Thank you for visiting the BAZ! promotional website!

BAZ! is held on the public beach of Scheveningen, The Hague. The best known and busiest beach of the Netherlands! On a good day, you'll find more than 50000 people on the beach or on the promenade. Wouldn't you stop and see what is going on when people are climbing on self-made boulders on the beach?

BAZ! takes place on August 30th and 31st 2008.

History

In June 2005 Sander Heikens and Abel Schooleman, two local climbers from The Hague decided it was time to bring bouldering to the masses.

Bouldering is a unique form of climbing combining technique, dynamics and strength. Potentially a very attractive combination for spectators.
Sander and Abel were convinced that to get an audience for a climbing competition they needed to find the right location. They did so by choosing the Scheveningen beach for their event.

BAZ! was founded and in 2006 the first event was held. More than 300 people from the Netherlands and some from abroad participated in what was to become the start of something very unique.
The next year more than 500 people attended the event amongst whom some of the world best boulderers.

Goals for 2008 and beyond

Comparing BAZ! 2006 and BAZ! 2007, the BAZ! foundation has shown that it can make progress and push things to a next level. For 2008 this is exactly what it wants to do. BAZ! 2008 will be bigger, better and have more exposure. This third edition will have more surface to accommodate the participants, more international top boulderers will attend and there will be more attention by all media.

BAZ! 2008 will be two days of bouldering for participants of any level. By combining an open low level competition with a highly competitive field of top climbers, BAZ! 2008 will be fun to either participate in and/or to watch.

Funding

The city of The Hague has acknowledged BAZ! as being one of the 40 most important events for its promotion. As a result BAZ! receives a structural annual contribution from the community.

But still, the majority of the budget depends on sponsorship.