CWIF 2012

By Shauna Coxsey

Top climbers gather to push their limits, showcasing camaraderie, creativity, and competition at the Climbing Works International Festival.

The Climbing Works International Festival, CWIF has a big reputation for a UK competition, world class route setters at one of the biggest bouldering walls in the UK attracts strong climbers from all over. On day one 330 competitors fought it out on the 30 qualifier boulder problems, problems that make you pull, push and fight hard. Only 20 women and 20 men were lucky enough to make it through to day 2 where the real fun began! Last year after the qualifiers I spent the evening icing my back so I guess this year went a little better as I didn’t feel like someone had beat me up! And I qualified in second place to Melanie Sandoz.

Read more on Shauna’s blog

Shauna Coxsey competing at Sheffield bouldering competition
Shauna Coxsey competing at Sheffield bouldering competition

Shauna Coxsey competing at SHAFF bouldering competition
Shauna Coxsey competing at SHAFF bouldering competition

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Saturday morning 7 AM. The world was silent, the nation slept soundly in their warm beds, all that is apart from a small group of climbers awaking ...
November 13, 2014
Troll Wall - A (very) short story

Troll Wall - A (very) short story

My hope by finally writing this up is there is a little catharsis for me once it’s finished. Never have I been more disappointed in my life than b...
March 17, 2011
Ignoring the bank holiday forecast

Ignoring the bank holiday forecast

If the forecast was to be believed we would have been better staying at home doing DIY, however it had been a busy week and we just needed some out...
May 07, 2008

The Red Gold

Red River Gorge is know for its richness in oil, single pumps dotted around sucking out the black gold. But there's other gold to be found in this ...
April 27, 2017

Hard graft & blunt picks

Up until now, Scottish winter climbing has always been an spectator sport for me. Something you watch in social media from the comfort of your home...
March 01, 2016

Lip Project

A few days later we were driving again in the dense Welsh rain. Are we going climbing, really? Yes, drytooling will sort you out in the grimmest da...
January 05, 2012

My Piano

This last couple of weekends Nesscliffe, the secluded Shropshire sandstone crag, has seen a whirlwind of action by Britain’s best trad climbers. Ja...
October 17, 2017

Easter Down Under

The view as I walk up flat rock is different to any I have seen before, an unbroken expanse of flat wasteland all the way to the horizon, broken on...
August 30, 2017

Exams are over

Finishing my final exams for medicine last month was a fantastic moment for me, marking the end of a challenging summer and the re-awakening of a s...
October 21, 2015

Happy days climbing in the Dolomites

I’d always wanted to try Via Ferrata as a form of protected technical scrambling on a grand scale, and the Dolomites is the homeland of this activi...
October 09, 2015

Eden

A little over three years ago I finished a film (or a trilogy of short films) about climbing in the Lake District. Although not my first climbing f...
September 29, 2015

Push the Button

Two weeks playing on rock, warmed by the Spanish sunshine, was the reset button I needed to start getting motivated again for the rock season. In t...
March 11, 2014

Driving and bouldering

A hell of a lot of driving and climbing. Up to Rieff on the North West Coast of Scotland, then back to near Fort William and a second ascent of a D...
May 21, 2014
Bouldering in the Tropics

Bouldering in the Tropics

The idea of bouldering on sun kissed beaches surrounded by a tropical paradise might be every climbers dream but give me a grit crag any day. My fi...
November 13, 2012

Uskedalen icefall climbing calling

Most people don’t know that I’m a secret Scandinavian*. I’ve never been particularly inspired by the arid scrub of hot countries, drawn instead to ...
October 26, 2016

Red Bull Drytooling Event at the White Cliffs

This month, the Red Bull White Cliffs event took place on the Isle of Wight. It involved scaling 90metre highoverhanging chalk cliffs using axes an...
October 22, 2015

Himalayan Adventures: Part 3

“Now we need to climb without backpacks!” I said, looking up. My feet were teetering by the tips of my crampons. The ice was bulletproof- alpinists...
December 19, 2018

Cragweek

It's the question that all of us dread: 'so have you been getting out much?' In fact, not all climbers dread this question, just the ones who feel ...
July 13, 2017

