Since the days of the PCA there has always been a pro comp held during the summer Outdoor Retailer show. This year was no different, except the comp wasn’t crammed into a dusty gym in Salt Lake City. This year it was perched atop the two-story Shilo Inn parking structure across from the downtown “Salt Palace” convention center.

The comp was put on by the Mammut – EMS Bouldering Championships pro-tour. Because the event is held during the largest gathering of climbing related companies in one place, many top professional athletes (at the behest of their sponsors) signed up to compete.

This was by far the largest comp the tour organizers had ever attempted to put together. And with so many of the climbing world’s eyes upon them they knew that they would have to put on a perfect comp. Not to mention the eager corporate sponsors watching and waiting to see if this would be the future of competitive climbing.

The Setters

The finals problems were set by event co-organizer and Head Setter Jason Danforth with help from long time colleague Tim Kemple. Comp co-organizer and setter Pete Ward, who usually turns the wrenches for the tour, decided to step into more of a spokesman and behind the scenes role. This void was filled by USAC national setters Chris Danielson and Jackie Hueftle.

The Wall

This crew descended on the super woody (aka “Thunderdome” & “T2″) that was built by Pyramid-USA. The 20 foot tall & 45 foot wide wall carried a total of 10 problems from V6 – V13.

The Problems

To save time and to avoid down times during the comp, the crew decided not to change out problems between categories. They decided instead to set and leave up all problems and to use tape to indicate what holds to use. While this system did work, for a non-climber watching the comp it may have been confusing, not to mention ascetically cluttered.

When I asked Danforth about leaving all the problems up at once he said, “I like the idea of starting a comp and saying to the crowd ‘the comp is set everybody, here ya go’.”

The Holds

Revolution holds, one of the main sponsors of the comp, supplied every hold on the wall with the exception of the two volumes on problem number 4. Throughout the weekend I heard many people wonder if this would cause a lack of creativity for the setters. None of the setters I talked to, however, said that it caused any problems. In fact Danforth said, “The holds certainly haven’t hindered us.”

And no wonder with Revolution located in Salt Lake the setters were able to call in custom orders. One example of that was Men’s final number 5, the “Boss problem”. The problem, which was set by Kemple, had during the initial setting as many as five Boss’ up. This was whittled down to just three and one for a starting foot.

These new holds may also be the reason why Alex Johnson, who flashed every Female problem for the win, said that “every hold felt sticky”. (It could also be that Johnson crushes plastic.) None of the other competitors had the same sentiments.

The Scorch

Some of the biggest chatter among setters and spectators alike was what role the inescapable Utah sun and expected 98 degree temperatures were going to play during finals. The bulk of forerunning took place during the hottest parts of the day, which gave the setters a first-hand feel of what it would be like for the climbers.

But there were still many tweaks late in the cool of the night before finals. These tweaks were not run in the heat and could have been the cause of several problems not being sent during the comp.

The walls sat directly in the sun with no shade for climbers or the audience till late in the event when the last few climbers were up. This caused a definite advantage for climbers going last. When I ask Danforth if he was worried about he sun he said, “Of course I’m worried, but what are we going do? If you want to put on big public comps you’re going to have to take risks.”

The Styles

Historically in high profile pro comps the problems have been the type that offer the most spectacular moves. Large, powerful campusing and full span dynos which has become known as PCA style setting (named after the original American pro-tour, the Professional Climbers Association and a style invented by tour creator Scott Mechler), and has become the standard for these pro comps.

I asked Pete Ward if they plan to employ PCA style problems for the comp and he told me, “Climbing is cool” enough with out having to resort to over-the-top moves. His philosophy centers more on finding out who the best overall climber is, not just the one that can campus.

“I’m proud that our routes will test the climbers”, he said. And at least the Men’s problems echoed that sentiment with only subtle differences in style on the Women’s side.

The Separation

Of the Men’s problems that didn’t see a send Danforth said, “[Problems] 3 and 5 were do-able” and indeed they may have been but after the kick in the nuts that most of the guy’s got on Prob. 1 (a full body length dyno to the top that nobody flashed) they may have just been too tired. But it didn’t matter in the end with the top five Men being separated by a perfect one point.

“The Women’s [problems] did exactly what we wanted. I couldn’t ask for a better scenario,” said Danforth after the comp. Unlike the Men’s side, the Women’s problems crescendoed in difficulty which allowed the audience to easily follow along.

And from a route setting perspective the Women’s round was a much better success than the Men’s. 1st and 2nd place finishes came down to just a two attempt difference and a three point differential for 3rd – 5th places. That’s the kind of separation setters dream of.

Overall

This was a spectacular event with a unique location and featured some of the strongest climbers in the world. The problems were perhaps a bit lackluster compared with the amazing locale, but they did the job of weeding out the weakest climbers and putting the truly strongest on the podium.

We’ll see if Pete and Jason can repeat their successes and hopefully add some polish to their performance at the Championships of the Bouldering Championships at Metrorock in Boston, Nov. 9th & 10th.

Photo’s provided by Timkemple.com & Daxopus.com. Click the photo’s to see more great pictures.

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