[teapot]

Garnbret misses the final!  Experience of Coxsey and Puccio to both avoid the low % move on problem 4.

[teapot]

Great female comp and win from Shauna. Chon proves again he is definitely not just a crimp machine.

[Danny]

Love how psyched Chon is. As one commentator was speculating that Shauna would struggle on W3 all I could think was "nah". This was a good eg of comp without lots of gimmicky problems, with lots of tops, and with a good, fair split of the field. Enjoyed.

[duncan]

This was a good eg of comp without lots of gimmicky problems, with lots of tops, and with a good, fair split of the field. Enjoyed.

Jakob Schubert, on FB, disagrees!
 

"I have to say that in my opinion the setting of our group's Qualifiers wasn't divers at all. 3 out of 5 boulders were slabs and only one boulder was pure fitness on holds, some might say that's the new style of bouldering, but in my opinion it's bad setting. Bouldering shouldn't only be about standing on your feet.. When you are done with Qualification and feel like you haven't even climbed today since no boulders were exhausting at all it just feels wrong to me.

I like to fight in boulders, feel the physical strain. Sure slabby boulders are part of the game but they shouldn't be the most important thing in my opinion. Crimps, slopers, pinches, big moves, campusing, jumps, coordination, toe hooks, heel hooks, power endurance,...there are so many things, that's what I love about this sport.

To be fair, it was difficult for the routesetters because the wall in Vail is not great and they did a very good job in both semis and finals. But still I wanna shout out to all routesetters to try to set more divers in the future in all rounds and espacially also in Qualifiers, I don't think the randomness that some Qualification rounds had, are good for this sport. there shouldn't be only crimpy boulders nor only volume boulders nor only slabby ones.. lately holds have fallen out of favor and huge volumes that look cool have taken over, but a mix of both of them would be the best in my opinion.

The style of a lot of boulders has nothing to do with rockclimbing anymore, that's a fact, whether you think it's good or bad is a matter of opinion. In my opinion some funky boulders are definitely fun, but I don't think we should forget the origins of this sport!"

I'm unclear if his beef is with parkour-style run and jump (some way from the origins of the sport), or slabby routes in general (quite the opposite), or if he's just bitter because he didn't do well.

[standard]

mccoll also moaned about there being 3 slabs.

[Johnny Brown]

parkour-style run and jump (some way from the origins of the sport)

This is a myth. Technical jumps have been a recorded part of climbing ever since the earliest days. As have people moaning about them.

[andy_e]

Interesting comments from Jakob. I wonder how competitors would approach a big move to a Jacques Cousteau bolted on to the wall.

[finbarrr]

This was a good eg of comp without lots of gimmicky problems, with lots of tops, and with a good, fair split of the field. Enjoyed.

Jakob Schubert, on FB, disagrees!
 

"I have to say that in my opinion the setting of our group's Qualifiers wasn't divers at all. 3 out of 5 boulders were slabs and only one boulder was pure fitness on holds, some might say that's the new style of bouldering, but in my opinion it's bad setting. Bouldering shouldn't only be about standing on your feet.. When you are done with Qualification and feel like you haven't even climbed today since no boulders were exhausting at all it just feels wrong to me.

I like to fight in boulders, feel the physical strain. Sure slabby boulders are part of the game but they shouldn't be the most important thing in my opinion. Crimps, slopers, pinches, big moves, campusing, jumps, coordination, toe hooks, heel hooks, power endurance,...there are so many things, that's what I love about this sport.

To be fair, it was difficult for the routesetters because the wall in Vail is not great and they did a very good job in both semis and finals. But still I wanna shout out to all routesetters to try to set more divers in the future in all rounds and espacially also in Qualifiers, I don't think the randomness that some Qualification rounds had, are good for this sport. there shouldn't be only crimpy boulders nor only volume boulders nor only slabby ones.. lately holds have fallen out of favor and huge volumes that look cool have taken over, but a mix of both of them would be the best in my opinion.

The style of a lot of boulders has nothing to do with rockclimbing anymore, that's a fact, whether you think it's good or bad is a matter of opinion. In my opinion some funky boulders are definitely fun, but I don't think we should forget the origins of this sport!"

I'm unclear if his beef is with parkour-style run and jump (some way from the origins of the sport), or slabby routes in general (quite the opposite), or if he's just bitter because he didn't do well.

No disagreement; Jacob was talking about the qualifiers. We only saw the semi's and finals, "everyone" agreed they were good.

[GraemeA]

This was a good eg of comp without lots of gimmicky problems, with lots of tops, and with a good, fair split of the field. Enjoyed.

Jakob Schubert, on FB, disagrees!
 

"I have to say that in my opinion the setting of our group's Qualifiers wasn't divers at all. 3 out of 5 boulders were slabs and only one boulder was pure fitness on holds, some might say that's the new style of bouldering, but in my opinion it's bad setting. Bouldering shouldn't only be about standing on your feet.. When you are done with Qualification and feel like you haven't even climbed today since no boulders were exhausting at all it just feels wrong to me.

