FRB SPECIAL

SCS Open National Sport and Speed Climbing Championships
at Movement Climbing & Fitness

Movement Climbing & Fitness gym in Boulder, Colorado hosted the SCS National Sport and Speed Climbing Championships on April 1st and 2nd. The weekend long event was a qualifier for the IFSC Lead World Cup.  (International Federation of Sport Climbing)  Movement will also be hosting the IFSC Lead World Cup on Oct 8th and + 9th, 2011, which will be the first time in over 20 years since the IFSC Lead World Cup has been held in the US. Needless to say the event drew the attention of the country’s best sport and speed climbers, in an event that was exciting for the crowd and for the participants.

Movement put a great deal of effort into making this a well-run and highly organized event.  The gym was extra excited to be a part of this competition and has been planning for these types large international events since their opening. This event helped to put themselves on the map as one of the nations premiers climbing facilities. Everyone had a great time, there was a fantastic turnout and the crowd was really enthusiastic, especially since so many of the participants were hometown climbers.

Events were hosted throughout the weekend, starting on Friday evening with the Sport Climbing Qualifiers. There were 9 female and 12 Male competitors who passed on to the finals held on Saturday.  The top 6 male and female competitors will go to the World cup event. During the day Saturday, the speed climbing competitions were held.

The finals routes were complex and engaging, featuring long overhanging problems. There were two routes, one for the men and one for the women.  Climbers were given points for the number of clips they made, the height of their climb, whether they had control of their final hold and whether they had made usable movement in their final attempt.  Each climber had as long as they needed to make their moves and were not judged on time. The climbers each put an incredible amount of effort into the climbs and only a few competitors completed the routes.

It was exciting to see this level of competition in Boulder; it’s been a long time coming. Local climbers should all look forward to a great event at Movement this October.

For more information on the finalists for each event visit here:

http://www.scsnationals.org/news/

Jeff 'Skunkie' Williams - 4/4/2011

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