[Andy F V2.0]

Just seemed like people either topped it or got shut down early on, never any of those nail biting "so nearly" moments.

Except michaela dropping two tops? Or McColl doing M3 after the buzzer? Or Gelmanov sticking the M4 dyno after the buzzer?

In the words of Magnus Magnusson "I've started so I'll finish"

[a dense loner]

Or the words of Magnus ver Magnussen "that was pretty heavy"

[Sasquatch]

I missed problem 1, but otherwise watched the rest of it live.  I thought it was for sure one of the most, if not the most, engaging comps I've seen. 

On the men's side, Sean doing m3 was absolutely nuts.  Gelmanov came close to getting there at the buzzer, but didn't quite get make it and no one else figured out the beta.  M4 was awesome to see.  If I had one complaint, I'd say that the tall guys had a major disadvantage on m2 and m3.  As I said, I didn't see m1, so maybe it evened out. 

On the women's side, the slab on w3 was too easy.  But that did add more excitement to w4 as topping it could change everything.  Otherwise it felt like the setter's nailed the difficulty and styles.  There's just too big of a gap with Shauna atm to make everything hard for her would mean no one else would stand a chance. 

Re: the circus tricks comp problems.  Overall this is something that has taken me time to learn to appreciate.  I hated it at first, but I've come to realize that its A-entertaining, B-good for overall climbing as we are starting to see those same movement skills coming to real rock, and C-it makes the competitors work their minds as well as bodies as they have to show on the spot creativity and nous. 

All that said, I think there is a place for BIFF and the RAW DISPLAY OF STRENGTH AND POWER 

[Baldy]

On the men's side, Sean doing m3 was absolutely nuts.  Gelmanov came close to getting there at the buzzer, but didn't quite get make it and no one else figured out the beta. 

I'm not even that sure that Sean worked it out...he got to the top, but I'm not quite sure how...

Overall, the best comp that I have ever been to by a long mile. Very good all round.
I would have liked some more raffle prizes on the day...three seemed a bit short - and two of the winners weren't even there to receive them which seemed a bit lousy to all the people in the room.

[Muenchener]

Just read that the Austrian nationals were on Saturday too. Slightly unfortunate scheduling clash if the aim is to attract top international talent.

[Baldy]

Just read that the Austrian nationals were on Saturday too. Slightly unfortunate scheduling clash if the aim is to attract top international talent.

I dont think that they failed on that front for the Men's at least.

Maybe Anna Stohr for the womens? Then you are looking at Japan for the rest.

[Percy B]

I thought it was the best CWIF yet, although I am biased. The energy and noise on the mat was pretty intense, but I guess that is something that its hard to get over on the live-stream. The packed crowd and some of the amazing performances from the athletes made it a pretty special event.
Post CWIF action on the grit has been sporadic, although Sean McColl and Jorg Verhoeven both did Gaia today - it was Sean's first route on grit.... oh, and I shot Jerry Moffatt with a starting pistol at Stanage. Nobody was injured, but I am now slightly deaf in my right ear.

[a dense loner]

To go with all your other injuries

[grimer]

Hey Percy, one thing I thought was about the qualifiers, from a punter's point of view... I entered a few years ago and had a wicked time doing and trying lots of problems. This time it seemed that the standard and jumped a lot and there were very few I could do, or even engage with. Someone suggested that this might be because I'm older, but I don't see how that could be true?

[r-man]

Post CWIF action on the grit has been sporadic, although Sean McColl and Jorg Verhoeven both did Gaia today - it was Sean's first route on grit.... oh, and I shot Jerry Moffatt with a starting pistol at Stanage. Nobody was injured, but I am now slightly deaf in my right ear.

And there was this

https://www.instagram.com/p/BC8fG_uDDyl/?taken-by=janhojer

Good comp btw. Well done all!

[a dense loner]

God he's fucking massive!

And strong, talented etc

[GraemeA]

Just read that the Austrian nationals were on Saturday too. Slightly unfortunate scheduling clash if the aim is to attract top international talent.

