Saturday May 17, 2008
Today was qualifiers for the Canadian Bouldering National Championships in Edmonton, Canada. I've never competed in a Canadian National competition and was excited when I heard I could participate back at the Western Regionals some weeks back, now.
Urban Climbing at the University of Alberta is hosting the event. There were 22 women and about 40 men competing in the Open Qualifiers, which took place today. I was competing as well. First, by having a 2 day spread for the competition, they were able to have a reasonable start for the open (iso closed at 11am) and run it through the mid to late afternoon. When I left, they were setting the 30 or so problems for the scramble comp the next morning (this would be the recreational and experienced category for the non-competitive climbers). As a bonus, the problems from qualifiers were going to remain and anyone not making finals was welcome to return to try them and the scramble problems the next morning.
They had 2 heats of climbers and used the zone scoring (flash, bonus hold, # of attempts) with participants climbing or resting every 5 minutes. We started very nearly on time and from what I could tell, everything went out without any major glitches. There was a problem where a hold spun, but it worked out fine to get him back on the problem and still allow time for him to do his 5th and final problem without interrupting the schedule. Mostly, this was because they built into the schedule 5 minutes where each problem would get scrubbed meaning there was an empty spot in the middle of the heats to correct for this type of thing.
Mike and I were both competing as were a number of the strong Canadians I have come to know over time or have competed against in the past or a few weeks ago. I was super psyched to be in this arena, hanging out with such talent. And, the problems were really good!
First, problem number one for the women. There are rules and restrictions on climbing that as a competitor you have to understand and keep in mind at all times when competing. I didn't even realize I was breaking a rule until I'd broken it and was called off the problem after only 2 moves into it. So much for a flash attempt. I inadvertently flagged my foot too far right and caught the edge of the wall, which was considered out of bounds. :( ok, so, shake it off and try again. Now, thinking hard to not do that again, I didn't put all of my energy into the bonus hold and found myself unable to make a move off of it or top the problem. The problem was powerful, but it was within my ability and I knew when the horn blew that this was an immediate setback. I would have to hope for a bit of luck on one of the other 4 problems...
Problem # 2. Problem 2 wasn't as powerful, but it was more technical. I was particularly humored that it reflected a problem I was trying at Edgeworks just a few days before, minus the funky right foot toeing. Anyway, the techy move consisted of a long move out left to an undercling, some foot maneuvering and matching nearby for your right hand on another undercling...so you are double underclinging on very crappy footholds. I got the double undercling, but as I went to move to the bonus hold, my left foot slipped off and I came off the wall. ouch! so much for flashing problem # 2. I got back on the problem and was very cautious with that left foot and managed to stick it and the bonus hold and top out the problem. Ok, some setbacks but there are 3 more problems...
Problem 3. Jump. It was obvious all I had to do was jump, but I don't know if it was the heat or just that I lost some ability to just hold crappy holds, but I dyno'd to this hold and could not stick it. For the life of me, I'd very nearly have it, you would think that I would be solid and then slip. My hands would grease off, my body would swing too much...I couldn't find another way to get that hold and I knew that my odds were just stacking against me at this point. Walking away from that problem was near certainty that unless I flashed the last 2, I was looking at placing pretty low. Especially since I kind of knew how the people before and after me where doing...
Problem 4. ah, a good powerful and a bit technical problem. It suited me well. I flashed the bonus hold and nearly held the next hold after. So much for another flash. However, my spirits were lifted because I was sure I could get that hold....only I never made it that far again. I don't know what happened. I was over eager, probably. On my next attempt, I forgot my sequence, ended up with my feet cutting and eventually burning out too early. This was not good. I just drained the power I needed for any further attempts. I got to the bonus hold on my last 2 attempts, but I could not make the next hold, which was one away from the finish. For perspective, this problem was flashed by one girl.
Problem 5. tricky. This problem had a tricky start. I lost one attempt in my effort to try something, which didn't work before figuring out what did. I got to the bonus hold on the 2nd attempt and for the life of me could not make the last two moves to the finish hold. The holds were horrendous to the fingers, just tiny little things that we had to squeeze and it hurt after each attempt so you didn't want to try this too many times. It was also the last problem so I did want to try it as much as possible. I really needed another top out. Unfortunately, this crazy, crimpy thing was not going to be it. For perspective, not many girls figured out how to start the problem and only 1 girl topped it and she was not the same girl who topped problem #4.
So, where did that leave me...well, with 22 girls, they were cutting 12...with only 1 top I knew I was cut. There were a handful of girls who topped 3 problems and another who topped 2 problems. I needed to top a 2nd problem to place and I didn't so I didn't make finals. It's the first time as an open competitor that I didn't make finals. Feels weird. I'm going to do the scramble comp tomorrow just to get in more climbing.
Erin-Ford from the East coast of Canada qualified in first; she was super strong and the only woman to flash problem 4.
Thirza did especially well, as well. She topped the 5th problem that no one else could do and flashed the first 2 problems, topped the 3rd, got the bonus hold on 4 and topped the 5th. super strong!
Sheena did really well, qualifying in 3rd.
For the Men, Sean McColl qualified in 1st, Marshal German in 2nd and Simon Parton in 3rd. Mike actually qualified in 8th. The men's problems were also very powerful and difficult. There was a lot of big moves and a lot of jumping a looong way! Good job, Mike!
