At the beginning of October world-class climbers once again scaled the white cliffs of Scratchell’s Bay, in West Wight.
It was the second ‘Red Bull White Cliff Climb’ to take place on the Isle of Wight and saw UK-born climber Tim Emmett and Italy’s Angelika Rainer crowned as Red Bull White Cliffs 2015 champions.
No pre-event promotion
If you were wondering why the event is not advertised in advance of taking place, we have the official word.
Several OnTheWight readers had got in touch with us to ask, adding they would’ve liked the opportunity of meeting the world-class climbers before or after the event.
Red Bull: “Potentially endangering the public”
We know that Visit Isle of Wight has been involved with the event, so we got in touch to find out whether they could shed any light.
Katie Jones, the Visit IW events manager, told OnTheWight,
“There were several conversations between us (Visit IOW & The Needles Landmark Attraction) and the Red Bull organisers, trying to suggest several ways in which we could manage spectators at the location and also hold seminars and presentations so that people could get a chance to meet the climbers.
“It was Red Bull’s decision that our ideas at this stage were not viable and it was deemed not safe by all involved to pre-promote the climb and potentially endangering the public due to the nature of the event.”
Great exposure for the Island
The good news is that discussions are ongoing and it may be possible to organise things differently next year.
Katie went on to say,
“Red Bull are a great brand to have on the Island so any marketing we get from them pre or post event is fantastic exposure for the Island as a whole.
“We will keep trying to persuade Red Bull that we can do something for the spectators and try and introduce this for 2016 (If, fingers crossed, they return for a third year).”
