[Munkii]

could bouldering be made an olympic sport for 2012?

ideas and thoughts on how it could be made possible.

[slackline]

ideas and thoughts on how it could be made possible.

Backhanders to line the pockets of some fat-cat IOC members.

[dave]

maybe if all the climbers have to follow a motorbike up the wall?

[Munkii]

not quite what i had in mind.

but seriously how can we make bouldering an olympic sport?

i  was thinking a massive petition on climbing/bouldering forums.

[slackline]

Sorry for the tongue in cheek reply, but personally I couldn't care less if climbing were in the olympics or not.

Fair do's to those who enjoy competing in climbing/bouldering competitions it just doesn't float my boat (mainly 'cause I'm shit, but of the few comps that I've watched my interest wasn't held for very long, nothing a short course of ritalin wouldn't solve though I'm sure).

[Jaspersharpe]

Tongue in cheek or not slackers your (and indeed dave's) suggestion is unfortunately much more likely to have some bearing on events than the biggest petition in the history of petitions.

[SA Chris]

but seriously how can we make bouldering an olympic sport?

i  was thinking a massive petition on climbing/bouldering forums.

Why would you want to? Personally it wouldn't change my life seeing it for 2 weeks on telly every 4 years. I would rather have quieter crags.

I think a poll on the matter would be a good idea.

[dave]

ditto, i woulnd't want it to. not many climbers give 2 shits about comps at the best of times, then couple that with the fact it'd have to work for TV audience to get any coverage (i.e. it'd end up being speedclimbing etc) it doesn't reek of a good idea to me. at best it'd be one of those sports like shooting or greco-roman wrestling that you'd never see on the telly anyway unless theres some major upset like a climber kicking the referee in the head, or a streaker.

[Fiend]

i  was thinking a massive petition on climbing/bouldering forums.

To ensure it stays well away, one presumes...

[Zods Beard]

Have it on a wall above a pool full of man eating crocs, with vicious monkeys wielding poison tipped knives roaming the wall. Loosen a couple of the holds, and set 8a.nu's finest at it.

[Sloper]

Sign me up (as a viewer)

[Munkii]

im not bothered about competition either. i have never been to a competition or taken part in one.

this is my line of thought.

climbing is made an olympic sport, publicity rises as it is a new sport in the olympic games. britain does well(ish) and as with the rowing and the cycling, more funding and facilities for climbing. more opportunities for young climbers and the vague possibility that other people (mainly adults but other kids are just as bad) may take their training and their ambitions in climbing seriousley.


i know it will probably never happen (just like me persuading my parents to turn our loft into a bouldering room) but everyone can dream and i thought a bouldering forum might be a suitable place to dream outloud (considering the topic).

thanks for input, bit of a longshot and a lot of wishing comes into my wild and helpless line of thought but...

[Jaspersharpe]

I think there are already a decent number of young (and old) lads taking their training seriously and doing some very impressive shit. Have a read of this thread......and that's juat the tip of the iceberg.

I get what you're saying about funding etc but I think all that would happen would be that a bit more lottery cash might go towards the competition climbers. It's not going to affect what's happening on the crags imo and as I say, what's happening on the crags is in a pretty healthy state already.

[Stu Littlefair]

Don't agree with Jasper for about the first time here. Especially on the continent a lot of the good shit that is happening on the crags has happened as a direct result of more focussed and systematic training for the comps. Even the best climbers don't get as much support as they could though.

Suppose a little more funding did come the way of sport climbing as a result of the olympics. I'm certain that the Spanish government would up the stipend it pays to top climbers a fair bit. Anyone care to speculate on what Patxi could achieve with a full-time masseuse and the best coaches money could buy?

[Johnny Brown]

Got to agree with Stu there. Most of the time I watched the olympics, it was in the company of non-climbing family/ friends. Several times they asked why isn't climbing in? I think a lead comp and a bouldering comp would work well. I can't see how increased investment in the sport wouldn't affect standards on the crags. Having said that, I guess it would be an exception in that winning a gold would never be seen as the ultimate achievement in the sport.

[dave]

to win a high level climbing comp, especially if it was advanced to olympic level, involves real specialisation and that means you train nothing but indoors for sucess indoors. so the winner could climb for a year without ever getting to a real crag. How many times a year does His Royal Hoyness get to fuck about on a BMX or MTB? probably never, he has to be at the track grafting like a machine. How often does Usain Bolt pop out for a sport of parkour? how often did steve redgrave get to piss about in a peddalo?

[Jaspersharpe]

Having said that, I guess it would be an exception in that winning a gold would never be seen as the ultimate achievement in the sport.

Not the only exception. Football and tennis for starters.

I take your points but think it's a bit of a rose tinted view. The increase in funding has to be there in the first place and then it has to be applied properly and to the correct people. Not everyone cares about comps as it's such a different sport now to actual climbing and obviously if you don't compete then you aint gonna get anything. I don't see how this would guarantee an increase in the standards of anything (other than certain competition climbers improving at competitions).

