Bouldering comp night checklist

Quick answer: most comp-night problems are fixed the day before. Check the problem list against the wall, put the posters up, run a short test with your staff, print a stack of paper scoresheets and decide who types them in, and check the TV works. On the night, open the round, brief the climbers, keep one person on disputes, and don’t close scoring until every score is in. Then get the results up before people leave.

A comp night goes well when the boring parts are done early. This checklist is the order we’d do them in, whether you score on paper, on phones, or both. It works for a one-day comp and for each round of a league. For the bigger decisions (format, categories, finals) see how to run a bouldering competition and how to run a bouldering league.

Two weeks before

• Rules on one page. Scoring format, categories, what counts as a top, a zone and an attempt, how tops are checked, and when scores close. Bouldering comp scoring explained has wording you can borrow.
• Entry on sale. Through your normal ticketing, with the date, times and categories.
• Staff rota. Who is on the desk, who settles disputes, who runs the TV and results, who sets and checks problems.
• Prizes. Bought, wrapped, and a list of which category gets what.

The day before

• Problems. Walk the wall with the problem list and check every number, colour and points value. A wrong number on the list is the most common cause of a scoring argument.
• Posters. Printed and up: one at each wall and one at reception. If climbers scan a QR code to score, check the poster at each wall is the right one.
• Test run. Ten minutes with your staff: join as a climber, score a few problems, confirm a partner’s top, fix a score as staff, and watch it reach the board. If your system has a test mode, use it, then clear the test data before the night.
• Paper backup. Print 20 or so blank scoresheets and keep them at the desk. Do it now: you can’t print once the internet is down. Our printable bouldering scorecard is free if you need one.
• Who types in paper. Decide who enters paper scoresheets on the night, and check they can sign in to whatever you use.
• The TV. Check the screen opens the leaderboard, and that someone knows how to make it full screen.

An hour before

1. Open tonight’s round or scoring session, so scores can come in.
2. Put the leaderboard on the TV, full screen.
3. Scan a poster with your own phone and check it opens.
4. Put a float of paper scoresheets and pens at the desk.
5. Brief the desk staff: who to send disputes to, and when scores close.

During the round

• Climbers without a phone get a paper scoresheet, or staff add them and enter their scores for them.
• Checks. If tops need a partner’s confirmation or staff sign-off, keep an eye on anything waiting. Approve what you saw, reject what you didn’t.
• Disputes. One named person decides. Fix the score and keep a record of the change: who changed it, when, and from what to what. How to stop disputes over tops has a simple process.
• Weak signal. If climbers score on phones, ask them to keep the page open. Good systems hold ticks on the phone and send them when signal returns.
• The board. A live leaderboard on the TV keeps people in the room. If you’re on paper, post an interim board halfway through if you can.

At the end

1. Give phones a few minutes on signal so any waiting scores send, before you close scoring. Scores that arrive after scoring closes may not count, so close it last.
2. Close the round.
3. Type in any paper scoresheets.
4. Check nothing is still waiting for a partner’s confirmation or staff sign-off.
5. Results. Read out the winners, then print a results sheet for the noticeboard and keep a copy (a CSV is easiest) for your records and your website.

After the night

• Tidy the data. Remove test entries, fix names spelt wrong, and check categories.
• Share the results. Social posts, the noticeboard, and your website if climbers have agreed to appear. Keep under-16s off anything public unless you have their parents’ agreement.
• Setter debrief. Look at which problems were topped by almost nobody and which by almost everyone. Using comp results to check your grading explains how.
• Ask what to change. A two-question message to climbers and staff tells you more than a long survey.

The checklist on one page

Where software fits

ClimbTable is built around this checklist. Climbers scan the QR poster and tick on their own phones, with no app or account, and ticks wait on the phone when there’s no signal. Test mode marks phones, the TV and printouts TEST and clears with one click. The Sign-off tab shows tops waiting for a partner or for staff, staff can fix any score at the desk with every change logged, and the Print tab gives you blank A4 scoresheets before the night and a results sheet after it, plus a results CSV. The TV leaderboard rotates through every category.