I like to fight in boulders, feel the physical strain. Sure slabby boulders are part of the game but they shouldn't be the most important thing in my opinion. Crimps, slopers, pinches, big moves, campusing, jumps, coordination, toe hooks, heel hooks, power endurance,...there are so many things, that's what I love about this sport.

To be fair, it was difficult for the routesetters because the wall in Vail is not great and they did a very good job in both semis and finals. But still I wanna shout out to all routesetters to try to set more divers in the future in all rounds and espacially also in Qualifiers, I don't think the randomness that some Qualification rounds had, are good for this sport. there shouldn't be only crimpy boulders nor only volume boulders nor only slabby ones.. lately holds have fallen out of favor and huge volumes that look cool have taken over, but a mix of both of them would be the best in my opinion.

The style of a lot of boulders has nothing to do with rockclimbing anymore, that's a fact, whether you think it's good or bad is a matter of opinion. In my opinion some funky boulders are definitely fun, but I don't think we should forget the origins of this sport!"

I'm unclear if his beef is with parkour-style run and jump (some way from the origins of the sport), or slabby routes in general (quite the opposite), or if he's just bitter because he didn't do well.

Jakob and Sean are talking about the quals, others are talking about semi finals and finals as that is what they saw on the stream.

Edit: should have read all replies before posting!

[GraemeA]

parkour-style run and jump (some way from the origins of the sport)

This is a myth. Technical jumps have been a recorded part of climbing ever since the earliest days. As have people moaning about them.

Yep, you were at Andy Popp's stag do at Ravensheugh 

[teapot]

Navi Mumbai penultimate Worldcup this weekend.

According to my calculations the semi-final kicks off at 5.30am on Sunday, then the final is 2.30pm

According to a press briefing Shauna only needs to place 9th or higher to win again overall - which is coincidentally where she placed last year in Mumbai.

[SA Chris]

Hope she doesn't struggle too much in the heat, seems to be her weakeness.

[teapot]

Hope she doesn't struggle too much in the heat, seems to be her weakeness.

Garnbret is apparently not there which is a shame, but definitely takes the pressure off.

Personally I would like the podium positions still to be up for grabs in the final, but I am sure Shauna will cope with the heat fine and come away with another title.

[Muenchener]

Since bouldering is the only event I'm interested in as a spectator, I agree it would be more interesting to see a close contest between Shauna and Janja down to the last event.

Janja apparently has other priorities though - she's entered for both lead and speed in the European Championship in Italy next weekend. Tokyo 2020 preparation, presumably. She's world class in bouldering and lead, so she only has to become vaguely respectable at speed to be an obvious gold medal contender.

[lagerstarfish]

it'd be nice to see Michaela in the final

[Wood FT]

Agreed

[Durbs]

Great final, though a shame to move away from the side-by-side approach (or at least split-screen) as missed a few bits.

Alexey seems to be constantly in the "nearly won" pile, gutted for him on M2.
Same for Pooch, would've loved her to win, and not topping F2 was a bit of a shame having smashed F1 out the park.

Good problems, I liked the range of styles on offer.

Shame Janja isn't coming to Mumbai. Aside from the fact it's a rather damp squib to the end of the season, is it a bit "meh" in terms of attitude? The only person with a good shout to beat Shauna, and doesn't compete.
Did we know she wasn't going to Mumbai before Vail?

[Muenchener]

Shame Janja isn't coming to Mumbai. Aside from the fact it's a rather damp squib to the end of the season, is it a bit "meh" in terms of attitude?

As discussed above, it looks to me as if Tokyo 2020 is her focus and not Boulder World Cup 2017. Having a different priority isn't necessarily a "meh" attitude, even if it does make the 2017 season a bit of an anticlimax for us in the Shauna-focused British public.

[Durbs]

Yeah, probably fair.
Just a bit irritating when we could have such a close comp, but people don't enter all the rounds.
See also Pooch!

Just harking back to the 2013 (?) season when the women had the Super-6; Anna, Shauna, Alex, Julia, Mel & Akiyo who pretty much made every final and the season was amazing to watch.

[Fiend]

Watching replay the now with UKC having already spoiled it with their Shauna podium pic. Already massive hype for Chon on M2!

[teapot]

Watching replay the now with UKC having already spoiled it with their Shauna podium pic. Already massive hype for Chon on M2!

You what?

Isn't it just the qualifications today?- Shauna qualified in first (4 flashes) for semis. Michaela and Leah also in semis.

[Fiend]

Sorry man, last weeks' one. Well behind the times. Comes from visiting my old man who has a broadband connection that is actually WORSE than an old 56k modem!!

[teapot]

  Sort of mistake I would make. At least you get to watch the final tomorrow and even the semis if you are up early. 

[GraemeA]

If you don't want spoilers for tomorrow's semi finals then don't go via IFSC to watch the replays, go direct to the Youtube IFSC Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ifscchannel :-)

Judging by the results and the various videos on-line, Shauna looked to have had a fairly easy qualification. Hope it goes well tomorrow.

[teapot]

YouTube live streaming of finals seems to be starting at 12.45, rather than 14.30 I posted a few days back.