The document discusses 14-year-old Max Milne, a talented young climber from Torry, Aberdeen who has been accepted onto the GB youth bouldering team. It describes Max's accomplishments in climbing competitions and his training regimen, which involves climbing at a local gym 4 times a week and traveling to Sheffield once a month for Team GB training. Max hopes to push bouldering to the next level and qualify for the European Championships, and ultimately dreams of traveling the world climbing professionally.

1. 32 Saturday, April 25, 2015
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Saturday, April 25, 2015
www.eveningexpress.co.uk 33
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boxing snooker
SCOTTISH Common-
wealth gold medallist
Charlie Flynn will be
the guest of honour at
this year’s RGU Sport
Awards Ball.
The Lanark-born
boxer will join more
than 500 students and
guests at the event at
Robert Gordon Uni-
versity’s sports facil-
ity, in Garthdee, on
Saturday, April 25.
Vinny O’Donovan,
student President of
Sport and Physical
Activity, has helped
organise this year’s
ball, which will cele-
brate the achieve-
ments of talented
individuals and suc-
cessful sports clubs.
He said: “We are
delighted that Charlie
Flynn is joining us at
the RGU Sports Ball
as our guest of hon-
our.
“He’s an exemplary
athlete who I hope
will inspire the RGU
sporting community.
“The Sports Ball is
always a great night.
“A lot of work goes
into making it a suc-
cess and everyone is
excited about this
year’s event.
“It’s really impor-
tant that we take the
time to recognise our
students’ fantastic
efforts and achieve-
ments over the past
year.”
Award categories
include:
Full and Half Blues,
Recognition Award,
Fresher of the Year,
Sports Person of the
Year, Most Improved
Club, Best New Club,
Club of the Year, Team
of the Year, Volunteer
of the Year and the
President’s Perfor-
mance of the Year
award.
A TALENTED young climber
from Torry is looking to push
the sport of bouldering to the
next level, having just been
accepted on to the GB youth
team.
Max Milne, 14, cannot remem-
ber an age when he wasn’t climb-
ing, but was first taken to a
proper wall at the age of 10 in the
interests of his own safety.
“I was always climbing on
things,” Max said.
“Trees, the furniture, the house,
scaffolding, anything really.
“Then my dad decided if I had to
climb, I had to do it safely, so he
took me to the climbing gym.”
Instructors quickly saw poten-
tial in Max, and within six months
he found himself competing in his
first national competition.
“I finished 29th out of 30 at that
first one, but I just really enjoyed
the climbing.”
Since that first national effort,
Max has earned multiple honours
in the sport, having been a
Scottish Schools Champion, the
Scottish Champion at lead climb-
ing last year, and the Scottish
Bouldering Champion – leading to
him being accepted on to the
Team GB youths.
Bouldering is a variant of climb-
ing where the aim is to solve a
short, challenging route or “prob-
lem” using highly technical moves
not usually seen in traditional
climbing.
“Bouldering is climbing without
ropes,” added Max.
“It’s not very high, and there are
mats to protect you.
“The moves are more dynamic
and powerful than the ones you
would use on longer routes.”
Bouldering problems are
graded on their difficulty level,
and the routes are marked out
with either tape or a set colour of
plastic for the holds.
The problems, often featuring
steep overhangs, are created at
indoor climbing gyms with arti-
ficial panels or pre-cast moulds of
actual boulders.
The climbers are given a fixed
amount of time to attempt
each problem in competitions,
with scores reflecting the
number of attempts it takes them
to solve it.
Often, competitors will analyse
a problem together before
attempting it, sharing ideas with
each other about how best to
tackle the routes.
Of the collaborative nature of
competitive bouldering, an alien
concept in the majority of
individual sports, Max said:
“We’re all friends, and we want
to see each other do the best we
can – but we do want to win as
well.
“If you help someone else, they
can help you back.
“They can tell you techniques
you might not know to get through
the climb.”
One of Max’s idols is an
American called Chris Sharma, a
professional climber considered
to be one of the best in the
world. “He’s just awesome,” said
Max.
“He’s such a strong climber, and
so humble.”
Humility is a quality that Max
also has in abundance, as he
proves anything but in a hurry to
talk about his own successes.
As he opens up about his
achievements and ambitions, his
eyes dart around the climbing gym
– a room taller than it is wide or
long, with every wall a towering
rock face, inspiring vertigo in
anyone susceptible.
“I want to do well in the Euro-
pean Championships,” says Max,
politely impatient to start his
training session.
“Oh, and for the future, I just
want to climb,” he adds, coming
alive.
“I want to push the sport to the
next level.
“I’d like to travel the world
climbing, and be remembered
for it.”
Always supporting Max to this
end is his father, Allan Milne.
Allan said: “I don’t really
know where it came from, but he
loves his climbing. It just comes
naturally to him.
“He trains for about three hours
at a time, four times a week here at
Transition Extreme.
