Cliffhanger

Orienteering Ultra Sprint

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:53:49 +0100

Orienteering Ultrasprint at Cliffhanger

The UK's original Ultrasprint orienteering event will take place at Cliffhanger once again this summer. A high intensity, high speed form of orienteering, the Ultrasprint starts and finishes into a specially constructed labyrinth. Competitors face a technical and physical challenge that includes complex map reading, multi-terrain racing, and a number of river crossings. A number of the UK's top elite orienteers will battle it out over a qualifying stage and final to become the Ultrasprint champion 2012.

Visitors to Cliffhanger can experience the labyrinth for themselves on Saturday morning and all day Sunday, and watch the experts racing around the park in the Saturday afternoon. It is free of charge to take part and test yourself over a series of short courses of increasing difficulty. South Yorkshire Orienteers will have a number of experienced athletes on hand to offer tips and coaching, and you will be provided with a specially produced map that is yours to keep. All ages and abilities are welcome.

New this year will be a timed course visiting the rest of Graves park. Visit as many points in the allowed time and see where you end up on the leader board.

Organised by South Yorkshire Orienteers who also organised last year's British Champs at Wharncliffe http://www.boc2011.org.uk/

Fairground Rides

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:53:35 +0100

Whilst Cliffhanger is not a fun-fair we recognise that folk (and especially kids) love fairground rides so we select a few each year that fit the adventure theme. You'll have to pay to go on these, but we try to keep the costs sensible.

Story Tent

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:46:48 +0100

Are you sitting comfortably?
Come on in and listen to fabulous tales of escapades and adventures in the Peak District read by
• former Blue Peter presenter Simon Groom
• local children’s author Berlie Doherty
• Cotton Grass Theatre Company

25 minute slots throughout Cliffhanger.

Provided by the Friends Of The Peak District

RATRACE BASECAMP MUSIC HEADLINE ACTS ANNOUNCED

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:21:54 +0100

NEW OUTDOORS SPORT & MUSIC FESTIVAL
Family-friendly music arena & onsite camping 
Music headline acts announced

Rat Race Adventure Sports have today announced a brand new ‘Festival within a Festival’ at Sheffield’s annual ‘Cliffhanger’ which celebrates the best of sports and outdoors pursuits. Run by Sheffield City Council in collaboration with Heason Events, Rat Race BASECAMP will be housed within the Cliffhanger event site at Graves Park (6-8 July) and will offer participation sports & outdoors activities such as running and biking, plus an amazing line-up of live bands, a real ale tent and camping village.

Rat Race BASECAMP is designed to offer a family-friendly music arena with a super line-up over two nights, coupled with a superb camp-site within Graves Park itself. For those who wish to stretch their legs, the Rat Run on Saturday 7th July will offer a 5k jaunt around Graves Park and for those who want to forage a bit further afield, Sunday’s Rat Ride will offer a 50km cycle-sportive ride into the Peak District.

Live music will be offered on both Friday and Saturday evenings and will feature signed and unsigned bands from Sheffield and across the UK. Friday night’s music is headlined by The Ratells and features acts including The Northern Generals, Jodi and the Jupitrons and Rumblebird. Saturday night will be headlined by Ellen and the Escapades and will also feature Fossil Collective and Let’s Buy Happiness. Other acts will be announced as part of the line-up through the event’s website at www.ratracebasecamp.com.

BASECAMP is operated by the UK’s leading adventure sports company, Rat Race Adventure Sports. The Yorkshire-based company was founded by ex-red Bull Event Director Jim Mee in 2004 and is responsible for some 30 events annually across the country, as well as operating retail and fitness divisions.

RatRace's Jim Mee comments: “Sheffield is a city that prides itself on both its music and its adventure sports credentials. As well as producing some of the UK’s best bands, it has also produced our best climbers, plus a raft of stellar athletes. BASECAMP aims to re-trace both the musical and sporting roots of the city with a stunning new addition to the already massively successful Cliffhanger event. Whether you want to run, ride, or simply come and listen to the bands with a beer as the sun goes down on a summer evening, BASECAMP is for those who like being active in the great outdoors, but enjoy letting their hair down too. The setting is also key: Graves Park is a beautiful spot to spend the evening and if you elect to camp under the stars you’ll be rewarded with broad views out into the Peak, which remind us of the adventure that is always on our doorstep in Sheffield.”

