2013 ABS 14 DIVISIONALS.

As a defending National Champion, Sidney gets a bye directly to Nationals so we decided to skip Regionals and have her compete at Divisionals which was at Clubsport this past January 12^th & 13^th.  For those paying attention, we just had SCS Divisionals there so it’s sort of becoming a home gym for us.  However, there hasn’t been a major bouldering comp at Clubsport since the ABS 9 Regional so only a handful of climbers can say they competed in both events.  I will always remember that Regional because it was Sidney’s first onsight comp and she looked like a deer in the headlights when she came out of ISO and walked to the chair for her first route.  Priceless!

This year, Sidney and the gang, (Melina Costanza, Cierra Graham, Makenna Graham, Lia Messinger and Olivia Durant) all moved up in category to FYB but as you’ll soon read about, things haven’t changed much from last year.  Along with that group, there were a few strong climbers from NorCal (Kara Herson, Hanna Grossman and Jenna Wang) and a relative newcomer named Annie O’Brien.  There is a lot of climbing talent in Division 1 and with only 8 invites (including Sidney’s bye) to ABS Nationals for the FYB category, a few really good climbers would not be advancing to Colorado Springs.

Saturday was Qualifiers and there were 4 problems per category.  The format was onsight with a 4 minute climb time and 1 cycle rest after each route.  With no transition between routes, it meant that there would be less rest time after each problem. 

Qualifier #1 was a fairly tricky route, especially considering it was the 1^st problem.   You had to stem the first part of the route and then move off of a long flake onto a big sloper.  From there, you moved to a big pinch and on to the finish.  Usually, the 1^st route is a gimme and everyone flashes it but that was not the case this time.  In fact, Lia fell on her 1^st attempt of this route and not every climber topped it.  Here is Sidney’s flash of Q1, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFG2pUc1Myo&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=7

Qualifier #2 was more straightforward but not any less difficult.  It was a series of big holds that were either pinches or slopers with a dynamic move to the finish.  Without rushing at all, Sidney walked up the route in 17 seconds.  It was much harder than she made it look as only 14 of the 26 climbers in her category topped this route.  Watch here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R47pfP0JGkk&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=6

Qualifier #3 upped the difficulty level as only 10 of the 26 climbers in her group topped this route.  It started with a tricky sequence to get up and around a corner where it then traversed to the left onto a long, narrow pinch.  From there, you either went up dynamically with your left hand to a nice pinch or you got your right foot up onto a hold and then mantled up into the slab.  Of the 10 climbers who made the route, it was pretty much 50/50 on which beta was used.  After getting on the slab, it was just a matter of getting your feet up to get to the finish.  See for yourself, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mHirnevjIs&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=5

A cool shot of Sidney showing off the back muscles on Qualifier #3.  (Photo coutesey of Alex Fritz)

As usual, Qualifier #4 really separated all the contenders as only 2 climbers, Melina and Sidney, made this route and they both flashed it.  It started on the right and then traversed on an overhung wall to a big, fin shaped hold that was very hard to pinch.  From there, you had to pull straight up to a weird bulbous-like hold that was obviously a very hard move as only 4 of the 26 climbers were able to get past this point and they were Sidney, Melina, Lia and Kara.  The last half of the route went all burly with a 6 hold sequence of dynamic moves and crossovers on pinches and crimps, culminating in a big leap to the finish hold that was a sloper.  In retrospect, I would rate this as a harder climb overall than even their Final #3.  Watch it now, then compare to the video of Final #3 and you be the judge, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEItpAhYygE&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=4

With Qualifiers over, there was the usual nervous tension as we waited to see who made Finals.  They finally posted the results and here is who made Finals in the order they would climb the next day; 11^th-Hanna, 10^th-Emma Folkerts, 9^th-Jenna, 8^th-Olivia, 7^th-Talia Bowles, 6^th-Annie, 5^th-Cierra, 4^th-Kara, 3^rd-Lia, 1^st-Sidney and 1^st-Melina.  Makenna just missed Finals by a couple of spots but she had climbed very well.  My dad and sister came to town to watch Sidney climb so we all went out for a nice, relaxing dinner and then went back to the hotel to rest up for the next day’s climbing.

