Hundreds of climbers descended upon the Hangout Climbing Centre on Canada Avenue April 12-14 for a chance to ascend their walls at the 2024 Hangout Open climbing competition.
Jacob Stevenson took gold in the first-ever masters event of the Open, while Michael Andres was runner-up.
Eden LeClair finished third in the masters category. Rounding out the top eight were Phillip Clark, Liz Girard and Kaelynn Lindahl, who tied for fifth, Alexandre Drapeau, and Scott Richards.
At 11 years old, Kaylee Bamber was the youngest climber in the competitive youth division, but she climbed to a first place overall finish. Marcus Lorence, 13, and Sophia Roukhlova, 11, were listed as the competitive silver, and bronze medallists respectively in the division.
Eli Todd and Jeffree Zhang tied for fourth in the division while Daniel Horbachewski placed sixth. Some 30 other climbers participated in the non-competitive youth category as well, aiming to improve their climbing skills and have some fun, too.
Meanwhile, the podium had three different climbers atop it over last year’s event, as Sophie Buitendyk, Kaia Lord, and Lena Laitinen took gold, silver, and bronze respectively, in the 18-climber women’s open division.
Leslie Sharpe and Kanako Nakajo, were fourth and fifth, and Claudia Pampin who equalled her 2022 result, dropped to sixth overall after finishing second last year.
On the 32-participant men’s open side, Brennan Doyle earned the gold, followed by Lukas Bekkema at silver and Derek Nussbaum for the bronze. Oliver Girard-Diederichs, Nate Corsi, and Jared Gillis rounded out the top six.
More than four dozen other climbers participated in two recreational adult categories as well.
In addition to the winners, the event’s organizers handed out three ‘Try Hard’ awards.
Mia MacDonald-West won the Most Total Attempts on All Boulders award with 76, while Nate Corsi won the Most Attempts to Top a Single Boulder award with 17. The Biggest Spread Between Total Zones and Tops Achieved award went to Brynn Turner at 23 zones with 11 tops.