Climb Newcastle News: ASBO 16: Day 1 As It Happened
Goodnight from us
After a cracking day one of ASBO 16 we can't wait to see what ASBO Saturday brings! Back tomorrow at 9...
Smoke Screen
Here's another vid, this time from testing this-morning, after Chris and Andy tweaked this problem to be a lot harder than originally planned. It's fair to say this will be of no help to the competitors tomorrow because, after 10 hours and 120 competitors, the chalk on the holds suggests no one has done this the same way. Typical Chris beta.
What Can We Expect on ASBO Day 2?
We just don't know - this is our first time running ASBO over 2 days. With a Saturday final we may well get people travelling from afar for the day. This young gentleman for one...
@OrrinColeyClimb @climbnewcastle Go north and crush young man:-)
— betamonkeys (@edpsych42) May 6, 2016
Epic Battle with Black #6
Big Thanks
Huge thanks to our sponsors for supporting the ASBO this year. Day 1 has been a huge success - more to come!

Cooling Off
It's just cooling down in CN now and the number of competitors out there is tailing off. We've had around 120 competitors through on the first day of this new 2 day format which we're very pleased with.
Have a scorecard, Mr Callender
Full House?
All of the qualifying problems have now been climbed, not in one go though! In fact no one has ever flashed all of the problems in an ASBO qualifier (or Winter Bouldering Series round for that matter). 297/300 by Adam Watson and Nathan Phillips at ASBO 15 is the closest anyone's been.
That was the year of this totally nails final problem...
3:52pm 6th May 2016
Some Try-hard brushing too!

Keep Trying People! ;-)
@climbnewcastle Some try-hard faces at the #ASBO16 pic.twitter.com/2NLUvUttnV
— Drew Withey (@drewwithey) May 6, 2016
How Hard?
There are plenty of easy problems to try. We did a quick count up by our normal colours this-morning:
- 6 ~ yellow/green (3-5)
- 10 ~blue/purple (5-6b+)
- 8 ~brown/pink (6c-6c+)
- 4 ~ white/orange(7a-7a+)
- 2 ~ grey (7b-7b+)
The finals range from around 7a-8a at the moment...
Scarpa Stand
@ScarpaUK are sponsoring #ASBO16 and have a stand with all sorts of giveaways and things to fondle :-0 pic.twitter.com/LFJTSZA9LK
— Climb Newcastle (@climbnewcastle) May 6, 2016
Wilson Limbering Up...
Lights, Cameras...
Here we go, the eighth Annual Spring Boulder Open. Who will join/rise up the Climb Newcastle Honours Board?!
11:59am 6th May 2016
#ASBO16
We're hashtagging with #ASBO16 throughout the competition on twitter to keep in touch with the goings on!
11:21am 6th May 2016
Core Climbing
This year's hold sponsor is Core Climbing. We've very much enjoyed playing with some outrageous new shapes!
A little taster of the holds for #ASBO16 - thanks @CoreClimbing! pic.twitter.com/ERnR9PBeEh
— Climb Newcastle (@climbnewcastle) May 5, 2016
Timetable
Just a reminder of the timetable for today and tomorrow:
- Friday 12:00-22:00: Qualification problems (turn up any time and grab a scorecard).
- Saturday 09:00-13:00: Qualification problems (turn up any time and grab a scorecard).
- Saturday 15:00: Women's Final
- Saturday 17:00: Men's Final
- Saturday 19:00: Prizes (and giveaways!)
11:14am 6th May 2016
Lots of volumes are in play for the #ASBO16 qualification/'fun' round. Problems are 3-7c-ish pic.twitter.com/tyMGwFMajU
— Climb Newcastle (@climbnewcastle) May 6, 2016
"Definitely the best ASBO picture of all time"
We can't disagree Kate - Can never get enough of the crowd expressions! :-0
Set and Tested
Our setting team have done their thing... 30 problems to try over a big range from easy to nasty hard.

09:30am 6th May 2016
Good Morning!
Good morning! It's day one of the first ever two-day Annual Spring Boulder Open. If you have absolutely no idea what the ASBO is all about, or you're interested in taking part, head on over to our ASBO 16 Preview page here.

08:10am 6th May 2016