Craic and Cracks: part two

There are so many things to love about Canada. It is a progressive, forward-thinking country both socially and politically, it has true wilderness ...
June 12, 2017

Black Friday

I wake up to my alarm. It’s 4pm on Thursday afternoon and I’m in the middle of a string of nightshifts. I quite literally roll out of bed, put some...
December 06, 2017

A bloody long way North

A bloody long way North Driving from the South of Norway to the North of Norway is like driving from the south of Norway to Italy, it’s a bloody lo...
August 05, 2019

Ant and The Whale

Dom Bush has been making films for us over the last 4 or more years and what links many of these films is that they are not showy, if anything verg...
November 17, 2018

Electric Blue

At the end of a summer centered around competing in the European Youth Cups I had one weekend booked since January that I was really looking forwar...
September 24, 2012

Himalayan Adventures: Shan-Ri - Part 2

If you've not read part 1 yet, catch up here. Base camp at 4400m Two days resting at base camp (4400m) and: “Here we go!” Since we left a big pa...
December 13, 2018

Photo perfect

Sometimes it's okay to feel not okay, I think. Photos are an easy way to make life look always perfect. Since beginning this adventure I have had s...
August 17, 2018

Against The Ebbing Tide

As climbers dwelling on British sea cliffs, we are all well acquainted with the ebbs and flows of the tides. The comings and going of bodies of wat...
August 21, 2018

Jollies in the Dollies

The plan was simple, get the ice climbing mileage in time for smashing out the late season Ben Nevis ice routes. We couldn’t decide on where to go,...
February 24, 2017

Ridges through the Sky

There is something truly magical about being up high in the mountains, following the line joining the highest points with the ground dropping away ...
March 02, 2018

Mountaineering in Bolivia

The first time I set eyes on the snowy spine of the Andes was on a flight to Chile way back in 2003 and have wanted climb in them ever since. Fast-...
March 11, 2019

Scratch & Win

The parting line in my last blog was that my elbow injury seemed to be on the mend. Well, since then I acquired another elbow injury on the other a...
January 29, 2019

Serra da Estrela - Our Backyard

Star Mountain “Serra da Estrela”literally translatesto “Star Mountain”, and is the highest mountain of continental Portugal. This beautifulgranite ...
February 27, 2019

A Peruvian Adventure

'Hi Alpkit, My self and two of my friends have just returned from a successful trip from Peru where we managed to summit the mountain of Alpamayo. ...
July 27, 2017

Five thousand metres of vertical joy

At some point during each of my trips to the alps I have always found myself drawn to the Saastal valley. In contrast to the hussel and bussel of C...
August 22, 2018

Third Time Lucky: Soloing the Aiguille de Moine

Soloing Aiguille de Moine Earlier this year I decided to solo a peak called “Aiguille de Moine” which sits at 3412m within the Mont Blanc Massif.It...
December 18, 2018

The Rise of Erin

The poem When Erin First Rose is a beautiful homage to Ireland by the famed poet William Drennan. In Drennan's words, Ireland is the Emerald of Eur...
July 28, 2017

Visions of Climbing

Back at the Big Shakeout 2018 Scavenger had their pedal powered sewing machine, The BiSewcle’, rigged up and passing volunteers all added their eff...
December 19, 2019

Taking on the Three Peaks Challenge

3064m and 37km with over 10 hours sitting on a bus and a great big dose of sleep deprivation, it really is a big day out!
July 13, 2022

Ice climbing, head spanners, chamois and Cogne

Ice Fest 2019 Every year a friend of mine, Dave Pegler, organises Ice Fest - a non-guided trip that includes accommodation, excellent food, wine an...
February 25, 2019

10 Things To Replace A Chamonix Climbing Season: Anna Wells In Lockdown

Like so many other people around the world, the Covid-19 outbreak has had a huge impact on our lives. After a brilliant winter season in Chamonix, ...
April 09, 2020

Seven Climbs - Finding the Finest Climb on Each Continent by Charles Sherwood

This is an extract from the book 'Seven Climbs - Finding the Finest Climb on Each Continent' by Charles Sherwood. Available on Vertebrate Publishin...
July 14, 2020