Festival Co-organiser Matt Heason from Heason Events says: “It’s our aim at Cliffhanger to inspire people of all ages with a love of the outdoors and adventure sports by giving them a taste of a whole host of different sports and activities in one place. Cliffhanger’s renowned for being family-friendly event so it’s brilliant that RatRace BASECAMP will make this summer’s weekend even more accessible with free day-entry for under-16s and onsite parking plus the camping village and live music arena. And to make it even easier to plan, you can now book tickets online in advance.”

Tickets are on sale for the event via the website at www.ratracebasecamp.com. Music tickets are priced at £10 for the Friday and £15 for the Saturday. The Rat Run and Rat Ride are both priced at £15 each and camping is £6 per night, per person. The music programme is subject to Licence.

- ENDS -

Contact: Lissa Cook, PR, Heason Events 07818 411 791 / 01663 751 126 / lissa@heason.net

Notes to Editors:

Cliffhanger
Cliffhanger is the UK’s biggest outdoor event for outdoor people and is operated for Sheffield City Council by Heason Events. It will take place on 7th and 8th July at Graves Park and entry is £7 per person. Accompanied Under 16’s go free. Pre-event online entry is available via the Rat Race BASECAMP website, saving 50p per person and offering a £10 Rat Race Store Retail Voucher with all purchases.
The event website can be viewed at www.cliff-hanger.co.uk.

Rat Race BASECAMP Ticket Prices
- BASECAMP Music tickets are offered at £10 for the Friday night and £15 for the Saturday night.
- Under 16’s are free but must be supervised by adults. The beer tent within the arena is a licensed premises and will be available to admittance by over-18s only.
- Rat Run and Rat Ride tickets are £15 each.
- Purchase of any BASECAMP component, including Cliffhanger day-time entry, is offered at £20 per person.
- A Weekend Pass is available to “do it all” at £60 per person.
- Camping is offered at £6 per person per night.

All purchases include a £10 Rat Race Store Retail Voucher. All pricing and other event info can be viewed at www.ratracebasecamp.com.

Rat Race Adventure Sports
Rat Race was founded by ex-Red Bull events head-honcho Jim Mee in 2004 and has grown into the UK’s largest operator of adventure events. It now operates some 30 events annually and encompasses retail and fitness divisions as well. It operates from an HQ in York. Full info can be viewed at www.ratrace.com.

IMAGES:
Online size compressed photos available from the Cliffhanger website gallery or see our facebook page albums from Saturday 2nd July 2011 and Sunday 3rd July 2011 and 2010 pics.  
Small selection of high resolution print quality images available to download here or email lissa@heason.net for high res versions of other images.

VIDEOS: 
For full selection go to our video gallery.

FOLLOW US:
For all the latest news follow us on twitter @HeasonEvents (#CliffhangerSheffield) and facebook.

Accommodation

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:09:11 +0100

Rat Race BaseCamp (Camping)

RAT RACE BASECAMP 2012: A FESTIVAL WITHIN THE FESTIVAL FEATURING LIVE MUSIC, CAMPING, REAL ALES, GREAT FOOD AND A RUN OR OR RIDE FOR THOSE WHO ARE FEELING SPRITELY. Click for more details.

Other Accommodation

Below are a few links to accommodation options in Sheffield and the neighbouring Peak District. If you stay in the Peak District, as a rough guide it will take you 25 minutes to travel by car from Hathersage to the Graves Park.

Local Youth Hostels
A list of hotels in Sheffield, complete with reviews.

Parkour / Freerunning

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:26:13 +0100

They will be based near, and use, the brand new fitness equipment at the northern end of the park, demonstrating its use and challenging all-comers to top their efforts.

