Top placings at New Zealand Secondary Schools Climbing Championships

The students representing the school were Cullen Campbell (Batten House), Joshua Campbell (Batten), Lydia Anderson (Mansfield), Klaas Kamp (Kupe) and William Lockhart Kupe).

Two competitions took place. The first was speed climbing which involves participants scaling an outdoor, Olympic size wall as fast as possible. Three of the students Klaas Kamp, Cullen Campbell and Joshua Campbell made finals in their respective age groups. Cullen and Joshua qualified for finals in first and third positions, with sub-eight second climbs, which is quite extraordinary. Unfortunately, both had slips in the semi-finals, so ended up climbing off against each other for third and fourth place, with Cullen ultimately claiming third spot and Joshua fourth. Cullen’s time was actually faster than the ultimate winner, but finals are knock out rather than time-based. Klaas placed eighth in the junior boys. Lydia Anderson was thirteenth in the senior girls.

The second competition was combined top rope climbing and bouldering. All the Macleans College students performed extremely well in the face of very tough competition from around the country.

Klaas Kamp, competing in the Junior Boys’ division, had a fantastic first day of climbing, qualifying for finals in third place. In the finals competition the climbs and boulder problems were especially challenging. Klaas, who is only in his first year of climbing, conducted himself very well, finishing up in sixth place overall. Klaas is very calm under pressure and shows excellent potential for the future.

Cullen Campbell qualified in third place for the finals of the senior boys. For seniors in the finals, students participate in bouldering and lead climbing (which is when the climbers clip in as they go), rather than top rope climbing. Cullen climbed extremely well, excelling particularly in the bouldering challenges where he smashed some of the boulder problems in one attempt, when other competitors were unable to complete the problems. He finished in second place overall, which is a fantastic achievement both for himself and the school.

Overall, it has been an excellent year in climbing for Macleans College and the club looks forward to building on this success next year.