[Johnny Brown]

I'm encouraged by the current lack of indoor specialists winning the comps. (this is a very vague impression gained from I don't know where, but I think is true.)
The sponsorship would filter down. Lots of current trad heroes dallied with comps between the ages of 16-23. Once they've made a name and an income they could get on with the real deal. Plus they'd have had a leg-up with training advice.
The sport as a whole is facing decreasing funding directly due to not being represented in the Olympics.

Compared to similar sports we have woeful levels of sponsorship. Why is complicated but I think it might give sponsors a kick up the arse.

[slackline]

All this talk of additional funding for the sport of climbing got me thinking about what its actually needed for.

The conclusion I've come to is that the primary need for additional funding is to pay the exorbitant insurance premiums that indoor training facilites are required to have in the increasingly litigous society here in the UK.  Then we can all climb/train indoors for less when its raining

Why is complicated but I think it might give sponsors a kick up the arse.

Some sponsors/sponsored climbers are perhaps less aware of the historical culture/ethics involved in climbing, per exemple (Michael Fuselier is sponsored by Nike ACG, who are not what I would consider a "traditional" climbing equipment/clothing manufacturer) and it would be a shame to see this increase as a direct consequence of increased media exposure.

[Stu Littlefair]

to win a high level climbing comp, especially if it was advanced to olympic level, involves real specialisation and that means you train nothing but indoors for sucess indoors. so the winner could climb for a year without ever getting to a real crag. How many times a year does His Royal Hoyness get to fuck about on a BMX or MTB? probably never, he has to be at the track grafting like a machine. How often does Usain Bolt pop out for a sport of parkour? how often did steve redgrave get to piss about in a peddalo?

I think that's pretty much balls. After all, as I said above most of the rising standards in sports climbing have come from people heavily into the comp circuit. They get plenty of time to hit the crags and onsight 8c all day.

And your analogies are balls too. After all, days at the crag are good training for comps and vice versa. A better analogy would be Hoy spending days out road racing, or Bolt getting miles under his belt running round Jamaica, both of which sound perfectly reasonable to me...

[dave]

whatever - you're looking at climbing circa now and the last 20 years, which is a million miles away from how advanced training methods for other mainstream olympic disciplines. yeah people like jerry were winning comps and advancing standards outside in the 1980s, but the level of  training knowledge back then was something akin to cycling or running in the late 19th century.  few laps of the park followed by a packet of woodbines. even the invention of the cmapus board is still utterly primitive compared to todays training for proper sports. Its a far cry from the what it'd be like in olympic status. top runners etc have personal trainers, coaches, nutritionists, psysios etc. You've only got to read the blogs of people on the comp teams, and it clear even now its a world away from what it would end up being like if taken serisouly as an olympic sport. we're not talking about sharma cruising round Cali in an RV and popping in to crush the 1999 x-games. greater development in comps means more specialisation, which means less transferable skills, less days on the crag.

[slackline]

Compared to similar sports we have woeful levels of sponsorship. Why is complicated but I think it might give sponsors a kick up the arse.

Just been thinking about this too (after all its a Friday and no one works on Fridays, do they?) and don't think its too complicated (from my perspective and knowledge at least).

I think the main reason why the levels of sponsorship in climbing aren't as high as similar sports is simply that historically climbing has been a minority sport in comparision to others.  Thus there is not as much money available for sponsorship.

[Jaspersharpe]

I think that's pretty much balls. After all, as I said above most of the rising standards in sports climbing have come from people heavily into the comp circuit. They get plenty of time to hit the crags and onsight 8c all day.

That's just not true though. Patxi Usxbrioxtixilix was complaining (around the time he had that awesome day of ticking) that he hardly ever gets to climb outside because of the demands of the comp circuit. He's managing to push standards outside despite, not because of competitions.

I think the main reason why the levels of sponsorship in climbing aren't as high as similar sports is simply that historically climbing has been a minority sport in comparision to others.  Thus there is not as much money available for sponsorship.

But by definition "similar sports" are also minority sports. I think JB means the sponsorship is woeful in comparison to other sports which have a similar number of participants / amount of cash washing about. And if so I agree.

[Jaspersharpe]

Patxi only climbs on rock one month out of the year and asked about climbing 9b or 9b+ said........

The question I think isn't whether it is possible to do something or not. At the moment the problem is that we haven't got enough time for everything. We need to train for competitions, go to competitions, and only afterwards climb on rock. I decide to climb routes fast, or send hard routes, but always as fast as possible because I like climbing and two or three weeks, maybe a month, isn't enough to try a 9b or a 9b+. It’s because of this that I haven’t tried harder routes than La Rambla or other 8c+ or 9a's. I think it's possible to climb harder, but you need to invest a lot of time to succeed.

Competitions are holding him back from pushing the standard of climbing on rock to new levels.

[slackline]

But by definition "similar sports" are also minority sports. I think JB means the sponsorship is woeful in comparison to other sports which have a similar number of participants / amount of cash washing about. And if so I agree.

Ahh, I hadn't been reading between the lines.