“ T h e n w e h e a d d o w n t o
Sheffield once a month for his
Team GB training.
“It’s about a seven-hour drive
down, and the same back.”
ASCENT: Max Milne on the climbing
wall at Aberdeen’s Transition
Extreme and, below right, with
trophies. PICTURES BY KATH FLANNERY
Milne, 14, is
on the up in
bouldering
By Christopher Bradley
YOUNG Max Milne hangs
tight at the bottom of the
bouldering wall – a
seemingly insurmountable
obstacle, over-hanging at a
severe angle.
“So you’re going for that
‘dyno’?” asks another
climber, a grown man, well
over 6ft and full of muscle.
Max lets his body go down
and up, down and up in
preparation, then throws
himself skywards and
outwards from the
overhang to grab the edge
where the wall goes sheer.
He catches it with his right
hand and swings
precariously, and for a
millisecond a fall seems
inevitable, but his grip is
true.
He pulls himself up and
carries on climbing to
complete the route.
Max’s father Allan explains:
“We call that a dyno, but it
just means a dynamic
move.”
Max deftly lowers himself
down to safely drop from
the top of the bouldering
wall and eats a banana.
“I probably eat about three
bananas a day while
I’m training,” he says.
“Down in Sheffield at the
GB training it’s a
combination of gym work
and climbing.
“We do rowing, pull-ups,
sit-ups – just everything for
the core and a lot of stuff
for leg work.”
As Max heads back to the
wall, his father takes over.
“He doesn’t have a coach
outside of the GB team,” he
says.
“He mostly trains on his
own, but he knows
everybody here.
“Staff have even started
letting him set routes on his
own and the routes he sets
are just adult standard.”
There was an appeal by the
International Federation of
Sport Climbing to the
International Olympic
Committee (IOC) in 2012 to
make bouldering part
of an overall climbing
event in the 2020 Olympic
Games.
But in May 2013, the IOC
ruled against it.
On that missed opportunity,
Allan said: “Max was dying
for it. He was going to be
20 in 2020, and that just
seemed to fit, but these
things happen.”
Max is set to compete in
the European Bouldering
Championships in Arko,
Italy in June, but will have
to cover all his own
expenses.
‘We call that a dyno but it just means a dynamic move’
Charlie is
the darling
for RGU
awards ball
By Christopher
Bradley
INSPIRATIONAL:
Boxer Charlie Flynn.
THE Intermoor North
of Scotland Champi-
onship brings the
snooker season to a
close this weekend.
A total of 16 finalists
were battling it out at
the Culter Mills Social
Club today and tomor-
row with the final tak-
ing place on Tuesday
night.
John McCann will
be defending his title
with Marc Davis pro-
viding his strongest
challenge.
The draw and order of play is as
follows:
TODAY
Andy Gerrie v Paul Hardy, Fraser
Allan v Mark Oaten, Alec Main v Davie
Thomson, John McCann v Simon
Mitchell, Barry Smith v Derek Mor-
rison, Stuart Garden v Ryan Edmond-
son, Steve Martin v Davie Goodfellow,
George Mitchell v Marc Davis.
TOMORROW
Quarter-finals at noon & 2.30pm,
Semi-finals at 7pm. Final on Tuesday,
April 28 at 7pm.
MIKE Thomson, of
Oldmachar, rolled
back the years by win-
ning the Handicap
Singles title with a
hard fought 3-1 victory
over Country Club's
Peter Farnan.
Giving a seven point
start, Mike recovered
from losing the open-
ing frame by knocking
in a couple of 30-plus
breaks in taking the
next three frames for
the title.
Darren Matthew
and Ian Daniel (Coun-
try Club) won their
second Ian Wallace
Doubles title with a
3-1 victory over Kenny
MacPherson and Ross
C r i g h t o n ( O l d-
machar).
Jamie McNolty kept
up his good recent
form with another two
high breaks but not
enough, as Country
Club were beaten at
home by Nigg Bay.
The snooker prize-
giving is on Friday,
May 8 at the Soul
Casino 7pm.
RESULTS: 22 Club 4, Hazlehead II
8; Country Club I 3, Nigg Bay 9; Culter
I 6, RUA 6; Dee Swim 4, Culter II 8;
Hazlehead I 8, Transport 4; Hopeville
5, Country Club II 7; Oldmachar I 10,
Sportsmans II 2; Portland I 5, Port-
land II 7; Sportsmans I 5, Oldmachar
II 7.
HIGH BREAKS: Jamie McNolty 62,
48 Gary Groves 34 (Country Club I),
Marc Davis 77, Barry Smith 44 (Old-
machar I); Mark Oaten 40, Adrian
Johnstone 32 (Culter II), Paul Hardy
61, 40, 31, 30 John McCann 46,
Kenny McPherson 34 (Oldmachar I)
Battle is on
at Culter
for North
tournament
CHAMP: Mike
Thomson.
The moves are
more dynamic
and powerful
We head down
to Sheffield
for GB training