Animal Farm

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:36:05 +0100

Perhaps Graves Park’s greatest static asset is its Animal Farm. The farm is home to Highland Cattle, Sheep, Donkeys, Goats, Pigs, Deer, Ducks, Chickens, Rabbits, Chinchillas and lots of other animals. At Cliffhanger you will be able to visit the animal farm as well as the rest of the activities on show.

Climbing - Workshops

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:54:14 +0100

Bombproof anchors and rope-work, 1 hour

Place the perfect nut or select the best cam. Learn the dark arts of leader placed climbing protection and how best to use it. For those wishing to place nuts and cams with confidence and attach themselves safely. Learn some top tips and handy hints from the experts. If you have ever got to a stance and said ‘I hope that will work’ then this is for you.

Aimed at: Novice or intermediate adult climbers.

The workshop will be ground based and practical.

4 places available on each workshop.

Self help for climbers, 1 hour

Lock off your belay plate, in reach or not, now what ?. A workshop of basic rescue techniques for those multi pitch moments when it all goes pear shaped. Top advice about slick rope work and tangle free rescues.

Aimed at: Intermediate adult climbers who have climbed outside.

The workshop will be ground based and practical.

4 places available on each workshop.

Workshop times

Saturday:

10.30am to 11.30am Bombproof anchors
11.30am to 12.30pm Self help for climbers
12.30pm to 1.30pm Bombproof anchors
1.30pm to 2.30pm Self help for climbers
2.30pm to 3.30pm Bombproof anchors
3.30pm to 4.30pm Self help for climbers

Sunday:

Workshop information

All equipment will be supplied by DMM.

Instruction will be provided by members of The Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI)

Booking a place is recommended. Please email workshop@cliff-hanger.co.uk stating which workshop you would like to book, what time slot, and how many people. You will receive a reply confirming your booking.

Go Geocaching

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:23:21 +0100

Geocaching is a treasure hunt with a GPS; it’s a popular outdoors activity with over 1.7m active caches and over 5m geocachers worldwide. If you would like to find out how you could get involved in this great family sport then visit GPS Training, GPS for Geocaching and NE Geocaching Supplies on their stand where you can take part in the Go Geocaching activities arranged for the festival.

On the Go Geocaching stand you will be able to find out all about geocaching and how you can get started by joining one of the Go Geocaching workshops or taking part in the on site Geotrail using a loan Garmin GPS.

On our Go Geocaching workshops lasting (approx 30 minutes) we will show you how to use a GPS at a basic level so you can use it to navigate, locate and find a geocache. You should then have the skills to Go Geocaching on the on site Geotrail (a series of virtual caches with a reward for all junior & mini-cachers taking part).

You can make sure of a place on one of our free Go Geocaching workshops by simply emailing us and letting us know which workshop you would like to attend clearly stating day & time from the list below. The workshops are open to individuals & families (mini & junior geocachers must be supervised by an adult). Numbers attending workshops will be limited to 6/7 and we will provide/loan a new generation Garmin GPS for use on the workshops after the workshop you will be able to take part in our Geotrail using the loan GPS".

Saturday
10.30am to 11am
12pm to 12.30pm
1.30pm to 2pm
2.30pm to 3pm

Sunday
10.30am to 11am
12pm to 12.30pm
1.30pm to 2pm
2.30pm to 3pm

Whether you are an old hand, a novice or geocaching beginner you can't take part in this great outdoors activity without a GPS and knowing how to use it. GPS Training have always promoted the activity on their courses and are well placed to give you any advice you might need on which GPS & Maps are best suited to your geocaching needs. NE Geocaching Supplies will be on hand to show you all the latest in geocaching accessories like travel twins, tags & coins, ready made caches and containers.

We look forward to seeing you on the day; in the meantime if you would like more information visit www.gpstraining.co.uk or call 01768 885855

Cycle Speedway

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:43:07 +0100

No brakes, no gears, no fear. Cycle speedway fast action packed track racing.

Taster sessions available, bookable on both days, including basic techniques and racing. Can you put what you’ve learnt into practice and be fastest round the track? Speedway bike, helmet and gloves provided.