Thanks for analyzing my entire post. I guess I wasn’t clear enough. When I said I wasn’t there, that means I haven’t seen the problems but as a generalization from what I have seen in the past, is that our comps involve more dynamic movement (and yes, clearly I know that dynamic movement is not limited to dynos). What I was hinting at there was that the Euros use more thought provoking sequences, which I believe is what you are complaining about.

“……but to make it more dynamic elimates really the skill in competition climbing. Thats why there is a dyno comp.”

Seriously…… did you really say what you wanted right there?

You said “I wasn’t there but if I had to guess, the problems were probably more dynamic then what the Euros are use to seeing.”

I highly doubt it. I have seen PLENTY of WC videos with more dynamic action that the left right crimp ladders we had for problems 1 and 4 in the qualifiers. The fourth problem had a token jump to a crimp, but if anything else was dynamic on that problem, we never knew it because it was too hard.

Problem 2 had a token dyno that most got, and problem 3 had a hip level traverse to start that saw MUCH dabbing by competitors when feet cut. I just dont understand why the problems were not better.

Considering what the IFSC setter has put up in the past, I am very disappointed in what was set for qualifiers. I was expecting some tricky climbing, but we got easy-to-read yard-fests.

You said “Competitve climbing is not just about who is the strongest but also who can figure out a tricky sequence or find the heel/toe hook that gets you through a section.

I agree competitive climbing is not about the strongest, but more of who is the smartest…..but being hella strong sure does not hurt.

http://www.sbbouldering.com/2008/06/bouldering-world-cup-video-highlights.html

Scroll down to the red text.

I understand what your saying about making it exciting, but to make it more dynamic elimates really the skill in competition climbing. Thats why there is a dyno comp. I wasn’t there but if I had to guess, the problems were probably more dynamic then what the Euros are use to seeing. Competitve climbing is not just about who is the strongest but also who can figure out a tricky sequence or find the heel/toe hook that gets you through a section. Its possible to make beta-intensive sequences interesting.

Zach

More exciting, dynamic route setting with big falls higher on the wall will be much more entertaining to most of the more main stream audience. This change in thinking needs to start at the top of the food chain, the IFSC, USAC, ABS, in determining what their goals are and what the event needs to look like if they want the sport to grow and be supported in the USA.

The growth of the sport, which will only heppen if it is more exciting, will lead to more competitions, more prize money, and more exposure. The current format with falls on low static movement holds is boring to watch. I am not blaming the routesetters, they are doing the best that they can based on what they were told to do and what they had to work with.

In closing, it was great to see a high profile event in the USA and hopefully there will be more in the future. Thanks, to all that were involved to make this event happen.

1) Crowd control and seating was an issue. Why were there no bleachers or a larger grandstand? That would have been extremely beneficial – not only to those who wanted to see all the action but for those poor people trying to push their way through what was supposed to be a walkway but instead was a crowd lined up along the barrier.
2) The time delays during the event. Again, maybe not a routesetter issue but an issue for the event as a whole. I would have liked to see more continuity and less dead time. I’m not talking about between events but actually during the event. The semis were SLOW – and I can’t imagine how boring the qualifiers must have been. Surely there is a more efficient way. This was particularly an issue during the awards ceremony – something that should have been a relatively quick setup seemed to take forever.
3) Why was there no cover/tent/pavilion rented for the wall? We lucked out by having no rain on Saturday but it could have been a real disaster! And as I saw, it did rain during the youth comp – what a mess.
4) Finally, I thought the announcing could have been much better. Not that Timy did a bad job I just think that he had very little content to go from – probably not his fault. In other comps I’ve been to they have much more info to share about the climbers – background, climbing history, likes, dislikes – so that you get to know the competitors a little better. It would have helped get the audience more excited and involved and it helps to build the drama. I got tired of hearing the same thing about the “zone hold or bonus hold” and I heard several others around me making comments about the repetitiveness of the announcing.

So as not to end on a sour note – things I liked about the event:
The climbing walls were absolutely awesome – very beautiful, very professional.
Vail and the location of the wall at Vail was an awesome place to host the event.
The routes in the semis and finals were well designed, challenging, yet entertaining.
And, overall, it was fun to witness such incredible talent giving it their all! I’m talking about the climbers and the routesetters. I have no doubt that the subsequent events will only get better – like everything, it just takes practice.