It's the other way around though, we are a significant international event who sets our date 10 or 11 months in advance. We can't work around every national event eg last weekend was French nationals, next weekend is French team selection. 2 weeks ago was Canadian nationals.

[T_B]

Hey Percy, one thing I thought was about the qualifiers, from a punter's point of view... I entered a few years ago and had a wicked time doing and trying lots of problems. This time it seemed that the standard and jumped a lot and there were very few I could do, or even engage with. Someone suggested that this might be because I'm older, but I don't see how that could be true?

It's got progressively harder each year, which is inevitable given it now attracts so many good climbers (not just from overseas). I scored 231 in 2014, 207 in 2015 and 155 this year (though this year I climbed v badly). The standard of climber in session 1 was ridiculously high. If the problems had been the same grade as just 2 years ago 50+ people would have had scores of 270 and above. One option would be to throw in 5 extra hard problems (with double points?) in the quals with climbers having the option to try those rather than the 5 easiest? Basically if you want to qualify for the semis you have to try the 5 elite problems. I agree there is a danger it might become too elitist if the level of difficulty continues going up. I didn't feel particularly worked the following day simply because I didn't do much climbing!

[36chambers]

And there was this

https://www.instagram.com/p/BC8fG_uDDyl/?taken-by=janhojer

Good comp btw. Well done all!

No flash of The Ace from Jimmy?? How disappointing.                                                                         

[ghisino]

One option would be to throw in 5 extra hard problems (with double points?) in the quals with climbers having the option to try those rather than the 5 easiest?

the classic french contest scoring system works well for this, as long as the number of boulders is high enough and there are not too many "odd/morpho as fuck/hyperconditionsdependent" problems.

each boulder is worth 100 points, and its ascensionists get an equal share of them.
One ascensioninst: he gets 100 points.
Two ascensionists: they get 50 points each
Three ascensionists: they get 33,3... points
etc..

when on the edge of making/not making the next round, this format rewards a specific strategy revolving around doing conditions dependent stuff before they get too chalky and sweaty, and finding "the" problem that suits your most "special" ability.

[a dense loner]

The people who any same person thought would get to the final got to the final, nothing needs changing

[grimer]

Can you still watch the finals online?

[remus]

The people who any same person thought would get to the final got to the final, nothing needs changing

If a hundred people in the qualifiers had a shit time because they climbed 10 problems between them Id say that's reason to at least look at changing the format a little.

[Coops_13]

Can you still watch the finals online?

They are embedded at the bottom of this page http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=70324

[SA Chris]

Someone suggested that this might be because I'm older, but I don't see how that could be true?

It's true, you are older.

[AlistairB]

The people who any same person thought would get to the final got to the final, nothing needs changing

If a hundred people in the qualifiers had a shit time because they climbed 10 problems between them Id say that's reason to at least look at changing the format a little.

Did that happen though? I know a load of the kids got low scores but there's plenty of comps just for them and it was always clear it would be set for adults. I topped 12 and perhaps could have done a couple more with better tactics but safe to say most of the ones I didn't do were far out of my league. I had a lot of fun and still had the energy for an aero session afterwards, perfect  .

I thought the real masterstroke of the setting was that almost every problem was really droppable, kept things nice and interesting. I don't think they need to change anything and as Dense said, the right people made it through. Well, apart from that tiny minority who always seem to do much better in rounds without route judges .

[grimer]

Get outta town!

[GraemeA]

Hey Percy, one thing I thought was about the qualifiers, from a punter's point of view... I entered a few years ago and had a wicked time doing and trying lots of problems. This time it seemed that the standard and jumped a lot and there were very few I could do, or even engage with. Someone suggested that this might be because I'm older, but I don't see how that could be true?

I was sure I saw your name on a scorecard with a perfect score of 300 though Niall 

[Mark Lloyd]

Grimers maths was never his strong point when he scored 310 out of 300, suspicions were raised 

[shark]

Grimers maths was never his strong point when he scored 310 out of 300, suspicions were raised

I wasn't there but I'm prepared to back his claim as a witness.