For Finals on Sunday, the format was the same except there were only 3 routes per category instead of 4 like the day before.  With only 3 problems and Sidney climbing 2^nd to last in the order, it made it easier to watch all the climbers and get a sense of where everyone may place. 

Final #1 was tricky in that it tested your technical climbing skills as you needed to finesse the route instead of overpowering it.  Only 6 of the 11 finalists topped the route with Sidney, Melina, Lia and Cierra being the only climbers to flash it.  Watch Sidney’s attempt here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXSrHCYA5t4&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=3

Final #2 was a fairly short route that started on the right and quickly traversed to the left onto a big sloper with a wide pinch.  The normal beta was to pull up to a small hold that had a small ridge on top of it that you could hang on if you were precise.  A couple of delicate moves to the right brought you to the finish.  The same 6 climbers who made Final #1 topped this problem.  Also like the 1^st problem, 4 girls flashed the route except that Sidney was not one of them.  For some reason, she did not want to pull for the small ridge after the sloper with the wide pinch.  She looked at it but changed her beta in the middle of her climb and went with a big move out to the right.  She snagged it momentarily and then fell.  Surprisingly, she didn’t seem too bummed but that is probably because she knew that Final #3 was still to come and she could still win.  Sidney regrouped, used the same beta as her first attempt and made the route with ease.  Of course now she was behind Melina, Lia and Cierra by 1 fall and had to hope that Final #3 was really difficult so that she could make up ground on them.  Here is Sidney’s 2^nd attempt, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTZI8u9RuJ4&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=2

Final #3 was a long route that scored to 13 holds but there were only 8 hand holds on the entire problem.  This meant that pretty much every move was big and dynamic.  Oh, and the whole route was on varying degrees of overhang with the finish move being on the most overhung section.  The route started on the left with a big extension up and to the right to a pinch, then straight up with the left hand to a very small hold that left you prone to barndooring off the route.  You then had to go out to the right to a big, bulbous hold that almost put you in an Iron Cross, keep the tension to be able to get your foot back on and then match.  Continuing to the right, you had to get 1 foot up to the left to get totally horizontal to be able to lever out to a small hold with a ridge on top, match that hold and then snag the top of a big hold that looked like someone wearing a gas mask.  After matching the “gas mask,” you then moved left through the most overhung section to a small hold that you were supposed to match but was really only good for 1 hand.  Finally, you had to commit up, out and to the left for the finish that you could grab but was definitely not a jug.  On second thought, maybe this climb WAS harder than Qualifier #4.  

Of the 11 climbers in Finals, 6 could not get to the big, bulbous hold and scored 4 or less.  Kara was able to control that hold but did not have enough length to lever out to the next hold and scored 6 holds.  Cierra got to the finish move on her 2^nd try and held on for a tantalizing second before swinging off as the crowd went from a raucous “Aaaaaaaaaah” to “Ooooooooooh” in a split second.  You can watch her awesome attempt here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjykkSGFDoM

A great shot of Cierra showing the angle of the wall on Final #3.  (Photo courtesy of Alex Fritz)

Lia got to the finish move on her 1^st attempt and was able to slap the finish hold but that was as far as she would be able to get.  Her length may have hindered her ability to really explode for the finish.  Here is her attempt, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_0v5X62zoQ

Sidney was precise, strong and fearless as she flashed the route to the roar of the crowd to take the lead with only Melina left to climb.  Watch, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RttkiB4PSs&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=1

Melina was as strong and precise as Sidney in getting to the finish move on her 1^st attempt but just did not have that extra explosion needed to get to the finish hold.  Her 2^nd attempt was about the same as her first so that kept Sidney in 1^st place.  Exciting!

The final placings and National invites were as follows; 11^th-Talia, 10^th-Emma, 9^th-Jenna, 8^th-Olivia-Invite, 7^th-Annie-Invite, 6^th-Hanna-Invite, 5^th-Kara-Invite, 4^th-Cierra-Invite, 3^rd-Lia-Invite, 2^nd-Melina-Invite and 1^st-Sidney-Invite.  To illustrate how close the scoring was, Melina, Lia and Cierra all had 2 Tops and 39 points.  Cierra was behind Lia by 1 fall and Lia was behind Melina by countbacks to Qualifiers.  Also, because of Sidney’s mistake on Final #2, any of them could have won if they had flashed the last route.  For those that actually follow this blog, you will see that this is a common pattern as these girls are always so close in every one of these big comps.  Another item to note is that Final #3 was used for all 3 older categories (FYB, FYA & FJR) and only Sidney and Shannon Russell (FJR) made this route (both flashed) so kudos to both of them!

