Climbing Narcissist » Mammut Bouldering Championships

Full 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships Highlights

Narc — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:48:18 +0000

Full highlight clips are now available for both the Men’s and Women’s final from this year’s Mammut Bouldering Championships (in DPM HD!). Let the debate continue…

Full 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships Highlights from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes – 08/07/2009

Narc — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:00:19 +0000

News

Nalle Hukkataival has added a new V15 called Livin Large at Rocklands, South Africa. It took Hukkataival 12 days of work to open the amazing looking 25 ft. tall arete. Read more at the Lenslam blog.
Keita Mogaki has flashed his second V13, Klem Loskot’s Black Shadow at Rocklands, South Africa. Read an interview he did with Stikkit here.
Congratulations to Gabor Szekely and Sasha DiGiulian for sending their hardest routes on a recent low gravity day in Rodellar, Spain. Szekely sent Los Inconformistas (5.14d) and Sasha DiGiulian sent Botanics (5.13d/.14a). Los Inconformistas was also sent in recent days by Magnus Midtbø and Felipe Camargo.
Matt Wilder did the 3rd ascent of Sonnie Trotter’s traditional route The Path (5.14 R) at Lake Louise in Canada.

Notes

SuperTopo recently released two new guidebooks, one for the bouldering in Tuolumne and the other for free climbing in Zion. I haven’t had a chance to review them yet, but if you order a pdf version of either book by August 9th you receive a print version for FREE (no shipping or sales tax either). I used this deal last year in buying a couple of books and I think it works out great to have both a printed copy and an online version of a guidebook so don’t delay.
Photos and thoughts from several people at the recent memorial in Mammoth Lakes for John Bachar.
Ryan Olson has a nicely redesigned website.
Story about Alex Honnold in a local CA paper.
Alex Johnson blogs about the deplorable conditions athletes faced at the recent World Championships in China.
A nice interview with Rock & Ice editor Jeff Jackson.
A few more links to wrap up Outdoor Retailer Summer Market ’09: Sicky Gnar Gnar, Splitter Choss, DPM, UCMag
Is the advancement of climbing in terms of “technology, practice, arena or destination” over?
Big Up Productions is experimenting with HD downloads of their films
The new Moosejaw catalog is a bit puzzling.
Moutaineering legend Riccardo Cassin has passed away at age 100

And Videos!

Footage of Peter Würth on the first full link of Parts 1, 2 and 3 of The Neverending Story in Magic Wood. The first 2 parts are a well known V14 first done by Chris Sharma.

Women’s highlights from the 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships

Men’s highlights from the 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships

News & Notes – 08/07/2009 from Climbing Narcissist

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2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships Wrap-Up

Narc — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:55:02 +0000

The 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships are in the books and what an interesting event it was.

The Comp

The Women

The women’s event started in the blazing 95 degree Salt Lake City heat and action was slow to develop. The bottom 10 qualifiers tried their best to mount a challenge against the seemingly unbeatable duo of Alex Puccio and Alex Johnson, but only Austrian comp powerhouse Anna Stohr was able to finish even 2 of the problems.

Puccio and Johnson quickly flashed the first 3 problems setting the stage for a showdown on the 4th and final problem to decide a winner. Climbing around and over the insane “Prometheus” eye, Alex Johnson eked out the victory over an exhausted Alex Puccio. One astute commenter on the live blog compared their rivalry to that of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in tennis which I thought was appropriate. I’d have to check to be sure, but I can’t remember the last time one of the two of them didn’t win a comp they entered (in the U.S.).

The Men

Much like the women, the slow to develop men’s final came down to a 2 man race after pre-comp favorite Paul Robinson faltered out of the gate on problem 1 and never got any momentum. That left the young upstart Julian Bautista as the only competitor poised to challenge Daniel Woods. Bautista fought his way to the top of all 4 problems to be the leader in the clubhouse so to speak, and he settled in to watch Woods who was a couple of problems behind him in the running order.

Not fazed by the pressure, Woods calmly flashed problems 1 and 2 before sending problem 3 on his second go. If he was feeling any pressure as he set off on problem 4, Woods failed to show it as he executed one of the more impressive physical feats I’ve seen. Reaching left over his head with his right hand to crimp a hold on the “Prometheus” eye, Woods half campused the move only to find his left hand a foot short of the next hold and his momentum completely stopped. Showing supreme confidence and freakish strength, he gently kicked his legs and one-armed his way to the next hold on the way to a comp winning flash.

