Last weekend saw many of the world’s best youth climbers descend on Imst, Austria for the 2011 World Youth Championships of sport and speed climbing.  When the dust settled Sasha DiGiulian was the only American to stand on the podium for sport climbing finishing 3rd in a closely contested Female Juniors.  Here are the rest of the results including where the 26 American entrants finished:

If speed climbing is your thing then you’ll have to click through to one of the results links to get to the results from that portion of the event.

For some photos of the event check out this gallery from Luka Fonda on the Positive Vibes Facebook page or this huge gallery of pictures by Ernst Riha on the event’s Facebook page.

2011 World Youth Championships Results from Climbing Narcissist

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Related posts:

1. 2009 World Youth Climbing Championship Results
2. 2011 Youth World Championships
3. 2009 Climbing World Championships Results
4. Results From 2011 Canadian Bouldering Championships & 1st Bouldering World Cup Of 2011
5. 2010 Teva Mountain Games: Vail Bouldering World Cup Women’s Qualifier Results
6. 2011 Bouldering World Cup Vienna Results
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2011 Youth World Championships from Climbing Narcissist

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5. 2009 Climbing World Championships Results
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• Deadpoint Magazine reports on an 8 year-old girl from New York sending Power Of Silence (V10) in Hueco Tanks.
• The Enlightened Chuffer captures a few shots of Daniel Woods working what could potentially be the hardest problem on Boulder, CO’s Flagstaff Mountain.
• Excellent interview with Royal Robbins
• Check out this video of a new gym being built in Atlanta.  Once completed Stone Summit will be the largest climbing gym in the country, and it will be the site for 2010 Youth Sport Climbing Nationals as well.

• When Finnish boulderer Nalle Hukkataival went to Spain earlier this year it was assumed that he would try his hand at the infamous First Round First Minute project at Margalef since its bouldery style would no doubt suit him well.  It turned out he never got the chance to try FRFM  as it is apparently a closed project.  In the comments of a recent post on his blog Hukkataival says that, “When I went to Spain, my main motivation was to try a very well known project, but I was not allowed to try it.”
• In a post titled Live and Learn, Bolt Smart Joe Kinder addresses questions over some routes he bolted at the Red River Gorge in 2008 calling the situation “embarrassing” and “something that I have learned a drastic lesson over”.
• Splitterchoss.com had a couple interesting route development posts of late as well.  One post is about The Eight Unfortunate Truths of Route Development and the other asks the question Do First Ascentionists Own The Rock?
• In other Red River Gorge news, a gate has been installed along the trail to PMRP areas Solar Collector and the Dark Side to remind climbers that those areas were not free and to encourage continued donations to the RRGCC.
• The Cleanest Line blog brings us this amazing story of one man’s journey from life in East Germany behind the Berlin Wall to a career with Patagonia.
• Never Stop Climbing interviews Fitz Cahall, the man behind popular online climbing media Dirtbag Diaries and The Season.  If you haven’t seen it yet, here is episode 9 of The Season in which Matt Maddaloni continues his work on the “anti cam”:

The Season Episode 9 from Fitz Cahall and Bryan Smith on Vimeo.

• 2 separate couples donate $2,100 to the Access Fund for a day of climbing with Chris Sharma
• Colin Haley used a helmet cam to shoot this video of his solo ascent of Aguja Mermoz in Patagonia.  I enjoyed how the video demonstrated some of the solo-ing systems he used as well as the spectacular Patagonian scenery; however, I did not enjoy the motion sickness brought on by the constant head bobbing in the footage.  Just thinking about it as I write this is making me dizzy again.  Watch the entire 13 minutes at your own peril.

VIDEO: BD athlete Colin Haley wears a helmet camera during a solo ascent of Aguja Mermoz in Patagonia from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

• How long have you been reading this site?

Update: To follow up on the FRFM tidbit and the notion that Big Up has something to do with who can climb on the route, Big Up says on their blog that “we don’t tell Chris what to do, that is some silly speculation. It’s pretty standard on top-end routes to respect the equipper’s effort.”  Make of that what you will.

News & Notes – 3/29/2010 from Climbing Narcissist

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The 2009 World Youth Climbing Championships were held this past weekend in Valence, France with many of climbing’s future (and current) stars on display.

