final which will be a more difficult route. For the finals the climbers are held in an isolation area so that they cannot view the other competitors climbing before them and gain advantage. This is called the "onsite" format, which means climbing a difficult route with only the knowledge gained during a six minute viewing.
What advice do you offer to newcomers to sport-climbing?
Chris Gatland: At this level we want competitors to have fun and for the competition to be an overall enjoyable experience. For many it will be their first competition so my advice is have fun, enjoy the atmosphere, make new friends and do your best but don't expect to win your first competition. First time competitors should watch the older grades and look for inspiration in their skills and style.
The Edge Series
Event 1: August 17 - Extreme Edge Glen Eden, Auckland
Event 2: September 7 - Extreme Edge and Climbzone, Panmure Auckland
Event 3: October 20 - Extreme Edge, Hamilton
For more information visit: http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/search?q=The+Edge+Series
