[gme]

Surfing comps pretty much died until the use of live streaming. Before then they relied on getting as many people to watch them live as possible and therefore they were held on city beaches with piss poor waves.

Now they are held in the best waves in the world without much of a live audience but are streamed to millions via the web. They manage to do this from the middle of nowhere and include three or four different camera angles, water footage, slow mo replays, the lot. So getting an audience is not important.

The comparisons with climbing continue with the fact that to a non surfer the comps must be piss boring. There are normaly only 10-15 waves ridden (each only 10-15 secs long) in a 35 minute heat, the rest of the time its film of people bobbing up and down in the sea. When they do catch a wave its very hard for the layman to distinguish between the good and bad waves and, as with climbing, it all looks very easy.

With both sports the only time the general media are interested is when its "to the max" ie a massive wave or a french bloke climbing up a building.

Climbing takes place in beautiful places just as surfing does and involves "beautiful" fit looking scantily clad people, although surfing does appear to utilize womens bikini clad flesh more in its marketing.

I could go on but other than it not being marketed well i cant see any reason why it is different.

Back on topic i really enjoyed the comp, only the second one i have seen but i thought it was a good watch, bit rough round the edges but still good. And i love the surf comps too.

[slackline]

Climbing takes place in beautiful places just as surfing does

The competitions don't really though they tend to be fabricated structures rather than in the Verdon Gorge.

[r-man]

The comparisons with climbing continue with the fact that to a non surfer the comps must be piss boring.

I can confirm!

A surfing housemate once tried to educate me. Fascinating for the ten minute novelty period, but after you've seen a surfer ride a wave for 30sec, there's a while lot of nothing happening...

[Durbs]

Converesly my non-climbnig parents & sister absslutely loved watching the BBCs at the Outdoor Show last year (granted it was live, not on telly). I think the fact it's actually very un-technical to watch; they get up it or they don't, seperates it from surfing which (I think?) is scored on a number of areas which a lay-person wouldn't get.

[mr__j5]

I think a WC bouldering final could be entertaining for a non-climber to watch.
Especially if it was edited down to a 30min TV show, by cutting out all of the dead time where no climbing is actually happening.

Also, you would need to make more effort to explain who is currently in the lead etc. Unless you can find the correct page on the IFSC site and know what it means, it's pretty hard some times to know whether somebody has a chance of winning if they do the last problem within so many goes etc. Unfortunately, in the current state, the commentator doesn't know any better either... or from talking to Diane when she is there watching, the live audience.

[r-man]

For those of you who watched the semis, here's Dmitrii defeating the unholdable sloper (the live cams were focussed elsewhere).

[krymson]

I like how at the end he's just like "yay."   
Legend.

[a dense loner]

What times the final?

[cheque]

For those of you who watched the semis, here's Dmitrii defeating the unholdable sloper (the live cams were focussed elsewhere).

I'm amazed to learn that you can use the bolt-holes in the holds in climbing comps!

[Doylo]

For those of you who watched the semis, here's Dmitrii defeating the unholdable sloper (the live cams were focussed elsewhere).

I'm amazed to learn that you can use the bolt-holes in the holds in climbing comps!

That's disgusting

[Carnage]

Ha - setting fail.

Should've stuffed the hole with rolled up finger tape. Puts an end to that kind of shenanigans.

[psychomansam]

Could've been left that way on purpose

[a dense loner]

No, they had a foot of slope Ming around it. It was just an oversight. Using bolt holes isn't really in the spirit of comps, but lookin at it from dimitry's point of view he prob thought I can't use this Ming so I'll use this mono jug which I could climb on all day, it'll be a laugh if nothing else. You would think that this obvious prob would have been eradicated by now tho

[GraemeA]

You lot haven't actually seen the hold, how shallow the mono actually is/was. Luckily a pikey convict (acting on my instructions) purloined said hold and it is somewhere between Innsbruck and The Works as we speak.

Even by Dima's standards what he did was pretty out there.

[GraemeA]

Ha - setting fail.

Should've stuffed the hole with rolled up finger tape. Puts an end to that kind of shenanigans.

No one doing the boulder = even bigger setting fail 

[r-man]

Agreed, it was one of the highlights of the comp. There's always a lot of volume puzzle solving, but sometimes it's good to see a bit of undiluted beastliness!

[highrepute]

sweet effort team GB. First time Mina has broken into the top 10? beast!

[erm, sam]

I have been eagerly waiting for the finals replay, but it is still not up. A far cry from last weeks 'within hours' upload..

[a dense loner]

Lord I know that bolt hole would have been v v tiny. I meant it was prob only a jug for dmitri, anyone over 50kilos would prob still be looking for the remains of their finger 

Monster!

[GraemeA]

I have been eagerly waiting for the finals replay, but it is still not up. A far cry from last weeks 'within hours' upload..

Last week saw the boys have a nice little drive (Slovenia to Austria) with 4 days betweeen comps with nothing much to do except get the replays up. This week was the last European comp for a bit and the comp was in the market place so an instant de rig was required followed by an 8am start for a 20 drive back to Brum. Give Mike from Horizon a break 

[erm, sam]

Didn't mean to sound to grumpy.
I'm slightly embarrassed at how obsessed I have got about watching the bouldering anyway, so it is probably good for me to have a pause.

[GraemeA]

Apparently there might be some rights issue, Austrian TV filmed it and gave footage to IFSC.tv so this might be the reason for the delay. Maybe highlights will only be available after Austrian TV have shown their programme. Will do some asking

[GraemeA]

Austrian TV broadcast their highlights tomorrow so maybe IFSC will show their highlights after that

[erm, sam]

Thanks for the research!

[r-man]