The 2009 Triple Crown Bouldering series kicked off this weekend with the annual competition at Hound Ears, NC. One of the more interesting aspects of these comps is simply seeing what climbers even show up. Last year’s Hound Ears event featured top 3 finishes on the women’s side by Alex Johnson, Kate McGinnis and Alex Puccio while the men’s side had top 3 finishes by Jon Glassberg, Jimmy Webb and Wills Young. Out of this group only Jimmy Webb returned to a top 3 finish at the 2009 edition of Hound Ears.
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Here is how the rest of the field shaped up:
Open Women
- Sasha DiGiulian
- Kasia Pietras
- Francesca Metcalf
Open Men
- Jimmy Webb
- Brion Voges
- Max Zolutukhin
It’s worth noting that Phil Schaal, fresh off a huge summer of hard sending, failed to crack the top 3*. It’ll be interesting to hear his thoughts on how the comp went.
Check out DPM for a nice write-up, a few pictures and more results from the comp.
*Thanks to the commenters who reminded me something I should have pointed out initially, namely that a) Phil finished 4th despite terrible skin and b) he was up against a field of climbers who have spent more time climbing at Hound Ears in recent years, a pretty big advantage in this type of competition.
Update: Thanks to Brad for pointing out this link to Jeff Zimmerman’s comp photo gallery
Update 2: Brion Voges’ report
Very nice comp this year! Competition was stacked, and the weather was perfect. Much respect to Phil who came into this comp with split tips…
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“It’s worth noting that Phil Schaal, fresh off a huge summer of hard sending, failed to crack the top 3. It’ll be interesting to hear his thoughts on how the comp went.”
Little fiesty, narc?
All those southern boys have that place on lockdown. To travel to an area, having never been there (or have years between visits), and beat legitimately strong locals on their own turf is just about impossible for anyone. Even the mighty Chris Sharma failed to do God Module at the Horse Pens comp one year (For one it’s stout and also he was jet-lagged). Nice effort Jimmy, Voges, Max and Phil. Sounds like you boys had a good time and good for you! And a well played move by Jimmy for sticking up for Phil. He knows.
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I meant to mention something to that effect, but obviously forgot to do so in a clear manner.
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Such a good day! Best comp weather in maybe five years. Good job team, highest top 3 scores ever from what I can recall. Phil was a very respectable 4th with the worst skin I’ve ever seen and only a thousand points behind…definitely pulled a couple 9s out of his ass at the end after an epic punt off the V1 finish of Oral Resume. Shout out to Dave Wetmore who had a very strong showing in his first year coming in right behind Phil…nice one dood!
Phil and I woke up at 3:45am to catch out flights home, and go straight to work…love this shit!
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Any more pictures on the way?
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As I become aware of them I’ll be sure to update the post with links.
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Amazing comp. Impressed with how everyone stepped up there game for the afternoon. Thanks for the thumbs up MAXIMUS! So much fun.
I’ll have Max’s send of Random Man up on my site this week. Nice one broseph.
Also in the video will be my favorite quote of the week from Phil, said with the utmost dismay and genuine sadness, “My skin has never betrayed me like this.”
Nice job fellas.
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more pics from the comp
http://www.jeffzimmermanphotography.com/houndears
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Thanks for passing that along Brad, some really cool shots.
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It’s the skin. It’s all about the skin at hound ears. If your skin is good going in you can bet it will be trashed by the end; if your skin is trashed going in, it would be hard to finish. That being said, props to phil. And props to everyone else too. I really enjoy being pushed by a field of incredibly strong climbers.
I would also like to say, at the risk of sounding like an ass, that it is definitely possible beat the locals. Going into this one I had only climbed 3 out of my 10 problems.
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Video Recap from Hound Ears:
http://vimeo.com/6984617
(Also found in the climbing videos section)
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