New kids on the rock make rapid ascent

The UCS Climbing Society made light of their novice status by putting in excellent individual performances at the recent Stronghold Schools competition in Tottenham Hale.

Although UCS pupils have had climbing as a Games option for years now, the school’s climbing team was only established this September at the behest of several students. UCS promptly sent a team of eight climbers to Tottenham on 12th October and each pupil climbed remarkably well, with a number placing in the top ten of the men’s category.

The overall high standard was capped off by two stellar efforts from Sixth Formers Toby Fung and Sophie Andreae, who finished first and second respectively in their categories. In addition, Ben Kay and Tyler Ward ended up joint fourth and narrowly missed out on podium appearances. The Stronghold competition involved seven different schools, fielding eight climbers apiece.

The UCS Climbing Society meets for pupils from Years 11–13 (Upper Remove to Sixth) on Tuesdays lunchtimes, while members also hit the bouldering wall for training as their Wednesday afternoon Games option. The club is skippered by Sixth Former Toby Nathan and supervised by Mr Franks, who described their progress as “nothing short of exceptional”.

The team will hope to scale similar heights at their next event in March, as Toby Nathan said: “Myself and the rest of the climbing team are ecstatic with our recent performance. All the training and hard work really paid off and we can’t wait to put in another stellar showing at the next competition.”