Shannon snagging the finish on Final #3.  (Photo courtesy of the Bras family)

It was quite an exciting comp to watch with a lot of great climbing!  Looking forward to ABS 14 Nationals in 2 weeks! 

2012 NOVEMBER SESSIONS.

Canada, it’s been a long time since we’ve visited you. We last went to Canada 4 years ago when Sidney climbed in a couple of comps at the Cliffhanger gym in Coquitlam and the Edge gym in Vancouver. Since that time, they changed the law so that adults needed a passport or an enhanced driver’s license to cross the border and I just never bothered to get one. Well, that changed this year as I needed a passport to go to Cabo San Lucas on the trip that Sidney won and now Canada is back on the radar.

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.

Just a cool picture of Sidney hanging out on problem #4. (Photo courtesy of KyaRt Photography)


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.

Sidney going for the big finish on problem #3. (Photo courtesy of KyaRt Photography)


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.

Sidney getting through the crux to the "Bonus" hold on problem #4. (Photo courtesy of KyaRt Photography)


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!

2012 SEATTLE BOULDERING CHALLENGE.

The Seattle Bouldering Challenge was the very next Saturday after FGD12 on November 17^th.  It’s the longest running comp in the Pacific Northwest and this would be Sidney’s 6^th year in a row climbing in it.  Unfortunately, it would be quite different than the past 5 years that Sidney has competed as they would not have an exciting Onsight Finals round.  The reason for that is because Stone Gardens hosted a UBC pro event (which Sidney was not old enough to climb in) a couple of months prior and that ended up being their big event for the year. 

This year’s comp was basically a redpoint session for prizes but no Finals and no cash purses which meant that there were a lower number of female Open climbers as in years past.  Last year’s SBC had 20 women in the Open category and this year there were only 5 brave souls.  However, for the first time they also added a session that was a USA Climbing youth Local so their overall numbers didn’t dip they just moved to the youth categories.

Having watched the last 5 SBC’s, you could tell there was a different vibe in the air as there were no Finals to look forward to.  It made the session feel quite laid back and there was no sense of urgency to max your score out.  What also added to the weird vibe was that none of Sidney’s best friends climbed in the comp.  Melina Costanza and Cierra Graham were in Chile competing at the Pan American Youth Championships and Makenna Graham was out of town, too.  None of the Portland girls came up either so it was just Sidney climbing solo and that’s not any fun.

Sidney climbed hard in her session and was pleased with her score, figuring she was in the top 3 for the Open category.  I was a bad father and did not take any pictures but like I said, there was a very calm vibe and I didn’t feel any reason to take any pictures or video at the time.   After her session, we went across the street to Taco Time and waited for awards.  They soon announced the results and Sidney ended up in 1^st place.  Tara Boudreau from Canada finished in 2^nd place and Christine Deyo, a coach at the Seattle Bouldering Project, finished in 3^rd place.  Sidney won a hangboard and a $110 gift certificate for shoes which were very nice prizes. 

Oddly enough, Sidney did not have the highest female score of the comp.  That honor went to Shannon Russell but she chose to compete in the youth portion so she could get credit for the comp.  Still, out of the 87 female climbers in the comp, Sidney had the 2^nd highest score so she was happy about that.  The rumor is that Stone Gardens will probably not hold a UBC Pro event again next year so hopefully they will go back to the format they have always used and next year’s post about the SBC will be much more exciting.  With the latest edition of the SBC in the books, Sidney and I were really looking forward to traveling to Canada the next weekend for the 1^st time in 4 years so she could climb in the “November Sessions.”  Stay tuned.

FGD12!

Sidney had another week break after the Edgeworks comp and then we were off on our annual road trip to Bozeman, Montana to climb at Full Gravity Day 12 on November 10th. This would be our 3rd year in a row we’ve road tripped to the Spire Climbing Center and we absolutely love it! Unfortunately, the guest list changed this year as one of our regulars, Kayla Culmback, broke her foot and was not going to make the trip. This meant that two of my favorite people, Craig and Janelle Culmback, would not be able to enjoy the 11 hour drive to Montana. Instead, we picked up another Kayla. Kayla Erickson, aka Big Kayla, joined myself, Di, Sidney and Sequoia Meyer in my Liberty to Big Sky country.

