Wow! I thought that was a really great event and considerably surpassed my expectations. So much energy is poured into these events just to make them happen. You've only got to glance at the tons of scaffolding, mats and building the wall and enclosure before it even starts. The women's first place is boringly predictable but I suppose that's the cost of having a true world champ. But the rest of it was far more mixed and exciting than I would have expected and the men's final problem provided a superb finale. I'm somewhat surprised that some climbers at this level still don't know how to hand jam though. That's gotta be a big disadvantage and something that could be learned in a few hours or so, considerably upping one's chances. Top marks to the BMC for organising such a good event, providing a decent live stream with good commentary, great routesetting, and everyone else involved.
I'm certainly not blaming Shauna or anyone else for that matter. It's great that she won the World Cup and I really hope she wins Paris as well. It's fantastic that we have a World Champion, at long last. Just saying that the way things are the women's bouldering comps are not as exciting when one person is so obviously in a different league to everyone else. But the battle for second/third seems to be closer now. It was cool to see Tara Hayes take second today. The upside of course is that we have someone who can compete and win at the highest, world level which is great.
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