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girlyoutalkto
Dec 6, 2005, 8:30 PM
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apologies if this has already been talked about, but I did a bunch of forum searches and couldn't find what i'm looking for. I googled for some information too, and nothing there proved helpful... my question is pretty simple: how, exactly, do bouldering competitions work? I'm (obviously) a beginner and thinking of entering a ABS bouldering comp, but i have no idea what to expect, since I've never done one before. do people watch you? how does scoring work? basically, what the heck goes on at one of these things? how well can a person who's been climbing for 2-3 months and bouldering in the V0-V2 range expect to do in a beginners category? any help would be really appreciated, thanks. oh, and sorry if this is in the wrong forum, i'm not sure where to put it!
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stonefoxgirl
Dec 6, 2005, 8:39 PM
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go to rockcomps.com for all the information
you can find the scoring format, comp format, dates for the comps, results and membership info.
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cliffhanger9
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Dec 6, 2005, 8:40 PM
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cliffhanger9 moved this thread from Beginners to Competition Climbing.
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cliffhanger9
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Dec 6, 2005, 8:53 PM
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Often you climb as many and as difficult problems as you can. Each attempt is recorded and if you send you get the points (all the problems are given a point rating). At the end you hand in your card and they usually take the top 5 or 3 point values and compare them with everyone else in your category.
How you do is dependent on the other competition - who else is climbing. If theres only three other people in your category and you are stronger than them - you ll probably win.
sure people will watch you - depending on the turn out and the reputation of the comp, the people watching can be anyone from just the other participants (climbers) to parents, significant others etc.
Basically comps are just climbing like you normally would but for prizes (usually) so your climbing attempts count. It can be intense for some but I've seen others who truly excel and react to the competition well, climb really strong and end up winning. But dont think of it like that - go in thinking that you have no shot and you are just there for a good time and the entrance fee that you paid was just for the tshirt. That way if you do well and surprise yourself it will be all the more rewarding but if you dont do so hot, its not the end of the world.
Where are you from? This saturday @ Vertical Extreme, we are having a bouldering comp - we try to keep it real chill and every year we have a great time. If nothing else its a chance to climb on new routes and see some really strong climbers that you might not ordinarily get to see day to day.
Best of luck and remember to have fun with it - rock on
Dan
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girlyoutalkto
Dec 6, 2005, 8:54 PM
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i was going to put this in competition climbing, sorry! and thanks for the link, stonefoxgirl. if anyone wants to share their first bouldering comp experience, though, i'd love to hear about it.
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girlyoutalkto
Dec 6, 2005, 9:00 PM
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In reply to: Basically comps are just climbing like you normally would but for prizes (usually) so your climbing attempts count. It can be intense for some but I've seen others who truly excel and react to the competition well, climb really strong and end up winning. But dont think of it like that - go in thinking that you have no shot and you are just there for a good time and the entrance fee that you paid was just for the tshirt.
that's how i was thinking i would approach it... best to go and not expect much, then maybe be pleasantly surprised, than to go and be disappointed because i had high hopes.
anyway, thanks for the info - i'm in boston right now and thinking of trying a comp at metrorock in everett, ma. so, you use a scorecard and mark down when you finish a problem... this might be completely off base but what's to prevent someone from lying and writing down that they finished a problem when they didn't? is it an honors system?
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pseudolith
Dec 6, 2005, 9:51 PM
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Hi, Kayleigh. I've been climbing (in Florida) for about 5 years, and I always look forward to ABS competition season. I'll add the disclaimer that I have yet to win anything other than the occasional door prize, but I still have fun at the comps. What I like about them is being able to check out other gyms, and work a bunch of new problems. For ABS comps, they will generally set about 75 or so new problems, depending on the size of the gym. Each individual climb is not "judged." You're given a certain amount of time (usually 3 - 4 hours), a scorecard, and everybody's free to climb whatever they want. It is a modified sort of honor system - you must have two witnesses sign on your scorecard to verify that you completed the problems you said you did. I have yet to see a case of cheating, because I've generally found climbers to be pretty trustworthy. After all, it's a sport where you trust your safety and sometimes your life to the person belaying you, so there's some inherent accountability. If you flash the problem (get it on your first try), you get the full point value. If you get it your secind try, you get 90% point value. On the third, or any subsequent try, you get 80%. They usually total up your top 5 climbs to get your final score. In the advanced categories, there may be an onsight "finals" segment of the comp.
I think that, as a beginner, you ought to go just for the experience of it. For your entry fee you'll get a T-shirt (probably), a Clif bar, free Red Bull, a bunch of stickers, and a shot at a few door prizes. And you'll get to test your climbing skills. As I said, I have yet to crack the top three, but I have fun at each comp, and I seem to perform a little better each time.
I hope this helps you out some.
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jeep914x4
Dec 6, 2005, 10:02 PM
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I participated in an outdoor bouldering competition last year. It was at the local bouldering area. Everyone was given a guide to the area with the different climbs. You basically went out and tried to climb stuff. Points were given for each climb based on difficulty. Levels (beginner, advanced, etc) were determined by the number of points awarded. For example, problems under 100 points were beginner. If you send a problem worth 200 you were automatically bumped up to advanced. I went with a friend, no boulder pad and I totally sucked cause I hadn't been climbing long, much less outside. For me it was a great way to meet other climbers and get some great BETA on the problems there. I landed up winning a nalgene bottle in a raffle too.
Go for it, have fun, and learn lots watching those more experienced than you.
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olderic
Dec 6, 2005, 10:11 PM
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In reply to: anyway, thanks for the info - i'm in boston right now and thinking of trying a comp at metrorock in everett, ma. so, you use a scorecard and mark down when you finish a problem... this might be completely off base but what's to prevent someone from lying and writing down that they finished a problem when they didn't? is it an honors system?
Despite what can appear to be a fairly lengthy complex list of rules that you might see before hand - the actual comp most likely will be more informal and less intense then you expect. Folks tend to be supportive and geniuinely helpful to each other - word of overgraded problems (higher point potential) usually travels fast.
I'm not sure how old you are but there are actually 2 comps going on at Metrorock that day - a kids (19 and under) in the AM and a geezers in the PM. Except for the Open category the comp in the afternoon will be lower key (those kids can be cutthroat...)
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girlyoutalkto
Dec 8, 2005, 8:49 PM
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thanks for all the feedback guys, i really appreciate it. :)
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