On the way to Bozeman, we stopped in Spokane to see the Graham twins.  This is a picture of Makenna and Sidney looking happy with Cierra looking mad because she couldn't go to the Bozeman comp.  I'm kidding about that last part as she will actually be mad if she ever reads this.  (Photo courtesy of Kayla Erickson)

So, a little background from past FGDs. Last year Sequoia climbed in the Open category for the first time and made Finals, finishing in 5th place. Two years ago in the Open category, Sidney won $100 as she qualified for Finals in 1st place and ended up in 2nd place behind Missoula's Molly Rennie. Last year in the Open category, Sidney won $200 as she switched roles with Molly by qualifying for Finals in 2nd place and placing 1st after Finals. Sadly, this year there would be no climbing with Molly as she had hand surgery a few days before the comp. We wish her a speedy recovery! With Inge Perkins, another top local climber, off at college, this would leave the door open for Sequoia and a couple other new climbers to step through.

The redpoint qualifying round was almost 4 hours long so everyone had plenty of time to get 6 climbs in on the more than 100 routes that the Spire set for the comp. Sidney, Sequoia and Big Kayla climbed really hard and attempted quite a few routes. Sidney shut it down to rest after 3 hours with Sequoia and Big Kayla climbing the entire session trying to max out their score. In the end, they took the top 6 women to Finals and all 3 from our group made it. Here were the Qualifying scores, 1st-Sidney-6,475, 2nd-Sequoia-5,650, 3rd-Becky Switzer-5,625, 4th-Sarah Dean-5,600, 5th-Susan James-5,500, 6th-Big Kayla-5,500. Sidney had a healthy gap on the rest of the finalists but there was a point difference of only 150 points between 2nd place and 6th place which meant a lot of places could be switched by the end of Finals.

The FGD Finals format they use is different but pretty simple. There are 2 routes and all the climbers get 5 minutes of preview on each route. They climb each route in reverse order of qualifying. Each climber gets a 90 second window to top each route, however, as long as you are on the wall when the 90 seconds is up you can then take as long as you need until you top or fall. All of this basically means that flashing the routes were really important.

On the 1st Finals route, Becky, Sarah, Susan and Big Kayla all fell at around the halfway point. Sequoia separated herself from that group by getting through 3/4s of the route and came very close to flashing the route. Sidney climbed last and just walked up the route for the only top of the group. You can watch her climb here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdsiqFmZ9bU&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=3.

The 2nd Finals route was on a 45 degree wall that went up and bridged over to a huge square with flames painted on it that was suspended from the ceiling. The finish hold was shaped like a huge skeleton face! It looked like a very cool and hard route. No one besides Sidney would be able to get to the bridge let alone the flame covered square. All 5 women fell around the halfway point again as the 45 degree wall took its’ toll on the competitors. Sidney was last and made short work of the overhang and then worked her way onto the square. She spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to get around the square and control the finish hold. Finally, she went for it but fell and in the process tweaked her ankle on the landing which you can see here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ2Bgw8jAb0&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=2.

After falling, Sidney only had 30 seconds to get back on the wall before her time ran out so she got back on the route right before time expired. Amazingly, since she had very little rest at all, she proceeded to top the route to the delight of the crowd. I actually expected Sidney to fall so I didn’t start recording until she got up to the flaming square.  Watch, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIOKQlqP0bw&list=UUvFEo19_3FQnGo0AZ8w0Oqw&index=1.

The final scores didn’t change much from the qualifying scores as only the 4^th and 5^th place competitors switched places and they were as follows, 6^th place-Big Kayla-6730.5, 5^th place-Sarah-6743, 4^th place-Susan-6862.5, 3^rd place-Becky-6982, 2^nd place-Sequoia-7087.5 and 1^st place-Sidney-8975.  Big Kayla was 1 hold from moving up to 5^th place overall but she was happy with how she climbed and was stoked to have made Finals.  Sequoia surprised everyone with her strong performance and collected her first climbing cash prize ever with $100.  Congratulations Sequoia!  Sidney had a lot of fun and won $250 for her 1^st place finish.  I was proud and amazed that she was able to top the 2^nd Finals problem with basically no rest but she didn’t think it was that big a deal.  She was more disappointed with herself that she didn’t flash it.  I’m guessing most climbers wish they had that problem, too.

