2011 PORTLAND BOULDER RALLY.

This past December 3rd was the 1st ever Portland Boulder Rally at the newest Circuit Gym in Portland, Oregon. The Circuit has been away from the comp scene for a few years now but made a big splash on their return as this was a huge event. The winner of each "Open" category received $1,400 so they weren't messing around in trying to attract a lot of climbers to the event.

Sidney climbed in the "Open" category of which there were 14 competitors. We made a day trip of it with Cierra and her father, Andy, so the girls climbed in the 2nd session. Being that Sidney is only 12, I know that when she competes in the "Open" categories, there is always the possibility of her running into some reach issues. It's never a complaint, just a fact. The PBR was definitely set with the adults in mind as a majority of the upper point routes had very long reaches. Sidney's scorecard was not her usual strong zone of 5 climbs all bunched together. There were some big gaps between the points of her routes as she attempted a lot of different climbs but kept running into a section of the route that she was not able to reach. She was a bit frustrated but understood that she had to make the best of it and try to maximize her score as best she could.

Sidney extending as far as she could at the 1st Annual Portland Boulder Rally. (Photo courtesy of me)


In the end, Sidney came pretty close to maximizing her score, although there were a couple of routes she possibly could have gotten but she ran out of time. They took the top 6 to Finals and Sidney finished a strong 8th so she was actually pretty happy with her result.

Sidney using ALL of her reach to get this hold. She had to throw with both hands from the hold that her left hand is on, all the way up to where her right hand is with only the right foothold and smearing the left foot. (Photo courtesy of me)


We stayed to watch Finals and were rewarded with watching some excellent climbing. In the end, it was a good thing Sidney did not make Finals because she would have really, really struggled on those routes. She might have surprised herself a bit, but overall she would have had a rough go of it as they were very tough with a lot of reach. The first thing she said to me after Finals were over was that she was glad she DIDN'T make Finals and I agreed with her. If she stays on the same career arc that she is currently on, I would bet she makes a bigger dent in the PBR next year!