Routesetting Blog
31st October 2013
Blokfest- The Aftermath
On Sunday 20th October, Mile End hosted the opening round of Blokfest 2013/2014. What an epic day! With around 400 competitors and spectators descending on Mile End, both Blokfest and mile End saw its busiest day ever so far. With 2 days spent setting, testing, tweaking, taping and doing lots of other stuff, the team were happy with everything and pretty confident you guys were going to have a wicked time. Great blocs, banging tunes and a wicked vibe ensued, culminating in an amazing set of final blocs on the new secret garden bloc and slab. The atmosphere was electric and certainly inspiring to watch. A massive thanks to everyone who came down and supported, got involved and represented. Big shout to the Blokfest team for all the hard work. These comps aren't easy to run and theres a lot of behind the scenes and running about to make the whole thing happen. Check out the Blokfest website to keep up to date with everything including blogs, photos and upcoming events.
So, after everything was wrapped up late Sunday evening the setters were back in at 7.00am the next morning to reset the Bloc and Slab. An IRATA course taking place that week meant we could only set and test between 5 and 10pm after they had finished. This week the Playground and Red/Blue overhang has been re-set. We have lots of nice HRT volumes waiting in the wings so expect to see them appearing over the coming sets. Next week we will be resetting Trackside and the Wave with guest setter Liam Halsey.
Posted by Alex Lemel on 31st October 2013
10th October 2013
Operation Blokfest
With Blokfest fast approaching (just over one week away!) setting plans are in place and the team are psyched! First up, recent setting activity- Last week we set the Red/Blue Overhang and the Peggy Day. These sets, along with the Monkey House this week and the Karma Slab and Vert next week, will be set with less problems than usual so we've got plenty of space for the Blokfest tour. New volumes have also started appearing throughout the Centre and certainly add another dimension to setting and climbing. Theres more volumes in the pipeline so expect to see them appearing in about a month or so.
Setting plans for Blokfest are as follows. On Friday 18th, the Garden Slab and Bloc will be stripped and the team will set the Showcase Finals. Also on Friday, ALL the yellow blocs throughout the Centre will be stripped so as not to clash with the Blokfest problems as these will be set in fluro yellow. On Saturday 19th the team will be setting throughout the Centre, moving from area to area as a group, to cause as little disruption as possible. You may asked to leave an area, but it should only be for an hour at most. On Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday the Garden Slab and Bloc will be re-set. There is also an IRATA course out there for the week, so this means the area will not be open for ANY climbing until Thursday Evening.
Posted by Alex Lemel on 10th October 2013