Sidney, Big Kayla and Sequoia waiting for awards to start.  (Photo courtesy of Kayla Erickson)

In case you would like to see all of the climbers who made Finals, here is a very cool video of the event, http://vimeo.com/53808201.  Looking forward to FGD13!

A cool photo that shows Sidney on the 45 degree wall on her 2nd Finals route.  (Photo courtesy of unknown)

2012 EDGEWORKS HALLOWEEN BLACKLIGHT COMP.

Sidney had a weekend break after the Northwest Boulderfest comp and then climbed again at the Edgeworks Blacklight comp on October 27th. Sidney loves climbing in the dark at this local and always has a great result. She always used to love wearing a costume but this might be the last year for that as she is getting older and is thinking about not wearing one next year. That makes me a bit sad but I can’t force her to wear one. Well, maybe I can. We’ll see.

As usual, Sidney crushed in the darkness but not without giving us both a scare first. About 15 minutes into the session, she fell on a climb that I thought she would normally make. She came up to me holding her left arm and said she hurt it. I wasn’t alarmed until she said she heard something pop! I’m knocking on wood but Sidney has been able to avoid any serious injuries until now and this momentarily freaked us both out. Right away I told her to shut it down and to put her street shoes on. She didn’t like that idea and asked if she could just traverse to see how it felt. After a while she said it felt better and wanted to do some really easy climbs. Before you knew it, she was back to her normal climbs. Her arm would be sore for a couple of days but other than that she was fine. I’m guessing she didn’t quite warm up enough before tackling the hard climbs and her body told her so. Lesson learned.

There ended up being almost 160 youth competitors at the comp so flashing your routes was a must or you would run out of time. Sidney started out slow but climbed her best in the 2nd half of the session and ended up with 3,675 points. There were 80 female youth climbers and Sidney ended up with the highest score. Cierra Graham had the 3rd highest score with 3,295 points and Lia Messinger had the 4th highest score with 3,160 points. Sidney improves her score every season at this comp and this year was no exception as she upped her score by 610 points. I’m assuming there will come a point where she won’t improve her score but it hasn’t happened yet. Next year I guess she’ll aim for 4,000 points.

Melina, Sidney, Makenna and Cierra before the start of the session. What are they dressed as you ask? I have no idea. (Photo courtesy of me)

2012 NORTHWEST BOULDERFEST.

The 2nd annual Northwest Boulderfest was at the Seattle Bouldering Project this past October 13th. Sidney’s great result at the Portland Boulder Rally was the weekend before so she was hoping to keep it rolling into this comp and improve on last year’s result when she qualified for Finals in 5th but ended up in 8th after climbing had finished.

There were 14 women climbing in the Open category this year including Sidney’s best friends Melina Costanza, Cierra Graham and Lia Messinger. During Qualifiers, all the girls had a fun time while climbing a ton of routes and just crushing in general. This year, the SBP changed the number of climbers going to Finals from 8 to 6 so there was some pressure to do well in Qualifiers. I thought that Sidney was safely in around the 4-6 range but knew that her 3 friends would be right on the bubble. After the session, all the families went to a local watering hole to have lunch and visit. Towards the end of our meal, a friend called us with the results and surprisingly, Sidney qualified in 2nd place. As I suspected, the other 3 girls were really close to making Finals but just missed. Cierra qualified in 10th place, Melina qualified in 8th place and Lia was 1 spot out of making Finals in 7th place.

The SBP lowered the lights for Finals this year and put a couple spotlights on each route. I liked it as it reminded me of when we go to the Full Gravity Day comps in Bozeman, Montana. The routes were hard but they were set in a way that had the possibility of a few ties and that is exactly what happened. All 6 finalists topped problems #1 and #2. The top 5 finalists topped problem #3. On problem #4, only 1 climber got past the crux but did not top the route while the other 5 climbers all tied by controlling hold #5. So it went to falls to break the ties and they were using the World Cup format. Sidney and I were not aware that this format scores any non-top attempt as a fall as opposed to the normal youth format that only counts falls up to your high point. It might not sound like a big deal but if Sidney had known that, she would have severely limited her attempts and the outcome may have been different. Here were the final placings; 1st-Shannon Russell-3 tops-52 holds, 2nd-Lisa Chulich-3 tops-47 holds-3 falls, 3rd-Flannery Shay-Nemirow-3 tops-47 holds-7 falls, 4th-Clara Dixon-3 tops-47 holds-8 falls, 5th-Sidney-3 tops-47 holds-10 falls and 6th-Maria Celkova-2 tops. Very close.

