F-BO14

Tomorrow is the long awaited F-BO 14 competition, when the strongest boys and girls will compete to see who will be crowned King and Queen of the Wave. There was a time once when that crown really meant something - a time when the best climber in the Foundry could lay claim to being the best climber in the world. A time of Hard Plastic.

In those heady days, a big foundry comp would see angry young men with big purple heads go up against the best climbers in the world. Pedro Pons, prehensile and powerful; Chris Sharma, fresh faced and stoned; Arnaud Petit, weak and drop-kneed (the Alex Barrows of his day) - all would turn up to the Foundry and see if they could beat Neil Travers and his lucky pants. Something tells me tomorrow won't be as big a deal as the fabled FIBOs, but I hope the big guns turn up nonetheless. King of the wave is still a prize to be lusted after, and Rich Heap will be there filming the hard plastic sequel. Plus, rumour has it that Barrows will be judging a problem, so there's an opportunity to kick him in the teeth if you cut loose hard enough. On the other hand, I will be there, so you'll have to give up on the idea of actually winning...

Entries on the day are possible, and we needn't mention that the weather will be amenable to indoor bouldering. Plus, the are stuffed Mammoth's available as spot prizes. So get a good night's sleep (you'll need it) and I'll see you at the Foundry.