(note: the clips above are of the best and fattest video quality, if you have problems watching them, consider our youtube channel instead)
Recipe for a fantastic boulder contest:
Invite 12 very different climbers, all with various backgrounds, 6 girls and 6 boys. Have a cool venue ready, with clean structures that allow for creative route setting that challenge all skills for bouldering. Let them pick straws, one girl and one boy share one section on your structure. Leave it open to them if or if not to coorporate, just ask them to care for each others safety. Let them put up problems, apply as few rules as possible, provide the girls with 2 additional (bad!) holds to compensate for reach etc. Do the ranking / prize thing Melloblocco style, each problem is worth x €, divided through the ascendonistas so nobody returns empty handed. After them setting for one hour, do something for your audience, get into the climber's head, ask them for the idea behind their problem, some might have one, some not, the crowd loves world class climbers talk about climbing!
Than it is bouldering time!
Your job is done, from now on the thing flows by itself! The climbers support each other, the vibe is friendly and the air electric. Some unexpected turns are to be expected, boys get grey hair over "easy" girl problems, girls cheat by solving macho moves with girl technique. More grey hair for the boys! After 90 minutes everybody is wasted beyond believe and you have clear, undisputed winners. (Jule & Jonas in this case) Everybody is happy.
The BRI is still the only format that gives the crucial element of any comp back into the hands of the climbers. In 2007 we invited eight of the strongest, but very different German climbers to put up their own problems and climb them afterwards. Last year we had a tremendous event with the eight invited women from all over the world. Now, this year we feel that we matured enough to invite both men and women and have them compete at the same problems! As the last two years we would like to have very different climbers here, not only your usual competition suspects.
Keep it simple, stupid!
We are trying to make the format as simple to understand as possible and still allow the girls and boys to compete on an equal basis.
Each competitor will be given a part of the artificial structure to put up his or her problem with an identical set of holds. We allow 60 minutes for that. The girls will get 10 more minutes to put 2 more golden “joker holds” into the male problem of their respective area where they see fit to compensate for lack of reach for example. During the actual 90 minutes comp, everybody climbs as many problems as possible, the own problem being of course of most importance. Every problem is worth € 250. This money will be split like this:
one point for a boy doing a girl problem 2 points for a girl doing a girl problem,
2 points for a boy doing a boy problem
2 points for a girl doing a boy problem with the 2 joker holds
4 points for a girl doing a boy problem without the 2 joker holds! Finally, a special prize for the girl that put up a problem no boy can climb! (Unlikely you say? – well, Angelica Lind’s problem #1 last year never saw a second ascent!)
Stay tuned for more about the Bronx Rock Inviational 2009 soon, or better even, come by, August 15, 16:00 CET HERE! If you can't make it to Cologne, follow our "live" tweet.
below: very cool clip of the BRI 2009 by our competitor Jérôme de Boeck!