Sidney was very happy with her climbing but was disappointed that she ended up in 5th place as they only paid up to 3rd place. She’ll learn from this experience and not make the same mistake the next time she climbs in a comp that uses the World Cup format. It was still a great time hanging with friends and climbing in front of a big crowd. On to the next comp!

The SBP provided a photographer so Makenna, Melina, Cierra and Sidney took a group shot! (Photo courtesy of Justin Schmauser)

2012 PORTLAND BOULDER RALLY.

Well, it’s been almost 2 months since our last post. It doesn’t mean Sidney hasn’t been climbing, it just means I’ve been lazy. Actually, Sidney went through an 8 week stretch where she climbed in 6 comps. Hopefully I can get my blog on and post on each comp in fairly rapid succession before Divisionals commences on January 12th and 13th of 2013. We’ll see if I make my goal.

Last year was the inaugural Portland Boulder Rally and it was a really big event but they weren’t able to hold it until early December. This year, The Circuit Gym wasn’t messing around and came firing out of the gate on October 6th. At the PBR last year, Sidney came in a strong 8th place in the Women’s Open division, 2 spots out of Finals but was looking to improve on that this year. There was a problem with that plan, though, and that was the rumor of some heavy hitters planning on climbing at the comp. Names like Alex Johnson and Nina Williams. Ever heard of them?

Since Sidney was climbing in the 2nd session, we made a day trip of it and left early that morning with Melina Costanza. Of course, the whole gang (Sidney, Melina, Cierra Graham, Makenna Graham and Lia Messinger) climbed in that session, too, but they separated pretty quickly as they each tried to max out their score. Sidney climbed strong for that early in the season and pretty much maxed out her score at 4,650. Melina also crushed with a score of 4,200. Lia was next, barely breaking the 4,000 point barrier with a score of 4,010. Cierra had some problems getting 5 quality routes on her scorecard but got it together at the end with a score of 3,930. Makenna worked hard all session and had a score of 3,020. After the session, we all went with Brad Messinger and the girls to get some lunch and sweat out the scores. Sidney and I both guessed that she would probably be around 8th again but we got a call towards the end of our meal that informed us that Sidney had qualified in 6th and was in the last Finals spot. Nice! The rest of the gang finished in the following placings, Melina-9th-Open, Cierra-10th-Open, Lia-1st-Youth 13-17, Makenna-5th-12 & Under.

Sidney walking out during introductions before the start of Finals. (Photo courtesy of me)


Finals went about as I expected. TOUGH! Of the six finalists, only 4 topped problem #1 and Sidney was not one of them. The 4 climbers (all flashes) were Alex Johnson, Nina Williams, Lisa Chulich and Portia Menlove. Sidney gave it 3 great tries but was not experienced enough to get past the crux. She also looked a bit nervous but seemed to relax on the rest of the problems.

Sidney on Final #1 showing off the guns. (Photo courtesy of me)


Only Alex made another climb and that was problem #2 on her 2nd try. So after Alex, it basically came down to points on separating the placings. Alex was 1st with 2 Tops. Nina was 2nd with 1 flash and 25 points. Lisa was 3rd with 1 flash and 22 points. Portia was 4th with 1 flash and 21 points. Sierra Blair-Coyle was 5th with 16 points and Sidney was 1 point behind her with 15 points to finish in 6th. After problem #1, Sidney climbed really, really well. What I will remember most is when she outpointed Alex on problem #3 and had the 2nd highest point total for that route after Nina.

All in all, it was a great showing for Sidney. She gained a lot of experience and made $100 for her 6th place finish to boot. Also, she is only 13 years old and the other 5 finalists were all in their 20’s so she has time to keep getting bigger and better. We were already looking forward to next year's PBR except we still had 5 more comps in the next 7 weeks!