The OCF Bouldering Provincial Competition

This weekend brought Ontario’s Bouldering Provincial Competition to the Hub, just outside Toronto. After the last local of the season, Provincials provides an opportunity for qualified athletes to compete in a high-stakes field.

Walking away from the weekend, we find a few of the usual suspects in finals. Each competes with their own dream of climbing in the Regional Competition later this season.

Riley Galloway took home first place followed by Justine McCarney and Madison Fischer in second and third. Galloway’s strong performance follows her third place finish at the Up the Bloc local just a few weeks ago. When asked how to win in the open category, Galloway expressed that “It’s really anyone’s game. All the girls in open are very close in skill level so it all depends on the day and the round.”

Though these athletes are competing against the same individuals that they would run up against in a normal local competition, Galloway says that ”there is added pressure as provincials is a qualifying event for Regionals.”

For the men, Dylan Saffrey finished first, while Ville and Samuel Tiukuvaara took home second and third. Similar to Galloway, Saffrey finished just short of first at the Up the Bloc local. To Saffrey, the difference was that he “went into Provincials much more determined to win than before.” He wanted to prove to himself and the community that he could defend his title from last year.

Crediting his coach Matt Chapman, Saffrey has been “training consistently for the first time in awhile” and is happy to see results.

For full results click here.