The Cliffhanger gym held their “November Sessions” comp the next Saturday after the Seattle Bouldering Challenge on November 24th during our Thanksgiving weekend. Sidney wasn’t worried about eating too much as she was in very good shape since this was her 6th comp in a span of 8 weeks. We decided to go to this comp at the last minute because for the first time, they were adding an onsight Finals round to their Open categories.
Meeting us at the comp that day were some great friends of ours, Alex Fritz and his mother Denise Nerison. Alex aged out of the Youth circuit last year, has been on the VW team forever and is now a coach for VW. Denise was a long time Regional Coordinator for USA Climbing. Alex, like Sidney, was climbing in the Open category. By the time we got to the gym, though, he was already done climbing in his session in which he qualified for Finals in 1st place, so he and Denise hung out and watched Sidney climb during her session.
The Women’s Open qualifying session was only 2 and half hours long so Sidney got right to work and started bagging some high point routes. It became clear in watching all the climbers that it was probably going to be a 3 way battle between Sidney and two local legends Tiffany Melius and Vikki Weldon. I’ve watched these ladies climb a few times as both of them often come to Seattle area comps to beat us Americans up and take our lunch money. Vikki in particular has had a Battle Royale or two with Vertical World’s Audrey Hsu back in the day and is a highly decorated climber for the Canadian team. Well, the top 5 qualifying scores bore this out as both Vikki and Tiffany had 1,860 points and Sidney had 1,840 points. Then there was a definite gap to the next closest climber who had 1,590 points. We had a long wait until Finals so we rested up and had a nice meal with Alex, Denise and a couple of their good friends who were there to watch Alex.
The Finals format would be a first for Sidney as they were using the “bonus” hold scoring system. Basically there is a hold about halfway up each route that is designated as the “bonus” hold which means the only score you can get is a zero, a bonus or a top with bonus. The scoring categories in order are Tops, Attempts To Top, Bonus and then Attempts To Bonus. There were 8 women in Finals with 4 climbs each and the usual cycle of climbing period, rest period, etc. The routes looked really tough as evidenced by the scores which we will get to.
On problem #1, Sidney came out and absolutely butchered her first attempt by not even making it to the bonus hold. Her second attempt was not much better although she did at least make it to the bonus hold. Her third attempt she fell at the same spot as her second attempt. I was starting to get a little worried but then she righted the ship and climbed like she normally does, making the route.
She carried over her momentum of finally making a route into problem #2 by flashing it. It was a tricky route with some big pinches but she figured out the beta with no problems and crushed it. To show how hard the first two routes were, all you had to do was look at the scores as 2 climbers did not top either problem, 2 climbers only topped 1 of them and the top 4 made both. After the second problem, Sidney was actually in 4th place as Vikki flashed both problems and Tiffany had a fall on problem #2. Also ahead of her at that time by virtue of having less falls was Tara Boudreau, who had finished in 2nd place behind Sidney the week before at the Seattle Bouldering Challenge.
Problem #3 was a burly route with a huge move to the finish that I was unsure if Sidney would be able to make. On her first attempt, she easily made her way to the last move but was just a bit short in going for the finish. Armed with that beta, she rested and then went for it at the finish and snagged it fairly easily. Vikki and Tiffany both flashed the route, however, Sidney moved up a spot as Tara would get to the last move a few times but would not be able to stick it.
Problem #4 was pretty gnarly. I looked at it very closely and I had no idea what the correct beta was just to get to the bonus hold. In order for Sidney to have any chance of winning, she would have to top this route and it didn’t look good. While she did not make the route, Sidney surprised me by getting 2 moves from the finish on both of her attempts and figuring out the beta like a pro. Vikki showed her climbing pedigree by really working the route and flashing it. Tiffany fell at the exact same spot as Sidney and never topped the route.
Here was the final scoring for the top 4 women. Vikki came in 1st place with 4 tops, all flashes. Tiffany was in 2nd place with 3 tops, 4 attempts to top and 4 bonus holds. Sidney was 3rd with 3 tops, 7 attempts to top and 4 bonus holds. In 4th place was Tara with 2 tops and 3 bonus holds. So in the end, the qualifying scores were a great indicator of how Finals played out. Vikki was definitely the best climber on the day but Tiffany was right there with her coming within 1 top and a fall of equaling her. Sidney showed a bit of her youth with some uncharacteristic falls on the first problem but was right behind Tiffany with the same number of tops and bonus holds.
Overall, Sidney was very happy with how she climbed for the entirety of the comp and I was quite proud of her, too. Since the comp ran late, we had to head to the border before awards were announced but Alex (who came in first in the Men’s Open category) stuck around and picked up her 3rd place award. She won a chalk bag and a certificate for a pair of climbing shoes. It looks like we now have another event to add to the long list of annual comps Sidney climbs in from now on. Thanks Canada for the hospitality. We really enjoyed our reunion with you and of course, Tim Horton’s!
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