IFSC Boulder World Cup, Innsbruck

I've always said that in life if you aren't doing things that make you happy then quite frankly what is the point? No matter what I do in my life I will always follow the path that puts a smile on my face. These where two main factors in my decision to attend another World Cup this year. Practically I couldn't afford it and financially it wasn't a wise decision, but for all I know I could severely injure myself any moment and never climb again. Even with the unlikely event of that happening I wasn't prepared to take the risk, so why not live in the moment?

Next thing I know I'm at Heathrow Airport again, this time with Jon Partridge ready for my next world cup. Motivation was high, I'd been told many different things about Innsbruck but the one that stuck in my head was "It's one of the best events of the year." So I had built up an idea in my head of what was in store for me over the coming days. Mostly revolving around my childhood dream of a massive crowd in a beautiful city watching the best climbers in the world compete on the best quality problems in the world. But did it deliver?

In short, yes.

But a simple "yes" doesn't emphasise how phenomenal the whole experience really was. I have never experienced an atmosphere quite like it. Watching the finals in a square of about 4000 other people shouting and screaming was amazing, they had great music playing, lights, commentating, the whole sha-bang. It really was breathtaking.

But down to the climbing. Due to there being such a large crowd of 81 men we where split into two groups competing on comparable boulders. In my eyes this was the only downside to the event, because although they where comparable in style, they where not in difficulty... The bonus for me is I was lucky enough to be placed into the "easy" group.

Problem 1
Photo - Eddie Fowke

My first problem was a awkward traverse on a slightly overhanging wall off of volumes which made the wall seem more like a slab. My first attempt I got my feet into a bit of a tangle while stretching across the first volume. Once realising what I had done wrong I hopped back on and although reading the sequence slightly wrong and going a more powerful was around it I was suddenly matched on the last hold! A feeling I will never forget, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face!

The second problem was completely different, a steep overhang on small holds and a crux move revolving around a sloper. I had one attempt and at that point knew I was no way near strong enough to do it, I fell off with a slightly stained back from the powerful moves, collected my thoughts and tried again. Dropping off yet again realisation set in that not only could I not do it, I was severely hurting myself. I stood up and realised I couldn't breath and moving was agony. I called it at that point and went back to isolation trying to decide if it was worth continuing with the competition.

Problem 2
Photo - Eddie Fowke

Problem 2
Photo - Eddie Fowke

After much debate I made the unwise decision to continue anyway and got onto the third boulder, a dyno to two slopey pinches, after fluffing the first go trying to avoid hurting myself further I realised I just needed to try harder and easilly sent it, catching the dyno, campusing to the next pinch and then pressing out to the final hold.

Problem four was again a dyno but from an awkward angle to a positive hold but again at an awkward angle. I had many goes and even now believe I could do it but sadly I was in too much pain to really commit to going all out on it...

Finally my last problem was a slab on tiny footholds and thumb catches. After dropping my first attempt due to not wanting to trust my feet on the small holds I hopped on again and made the awkward transition up off the little holds to a flat volume and then a big pull to the final hold, yet again finding myself at the top of another problem!

My overall score was 3 Tops in 6 and 3 Bonuses in 4. I'm ridiculously proud of this as it placed me into a respectable 45th place. Next time I'm hoping for more similar difficulty boulders for the groups as I do not believe this is an accurate representation of my ability on the World Stage.

Dave Barrans, John Ellison, James Kassay and Myself Supporting CAC!

Regardless of my thoughts they where indeed fantastic boulders and I again had the time of my life competing with the best yet again. I was lucky enough to be offered the help of the Austrian Team Physio with my back and after a short diagnostic he had worked out what I'd done. So moments later there was a "crack" and suddenly I could breath again and the pain subsided! A few short days later and I was fully recovered, I can't emphasise how much I appreciate his help.

The GB Team had good results all round with Shauna Coxsey winning her second consecutive gold, beating some very tough competition. Mina leslie-Wujastyk making semi finals and the men being in a very tough category, mostly coming down to attempts on whether or not people qualified!

GB Results

1st – Shauna Coxsey
16th – Mina Leslie-Wujastyk
37th  - Micheala Tracy
67th – Diane Merrick
41st – Dave Barrans
45th – Orrin Coley
65th – Jon Partridge


Final Results

1st – Shauna Coxsey and Killian Fischhuber
2nd  - Anna Stöhr and Adam Ondra
3rd  - Akiyo Noguchi and Rustam Gelmanov
4th  - Mélissa Le Nevé and Dmitrii Sharafutdinov
5th  - Marine Thévenet and GiGi Glarion-Mondet
6th  - Miho Nonaka and Michael Piccolruaz

Yet again it was an amazing experience to be up there, I don't see myself being able to attend anymore events this year. If the opportunity arises I will jump for it but sadly it is too expensive for me at the moment!

The Full results can be found here - IFSC Boulder World Cup Innsbruck Results
Also if you are feeling generous, why not go buy The Circuit World Cup and Performance Magazine? It funds Eddie who took these wonderful photos to travel and report on all the world cups.
And while you're at it, maybe go donate to Climbers Against Cancer!

Finally recently I have Reset the V7-V8+ boulder circuit at The Climbing Station and we did a short video to demonstrate a few! (Ignore the poor footwork, it was a long day...)

The Climbing Station Green Circuit!

Stay Psyched!