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General Climbing Discussion

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Climbing comp 22-May-2003 At 3:52:40 PM dodgy

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I was actually surprised at the crap quality of most of the routes. In most classes the routes were far too easy, and didn't change grade as the climb progressed. Basically what this meant was that if you could get on the route at all, you could top out. So when SIX competitors in the mens C grade end up within a point of each other after the final, what did we find out? That one climber was less nervous than the others? I think the other competitors would probably agree that the finals route was the easiest of the lot!
For the record, (I believe) all the competitors in the class were quite capable of topping out on ALL the routes (easily in most cases), so who was the "best" climber?
I suppose "on the day" is all that matters.
But the State titles are the major selection process for the nationals, and I think the idea is to send the best climbers (Please understand I am NOT having a go at those who won).
How can we tell who the best climber is when the routes simply DO NOT TEST CLIMBING ABILITY! (or limits)
My estimate on route grades for the "comp" was that MOST routes would have barely risen to grade 20! Even the A grade routes looked to be (in most cases) rarely above 24.
Interestingly, myself and many other competitors, thought the routes were "nice". But climbing COMP routes aren't supposed to be nice... They are supposed to increase in grade as the climber progresses, until they spit him or her off. Perhaps, the first heat route should be a "confidence builder". I agree that the previous comp had some routes that were horror shows (nothing like seeing little kids in tears because they couldn't get off the ground), but things went a bit too far the other way.
It was stated at the Nationals at VR last year that the Rockclimbing Gyms Assn. is trying to get indoor competition climbing recognised as a sport. I doubt if formula one drivers just had to drive to the shops, or if the olympics was only about average performances that anyone would be interested.
I apologise to anyone who is personally upset by this post. It is not a personal attack on anyone, and is not sour grapes on my part. The competion was well organised, the volunteers did great work (one belayer excepted) and overall it worked out to be a great weekend.