UKC

VIDEO: La Sportiva Legends Only 2016

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 UKC News 28 Nov 2016
Chon Jongwon working one of the problems during the practice session at La Sportiva Legends Only 2016, 3 kbWise from previous years, I won't give anything away, but let's just say it was a good show with some mind blowing performances.

Line up*:

Jimmy Webb, USA

Alex Megos, Germany

Fujii Kokoro, Japan

Rustam Gelmanov, Russia

Chon Jongwon, South Korea

Liam Lonsdale was, as always,...

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 allarms 28 Nov 2016
In reply to UKC News:

I was excited to hear from Jerry but instead had to listen to some cringe interviews between the problems.

A pretty good show besides that.
 simes303 28 Nov 2016
In reply to UKC News:
That commentary was bloody awful.
Post edited at 20:46
11
 zv 28 Nov 2016
In reply to UKC News:

Great comp!

Does anyone else think Jerry Moffatt would be the perfect comp commentator?

Get him commentating! ☺
1
 Si dH 28 Nov 2016
In reply to UKC News:

Nice 8 minute highlight package here if you just want to watch them all do the moves...some of which are pretty amazing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=FYVI5PzhFcU
 SenzuBean 28 Nov 2016
In reply to simes303:

That guy has an atrociously bad beard.
2
 stp 28 Nov 2016
In reply to UKC News:

Thought it was a good comp. Very interesting to see how the climbers compared on the different problems. But it was a shame with two climbers injured (Tomoa had to cancel completely) plus Rustam looked a bit hosed by his lack of stature, on 4 and 5 particularly.

With worked routes I would think some of the luck element is reduced (like just not spotting the right beta). But with so few problems in the entire comp there's quite a bit of luck for what suits you. Spread over more problems this would even out better.

I think last year's was better. Janja's victory was so impressive.


I'm also surprised how little pre-comp coverage this got. It wasn't announced on UKC before the event - which considering Bjorn works for them is pretty slack. It wasn't on any of the Sportiva web sites I could see. I couldn't see anything about it on UKB - maybe they didn't even realise it was happening?
1
 JLS 29 Nov 2016
In reply to stp:

While there is some great climbing on show, I didn't enjoy it as much as a regular World Cup. At a WC you know by the fact they've got there, the guys in the final are on form and climbing well. Here, I thought form varied from poor to so so to on fire. The winner was great to watch but watching someone come out and fail to stick the first move, then walk away, didn't make great viewing. Maybe the setting should try to provide less harsh starts and be more progressive to get everyone off the ground. Perhaps they should invite 10 climbers along to the problem try out day and only select 6 for the event/show.
 ChrisBrooke 29 Nov 2016
In reply to UKC News:

Really enjoyed those highlights. What creative moves and problems. Looked really fun (if you're one of the strongest, most powerful boulderers in the world...)
 jsmcfarland 29 Nov 2016
In reply to JLS:

Agree. Watching people fall off the first move a few times in a row got old fast..
 liamlonsdale 29 Nov 2016
In reply to simes303:

What would you have preferred to have heard?
 liamlonsdale 29 Nov 2016
In reply to JLS:

Interesting! I had similar thoughts about using a more progressive setting style. In terms of inviting more climbers, I think that would be really difficult for the folks at Klåttercentret would struggle purely for budget reasons. Also, with regards to being 'on form' ... Jimmy was struggling due to a massive bout of food poisoning from the night before. Then it just comes down to style etc.
 Fraser 29 Nov 2016
In reply to liamlonsdale:

> What would you have preferred to have heard?

I actually thought you did a pretty decent job, certainly compared to other WC /final commentaries I've endured!
 cha1n 29 Nov 2016
In reply to UKC News:

Isn't this the comp where the climbers usually set their own problems that suit their style? I much preferred that format and the climbers seemed a bit more invested emotionally. They were also a bit more open about what grade they thought it was.

I thought aspects of the commentary were good, it was nice to have someone who actually had some climbing knowledge discussing the moves.
 liamlonsdale 29 Nov 2016
In reply to Fraser:

Thanks. Kind of you to say. I'm open to (and grateful for) constructive feedback ...
 HansStuttgart 29 Nov 2016
In reply to liamlonsdale:

I liked your commenting during the climbing, but between the climbing I'd rather have listened to Pohl/Moffat etc. It gives a better impression of what it's like there and now there were two commentators essentially speaking at the same time.
 liamlonsdale 29 Nov 2016
In reply to HansStuttgart:
Good to hear. The organisers asked to do the "commentator + athlete" interviews and we rolled with it. Last year they did interviews on the mats and broadcast them and they were slated ... hence why they changed it to the way it was this year. I reckon there is a happy medium to be found somewhere in there ... Thanks for your input. LL
Post edited at 23:00
 allarms 29 Nov 2016
In reply to liamlonsdale:

I agree with hansSttugart.

As i said above, I was looking forward to some jerry time.
 stp 29 Nov 2016
In reply to liamlonsdale:

I mostly like your commentating though I wasn't keen on the question and answer interviews in this comp. I think the questions could have been better. And then of course there was language difficulties for the Chon and Kokoro - which was obviously not your fault. But mostly you do a great job, and it's nice to have someone who actually knows what they're talking about and is genuinely passionate about the sport.
 stp 29 Nov 2016
In reply to JLS:

> Here, I thought form varied from poor to so so to on fire.

I thought everyone except Jimmy was climbing well. I think Rustam maybe struggled with reach and the boulders didn't suit his best style though.


> The winner was great to watch but watching someone come out and fail to stick the first move, then walk away, didn't make great viewing. Maybe the setting should try to provide less harsh starts and be more progressive to get everyone off the ground.

I think that on P4 they did modify the start and make it easier than it had been set initially. Only Rustam couldn't do the first move at all. Alex couldn't repeat it after the first go. I suppose it still wasn't quite easy enough. Though if Alex had done that first try there might have been a tie or at least a very close finish. I'm sure doing the setting for a comp like this is really hard because you only have a few boulders to separate the climbers and they've practiced them first.


> Perhaps they should invite 10 climbers along to the problem try out day and only select 6 for the event/show.

I guess Sportiva's budget is a good bit less than Adidas has for it's Rockstars' event so they're limited on who they can invite. The crowd (ticket money) is somewhat smaller it seemed too.

 Durbs 30 Nov 2016
In reply to UKC News:

I thought the production and commentary was great. I like Liam's style and, in particular, his enthusiasm + knowledge puts current IFSC comp commentators to shame (#LLforIFSC2017....?).

The comp itself was good but not great. Bit too much of a flash-fest (or fail-fest), no real battles to get up to the top of many, with most just having the once crux it seemed? Partly this is due to the calibre of competitors and it must be a fiendish task to set "fair" problems that would separate a pack of that standard, especially given they've had time to work them all.

1
 JLS 30 Nov 2016
In reply to stp:

Fair comment(s). But the winner did look like he was on better form that the others. Obviously with only four problems you can get a bit lucky on percentage moves and style of problem. Perhaps another day and another set of problems the result would have been different with someone else looking strongest.
 HosteDenis 02 Dec 2016
In reply to UKC News:

about the commentary

youtube.com/watch?v=CFTg8hvjV58&

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