For a more thorough recap, be sure to check out the Live Blog archives.

The Coverage

Perhaps more interesting than the comp itself was how it was covered. For the first time climbing fans from around the world were able to watch live on the internet as the action unfolded in Salt Lake. There were a few hiccups along the way with a few frustrating moments for viewers, but overall the live feed was a big success in my opinion.

The Good

There were several highpoints to the coverage:

The fact that we were even able to see the comp, something normally reserved for a small number of people outweighs just about any critique one could have of the footage.
The live feed technology worked really well with no noticeable lag experienced on my end at any point.
It was FREE!
The incredible wall design, the cool lighting and close battles for 1st place made for a (mostly) exciting event to watch.
The fact that we were even able to see the comp!

The Bad

That said, here a few complaints or ideas for improvement that came across during the Live Blog:

The biggest complaint I saw was who the camera was focused on compared with who MC Jason Danforth was talking about. Oftentimes the camera was showing something completely different than was being spoken about. This made it confusing and hard to follow what was happening, especially when Danforth was yelling about something exciting that went unseen which happened on a number of occasions.
Early in the comp especially, the camera would switch away from watching someone who was just about to send a problem to watch another competitor standing on the mat preparing to climb. As one commenter said, “its almost pointless to watch with all the missed sends”. Thankfully, this seemed to get better as the night went along.
A lot of commenters on the Live Blog found the plugs for sponsors annoying, especially the plugs for the food and drink being served at the event. Without sponsors there is no event though so I’m not sure how much can be done about this.
Adding a time clock and an updated leaderboard to the live video would be a big plus.
The crowd was one of the more lifeless sporting event crowds I’ve seen. I’m guessing this was a combination of the heat and the open outdoor venue although the video might not have conveyed their energy very well either.

Feel free to add any additional thoughts (good or bad) in the comments

Overall, I think the live feed worked out really well and hopefully any critiques people have can be used to make the next event that much better. Being able to watch a climbing comp without having to travel across the country to see it is a big plus for everyone involved as it brings more eyeballs to the sport, so I hope that this is the first of many to be broadcast (and live blogged of course) in this manner.

Update: thanks to the commented who passed along the video of Woods on problem #4

2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships Wrap-Up from Climbing Narcissist

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Johnson, Woods Win 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships

Narc — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:37:43 +0000

The 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships were the first to be broadcast live on the internet and what an event it was. Alex Johnson won in a close battle against Alex Puccio and Daniel Woods absolutely crushed all 4 problems in narrowly defeating Julian Bautista who also sent all 4 problems. I’ll have more once I can see straight, but if you want to get caught up on all the action check out the 170+ posts in the Live Blog.

Here are the results:

Women’s Finals Results	Men’s Finals Results
Alex Johnson Alex Puccio Anna Stohr	Daniel Woods Julian Bautista Paul Robinson

Full Results

Johnson, Woods Win 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships from Climbing Narcissist

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2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships At ORSM Qualifier Results

Narc — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:00:09 +0000

The qualifiers for the 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market are in the books and all the favorites have made finals…well, except for THE favorite. For the second straight major competition (the other being the recent World Cup in Chamonix), Chris Sharma, 2 time defending champion of this event, was a no show. Other than that, no real surprises to speak of in the list of 12 finalists from each category save perhaps the 19th place finish of Carlo Traversi. I’d like to give special props to everyone from the Midwest who competed, especially Greg Padovani who placed a solid 22nd.

Complete Results at BoulderingComps.com

Women’s Qualifier Results	Men’s Qualifier Results
Alex Puccio Anna Stohr Alex Johnson Kasia Pietras Lisa Rands Sierra Blair-Coyle Cicada Jenerik Sasha DiGiulian Eva Pepin-Helle Silvi Rajfova Leanna Lockhart Portia Menlove	Daniel Woods Paul Robinson Vasya Vorotnikov Julian Bautista Brian Kim Magnus Mitboe Jimmy Webb Adam Markert Michael Bautista Kyle Owen Zach Lerner Eric Sethna

ClimbingNarc.com Live Blog

As you may have seen elsewhere, I will be doing a live blog of Finals starting tonight around 8:30 EST. No, I’m not actually in SLC. I’ll be watching the live feed along with the rest of you. I’ll be doing my usual thing on the live blog, namely keeping a rundown of what’s happening and adding interesting tidbits when I can. Be sure to check it out and let me know what you think!

