Rock climbers had more than enough problem solving to do on Wednesday.
About 40 climbers faced 25 problems at the Yukon Open bouldering championship hosted by Climb Yukon at F.H. Collins Secondary. Three problems went unclimbed at the end-of-season championship.
“It’s fun, I’m happy about it,” said Amaya Cherain-Hall. “I’m here more to have fun than to win.”
Cherain-Hall was the event’s only double winner. The 17-year-old member of the Yukon Youth Climbing Team won the open and the junior female categories.
She completed problem No. 20 and “I got really close on 22, but not quite,” said Cherain-Hall.
Cherian-Hall, who has been climbing for four years, delivered her team’s first gold medal at the Tour de Bloc junior bouldering competition in Vancouver three weeks ago.
Youth teammate Pelly Vincent-Braun almost pulled off a double win. The 14-year-old placed first in youth male and second in open male.
“I was pretty surprised,” said Vincent-Braun. “I had an injury in my shoulder in December and I’m just getting back to normal now. I came here to have fun and there were some sweet problems - it’s a good time.”
Vincent-Braun completed problem 22 to win the youth division a third year in a row. Tynan Leong-Best and Henry Beairsto gave him a run for his money. Organizers had to do a count-back to determine the winner after finding a three-way tie for first in the youth male division.
The Yukon Open marked Alexander Bevington’s very first competition, but one wouldn’t know from the results.
Bevington placed first in open male.
“It’s pretty sweet,” said Bevington. “I don’t get out to F.H. too often, but I always like to climb. It’s good after a long day at work, you can straighten out your back and get some muscles working, get your forearms moving.”
Bevington, who topped out with problem 22, has been climbing off and on for about seven years.
“I’ve been climbing pretty solid for the last few months,” said Bevington. “There are a whole bunch of hidden walls in Whitehorse. There’s the wall at Yukon College that was just reopened. Apparently there’s a wall at (Ecole) Emilie Tremblay, which is a full wall with harnesses and everything, but nobody knows about it ... I mostly climb at the college.”
In addition to Cherain-Hall’s gold at Tour de Bloc in Vancouver, youth team’s Fin Matrishon placed second and Cassie Wright third in their respective divisions. The team also produced three top-five finishes at the Rock Dump Climbing Competition in Juneau, Alaska, last November.
“Come on out and try climbing at F.H.,” advised Cherain-Hall. “It’s really fun.”
Top three results
Open female
1st Amaya Cherain-Hall
2nd Kassie Wright
3rd Jody Oveduin
Open male
1st Alexander Bevington
2nd Pelly Vincent-Braun
3rd Tynan Leong-Best
Youth female
1st Amaya Cherain-Hall
2nd Kassie Wright
3rd Clara Reid
Youth male
1st Pelly Vincent-Braun
2nd Tynan Leong-Best
3rd Henry Beairsto
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com