Leading the American effort was rising star Julian Bautista who had an impressive 2nd place showing in the Mammut Bouldering Championships last month.  Bautista, who has the unfortunate task of competing against one of the best climbers in the world in Adam Ondra, finished 3rd in his division in a virtual tie with 2nd place finisher Max Rudinger from Austria.  Ondra of course easily took first place, topping out all 4 routes in the competition.

Two other Americans made it to finals in their divisions, Sasha DiGiulian (4th) and Michaela Kiersch (10th), but Bautista was the only American to make it on to the podium.  Don’t be surprised when you are reading about Bautista sending V14 and/or hard 5.14 in the next couple of years.

Here are the top 3 finishers for each division along with the finishing positions of all American climbers:

Complete Results

Update: You can see some pictures from the comp here or here

2009 World Youth Climbing Championship Results from Climbing Narcissist

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2. 2009 Climbing World Championships Results
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4. 2011 Bouldering World Cup Eindhoven Results
5. 2011 Teva Mountain Games: Vail Bouldering World Cup Final Results
6. 2010 Teva Mountain Games: Vail Bouldering World Cup Women’s Qualifier Results
7. 2011 Bouldering World Cup Sheffield Results
8. 2011 Youth World Championships

News…

The American sport climbing scene has shifted to Europe with Dave Graham, Joe Kinder, Daniel Woods, Jon Cardwell, Isaac Caldiero, Alex Honnold and others all holding it down in France at the moment.  Here are a few bits of news from their travels as well as the exploits of others back here in the States:

• Dave Graham is back in action after an unfortunate ankle injury sustained forerunning at the Vail World Cup.  In an uncomfortably hot Céüse, France he has done La Part du Diable (3rd ascent of a new 5.14c) as well as a 2nd go send (7 years after the first attempt) of Radot Jolie Pepere (5.13d)
• Also in France is Daniel Woods.  Climbing at both Céüse and Gorges du Loup he has done 4 5.14b’s and flashed a 5.14a despite the hot conditions.
• Earlier this month, Brad Weaver made a 4th try, no kneepads ascent of Andy Raether’s Kuru (5.14c) at Rifle, CO
• In increasingly old Rifle news, Sam Elias and Jon Cardwell repeated Dave Graham’s Girl Talk (5.14c) back in May
• Carlo Traversi did the 3rd ascent of Ty Landman’s Top Notch (V13) in RMNP.  Look for footage of the send (and several other RMNP classics) in an upcoming movie from LT11
• In Rocklands, SA, comp star Kilian Fischhuber climbed a well known project that had been dubbed the “Air Star” project.

…And Notes

• The Flashed website has a new section dedicated to their team of athletes that includes a nice blog.
• I Am Climb has launched as a new online climbing magazine
• 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell is coming up on September 26th, and word on the street is that one of the world’s best 24 hour climbers will be in attendance:  none other than Tommy Caldwell.  Will there even be enough climbing for him to stay busy for 24 hours?
• Jamie Emerson has put together a cool list of Colorado’s hardest boulders (V13 & up) as well as a list of all the V12s in the State.
• Friends of Muir Valley is holding their 6th annual Trail Day at Muir Valley on Saturday, September 26th.
• Jonathan Siegrist has been working on opening a new sport climbing area near Estes Park, CO dubbed Wizard’s Gate
• The Youth World Championships are taking place this weekend in Valence, FR.  You can see first round results here, and watch live video at this link.
• Interview with SuperTopo founder Chris McNamara
• Interview with Patxi Usobiaga in which he very interestingly says that he reads, “about comps in the US way more” than comps in Euorpe.
• Speaking of European comps, take this poll:

News & Notes – 08/28/2009 from Climbing Narcissist

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I learned a few things while coaching/belaying/juding at this weekend’s USAC SCS Youth Divisionals held at Adventure Rock, my home gym.

First, I learned that while there are no scientific studies to support this hypothesis, having the name Alex Johnson means you are predisposed to being an excellent rock climber.  Many of you are already familiar with the female Alex Johnson who is well known for winning a World Cup and sending V12.  What many of you may not know is that there is an equally talented and equally tall and lanky male Alex Johnson lurking in the Midwest.

I’ve watched this male version of the Alex Johnson climbing machine over the years at several youth comps.  He’s been making steady improvement in his climbing until this past year or so when he has simply taken his skills to another level.  The very “brave and humble”™ Johnson easily won his division at the comp yesterday, and recent Facebook stalking revealed that he has begun to take his skills out on the real rock with an impressive onsight flash of B.O.H.I.C.A. (5.13b) at the Red River Gorge (his first 5.13 one of his first 5.13s, thanks to ODub for the correction).