Live.Climbingnarc.com

2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships At ORSM Qualifier Results from Climbing Narcissist

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2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships To Stream Live Online

Narc — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:05:49 +0000

The lack of an online video stream for major U.S. bouldering comps has been a complaint of mine for a while now. A recent informal poll on this website reaffirmed my thought that an online stream could be popular when an overwhelming 97% of respondents said that they were interested in watching bouldering comps online.

Ask and you shall receive apparently because finals for the upcoming Mammut Bouldering Championship comp at the 2009 Summer Outdoor Retailer trade show will be streamed online according to the blog of event organizers. What the coverage will look like, and what number of people will tune in to see that coverage, remains to be seen. Tune in next Tuesday, July 21st, at 8:30 pm EST to check out the action.

2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships To Stream Live Online from Climbing Narcissist

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2009 Gravity Brawl Results

Narc — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:27:17 +0000

It looks like my woefully inaccurate predictions attempt at reverse psychology worked nicely last week as my main horse Paul Robinson came out on top at the 2009 Gravity Brawl comp held Friday and Saturday in New Jersey. Nice work! Here are the rest of the results for finals:

Men’s

Paul Robinson
Vasya Vrotnikov
Rob D’Anastasio

Women’s

Lizzy Asher
Kasia Pietras
Sasha DiGiulian

Complete results from finals here and qualifiers here.

Catch up on all the action with this excellent report from Deadpoint Mag

Update: Photos from Max Breslow

Update #2: Official Comp Gallery

2009 Gravity Brawl Results from Climbing Narcissist

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2009 Gravity Brawl This Weekend

Narc — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:40:29 +0000

The summer competition seasons kicks off tomorrow with the 2009 Gravity Brawl at the New Jersery Rock Gym in Fairfield, NJ. The first leg of the Mammut Bouldering Championships, the Gravity Brawl is known for its high energy and excitement.

The running order is just about set, and the Men’s field looks pretty stacked with past champions Daniel Woods and Paul Robinson both scheduled to compete against a field full of double digit mutants. On the Women’s side 2 time winner Lizzy Asher will be competing, but competition powerhouses Alex Johnson and Alex Puccio are noticeably absent at this point.

My picks to win (based on the current running order): Daniel Woods and Sasha DiGiulian.

You can follow all the pre-comp action at the ne2c blog and I will of course have a full wrap-up next week. Check out the recap of last year’s action here.

2009 Gravity Brawl This Weekend from Climbing Narcissist

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2008 Mammut Boulding Championships Results: Sharma & Puccio Come Out On Top

Narc — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:42:46 +0000

Another ridiculously close finish between Alex Puccio and Alex Johnson. Full Results here. No P-Rob in finals?? Qualifier #3 must have been wicked. 2008 Mammut Boulding Championships Results: Sharma & Puccio Come Out On Top from Climbing Narcissist Become a fan of ClimbingNarc.com on Facebook Related posts: Johnson, Woods Win 2009 Mammut Bouldering Championships 2009 [...]

2008 Mammut Boulding Championships Results: Sharma & Puccio Come Out On Top from Climbing Narcissist

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Gravity Brawl 2008 Wrap-up

Narc — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:01:37 +0000

Photo: Tim Kemple

At the end of March, the 2008 Mammut Bouldering Championships Pro Tour got underway with Gravity Brawl ’08 at the New Jersey Rock Gym. Overall the event sounded like a resounding success with Matt Bosley winning for the men and Paige Claassen winning for the women. Here are a few links to wrap everything up:

After you digest all that, I’m wondering how people feel about the direction indoor comps are heading (or trying to head). Do you like the emphasis on creating a spectacle or show out of the climbing or do you prefer when the climbing speaks for itself? Will climbing comps ever appeal to a mainstream audience? Register your thoughts below…

Gravity Brawl 2008 Wrap-up from Climbing Narcissist

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