UKC

This comp took place several weeks ago yet there seems to be no coverage of it here, or on most other Climbing news sites that I can see. Considering the line up is pretty much the same as a typical World Cup it seems weird that such a major event has been completely omitted from the news. Curious as to why that is: just slack journalism or has it been deliberately ignored for a reason?

In reply to stp:

Maybe the title is a clue; perhaps nobody is interested in a manufactured commercial event, when, as you say, you can have the same line up in a proper world cup event.

In reply to Robert Durran:

You think? From a spectator point of view there's really little difference from a WC. In fact I'd say the camera work and commentary (by Chris Webb Parsons) was better. And since there weren't that many WCs this year and won't be any more for about 6 months I'd have thought this would have been pretty popular: last chance to see some of the world's finest boulderers in action together for a good while. From the video the crowd looks as big as the most popular WCs I've seen, so they don't seem to mind that its commercial. It's also listed in the IFSC calendar as a Masters event.

I'd think that a lot people might not be interested purely because they didn't know it was happening. I only found out a few days ago myself. So perplexed as to why there was no mention on here and elsewhere.

For those interested the finals can be watched here: http://www.adidas-rockstars.com/live/

In reply to stp:

Thanks for the link. Maybe a bit commercial but what a brilliant comp, especially Akio Noguchi and Megan Mascarenas.

In reply to Robert Durran:

This is the worst outlook on this. If you are a fan of climbing you'll like or respect any competition. People who think like that aren't real fans imo.

In reply to stp:

Thanks for the heads up, that's tonight's entertainment sorted!

In reply to stp:

Its the same in many sports and blaming the audience and media is daft when its the sponsors job to ensure the event acheives its coverage aims. Frankly I'd rather Adidas support climbers to get to the world cup as its expensive and this will be excluding good climbers who should be there.

In reply to tom_in_edinburgh:


And Janja Garnbret was pretty damned impressive too - only 16 and a brilliant route climber too.

In reply to Robert Durran:


Because the WC is in no way designed around exposure for manufacturers. The only reason I can see for the dislike is that Adidas isn't seen as an outdoorsy brand. If it was the FiveTen Rockstars there would probably be far more interest.

In reply to Offwidth:

So your saying they should have sent out a press release and they didn't, hence no coverage.

Whilst I agree they should have done that, and pretty surprised they didn't, I still think there's an onus on the media to find things out too. It seems like a very lazy, and outdated, kind of journalism if all you're going to write about is what people send to you. It's just not that hard to do with the internet and social media these days. For instance by following some of the top climbers on say, Twitter, or their blogs, they'd have known all about this event.

In reply to stp:

I like my manufacturers to have some ethics ... Adidas are a vile exploitative company that have a long history of abusing third world labour.

In reply to Duke_Haphazard:


So do you feel the same about billions of people watching the Olympic 100m final who wouldn't watch or probably even be aware of a prize money race with an almost identical line up a few weeks later?
Do you look down on them because they are not real fans and have a bad outlook?

Spectator sport is only important because people are interested in watching it, and people only watch it because it has a sense of occasion and importance generated by the interest in it; it lifts itself by its own bootstraps. The big events, Olympics, World Cups will always attract interest simply because they are the big events. I actually think it is a rather wonderful phenomenon.

In reply to Robert Durran:


I think the reason they attract interest is because there is a lot of hype behind them rather than their size. Unless you live in the city where such an event takes place then the size won't make any difference at all.

But having said that, in this instance the Adidas event looked as big as any WC event I've seen. There were thousands of spectators there. Not only was there no hype, there wasn't even the most basic info that it was happening at all. That is why there was no interest in it, at least over here. You can't possibly be interested in something if you don't it exists in the first place.

In reply to Duke_Haphazard:


Most climbers aren't 'fans' of climbing. It's something people do rather than watch.

In reply to Misha:


Indeed. In fact, many actual climbers have a healthy and good nstured piss taking disrespectful for the whole competition thing.

In reply to stp:


Eh? The Olympics gets a lot of hype because it is, well, the Olympics. I guarantee that far more people will be interested in Olympics athletics on the opposite side of the world than in any other athletics competition, except possibly the world championships, in their home city.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Climbing World Cups don't have the history of the Olympics or football world cup so that argument is invalid in my view. The workd cup comps get their funding from somewhere and in my view dismissing or criticising a particular comp because of its name makes no sense. I agree with stp.
Whether or not you like comps in the first place is a different discussion. Personally I'm in favour of promoting climbing in this way but don't actively follow them.

In reply to Misha:


True in general, but I discovered a couple of years ago to my surprise that world cup bouldering is great fun as a live spectator sport.

In reply to Misha:


In other words most climbers don't watch comps. I am sure that is true but I don't see any relevance.

I think the earlier suggestion that: 'nobody is interested in a manufactured commercial event' is likely completely wrong. Certainly no one has said that they're not interested in the Adidas event for that reason.

In reply to Si dH:


I think there is a clear distinction between a championship organised by a sport's governing body which then seeks a sponsor and one organised by a company as an promotional commercial event.

In reply to stp:
Enjoyed watching this...I'm sure you could make a drinking game out of it...everytime the commentator says "he's outta there" or "woopa" you have to take a shot!

In reply to Robert Durran:


Like the Diamond League.


It probably means they are not all that interested in the sport.

In reply to The New NickB:


Yes


And why should they be? They might just be interested in the big occasion and sport/competition in general. I have no interest in golf yet can be absolutely riveted by a tight finish to The Open. And that stems from its importance generated by people who really are interested - the 'real fans'.

In reply to stp:

Reading these comments was incredibly depressing. Thanks everyone.

In reply to Robert Besford:

Why? It seemed quite an interesting little discussion to me.

In reply to stp:

As a fan of both climbing AND watching bouldering comps (Apparently a rarity), I was also surprised by the lack of coverage.

Adidas slightly dropped the ball I think - not much/great promo, plus small annoyances like only being watchable via their website (not co-streamed on YouTube or similar), so couldn't watch it on the TV, just PC/laptop which is a bit rubbish.

I don't think it was ignored because of what it fundamentally is - La Sportiva "Legends Only" is a similar event, and I already know it's happening in advance and it usually gets good coverage post-event too.

In reply to Robert Durran:


I had no idea you were so shallow!

In reply to muppetfilter:

"I like my manufacturers to have some ethics ... Adidas are a vile exploitative company that have a long history of abusing third world labour."

You are pretty stuffed if you have any 5.10 kit in your climbing/approach shoe wardrobe then.

In reply to The New NickB:


But I wouldn't watch Crazy Golf (or the climbing equivalent of indoor bouldering).