Familiar Faces Win Canada’s High Performance Bouldering Competition
The event saw many of the country's best comp climbers go head-to-head on nine tough boulders
Photo by: Jocelyn Sahli
On January 28 and 29, Climbing Escalade Canada (CEC) held their 2023 High Performance Bouldering Competition. CEC is the national governing body for comp climbing in Canada, as recognized by the Canadian Olympic Committee and the IFSC. At the invite-only comp, climbers earned points based on their final rankings—as they do in all big national comps. These points determine which climbers are invited to join Canada’s High Performance Program, an elite group of athletes training to represent Canada in IFSC World Cup and Olympic competition.
The High Performance comp allowed CEC to evaluate athlete readiness relative to the demands of IFSC World Cup-level competition. It also gave top athletes who might have missed previous comps the opportunity to show this potential readiness.
Thirteen men and 18 women climbed nine boulders over the two days at the Richmond Olympic Oval. On Day 1, athletes climbed five boulders and on Day 2, they climbed four. After the competition on Day 2, a bonus session was held that allowed the competitors to receive constructive feedback from setters. Neither day of the event was broadcasted live.
In Men’s, British Columbia’s Guy McNamee came out on top. McNamee was 2022’s National Champion in both bouldering and lead. He topped five of the nine boulders and he reached zone for all problems. In second place, was McNamee’s twin brother, Kindar, who also came in second at the 2022 Boulder National Championships. He achieved three tops and seven zones. Third place went to Matthew Rodriguez, with two tops and eight zones. Three other competitors—Brennan Doyle, Evan Lau, and Dylan Smith—managed to top one of the nine problems.
In Women’s, Quebec’s Babette Roy came in first. Roy was the 2022 Boulder National Champion. She reached three tops and seven zones. Indiana Chapman and Sophie Buitendyk came in second and third respectively. They both topped two problems, but Chapman bested Buitendyk in zones. Buitendyk won gold in the Lead National Championships last year. No other High Performance competitor topped any of the nine problems.
Men’s Top-8 Results
- Guy McNamee (5T9z 17 23)
- Kindar McNamee (3T7z 16 27)
- Matthew Rodriguez (2T8z 6 29)
- Brennan Doyle (1T8z 6 22)
- Evan Lau (1T7z 2 25)
- Dylan Smith (1T6z 11 19)
- Hugo Dorval (0T8z 0 48)
- Finn Battersby (0T7z 0 19)
Women’s Top-8 Results
- Babette Roy (3T7z 6 14)
- Indiana Chapman (2T6z 9 19)
- Sophie Buitendyk (2T4z 4 11)
- Molly Dreher (0T6z 0 11)
- Evangelina Briggs (0T4z 0 5)
- Jacqueline Ho (0T4z 0 10)
- Rebecca Frangos (0T4z 0 12)
- Anna Kelley (0T4z 0 14)
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