A Day of Inspiring Climbing
What a super fun day! The subway ride to the gym started a bit early this morning (6am!), and minus 9 definitely feels crisper than I remember.
Dung, the comp organizer and owner of the Vision in Canmore, did a spectacular job. The route setting was phenomenal, and the comp actually ran ahead of schedule. Plus, all competitors got cool toques from Ambler. What more can one ask for?
How about some inspiring climbing? Ashleigh Hawes starred in the most dramatic and crowd-pleasing climb of the day. On the crux of her first qualifier, she pulled off three consecutive recoveries, one of them involving three limbs off the wall. “The Ash” moves on to the semis tomorrow.
Natasha also sent hard, topping out on both of her routes and heading into semis tied for first (there are a few ties).
The junior boys, with Vernon, Justin and Liam, make one stellar field. All climbed exceptionally well, pulling out extra “grr”. Justin missed the finals by one hold.
Maegan dialled both of her routes, with her signature style. She flashed the first, and popped off a reachy overhung move to the last hold on her second qualifier. With stiff international competition, this made the difference for the semis.
We’ve also adopted Ben, from Nanaimo. He had an excellent showing, not only pulling hard on his first route, but digging deep and focussing to pull out a controlled attempt on his second route.
Maegan was also dismayed to find out that koalas aren’t indigenous to Qubebec, but almost solved our war with the squirrels. Sadly, her attempt to shake hands was badly misunderstood. Thankfully, no animals were harmed.
Best of all, we are having a blast. Special thanks to the parents, Phil, Seb, Boulders staff and volunteers who are here with us in spirit.
Tomorrow starts with iso at 7am, with semis starting at 8am. Speed qualifiers go at 4pm. Hope you all have found the streaming video on the NACC website.
Here’s where we stand after tonight:
Vernon – 15th
Liam – 14th
Justin – 11th
Maegan – 11th
Ben – 20th
Natasha – tied for 1st
Ashleigh – 5th
