Canadian Climbing National Championships Start Today—Here’s How to Watch Live
The event draws the best comp climbers in bouldering and lead from across the country. Who's favourited to podium?
The Canadian Senior Boulder and Lead Championships start today. The event is run by Climbing Escalade Canada (CEC) and is being held at two gyms in Ontario: Boulderz in Etobicoke for the bouldering comp and The Hub in Mississauga for the lead comp. In bouldering, 135 climbers will be competing (71 women and 64 men). In lead, 105 will be competing (52 women and 53 men).
CEC is the national governing body for competition climbing in Canada, as recognized by the Canadian Olympic Committee and International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). The results of this event contribute to national athlete rankings, which ultimately determine who gets invited to be in the national High Performance Program (HPP) and represent Canada in IFSC World Cup and Olympic competition.
Women’s Field
In bouldering, favourites to podium include Madison Fischer, Evangelina Briggs, and Babette Roy. All three are members of the HPP. Fischer is ranked first nationally in women’s bouldering. She also won bronze at last year’s bouldering nationals. Briggs won gold at last year’s comp, and she’s currently ranked sixth in bouldering in Canada. Roy is ranked fifth.
The climbers in women’s lead arguably face the stiffest field of competitors, leaving who will podium highly uncertain. Five HPP members are competing, including Babette Roy, Emi Takashiba, Sophie Buitendyk, and Madison Fischer. Alexa Vanier, Youth A Female champion will also be competing, as will second-ranked lead climber Chloe Earle.
Other HPP members Alannah Yip, Indiana Chapman, and Paige Boklaschuk will not be competing at either boulder or lead events.
Men’s Field
In bouldering, Guy McNamee and Zach Richardson are the climbers to watch for podium. Both are HPP members. McNamee is nationally ranked third, Richardson fifth. The other male athletes in the HPP are sitting out from this year’s nationals, including standouts Sean McColl, Lucas Uchida, and Victor Baudrand. Uchida is helping set for the comp.
Brothers Kindar and Guy McNamee are some of the favourites to podium in lead. Both are in the HPP. Kindar is ranked sixth nationally, while Guy is ranked eighth. It will also be interesting to see how Youth A and B champions Dylan Le and Evan Lau fair in this senior comp. The top five nationally ranked lead climbers and HPP members will not be competing.
How and When to Watch
Bouldering qualifiers are being held today, and semi-finals and finals are scheduled for tomorrow, Friday November 25th. Saturday is a rest day as many climbers compete in both bouldering and lead. Lead qualifiers are being held on Sunday November 27th. On the final day of the comp, Monday November 28th, the lead semi-finals and finals will wrap up the event.
The qualifiers, semi-finals, and finals will be livestreamed on Climbing Escalade Canada’s YouTube page. The YouTube livestream schedule is listed below:
Boulder Qualifiers – Thursday November 24 – 8:30am EST (5:30am PST)
Boulder Semi-Finals – Friday November 25 – 9am EST (6am PST)
Boulder Finals – Friday November 25 – 3:45pm EST (12:45pm PST)
Lead Qualifiers – Sunday November 27 – 9am EST (6am PST)
Lead Semi-Finals – Monday November 28 – 10:30am EST (7:30am PST)
Lead Finals – Monday November 28 – 5:30pm EST (2:30pm PST)
We’ll be covering the results all week so be sure to check back to Gripped Indoor Climbing for the latest results.
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
