Even though the competition season is just kicking off here in the States, the World Cup circuit is still going strong after an impressive if not controversial World Championships last month in Spain.

This past weekend (Sept 27 – 29th) in Puurs the Belgiums hosted a World Cup on one of the more spectacular walls in Europe. IFSC France Chief setter Matthieu Dutray and IFSC Belgium setters Michel De Vogel and Christian Rolfs set the first routes on the wall with six lead routes and two speed routes.

Many of the routes had wandering traverses which featured down climbs and extra long draws. The setters had a seemingly endless supply of HRT holds and some of the biggest volumes on the planet to work with. Each route was set using monochromatic hold colour, which made for clean smooth looking routes.

The Wall

The wall stands out as a signature landmark in the otherwise monotonous corn field landscape. Built by the Bulgarian wall manufacture Walltopia the wall is the largest in Belgium and perhaps Europe measuring 2000 m² (6562 ft²) with a height of 17m (56 ft) and overhanging 18m (59 ft).

This striking semi-outdoor wall is owned and operated by Klimax and is their second wall in Belgium. This model of a private gym providing space for and operating a climbing structure this large is unheard of and — as far as Routesetter.com knows — is the first of its kind.

The wall will be open to all abilities of climbers but will mainly be used for training Belgium’s national athletes for international competitions.

But as the venue host website states: “The wall is not only designed for top climbers or future champions, the recreational climber can also come and try it.”

At the opening ceremonies there was an official tightening of the hold, not just once but twice. This was then followed by an official first climb.

Results

On the women’s side the qualification route saw only one top in what is usually a somewhat easier route. This was followed by a semi route that had five finishes but due to the separation in the quali route there were no ties going into finals. Over all there were no tops on the final route but the setters had clean separation of the field.

The Men’s quali route was more of the right speed with four tops. The setters of the semi line cut the tops by half and broke all ties leaving the finals route as a possible show-stopper. Many of the WC’s top climbers showed up for the Puurs event and as always it’s hard to get one climber clipping the chains.

Finals however saw none of the male competitors toping their route but in the end it didn’t matter and the spectators got their money’s worth by watching local hero Jorg Verhoeven come in third behind the Spainish power-house duo Puigblanque & Usobiaga.

You can find these pictures and more at Traveladdict.de and the WC Puurs site.

Other Major comps happening this month include:

· Under 14 Open Belgrade Trophy. October 7th
· Kazo, Japan climbing World Cup. Oct 13th – 14th

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