Second, I learned that I’m apparently not the only person who reads this blogsite.  Despite statistical evidence to the contrary, I’ve always operated under the assumption that no one ever notices what I do here.  Somewhat surprisingly, throughout the weekend I came across several people that complimented me on the site.  Thanks to everyone that took a minute to say hi, and shoutout to ODub who I had a chance to chat up while watching his daughter climb.

Finally, the oft-used phrase around our gym is that “it’s all about giving back to the kids” and this weekend was no exception.  Normally I would have been bent out of shape about not climbing outside on a weekend with such nice weather, but I really enjoy these opportunities to “give back to the kids”.  To be able to help facilitate an event like this and watch kids pushing themselves to climb their best was a lot of fun.  I’ve been coaching and attending youth comps for several years now so I’ve been able to watch many of these kids grow up which has been great.  It was also nice to see the female Alex Johnson helping out at the comp by belaying, iso running and climbing french freeing routes to hang ropes.  It’s not every day you see a former World Cup winner doing that sort of thing.

As far as results from the comp, I would link to them if I could find them.  I was too busy all weekend to take any pictures, but I know you will be able to find some in the near future at the excellent photo site ClimbingPix.com.  In the meantime, here are a couple of grainy iPhone shots that have nothing to do with actual climbing:

Boiling pasta for the kick-off party feast

SoIll holds, always a crowd pleaser

Divisionals Weekend 2009: It’s All About Giving Back To The Kids from Climbing Narcissist

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• Tiffany Hensley & Sean McColl are North American Champions for sport climbing after this past weekend’s Continental Championships in Montreal, Canada.  Full results here.  Props to Midwesterners Greg Padovani (7th place), Alex Johnson (male version) (4th place) and Michaela Kiersch (1st place) for their fantastic showings.  If I forgot someone else from the Midwest, please let me know.
• The female Alex Johnson has started to contribute a pro blog to the Deadpoint Magazine site.  Check out her first entry that includes some great pictures from Kelly McBride…I want those shoes!!
• BetaBase never disappoints when it comes to giving the lowdown on the Yosemite Valley bouldering scene.  They just posted video of Paul Barraza sending Shadow Warrior and Yabo Roof, both V12.  In addition there is footage of Courtney Hemphill making two likely FFAs when she does Zodiac and Tap Dance, both V10.
• The English Man In Font blog has had a great series of entries lately.  He is currently on a mission to repeat Dave Graham’s Amber (V13) in Brione, Switzerland, but he is struggling to overcome battles with conditions and mental roadblocks.  His latest entry has some interesting thoughts on the dilemma over how long to spend on a project, something I think many of us have struggled with on climbing trips.
• James Pearson’s grit testpiece The Promise, which was recently repeated by Americans Alex Honnold & Kevin Jorgeson saw 2 more ascents this weekend.  Pearson initially proposed that he felt the line warranted a grade of E10 (or even E11), however the route is apparently much safer than Pearson thought which has led the most recent repeaters to suggest a grade of E7.  It sounds like the route is basically a V8/9ish boulder problem that is pretty well protected.
• Ty Landman is done updating his 8a scorecard?!?!?
• AllClimbing has put together a nice list of climbing events

News & Notes – 12/08/2008 from Climbing Narcissist

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• Dave MacLeod freed his project on Ben Nevis after months of dedicated work.  I’ll let you read the various reports around the interwebs if you want more, however I would like to highlight his rope beta for the route.  According to HotAches, MacLeod started the climb tied to two ropes, and at separate points in the climb he jettisoned each of the ropes to finish the last bit of the route as a free solo.  Very clever!

Photo:  Claire MacLeod

• There has been a lot of good discussion recently on the FrontRangeBouldering Message Board about the possibility of the bouldering at Mt. Evans appearing in an upcoming guidebook.  Posts of particular interest to the discussion can be found here and here.  Long story short is that many people feel it is too early in the development of the access issues at Mt. Evans to include it in a guidebook.  There has also been some interesting reaction on both sides of the issue on other blogs. David Lloyd has a very well thought out post on how guidebooks have been a positive influence in his life while Shannon provides some insight on how guidebooks may have negatively affected climbing at the Buttermilks.
• Daniel Woods and Paul Robinson are back from two months of bouldering in the Rocklands of South Africa with an unsurprisingly impressive ticklist.  Combined they managed to climb 70 problems V10 or harder that they had not done previously (Daniel has been to SA previously).  Check out the blog at the newly redesigned Big Up Productions for more updates from South Africa.
• The Outdoor Retail Trade Show is this weekend in Salt Lake City, UT and that of course means it’s time for another huge bouldering comp.  Check out this preview of one of the walls to help get you psyched for the comp.  The running order looks stacked as usual.  I guess a $10,000 purse will do that.