Himalayan Adventures: Shan-Ri - Part 1

Himalayas 2018 In the last 10 years our Himalayan adventures have been based on mountains off the beaten path, normally virgin peaks or unexplored ...
December 06, 2018

The Climb

As I pulled onto my first rock climb in three months, I felt a surge of energy and happiness as my body rediscovered the joy and simplicity of movi...
October 08, 2020

Gipsy Anniversary

If you have to choose between climbing and writing, even if you like to share newly opened routes with the world. you always go climbing! .and so o...
July 12, 2018

5 days, 5 climbs by Daniela and Paulo Teixeira

In this Covid-no expedition year, we were eager to have some days not thinking about anything else than. to climb. It is restriction time here in P...
November 20, 2020

Winter ridge climbing in Glenshiel

As I eagerly assembled my kit the night before our adventure, I realised that I was packing very similar things to a day of "fast and light alpinis...
January 18, 2021

Winter climbs

If you believe that the most ephemeral things are precious, then winter snow in Serra da Estrela is one of the most valuable things on the planet! ...
December 14, 2020

The 'Unrepeatable' | Ice Climbing in the Serra da Estrela

Story written by our Alpkiteers Daniela Teixeira and Paulo Roxo Unlike last year, this year we do have winter in Serra da Estrela. The East Face of...
January 26, 2021

The Shining Mountain by Peter Boardman

What you are about to read is an exclusive extract from the book 'The Shining Mountain' by Peter Boardman. To see more books we love and books that...
February 09, 2021

Everest the Cruel Way - Joe Tasker

What you are about to read is an exclusive extract from the book 'Everest the Cruel Way' by Victor Saunders. To see more books we love and books th...
March 09, 2021

The First Ascent without Supplementary Oxygen

What you are about to read is an exclusive extract from the book "Kangchenjunga" by Doug Scott, which can be purchased here from the Vertebrate Pub...
May 24, 2021

Structured chaos - The unusual life of a climber by Victor Saunders

What you are about to read is an exclusive extract from the book 'Structured Chaos' by Victor Saunders. To see more books we love and books that ca...
February 02, 2021

Winter climbing in Portugal - Part 1

250m of ice climbing in Portugal. “Wait a minute! Did I read Portugal?!” It’s March, I’m sitting here still hopeful winter will return. Hope is nor...
May 18, 2021

Ghosts

With time, with all the climbs, the walks, we end up merging with the mountain itself, we became part of the various granite walls that rise before...
September 20, 2021

The Mountain Path by Paul Pritchard

You're reading an extract from 'The Mountain Path' by Paul Pritchard. Available to pre-order here. "Eggshell ice. That’s what climbers call the br...
September 20, 2021

Sheffield Schools Boulder

The Sheffield Schools bouldering competition is a fun, inclusive competition, offering the chance for a large number of school children to experien...
May 04, 2022

Ama Dablam | An Alpkit Long Read

Deciding to climb a peak in the Himalayas for the first time wasn’t quite a 2020 New Year’s resolution, but it was about as close as I normally com...
January 13, 2022

Scrambling to a New Summit

Alpkiteer and co-founder of Every Body Outdoors, Steph, recently summited Tryfan - her first scramble. Here's her story. Tryfan was not a challenge...
November 07, 2022

Return to Paradise Post Injury

This is a Daring Deed written by Alpkiteers Daniela Teixeira and Paulo Roxo. Whatever hits us hard in life, it always takes longer to solve than wh...
October 05, 2022

What Motivates Me To Climb | Part 1

Introducing one of our Alpkiteers, Kumbi Kariwo. She doesn't climb to be the best. She climbs to be her best. Here's how her journey started, what ...
January 04, 2023

Chasing Ice

Ramon's an Alpkiteer and old friend of Alpkit. He took the campervan on a trip this Christmas, and told us all about his trip. Christmas is a time ...
February 03, 2023

Rope Soloing The Old Man of Stoer

My favourite thing about climbing has always been the friendships, bonds and memories that form through extraordinary shared experiences. Climbing ...
October 12, 2023

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