Vail World Cup: Victories and Upsets

The second stop of the IFSC World Cup took place in Vail this weekend at the Go Pro Mountain Games. This was the first world cup that two Canadian made it to the finals.

It was a big day for 17-year-old Megan Mascarenas who finished in first place to win her first world cup. Fellow American competitor, Alex Puccio, won her first world cup at 18 years old. Puccio suffered a knee injury in qualifications and is out for the remaining world cup season.

After the competition, Mascarenas was interviewed on the IFSC Youtube live-stream and she said that being the first competitor on the final problems helped because she wasn’t affected by how the other climbers performed.

In second place for the women was Akiyo Noguchi followed by Shauna Coxsey. Anna Stohr, who won the Toronto world cup, finished in fifth behind fourth place Miho Nonaka. The other top-six American climber was Margo Hayes who finished in sixth place.

For the men, Canadians Sean McColl and Jason Holowach advanced to the finals looking very strong. McColl is a world cup veteran, but this was the first time Holowach made the finals and the first time two Canadian competed in the finals at a world cup. McColl finished in fifth and Holowach ended the day in seventh.

The winner was Jan Hojer, who recently won the European Championships. In second was Toronto world cup winner Nathaniel Coleman and Adam Ondra finished in third again. Full results here.

One of the most impressive sends of the finals was Nathaniel Coleman’s flash of men’s problem number four. To watch it, head to 2:13:00 on the video below.

For dozens of photos, visit here and scroll through.