After 9 months, 9 gyms, and over 5,000 competitors, the Touchstone Rope Series 2014 competition ended with a bang last Friday at Mission Cliffs. Over 400 men and women came to compete in beginner, intermediate, or advanced categories at our original gym in the heart of San Francisco. Climbers had 5 hours to climb their hardest, with the top men and women competing in on-sight finals at 6pm.
Head Routesetter Jeremey Ho, who leaned back in his chair and thoughtfully stroked his fu manchu beard when we asked him for comment said, “It went about as smoothly as it possibly could! Through our recent USAC experiences, we’ve learned a lot about the organizational aspects of running on-sight finals.”
Between 5pm and 6pm emcee extraordinaire Zach Wright kept the crowd entertained as the route setters worked to unveil comp routes for men and women. Huge thanks to Blue Water Ropes, prAna, evolv, Stone Age Climbing, Alite, Boreal, and many more for donating prizes to raffle out to anyone who competed. It definitely paid big time to climb in the event!
“Mission Cliffs was the perfect venue for the ropes finale,” said manager Donna Hawkins. “I can’t remember how we used to do it before our Walltopia expansion!” The expansion of the gym, which added over 9,000 sq ft of climbing to Mission Cliffs, allowed competitors to spread out and decreased waiting time between comp routes. Huge thanks to staff, routesetters, management, and our many members and guests to came out to make this finale one for the books. We’re so happy to be able to host such a popular comp series, and we wouldn’t be able to do it without you!
To check your scores from the comp – click here.
To check out the full gallery of photos by Jeff Rueppel – click here.
