Too Close To Call, Semi-Finals Concludes in Salt Lake
Speed National Champion Joe Goodacre will join America's best boulderers in tonight's Boulder Nationals
The Salt Lake City Boulder semi-final concluded this afternoon. After several days of competition, many of the athletes began to fatigue from climbing previous events. Still, some rose above to secure their spot for finals.
The men’s round began with a technical slab that earned early tops from Tanner Bauer and Palmer Larson. The twin-crux boulder concerned a corner change that had given many of the male athletes trouble in the qualification round. In semis, the boulder required a coordinated stand on an opening box and a barely-there bit of plastic.
After several attempts, they established and moved through the balancy opening sequence. Standing on a small foot, competitors then hand-foot matched the only grip they held. Foot secure, they then stood up with a pistol-squat through to the finish. Although most of the field managed to make it through this first slab, it proved tricky enough to shake a few competitors.
M2 offered a similarly simple start with most of the field once more finding their way to the Top. The powerful start appeared fairly negotiable, offering a couple of large sloping grips that relied primarily on biceps to attain Zone. Sloping Zone in hand, athletes then crimped a thin right grip that forced climbers to hike their left foot high into the sloping surface of the Zone.
Where many toed in, some used the more secure hand-heel match to lever over into the final sloping hold. Locking low, competitors maintained tension, ultimately earning the top-most surface of the final sloping ball. Of the strongest in the field, only Zander Waller fell short of managing to match this final grip. This set him further back than he might have preferred this early in the competition.
While the first two problems fell easily to most, the final two appeared the primary separators of the field. M3 climbed exclusively on the classic Pusher sandstone shapes, earning favour with old school indoor climbers. The challenging third problem was easily the most grip intensive of the round. It asked the best to squeeze through the first move before jumping to a the famous Pusher Boss. Matching, they then had to unload into a later jump, catching a more positive gaston on which they swung.
This gaston provided those that reached it with points for Zone, but the meat of the problem remained. Despite faltering on M2, Waller managed to secure the Zone and move into a higher left pinch. Reaching wide, his feet let go and he caught the right grip along with the subsequent right foot. He maintained the swing and finished the problem. Waller became the first to do so.
Zach Galla strove to make similar moves but could not put together this final sequence. Catching the zone, he hung the gaston with one hand as his right departed from the Boss. Matching the gaston, he fell just short of the crimp. Where many appeared to recognize the difficulty of the boulder, US Olympian Colin Duffy simply flashed the problem.
M4 brought about a similar conundrum for many in the field. This problem appeared to gate-keep finals. All but one finalist sent this problem and only Canada’s Oscar Baudrand managed to climb the boulder without securing a final position. Although Baudrand might find himself frustrated with his ultimate result, he climbed M4 well and looks strong for Canadian Boulder Nationals in just over a week’s time.
The problem began in a weird pressing sequence that was both tricky and physical. After earning the start position, athletes then had to stand through to a negative triangle volume. They pressed through this volume ultimately earning their way through to a tiny zone that began the crux of the route. Jumping wide from this pressed up position, climbers caught a positive hold screwed into a volume and swung their feet over to a large box.
A final move up to a sloper then separated the competition. The problem appeared over, but many would struggle to match the final hold. Faltering, athletes tried many different betas. In the end, two stood out as best. Waller and Galla forwent the volume entirely, choosing to stick their right foot on a smear to the right of the box. Galla was the only athlete to flash M4 and appeared somewhat concerned that his effort may have not been enough to earn him finals. His flash of M4 earned him first position.
Still, Duffy followed and struggled on the challenging final match. Spending a little more time, he ultimately ascertained how to negotiate the final move by toe hooking under the box to create a bicycle of opposition. Duffy retook first position where he remains heading into finals.
Simon Hibbeler and Joe Goodacre also climbed well to make finals. Goodacre entered in fifth position, a stunning result considering this is his fifth consecutive day of competition.
Finals begins at 8:00 pm EST.
Men Advancing to Finals
1 – Colin Duffy
2 – Zach Galla
3 – Simon Hibbeler
4 – Zander Waller
5 – Joe Goodacre
6 – Ben Hanna
Featured image of Zach Galla by Daniel Gajda from Salt Lake City World Cup.
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