I understand that the scoring system may have been difficult to understand due to channel flicking, but I will try to shed some light on it.
The X Games is designed to be as fair as possible giving climbers credit for each move that they make. This is how it works:
The route setters and judges determine how many moves there are in any route. This may sound arbitrary, but the routes are usually so difficult that there really is only one way to complete the move. Climbers are then scored on the number of moves they make on the route.
Once the climber gets a route score, it is divided by the total number of moves on the route and then multiplied by 100% to get a percentage. So if a climber completes 7 out of 10 moves, they will get a score of 70%.
There are only two routes in the x games and the scores from the two routes are averaged to determine the climber's score.
If there is a tie as there must have been while you were channel flicking, the judges will look at the average scores of the two routes for all climbers to determiine which route was the most difficult. If a climber has scored higher than another on the more difficult route, that will break the tie.
The good thing about the scoring system is that you get points for every move you make. In the ICC format, you only get a top out or a bonus hold. That is fine for a comp with 6 routes, but there are only 2 in the X Games.
I imagine that the announcer doesn't really know anything about climbing and wasn't able to explain the scoring system well.
If there is still a tie, they will go back to the semi-final round.
It is important to remember that the X Games is a TV event and the routes are practiced before hand, so it is really a red point event.
THe system may sound strange at first, but it really is very fair and all of the athletes love it. Many of them compete in the world cup circuit and are familiar with the ICC rules. Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll do what I can to clear things up.
