CWIF
First things first, what is CWIF? For those who might not know, the RAB CWIF is the Climbing Works International Festival. It is a huge competition that takes place every year at the Works, over the course of a weekend. This year's competition is coming up soon on the 22nd and 23rd March. On the Saturday, there are two available qualification sessions, in which climbers have 3 hours to get round 30 problems. You don’t have to be a certain level of climber to enter, but the setting is tough! Problems start from around 5+/6a and only get harder. On Sunday afternoon, there is a semi-finals round, followed by finals. There are 8 set boulder problems for each of these rounds (4 female, 4 male), and the final is known to be quite the spectacle.
I chatted to Sam Whittaker, one of the owners of the Climbing Works, to find out a bit more about the history of the competition, and here’s what I found out. The first CWIF was spring 2007, only a few months after the wall had opened, at the end of 2006. Alongside Sam, Graeme Alderson and Percy Bishton founded the Climbing Works. I learnt that both Graeme and Percy had been involved in IFSC competitions, with Graeme being a judge, and Percy a routesetter. Percy was also the head setter at the Tokyo Olympics!
This meant that when they got together to open the Climbing Works, it felt only natural to them to draw on that experience and start their own competition. The network they’d built in the competition scene meant that there was support from the community, both locally and internationally, to get CWIF going. The support is still strong, with CWIF being sponsored by RAB, an all-British team setting this year's boulders, and a small international field of climbers from the IFSC circuit coming to compete.
Sam was keen to highlight that for him, the competition is all about community, and putting on a show in the finals is important as a way of giving back. The atmosphere at CWIF is certainly one of the most notable things about it, as everyone is wrapped up in excitement and try-hard. This is supported by the music, with Sam himself often at the decks (in his alter-ego as DJ Galup), as well as the Sponsor Hub, with fantastic sales available from big name brands, such as Scarpa and E9.
This year, the Works has gone even further to promote community atmosphere, with the recent opening of The Works Tap. The new addition to Unit E gives people a space to chill out, have a pint and a chat, and (as of 4pm today) grab a slice of pizza.
Now, if 6a feels like a bit of a high entry point, but you still want to have a go, don’t stress. After the two qualification sessions, there is a third session on the Saturday; the RAB Party Round. In teams of four, you try some of the qualification boulders, as well as some specially set ‘off-piste’ climbs. In previous years, this has featured rope swings, traffic cones as holds, climbing in a down suit, slabs in boxing gloves, and much more! To top it all off, teams are strongly encouraged to wear fancy dress! The party round is a lovely dose of laughter and mayhem. On the Sunday there's a finals watch-party taking place at the Winter Gardens in the city centre. If previous years are anything to go by, then the finals this year will be equally thrilling.
Some CWIF magical moments that are embedded into climbing memory include Rustam Gelmanov sticking a paddle dyno as the clock timed out, Toby Roberts doing some crazy physics-defying moves, the 2024 cartwheel climb, and Sean McColl in a weird and squirmy groove.
To book watch party tickets and for more information, head over to https://www.climbingworks.com/cwif
All videos are from the Climbing Works Youtube channel.
