Angelika Rainer and Tim Emmett win the Red Bull White Cliffs 2015

The peculiarity of this competition, as well its height and the duration of the climb, is that the athletes have to lead a 90m route, clipping each quickdraw that is secured to two warthogs, a sort of long ice screw ideal for this type of rock. Scratchell's Bay acted as a wonderful backdrop to the fascinating competition, rendered even more beautiful thanks to unusually good weather on the island.

The men's competition was highly fought out and the top three climbed the ninety meters within three seconds of each other, an astounding fact considering that the route took more than 16 minutes to climb. England’s Tim Emmett won after 16 minutes and 48 seconds, followed just two seconds later by France’s Jeff Mercier. Russia’s Alexey Tomilov placed third and he could have won, seeing that he reached the top two seconds faster than Emmett, but he forgot to ring the bell and placed third

The women's competition was photocopy of Saturday’s qualifiers, with Canada’s Sarah Hueniken slotting in third after 29 minutes, Korea’s Han Na Rai Song finishing second in 24 minutes, and Angelika Rainer winning the event by stopping the clock after 21:33 minutes.

White Cliffs 2015: The Results
MEN
1st) Tim Emmett (UK) – 16:48:71
2nd) Jeff Mercier (FRA) – 16:51:90
3rd) Aleksei Tomilov (RUS) – 16:59:80

WOMEN
1st) Angelika Rainer (ITA) – 21:33:75
2nd) HanNaRai Song (KOR) – 24:05:69
3rd) Sarah Hueniken (CAN) – 29:36:43

Jeff Mercier, the art of falling, by Sandy Allan

Jeff Mercier, the art of falling. #whitecliffs @redbull pic.twitter.com/dIEd2NqfEq

— Sandy Allan (@CairngormSandy) October 4, 2015