I had the chance over the weekend to watch a bit of the live coverage of the final Bouldering World Cup of the season in Munich, Germany. The quality of the video feed was one of the best I’ve ever seen for a climbing competition, and the backdrop of the old Olympic stadium and a ferris wheel lighting up the sky as night fell provided a nice setting for the climbing. The announcing was…well…interesting.
Unfortunately, American Alex Johnson didn’t make it to finals (finishing 14th), but I did make a special effort to watch Adam Ondra as he cruised his way to victory leaving no question as to why he is the overall champion of the 2010 campaign. Ondra’s performance as he easily flashed the final 3 problems was impressive to put it mildly. I’m not sure if you’ve heard this before or not, but that kid is pretty good at rock climbing.
The women’s half of the comp was a bit more closely contested although the fact that the problems seemed too hard (only 2 topouts total for the 6 women across all 4 problems) made it decidedly less enjoyable to watch. On the final problem Anna Stöhr had the chance to win the comp as well as the overall title for the season if she could finish the problem, however she could never latch the final hold despite hitting it on multiple attempts. This meant that Akiyo Noguchi won both the Munich comp and, for the 2nd straight year, the overall title.
From an American perspective it’s worth giving special mention once again to Alex Johnson. In her first full season on the World Cup circuit the Wisconsin native had finishes of 1st, 6th, 5th, 13th, 9th, 2nd and 14th which put her 4th overall in the world rankings. Congratulations to her on a fine season.
| Munich Bouldering World Cup Final Results | |
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| 2010 Bouldering World Cup Men’s Overall Results | 2010 Bouldering World Cup Women’s Overall Results |
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Here’s a bit of footage from the first 2 finals problems:
Alex Johnson deserves huge respect, not only for finishing 4th, but for being an American who competed on the World Cup circuit for the entire series. Unless you’re an icon like Sharma or Nicole, it’s becoming ever harder to be a 100% legitimate high-end pro without putting it on the line against the best in the World Cup series. There are just too many V-teen FA’s and repeats anymore to distinguish from. What US climbers will buck it up in 2011 and show us how good they really are by competing in the Cup series? Hopefully Johnson’s fine example will be followed.
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