Comp Report: Portland Boulder Rally 2018

The Portland Boulder Rally took place this past weekend. Live-streamed on Saturday evening, the final event lived up to the hype. The boulders were predominantly American-style with lots of dynamic and powerful moves but there were also more three-dimensional problems for competitors to unlock, particularly women’s number two. It was a great show.

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Portland Boulder Rally 2018 by @richcrowder ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @thecircuitgym always puts on a fun comp. Happy to have won alongside my iso buddy @matt_fultz!

A post shared by Alannah Yip (@alannah_yip) on Oct 9, 2018 at 8:57pm PDT

Canada’s Alannah Yip qualified for finals in first. Cloe Coscoy and Maya Madere gave her a run for her money but Yip never gave up her lead. In the end she was the only woman to top three problems, and might have topped four, if it were not for a technical on problem number three, which interrupted her best attempt. After the spinner hold was secured, Yip was unable to regain her high point.

It was a tight race for second, but Coscoy ended up 5 points ahead of Madere. Interestingly, the points were tight despite the fact that Coscoy topped two boulders to Madere’s one. In the US scoring system, each boulder problem is made up of five small sections, each worth 5 points. Therefore, a top is worth 25 points. Total points earned over the four problems are added up and penalties applied for each fall (0.10 x number of falls).

Yip’s send of problem number four was the climax of the event, as it happened simultaneously with Matt Fultz’s send of men’s problem four, which had yet to see a top. It’s hard to get a better set for a final than the top qualifiers sending the last problem, and both for the win.

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I don’t get these kinds of moments very often in life. So happy to be this year’s #portlandboulderrally champion! Here is my flash on Finals number 4, the only top. Congrats to @alannah_yip for winning for the women! Thank you to all the setters and organizers, and everyone who helped me along the way this week. Still so psyched! ? ? @theredbehrends @madrockclimbing

A post shared by Matt Fultz (@matt_fultz) on Oct 8, 2018 at 9:25am PDT

Matt Fultz impressed everyone in finals as he topped all four problems, beating out the powerhouse Jimmy Webb and Carlo Traversi, who ended up with fifth and sixth place, respectively. Rounding out the podium was Solomon Barth in second and Ross Fulkerson in third. Barth eked out in front of Fulkerson because he had one fewer attempt on their tied combined points.

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Good times at the Portland Boulder Rally! The competition was stacked and I’m stoked to have made it to finals amidst such a strong crew of doods. Congrats to all the climbers and especially @matt_fultz & @alannah_yip for taking home the gold! Thanks as well to all the setters and everyone @thecircuitgym for putting on a good show. Catch y’all again next year!! ? Cheers @richcrowder for the sick pic ?#bouldering #competition #portlandboulderrally @hippytree @fiveten_official @organicclimbing @metoliusclimbing

A post shared by Jimmy Webb (@jwebxl) on Oct 9, 2018 at 10:14am PDT

Check out the live-stream here if you missed it:

Women’s Final Results
Alannah Yip
Cloe Coscoy
Maya Madere
Quinn Mason
Michelle Abshire
Nekaia Sanders

Men’s Final Results
Matt Fultz
Solomon Barth
Ross Fulkerson
Sam McQueen
Jimmy Webb
Carlo Traversi