Via Carlo Traversi

• Joe Kinder has started to get psyched on making the hike up to Colorado’s Fortress of Solitude crag with the intention of repeating Tommy Caldwell’s Kryptonite (5.14c/d).  Of particular note is his insistence that no holds on the route have been manufactured which is in response to controversy that cropped up after a visit from Francois Legrand and Yuji Hirayama several years back.  Hopefully he can stay psyched long enough to get the send.

The Fortress Of Solitude

Photo:  Joe Kinder

• The middle of Texas is the climbing epicenter of the United States?
• Freddie Wilkinson has a great blog entry on the tragedy on K2 this weekend.

I still haven’t gotten around to watching Dosage 5 for a 2nd time to solidify my thoughts on it to give you a full review.  From reading a few comments on the Big Up Blog it would appear that others are in agreement that the movie is good but that there are a few things that weren’t quite right.

News & Notes – 8/4/2008 from Climbing Narcissist

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We are unfortunately back in the never ending arctic winter of Wisconsin. The weekend at ABS Nationals in Boulder was amazing to say the least. Our computer is in need of a new video card so it will be a few days until I have a chance to go through all the pictures from the weekend. I will have a more thorough write-up at that point, but until then here is a very brief re-cap of the Adult finals on Saturday night:

It was very cool to see one of my predictions come true when Paul Robinson won for the men. Despite not seeming at his strongest Paul still managed to top a strong field that included crowd favorite Chris Sharma and Canadian Sean McColl. Notable performances were also turned in by Mark Hobson, Tyler Haack and Ryan Olson who had highpoint on Men’s # 4.

Unfortunately my other prediction for Lisa Rands to win for the Women did not come to fruition as she couldn’t put it together on Women’s # 4 and came in 6th place. Alex Puccio eked out a victory over Alex Johnson by the slimmest of margins despite only finishing two of the problems (compared to Johnson’s 3).

Paul Robinson – ABS 9 National Champion

ABS 9 Nationals Male Open

1. Paul Robinson
2. Chris Sharma
3. Sean McColl
4. Mark Hobson
5. Tyler Haack

ABS 9 Nationals Female Open

1. Alex Puccio
2. Alexandra Johnson
3. Paige Claassen
4. Elizabeth Asher
5. Tiffany Hensley

You can see full results for both Adult and Youth competitors by clicking here.

2008 ABS 9 Nationals Results from Climbing Narcissist

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We are back from Cincinnati and the ABS Midwest Regionals competition. Overall the comp was a very good experience, and we had 4 kids qualify for Nationals at the Spot which was very exciting. The comp itself was very well run, and for the most part the problems looked really fun. It is looking like we will be heading out to Boulder next month!

Here are a few other random observations:

• Props to regular climbingnarc readers Tony and Sarah for being 2 of the kids to qualify. Way to do us a solid.
• A ton of kids these days are wearing Evolv shoes and the La Sport Solutions. There are not many wearing Five Ten.
• Standing around a gym inhaling chalk dust and spectating for 10 hours is in many ways more physically taxing than climbing in the comp itself.
• The host gym, Climb Time of Blue Ash, is a really cool bouldering facility. All the tall steep walls really made me wish I could have climbed. It is easy to see how climbers like Grady Bagwell have gotten so strong climbing there.
• With the exception of the problems for the 11 & under kids, the climbing seemed to be hard but fair for everyone. The ones for the smallest kids seemed a bit on the hard side too close to the ground. Of course, setting boulder problems for kids under 11 is also one of the hardest groups to set for so that wasn’t all that surprising.
• Having a second, bigger comp on the same day was a really cool idea to give the kids more climbing.
• Taking pictures in a climbing gym using only the built-in flash is really, really hard.
• The atmosphere at this comp was much more relaxed than other USA Climbing comps in recent memory, and there were fewer of the overbearing parent types that were more prevalent at other comps. If you were there, the reason was clear.

ABS Regionals from Climbing Narcissist

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