The last stop on the World Cup bouldering circuit for 2007 will be Nov. 9th – 10th in Brno, Czech Republic. This comp should be a great event culminating in the overall winner of the WC boulder rankings.

Currently Killian Fichhuber is crushing the WC bouldering scene by 181 points (which is a lot). The setters don’t have to worry about breaking any ties but will have to concentrate on keeping the climbers below Fichhuber separated.

On the Womens side however the setters will have their work cut out for them. With a tie for second place in the overall WC bouldering rankings between Natalija Gros (SLO) and Olga Shalagina (UKR), Juliette Danion (FRA) will have to bring a little something special if she hopes to hold onto the slim eight point lead she now has. Also fighting for the win will be born and raised Brno town hero Silvie Rajfova who is currently 4th.

The Chief

Routesetter.com will certainly be interesting to see how 32 year old Chief Setter Reinhard Fichtinger from Austria (or “Fichtl” as he’s known there) will break such a stacked starting list. Fichtinger did not reply to our emails inquiring about his setting crew for the event.

The Blocs

The Czech manufacture, TR-Walls will build the 30m (98ft) wide bouldering wall which will provide eight separate panels ranging from the steep-n-deep to dead vertical.

The Venue

The Brno Exhibition Centre will be the host facility for the this the last bouldering World Cup of 2007. Also converging at the center will be the Sport Life show which is somewhat like the OR show here in America, a boat show and a caravan (RV’s) show. It certainly is rare to have so many sporting enthusiasts come together under one roof for a chance to see some of the best boulderers in the World.

We hope that those boaters and RVer’s that do see the action come out of the center psyched and spread the good word about climbing to all their recreational friends.

Saturday Afternoon Sports

Though there will not be any live streaming video from the event, Czech state TV will be covering the finals on channel CT4 Sport. So if you’re in town but cant stop by for the real thing flip your TV to channel 4 and take part in a rare opportunity to sit on your couch, drink beer and watch bouldering on a Saturday afternoon.

Asian Indoor Games, Macau

The second edition of the Asian Indoor Games (AIG) kicked off this Monday in Macau. The games feature a plethora of sports to be played under a roof including chess, swimming, billiards, Dragon dancing, cycling and a host of sports only known to the continent like Kabaddi, Muay, and Futsal.

But not to be left out are the Extreme Sports, which include BMX, Skateboarding and the best of all sports, Sport Climbing.

The Games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and are currently the only Olympic venue that feature competitive climbing as an official sport. The IFSC has applied to be considered as an official sport for the 2012 Olympic Games and this could be a great preview for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members to help in their decision to recognize climbing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Although Routesetter.com could find very little information regarding the climbing portion of the Games including the setting crew, we do know that the newly designated world record for speed climbing will be fought for at the Games and will feature the new, officially designed speed route with the official speed hold.

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