IBL Round 4 - St. Colman's, Midleton, Co. Cork, Sat 23rd Jan 2010

[Damien O Sullivan]

Round four of the 2009/2010 IBL will be held in St. Coleman's Community School in Midleton, Co. Cork on the 16th 23rdof January 2010. I am hoping to make this a really good event, both in terms of the climbing competition and the social side.

Firstly for the climbing. I have a team of four route setters helping me this year. They are, Diarmuid Duggan, Paul Murphy, Maggie Chojan and David O' Donoghue. We have our plans in place and we promise you an excellent days climbing. We intend setting 18 problems, each with a hard and easy variation. There will be problems easy enough for the newest of beginners right up to the most seasoned of strong (wo)men to enjoy.

For the social this year I have organised a really good venue. It is called Water Rock House, it is located just outside Midleton. We will hold the prize giving there and the nights social activities. There will be food available at Water Rock House, the owner is going to put on a special menu, with main course costing less than €10. There will also be a slide show at the location. So far our presenters are Paul Harrington, Diarmuid Duggan and Mick Walsh. Paul will show some slides from a recent trip to Kalymnos, Diarmuid will give a presentation on climbing in Vienna, and for the main show Mick will be showing pictures of his recent trip to Oman.

Since you will be making the journey down to Cork you might be interested in having a sporting day on the Sunday also, well here are a few ideas to whet your appetite: Mountain biking in Tracton Woods, Corrin Hill are both pretty close to Midleton, and both provide excellent biking. There also are the Ballyhoura Mountains cycling trails which are easily reached on the way back to Dublin, Limerick or Galway. There also are a number of popular surfing locations within easy reach of Midleton if that's what takes your fancy. The Comeragh Mountains, the Galtee Mountains, Ballykeefe Quarry are all on the way home from Cork if you want to indulge in some more traditional climbing pursuits.

In order to help with planning I would like to have an idea of how many people will be coming to the competition. If you intend coming to the competition could you please let me know. If you would like to eat at Water Rock House (I have been told by a few people that the food is excellent there) please let me know.

I really hope to make this a good weekend. I would like to attract a big crowd to the competition and see lots of people at the Water Rock House afterwards. I am asking you to let as many people as possible know about the IBL in Midleton. Please forward this e-mail on to any one you think might be interested.

Spread the word, and hopefully I'll see you on the 16th 23rd,
Damo

[Colm Shannon]

If you intend coming to the competition could you please let me know.

Me! 

[Eoriain]

Damien are you looking for everybody to post if they will be going?
 I'm sure I'll be there and food sounds good

[Damien O Sullivan]

If you intend to go to the comp could you send me an e-mail, damienosullivan@gmail.com. If you could also let me know if you would like food at the Water Rock House it would be great. Please put IBL Midleton as the subject. Thanks, Damo.

[Damien O Sullivan]

Now that Christmas is over it's time to get back to business. As you all know the IBL is on in less than two weeks, all the pieces are falling into place from an organisational point of view.
I do however need to know approximate numbers of people intending to compete. If numbers are large then I will set up some extra climbs in the hall down stairs. This will involve a lot of extra work, but it will make the competition much more enjoyable and safer.
I also need to let the Water Rock House know how many people will be eating there and attending for the slide show. I really hope that if you go to the comp that you will go to Water Rock House also, the food there is really good, the owner is going us an excellent deal too. There will be a slide show, and music to dance to if that's your thing.
I will need to know approximate numbers by next Monday, so please send me an e-mail to damienosullivan@gmail.com, putting IBL as the subject.
Thanks, Damo.

[Stephen McMullan]

Due to the road conditions and the long range forecast we're going to postpone the event by a week and run it on Sat 23rd Jan instead.

We're not going to chance tempting folk to drive long distances and also want to do justice to the effort the local climbers put into organising the event and have as many of ye there as possible.

So see you at IBL Round 4 - Sat 23rd Jan

Enjoy the snow & ice while its there!

Regards,

IBL Committee

[Stephen McMullan]

Nicole rang the hostel to let them know. They are going to move the bookings forward a week.

[Stephen McMullan]

Countdown to Midleton  

Here's the venue, St. Colman's school marked (along with the Midleton hostel - An Stør):

If you haven't already done so make sure to book your bed with An Stor hostel: http://www.anstor.com/

Again a polite reminder to make sure that ye treat the hostel as an extension to the climbing venue and leave the place in impeccable order on the Sunday morning. Frank and Maria have been extremely good to the IBL for more years than I care to remember. Don't let them/us down.

Thanks, Stephen

P.S. by the way we're not going to the venue mentioned above for afters. Damo has sorted an upstairs room in a pub on main street and we'll do the social there. I'm sure he'll post details shortly.

[Damien O Sullivan]

The roads to Cork are clear, the comp will go ahead this Saturday.
The wall is being stripped at the moment, and the route setters are getting ready for a big day on Friday.
The competition will begin at the usual time of 10:00. I will do a walk through of the problems at 10:00 and again at 11:00 if needs be.
The Water Rock House was booked out for the 23rd, the post comp entertainment will now be at Mc Daids' Bar. Mc Daids' Bar is located at the end of Midletons' main street, at the end closest to the school. The buffet that I had organised will not be going ahead. For food there are a number of good restaurants in Midleton town. We will run the slideshow at Mc Daids' at about 8:30. Paul Harrington will show slides from Kalymnos, Diarmuid Duggan will show slides from Austria and Mick Walsh will show slides from his recent trip to Oman.
See you Saturday.
Damo.

[Damien O Sullivan]

One thing I forgot to mention in the previous post is that there are exams happening in the school on Saturday morning. Please use the doors at the back of the sports hall to get in.
Damo

[Stephen McMullan]

I won't be at this round myself but know its in good hands.

Nicole will have registration open at 9.30am. Damo will do a walkaround for the climbers perhaps at 10.30am-10.45am and explain the problems/rules etc. There will be a number of folk wearing blue "Patagonia crew" T-shirts - you can ask them questions on how the comp or individual problems work etc.

Please CLIMB SAFE. Make sure the matting is in place before you climb, ask someone to spot. Don't start climbing if you're going to block your neighbour. Look before you leap off. Look out for each other - tell someone if they are in a dodgy situation. Take breaks and go downstairs and try and keep the numbers upstairs at reasonable levels. DON'T turn your back on a climber above you. All common sense stuff but important. See the Competitor Guidelines

PLEASE assist the crew cleaning up the venue after the comp. It takes about 10mins if everyone mucks in. The covers on the floor will need to be rolled and stowed away, chairs, tables put away. Offer to help on the desk.

Don't forget to THANK the crew for the effort they are putting in to organise the fun and games.

Above all enjoy the day!

S

[grainne]

Hi all,
Damo has kindly agreed that Concern can leave a fundraising bucket out for donations for the Haiti Earthquake appeal at the IBL this weekend if you happen to have a few euro to spare. Seán Marnane and Naomi Sturdy have volunteered to take charge of the fundraising and are threatening to charge people a euro every time they fall off so please fall off generously!
Have fun!
Gráinne 

[Richard]

Fair play to all who organised the IBL last Saturday. It was a great event, even with the smallish crowd (it was nice not to be queuing too much though), good problems and a nice spread of grades. The slideshows afterwards were great too, good craic and something to whet the appetite!