GUINNESS WORLD DYNO RECORDS SMASHED

1)Skyler Weekes sets the current World Dyno Record at 2.65 metres for the men, beating his own previous record by a few centimetres.

The planetFear Guinness World Dyno Record was broken on Saturday July 12^th 2008 by Skyler Weekes of Denver, Colorado. Skyler jumped an astonishing 2.65 metres (just under nine feet) at Cliffhanger 2008, held in Millhouses Park, Sheffield. This is now the current Guinness World Record. Skyler leapt 2.5 centimetres beyond his 2007 World Record, which was also set at Cliffhanger. After the judges had left, he then went on to latch the jug at a colossal 2.7 metres. Scotland's Mike Mullins also put in an extremely impressive performance, making 2.60 metres officially and just missing 2.65m. And Mullins, too, achieved an unofficial 2.70m on Sunday.

2)Warming up at one metre sixty on Saturday morning.

Sheffield's own Lily Fitzgibon twice broke the women's World Record, latching the jug at 2.05 metres on Saturday, and then topped it on Sunday at 2.10 metres. This was a magnificent performance, significantly raising the previous record and setting an inspiring new threshold of dynamic climbing for women.

The Junior and Senior British Bouldering Championships took place at Cliffhanger alongside the dyno competition. For an index of the full results on the Championships, visit the BMC website here http://thebmc.co.uk/News.aspx?id=2669

3)Wild moves are matched by equally wild hairstyles in the women's competition!

You can view the full gallery of planetFear photography on the Bouldering Championships :

Day 1 Juniors and Dyno Comp here.

Day 2 Seniors and Dyno Comp here

The organiser of last weekend's event, Matt Heason (http://www.heason.net/) is one of the architects of the Guinness World Dyno record and a previous holder of the record. He recounts the short history of this highly acrobatic pursuit on the event's website http://www.cliff-hanger.co.uk/:

"In April 2002 the first officially recognised Guinness World Dyno Records (a type of high jump for rock climbers) were set at The Edge Climbing Centre in Sheffield. Since then similar competitions have been held in New Zealand, Birmingham, Manchester, the USA and elsewhere, all indoors."

4)Sticking it and cutting loose at a metre seventy-five.

Dougal Macdonald of the US website http://www.climbing.com/ has formulated a brief method statement for the system by which the gargantuan leap for the record is attempted:

"Official dyno contests are held on a 20-degree overhanging wall, with two large starting holds and a ladder of identical footholds. Contestants leap up and left at a 45-degree angle to catch a jug that is moved progressively farther from the left starting hold. They have to latch the jug with both hands for the dyno to count."

5)All points off the board and almost a metre eighty for one of the Junior Male contestants.

6)Up goes the jug!

2.65 metres is, clearly, an enormous distance for a person to leap across an overhanging wall. Yet the new Guinness World Record is not, technically, the biggest jump of this kind officially recorded. At the 2007 annual European Outdoor Trade Fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Peter Würth (Germany) recorded 2.775 meters. After the judges of that event left, Würth then apparently managed to hold the jug at 2.8 metres. However, to achieve these colossal leaps Würth used a skillful technique that employs the starting handholds as footholds. This technique was not used in the original Guinness Dyno Records set in 2002, or in subsequent competitions. Although greater distances are achievable if it is used, it is not currently regarded as a legitimate technique.

7)Mike Mullins put in a superb performance, latching two metres sixty first go and just missing Skyler Weekes's World Record of 2.65m. He went on to nail 2.7 metres unofficially on Sunday.

Given that the planetFear Guinness World Dyno Record is a mere six years old, it seems likely that the improbable three metre barrier could be broken in the near future. Given the massive advances in the discipline of gymnastics in recent years, the most self-evidently ‘gymnastic' move in climbing may well have some way to go before it approaches the physiological limits of top climbers. Similarly, as competition climbing enters the mainstream sporting arena, it is likely that spectacular events such as the planetFear Guinness World Dyno Record will receive increasing amounts of attention from the global media.

8)Lily Fitzgibon sets the 2008 planetFear Guinness World Dyno Record for the women at two metres five centimetres on Saturday. She then wound it up a notch to 2.10m on Sunday.