The BMC Leading Ladder is a fun lead climbing competition running at 28 UK walls from 2 November 2013 to 23 February 2014. Each participating wall will set ten BMC Leading Ladder routes ranging from F5+ to 8a.  You will have two weeks in which to climb these routes. At the end of the series there will be a Grand Final on 22 March 2014.  To be considered for the final you must compete in at least two rounds.

Taking Part
There will be four age/gender categories:  Female / Male under 16 and Female / Male 16+

In 2009, when we embarked on our mission to reduce our environmental impact, the first thing we did was take stock and try to measure what our impact actually was. We used 2008 as our 'base year' from which we will measure our progress. Putting together the data for the report was a mammoth task involving digging up old invoices, researching methodologies, choosing conversion factors and trying to remember what the heck we'd done the previous year. That first report highlighted the key areas of impact and we developed our Sustainability Policy and Goals.

The GB junior bouldering team has ended the season on an all-time high, with team captain Nathan Phillips winning gold at the European Youth Cup (EYC) in Laval, France on Saturday 12 October.

In July, the 19-year-old from Holmfirth, now ranked second in the world, became the first-ever junior Brit to get a podium place in a European youth bouldering event, coming third place in L’Argentiere.

The Castle has always been committed to development and research especially when it comes to climbing and facilities. In the name of research in the past years we have travelled to France to participate and network in  international events, toured all over the UK visiting the latest walls, and climbed around the country to get a feel for grading and styles. These trips have always been productive: we learnt a lot from others and took steps to implement changes as a result.