Flash League: Round Four and beyond!

This image is a poster for the upcoming competition. The poster reads 'Flash League, Winter Series. Round one, 28th November. Round Two, 27th December, Round three, 30th January. Round four, 27th February.' There is an interactive button in the right hand corner which reads, 'book here'. Clicking this button will take you to a different website called 'Capitan' and will let you book tickets to The Flash League, Round one.
Highball’s Flash League Climbing Competition
FINAL QUALIFYING ROUND
Round 4 – Friday 27th February
It’s the final qualifying round of the Flash League climbing competition, so what do you need to know?
  • What’s happened so far?
  • What to expect for the fourth round
  • Taking a look at last round’s scoreboard…
  • What’s Next?

What’s happened so far?

We’ve been very lucky to book in some fantastic external Route Setters for this Flash League.

For our first round in November, our team were joined by Jack Thomas, (@Jackies_on_jugs), head Routesetter at IndieRock in Southend.

Jakub Stec (@salsaroutesetting), who must be one of the most well-travelled Routesetters we know, joined us for the second round – all before he set off in 2026 to set for the Oulu Open Competition in Finland AND the Pro Climbing League in London … 

For the third round our team was joined by Jake Mason (@jakermason). Jake, who primarily sets at London’s Yonder Climbing as their head Routesetter, had just got back from a climbing trip in China (I recommend taking a look at his Instagram, his video of The Mahjong Boulder is worth a watch, just for the holds themselves!)

We’ve had a fantastic winter league so far, and we’re so grateful for everyone who’s shown up & climbed hard! I personally cannot wait to see which 12 make it to the finals – it’s looking like quite the close call…

Fourth Round

The comp on the 27th Feb will follow the same routine as the previous three rounds. 

Climbing takes place on the comp wall from 6.30pm to 9.30pm – with scores in by 9:45pm.

For those who arrive early & warm up, don’t forget to head to reception first as we need to check you in for the comp, give you a wristband and hand out those raffle tickets!

Scoring will all be the same too – so make sure you scan the QR code for the Digital Scorecard before you start climbing! 

For those who don’t know, this is what the scorecard will look like:

This is a screenshot of the digital scorecard we used for competitions. It is a google form. The description reads, "MAX 4 ATTEMPTS - ONLY TICK 1 OPTION PER ROW. DO NOT TICK 'ZONE' IF YOU TOP THE CLIMB. If you tick multiple options for a climb, e.g. "Second Attempt" & "Zone", your score for that climb will not be counted." Below the description is a table. Each row corresponds to a "route". The options for each problem are, "Flash attempt", "Second Attempt", "Third Attempt", "Fourth Attempt" and "Zone Only".

For more information about the competition format, scoring and comp etiquette – check out my previous blog post here.

Last round’s scoreboard

The top six female and top six male climbers from these qualifying rounds will go head to head in the finals in March… so lets see who made the top six in the last round!

Female

  1. Katie Fisher
  2. Ruby Webb 
  3. Cirrus Yiu
  4. Joanna Gomula
  5. Isabella Giangregorio 
  6. Alaska Evans-Horncastle

Male

  1. Tomas White
  2. Ollie Purllant
  3. Gaz Kitchen
  4. Aaron Thacker
  5. Aaron White
  6. Sam Maddox

 

HOWEVER, it’s all still to play for… To snatch up a spot in the finals, competitors must have competed in at least 3/4 of the Flash League rounds. If they’ve competed in all four rounds, then their best three scores will be counted towards their final positioning!

So, what’s next?

We’ve decided to celebrate the end of our Flash League with a bang by combining the finals with a Social Comp!

Let me set the scene…

March 27th. 6pm.

25+ Orange comp routes all over the centre, all varying in grades.

Much like our Flash Social comp back in October last year, this competition is much more beginner friendly than the League Rounds. You’re welcome to keep score and compete against your mates, but there’s no pressure to keep track!

You’ll have 25+ Comp-y climbs to attempt, including (potentially) our rope swing again!

And then, around 8:30-ish (timings are yet to be perfected, so bare with us!) we’ll draw everyone over to the Comp Wall to spectate the League’s Grand Finals!!

 

We’ll have more information to come about the Social Comp & Finals on March 27th, so keep an eye on our social media for updates!! 

 

See you all on the 27th Feb for the final round,

Abby & the Highball Team