UKC

Last weekend saw the second round of the bouldering world cup in Millau, France.

Anna Stoehr and Killian Fischuber from Austria took first place and British climber Shauna Coxsey came in an excellent second place.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=67972

In reply to UKC News:

Damn fine effort by Shauna.

In reply to UKC News: Seriously impressive Shauna. She could win this!

In reply to UKC News:

I watched the women's final live in Munich last year and thought Anna and Akiyo were clearly in a different league to everybody else. Shauna however was hobbling around in the audience on crutches at that point.

In reply to UKC News:

Great comp and good web feed.

However, the inclusion of the run and jump was a bit of a shame. I'd rather see more quality climbing instead of a daft challenge more akin to steeplechasing. Many comments on the web show that I'm not alone, so hopefully the IFSC will listen to the feedback. The climbers are great at what they do - just let them climb!

In reply to UKC News:

Well done Shauna and others. Hugely entertaining to watch, great coverage.

Watching the men's finals I simply couldn't believe that (according to the route setters) no problem was harder than 7c (Font not UK tech!). Men's No. 3 (at 1h26min) saw no sends at all as far as I can tell and hardly anyone could stick the first move. Even though that may have been the crux, can it really be that the world's waddest wads can't suss out a 7c crux between them in 15 minutes?

In reply to UKC News:

Awesome effort Shauna....

Agree that the run and jump problem was a let down...Running on a crash mat is bloody hard and shouldn't be the difference maker in a climbing comp!

In reply to robin mueller:


Totally agree, especially as it is what cost Shauna first place. She looked knackered on the last problem so thought that was an awesome effort to top it.

In reply to gritstoner:


Agree with this, it was the same in China where some of the guys in the final failed to top out a supposed 7a+. Most of these guys can onsight font 7b problems at the top of 30 meter routes so I think they should probably be taken with a pinch of salt

Given how close it all was, agree the run & jump was a shame. It just racked up attempts, which is what it came down to for 1st/2nd place. Suppose it's still a valid climbing technique, there are outdoor routes with this kind of start, but still think it's more of a crowd pleaser than a real test of bouldering skill.

However - Credit to Anna and the other Austrian girl who both changed beta and got it much quicker. Maybe that was part of the plan too?

Apart from that, good routes I thought.

In reply to Durbs:

Not a crowd pleaser if the crowd doesn't like it. Suspect it's more of a route-setter pleaser. I would have thought the crowd wants to see climbing.

Climbers awkwardly running over bouncy matting - load of rubbish. A valid climbing technique? It's not climbing, it's just a novelty method of getting on to the climbing. You might as well put a paddling pool at the bottom and claim that climbing out of water is a valid climbing technique (DWS).

Do we really want comp climbers to have to train running up walls?

In reply to robin mueller:

I agree that it doesn't belong in the comp. But I still think it's a "crowd-pleaser" though not specifically for a climbing crowd, but non-climbing observers (of which there are surely some?)

I remember there was controversy last year when they had a jamming problem which stuffed several climbers and some complained it wasn't "proper" climbing (which it obviously is), I think this is possibly the reverse. I get the impression the climbers didn't like it, the climbing-audiance didn't like it, though perhaps it provided some thrills and spills to newcomers to the sport?

Perhaps it just shows the divide between comp/outdoor climbing - as do the grades. Although I think that while some say that 8b climbers shouldn't really be struggling to climb 7b+ boulders, this is after the qualifications, the semis and infront of a crowd...

In reply to UKC News:

What an incredibly thrilling piece of news.

In reply to lemonparty:

Indeed it is.
Though I suspect you're being sarcastic, which is a shame.

In reply to UKC News:

Who were the two commentators?

In reply to jon: Daniel Finn, who does all of the webcasts for IFSC.tv and Sheila McCarron, who lives in France and has co-commentated on a number of World Cups in France

In reply to UKC News:

Well done Shauna.
And well done to Leah who narrowily missed a place in the final, was this her first world cup?

In reply to j_duds:

Certainly not her first World Cup but her best result to date and a great confidence boost for the next one.

http://egw.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php?page_name=pstambl&person=6849&am...

In reply to Graeme Alderson:

I really like the commentary, although sometimes it's a bit irritating when 2 climbers are on the wall and they focus on the wrong one.

What are their backgrounds, they seemed to say in this round that Daniel boulders around V3/V4 - not sure if this was a joke - but he seems to know his stuff about climbing. Likewise Sheila.

Quite jealous of their jobs...

In reply to Durbs: Daniel is a jobbing actor/writer/commentator. He started working on the World Cups last year (or was it the year before) and had no knowledge of climbing before that, he has picked it up well. Although he did need some clips round the earhole to stop saying grips at first - as everyone knows only professional route setters are allowed to say grips

He used to climb a bit as a kid (at the Ackers) but isn't a climber, he started doing a bit towrads the end of last year and might have done an vergraded V3 at a wall but in reality boulderers about V0

Sheila and her whole family are climbers, ex-pats living in France. Sheila helps out ie is a volunteer. Dan gets paid but also has to help set up and de-rig at the events, I doubt if he is on good money for the hours he works.

Oh I'm sure the pay's fairly terrible, but still, travel round the world watching climbing comps - where do I sign up?

In reply to Durbs: I would be your boss!

In reply to Graeme Alderson: Ps see answer on t'other channel

In reply to Tyler:

I wouldn't trust the grading, I think the route setters are protecting themselves by a wide range.
Particulary since the 21st guy just flashed 8b:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=67978