On Saturday, Dogpatch Boulders threw open its doors to climbers from all across the state. Some had literally criss-crossed California in order to attend each and every Touchstone Climbing competition this year. Others missed the memo and thought they were there for a normal day of climbing… Imagine their surprise and delight to find that they were about to participate in the largest bouldering comp in California!
The Touchstone Routesetters had been working since Tuesday to strip, set and perfect comp problems that filled the entire gym. “These were some of the best problems I’ve ever climbed!” said one Berkeley Ironworks member.
Competitors had from 11:30am till 5pm to complete their climbs and turn in their score cards. “The pace felt nice,” said Retail Manager Patti Phillips, who helped run registration. “Saturday comps are great because people have the whole day to climb.”
At 6pm, score cards were turned in an participants were encouraged to move to a neighboring building for well deserved pizza and beer. As they were winding down, the route setters jumped into action to strip and then quickly set the on-sight finals problems.
For on-sight finals, the top 3 climbers of the series and the top 3 climbers of the day were pitted head to head on the brand new problems. A tie breaker and wild card entry meant that both men and women had 1 additional climber. The lights were dimmed, the flood lights were focused, and the finals began!
Touchstone’s own Ethan Pringle stepped up the the mic to emcee the finals. “When Justin Alarcon offered to let me emcee the comp, I was all for the idea. Once the mic was in my hand, it was a little nerve-wrecking… But once I started talking I got the hang of it and it was fun to engage the crowd a little, get them all psyched up and lend a little insight to what was going on.”
“I think having been in a fair amount of finals myself gives me a different perspective than most emcees or commentators,” said Pringle. “I can usually see a climber in the finals and know exactly what they’re going through. I also know when to shut up and let the climbers concentrate, and what not to say to add more pressure to the them. But still, knowing what to say at the right time is difficult. I have a new found respect for those who emcee and commentate these things! It’s super taxing and your brain turns to mush after about an hour.”
If you participated, find your scores HERE.
See more photos from the event HERE.
We’d like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who came out on Saturday and was a part of the fun. Competitions are Touchstone’s way of thanking our members for being a part of our community. “It was completely exhausting and overwhelming and crazy… but I can’t wait to do it all over again next month at Mission Cliffs!” said staffer Lauryn Claassen. Hope to see you all there! To find out more about our competition schedule, visit our comp page.
Video by Matt Grossman.
