The spotlight was on each of the athletes, literally. With the lights dimmed down and Movement Fitness and Climbing completely packed to capacity, the energy Sunday night was out of this world.
Boulder was the host of the United States’ first sport climbing World Cup in over two decades this weekend, solidifying the city’s rock climbing prestige and giving Boulder residents a breath-taking event to witness.
The best climbers from all over the globe migrated to Boulder earlier this week, beginning the competition through an opening ceremony that included a Pearl Street Mall parade, where all the athletes carried their nations’ flags.
[View a photo gallery from the event here.]
Akiyo Noguchi of Japan attempts the women's final route at the Lead World Cup, held at Movement. She yelled out to the crowd during a quick rest. (CU Independent/ Sean Bacon)
Saturday was the qualification round that showcased all of the talented climbers, but Sunday was the day to remember.
With the DJ playing a high beat dance groove, an announcer pumping up the sold out crowd for every consecutive and simultaneous male and female climbers, a countless amount of US and international web, print, and film organizations, and the climbers giving it everything they had in an all-or-nothing situation, the atmosphere early Sunday afternoon set up the day for an intense competition.
Of the 26 person pools divided into male and female categories, 19 of the athletes were Americans, giving the U.S. the majority representation. In both groups though, it was obvious early that there was superior talent from abroad.
From the women’s side, Angela Eiter and Johanna Ernst from Austria both brought the crowd to their feet. Ernst was one of the few to reach the top of the course. The best performance in the semifinal from the women came last with Mina Markovic of Slovenia, who beat the course with relative ease.
In the Men’s competition, 20-year-old Jakob Schubert of Austria came to Boulder after winning his fifth consecutive International Federation of Sport Climbing competition, and that’s just in 2011. Other big names including Ramon Julian Puigblanque of Spain, Jorg Verhoeven of Netherlands, and Sean McColl of Canada, who all had breakout performances in the semifinals, but no man could complete the course.
After the semi-finals ended, the party and tailgate began. Rock climbing vendors, including Northface and prAna, and multiple food a-la-cartes were serving the fans all afternoon until the sun set over Chautauqua and it was time for the Finals.
Schubert came out ranked fourth among the men, and only one American, Matt Hong, was ranked in the top eight to advance. Sasha Digiulian was the only American woman to advance to the finals. Even without large representation from America, the crowd was electrifying.
“Everyone was so psyched, it was incredible,” Schubert said. “It was so loud, it’s like a gym so all these people made the atmosphere something special. I really felt the adrenaline pumping as I climbed higher and the crowd got louder.”
Both men’s and women’s courses in the finals were extremely difficult, with no one completing either. It was tight between all of the competitors, but the Austrians stood out from the rest with unbelievable style. Ernst took the gold medal in the women’s competition, while once again, Schubert won the men’s, claiming his sixth straight World Cup victory. In the team rankings, Austria won hands down with 322 points, followed by Japan with 254, France with 222, and the United States in fourth place with 198 points.
The runner-up in the women’s competition went to Slovenian Mina Markovic and the bronze to Japan’s Momoka Oda. In the men’s, Sachi Amma of Japan took silver, while Romain Desgranges of France received bronze.
On both podiums, the competitors embraced and congratulated each other with great sportsmanship. But it’s never completely about the climbers at these events. The audience is the driving force that’s making this sport rise in popularity.
“You the audience, not only give the inspiration to the climbers to climb higher and higher,” said Marco Maria Scolaris, president of The International Federation of Sport Climbing. “But you also inspire us, the people who are working hard behind the curtains to make climbing become an Olympic sport.”
There are rumors of sport climbing becoming an Olympic game by the 2020 Summer Olympics, but nothing is for sure just yet. As for now, climbing is on the rise, and Sunday night was the epitome of what climbing is all about.
“This was a great celebration of the sport,” Scolaris said.
Contact CU Independent Reporter Joseph Wirth at Joseph.wirth@colorado.edu.
