2010 UBC Pro Tour Earth Treks Roc Comp Results

The comp was awesome and as usual the ne2c crew ran it well. However, for years I’ve complained about the lack of a stance on bumping competitors in the citizens comp. If ne2c is leading the way in comp format and presentation, they need to take a stand on bumping the sandbaggers and keeping it fun for people. The beginner division should never be won by a guy with 3100 points.

Damn straight we read CN. Doesn’t everybody?

Sorry about the scoring snafu’s and yeah, we get tired of the sound of our own voices too… we’re working on finding a solution for both of those things. Plenty of lessons still to learn if we’re going do what we hope to do for the sport that we love. First glimpse of finals HL coming shortly… Back to work!

Thanks to anyone who tuned in, our Facebook page almost blew up!

It was cool as hell to be able to watch the comp live. I’ve never been to a major comp, so it was def. sick to see how intense the problems are and just how nasty strong these girls and guys are! I can’t wait to watch the next comp.

I agree with Matt, I think that would be a fantastic idea, maybe not even with just Paul, but other competitors who have competed against such a legend. Would be a great read. FYI been reading this site for over a year and finally commented, so nice to meet everyone

Overall, I’d the live feed was a HUGE success. I watched the second half of the semi’s and the entire finals. The feed was nearly flawless(cut out once during finals), the footage was great, and I really felt the energy of the competition.

As expected with something so new, there were some things that need a bit of polish. I thought it was a great idea to have Obe as a reporter on the floor, but it clearly didn’t work. Maybe the athletes weren’t prepared for it or it was done at the wrong time. Either way, I think with some more preparation an on the floor reporter would be a great addition to the program.

As said in previous posts, the announcing needs a little bit of polish, and I’d like to spend a minute giving some personal suggestions.

The the majority of the time the announcing was GREAT. I know it’s difficult to talk constantly and keep an audience you can’t see engaged. I thought the main announcer( his name escapes me) did a good job at this without getting too repetitive. (though I thought he was introducing too many people as living legends =) )

That said, I would like to make a couple suggestions to the NE2C crew about the announcing, based solely on my experience as a viewer.

1. Separate the hype man from the announcer. While watching the comp, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between announcers in the Olympics and the announcers in the show. In the Olympics, you might have a retired athlete at the venue as a reporter who is really excited about everything going on, cheering for the competitors, but you also have a level headed announcer who’s doing the majority of the talking. I think this sort of format would have worked much better. Having a bunch of people scream into Mic’s when something happen is distracting. I know it’s difficult to do ( I was yelling at my computer when Sharma did Mens 1 and Dwoods did that ridiculous save), but it would go a long way to control the emotions while being an announcer. Announcing to an audience you can’t see is different then announcing to a crowd you’re standing in front of.

2. Professionalism. At times, a professional approach was really lacking. The entire point of the UBC is to help progress climbing, but if that’s going to happen there’s going to HAVE to be a more professional attitude coming from the announcers. I shared the video feed to a friend who is a very new climber and he really enjoyed it, but kept asking me “did this announcer just come from a monster truck show?” As I said earlier, I think it’s ok to have a hype man at times, but when an announcer is giving shout outs to their homies on a live feed, it gives a very amateurish feel to the audience.

That’s all I have for suggestions now. I hope nobody takes anything personally here because I’m 100% behind what NE2C is doing and only want them to succeed. I’m totally aware that this live feed thing is in its infancy and I think it’s a HUGE step in the right direction for climbing. Great job NE2C and I look forward to watching the next comp.

Thanks to all the peeps and business that put that show on. Made my Saturday way better and the climbing was just amazing. And it was free to view, I mean how cool is that.

Results: Sharma did great; it appeared the routes really suited his style. Problem 2 seemed the most technical with that crappy sloper wedge in the negative direction and It was so Sharma-esque to make an attempt to skip it – gotta love it tho. Don’t be too hard on DW and PR. I can’t imagine the pressure they must feel right now. I think we all found it slightly ironic that they each put up a recent V16 and then had to face Sharma at what appeared to be him entirely in the zone. We’ve all seen Sharma get bested in the comps as well so it really doesn’t mean anything but it certainly added to the atmosphere.

Viewer Impression: I understand that it’s an MC kinda thing and the real goal is to sell tickets for the competition and make it an actual experience for those actually there. So, the format makes complete sense. But, as a viewer it would be freaking great to hear a lot more technical aspects about the holds and the routes and the way the climbers are climbing the routes. Perhaps some footage of the route setters working out the problem? I get it that you can’t shout beta over a mic that everyone can hesr. Things might be a bit more viewer friendly to know the commentator is just talking to the viewer and not the crowd. Then the MC can focus on the crowd and the atmosphere and the commentator can do his thing without having to worry about one an other. I’d gladly sit thru more commercials that I could not fast forward thru in order to feel like I’m watching a presentation just for viewers. Also, what a great freaking idea it was to put the mens and womens routes right next to eachother. It made it so we could keep seeing all the action. As far as structure goes, this was a lot more exciting to watch.

I’ll shut up now…

One thing that people haven’t mentioned yet was the language used by the announcers. Not that I’m at all offended by a “holy shit” or “God damn” but this is something to look out for if ne2c starts building up its viewership. Its not often that you hear a Bob Costas type blurt out a holy shit during a memorable moment in the Olympics.

Also I completely agree with the need for a calm demeenor commentator describing the nuances of each problem. It wasn’t until after the comp ended and I actually got to touch some of the holds before I realized what they were pulling on.

Anybody knows what happen to Chris Webb Parsons? He was 6th in the semi…