However, as a competitor in the WC, it was indeed very frustrating to get served those qualifier problems, and then try to watch them later.
I overheard a competitor talking to one of the setters……he was expressing his thoughts on the low quality problems, and the setters replied with “just wait till you see the semi-finals.”

This was frustrating to hear, as it reinforced how little they cared (or appeared to care) about the qualifiers. As a setter with some international experience, I was expecting more…..much more. I was expecting some interesting climbing as this is a WC. Instead, we got technical and obscenely difficult crimp ladders, and outrageous sloper problems with your token dyno thrown in. What frustrates me the most is, I know these setters a bit, and I know they can do better. The question killing me is………why didnt they?

Mens semis (20 competitors)…sends went like this ……from what I remember
problem 1 everyone
problem 2 two sends
problem 3 one send
problem 4 one send

Mens finals (6 competitors)
problem 1 no one
problem 2 5 sends
problem 3 no one
problem 4 two sends

Womens finals
problem 1 everyone
problem 2 one send
problem 3 three sends
problem 4 no one

Its a little different as setters to look at the breakdown of sends to the problems that were sent. For example, mens semis were great as every problem was sent,………..but that was by one person. And the rest of the field was effectivly shut down.

I could be wrong….totally wrong, but this is how my warped mind sees this. Problems were too hard becasue ego was not checked at the door. Hearing conversations or info from others within the organization of who the strongest setter was………makes it seem as if the real comp was the week of setting before the event.

I am glad I had frequent flyer miles for this one, and I did not pay thousands of dollars and spend countless hours traveling internationally.

On a side note. I thought the setting at the citizens comp was great. Much varitey among the grades with diverse movemnt and differnt styles of climbing ( I was a spectator only).
Mike & Mike, I know it was a bit last minute, but nice speed bouldering routes. I had a lot of fun at that one. Great event.

The citizens comp was literally overflowing with participation. 99 competitors threw themselves up 32 problems for three hours. The routes were great and liked by most. What was not liked was the extra long lines that folks had to wait in to climb. This was caused by the registration of more competitors than planed. There was supposed to be a cut off but that did not happen.

There is already talk of adding a second boulder to the citizens portion of the event to accommodate the psyched climbers in Vail.

“I looked forward to this step the United States for twenty years it had held no competition addition Atlantic. The least we can say is that it has not kept its promises, it even came close to the correctional following problems during qualifications unacceptable for a trial of this level.

An approximate isolation, judges untrained, access to the area of competition random note was salty to start a competition that will not remain in our memories. Added to that blocks poorly targeted, and one hour and a half late because they were simply not marked, it is still a lot.
While the opening remains a recurring problem and we should not draw a red ball on this year style that remains in any high risk but offer only four passes to competitors for a qualifying event is a (sad) first.
In the game of qualified unskilled, it was then make a clever calculation of number of tests taken for areas in which no one is found. And more than fifty climbers men and women alike were no block!
The international judge this on the spot even brandished the spectre of cancellation post!
It is hoped they will learn from this blow to propose next season a competition that follows the standards internationaux.u.

History will remember that Killian Fischuber can resist everything (which is undoubtedly the mark of great champions); Gérome Pouvreau that is once again the doors of a podium, which should soon open up to him and that the Americans have placed most climbers in the finals and win a team victory ahead of Austria and France)

Hats off to switch to Gérome Pouvreau who performs with great motivation and relaxation a remarkable journey on this World Cup who deserved to be highlighted.

It will now be regonfler for each block, next week everyone will find themselves in Fiera di Primero (a landmark well known to all competitors)
And even though Austria has somewhat killed the match of the World Cup, there are still three stages to shake the two undisputed leaders on their bases
Two french are in the top ten of clasement World Cup; Gérome Pouvreau 5 and Ludovic Laurence 7.Chez checkers, Juliette Danion 6 Cecile Avezou 7 Anne Laure Chevrier 9

Podium men
1 Kilian Fishuber AUT
2 Gabriel Moroni ITA
3 Paul Robinson USA

Podium Ladies
1 Alex Jonson USA
2 Katarina Saurwein AUT
3 Anna Stohr AUT

We all need to remember that the American setting team is relatively new to this type of event when compared to the veteran European countries that regularly host these events. I’d like to think that there were lessons learned here that will allow the next event to be that much better.

Hats off to all involved in bringing this project to fruition and to all of the setters and forerunners that provided the problems for the comp. I’m glad to see that the US had the chance to do this and look forward to seeing what opportunities we’re given in the future.

Thanks for the recap report. How did the Citizen’s comp go?