Jan Hojer and Michaela Kiersch Win 2016 Psicocomp
Psicocomp has celebrated its fourth year at Park City in Utah. Jan Hojer and Michaela Kiersch took first place after an exciting evening with a record turn out. Canadians Josh Muller and Jason Holowach qualified for the Finals, but neither advanced to Semis. Muller fell low on the route, but Holowach made it to the final hold before coming off. The evening began with light rain and many worried the event would be cut short like last year, but the clouds cleared and climbers sent.
The women’s route was a solid 5.12 and the men’s a technical 5.14. Both routes seemed easy for the finalists and the comp turned into a fun-to-watch speed event. House boats were airlifted into the Olympic-sized pool for spectators to watch from, people walked highlines and Olympic ski jumpers performed at intermission.
Hojer beat Ben Hanna in Semis to compete against Nathaniel Coleman, who beat Carlos Traversi in Semis. Hojer and Coleman where within one or two holds until the final few metres when Hojer pulled away and Coleman fell from the lip. In Semis for women, it was Natalie Bärtschi who lost to Sydney Trinidad and Inge Perkins who was narrowly defeated by Kiersch. The women’s Finals was a similar to the men’s, as it came down to who could climb faster. After the event, Chris Sharma praised the route setters for putting together perfect routes for each round.
The deep water soloing competition was the brain child of senders Miguel Riera and Sharma and has become the must-watch comp of the summer. Some suggest it should be the format the Olympics adapt for the 2020 games where climbing will make its debut. Sharma has announced there will be a Sydney event and possibly more in Europe later this year. Watch the 2016 Psicocomp below.
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