Zander Waller Defeats The Best in Boulder
Team Canada competes extremely well in North American Cup Series. Several athletes show a high-degree of potential.
After a strong performance in Lead, American Zander Waller would tackle bouldering in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It would not be easy.
After the Qualification round narrowed the Men’s field into the strongest men in North America, the Semi-Final round began. Raymond Hansen came out first. The physical problem ultimately appeared easy by the time Finals came around perhaps due to the simple nature of the boulder.
M1 moved through thin edges on volumes, each made positive by the angle of the orientation. Although Hansen climbed well enough to make the Semi-Final, this problem proved too difficult for the American.
As the round progressed, the boulder problems continued to become more complicated. By M2, athletes would jump from and edge to a pinch, cementing themselves on a box before exploding out to a dual-textured final hold. This grip forced athletes to catch the slick side of the grip and appeared to favour taller climbers.
Among the athletes present, four represented Team Canada. Sean Faulkner, Oscar Baudrand, Victor Baudrand, and Zach Richardson tackled the four problems of the round. Although Victor Baudrand took second in Lead this week, Boulder proved difficult and, despite his strong performance on the last two more challenging problems, he  finished the competition in 14.
Similarly, Faulkner climbed well in Lead and even began his bouldering competition in good form, however, he ran out of steam and ultimately finished in 18. Still, for both Canadians, the competition offered numerous learning opportunities. Although Baudrand already proved himself strong on the World Cup circuit, both he and Faulkner continued to show their ability.
It now appears that Faulkner could push through into another level of performance given the right competition. This thought is supported by Faulkner’s increasing consistency.
Although Oscar Baudrand often falls second to his brother in Lead, he pushed hard in Boulder yesterday climbing three of the four Semi-Final problems. He missed out in Finals by attempts alone and, as with Beauchemin and Vest from the Women’s round, should consider this competition a strong performance within the context of limited bouldering competition opportunity this year.
Still, as with Fischer, it would take Ontario to give Canada a Final competitor. Zach Richardson once more showed his power in a masterful display of strength. Tying American Ross Fulkerson in Semis, Richardson took third by countbacks with four tops and four zones.
The field in this event was so deep that athletes such as Kai Lightener and Ben Hanna could not make Finals. With that said, second place speed medalist Joe Goodacre qualified for Finals in fourth while Zander Waller took fifth. Waller brought home bronze in lead several days before.
As mentioned in a previous piece, this level of flexibility between disciplines appears apparent in each of America’s top, lesser-known athletes. Although these lesser-known athletes have yet to make big names for themselves, more events such as these should provide a strong foundation for their competitive progression both at home and abroad in the coming years.
With that said, Finals began with Simon Hibbeler on M1. He would not make any progress on the boulder. In fact, only one athlete would make it to, and beyond, Zone. Waller took down the problem in two attempts asserting a lead early on.
The technical problem forced athletes through a powerful shoulder move before a momentum-based slow-then-fast sequence to the Top. The weird and complicated problem set the standard for the round as athlete after athlete came out on the remaining boulders. Earning a Zone attained a high degree of significance.
M2 may have been the most difficult boulder in the round. This is hard to say, but the problem required so much power that Hibbeler’s lone ascent to Zone, made mere seconds before the buzzer, became his reason for ultimately attaining third. Hibbeler would in fact not top a single boulder, but three zones became enough to earn bronze.
Despite close attempts, no climber topped the comparatively simple M3. The dynamic compression test-piece pushed climber after climber into the pads, although Canada’s Richardson did appear to make strong strides toward completing the problem. Although Waller and Galla came close, the competition would move along to M4.
This final problem provided a great challenge for all but Galla. The relatively easy start moved climbers through pockets before an obvious, uncomfortable crux. Even though the end seemed overtly difficult, the beta remained confusing. Several athletes tried moving from the pockets, through the jug, over into the gaston, before dead-pointing to the finish. On the dead-point, the smearing left foot would pop, or the right foot would fall away.
Others tried static beta that only Galla could make work. Forcing the heel into the jug, crossing over to the awful right hand, and just locking the grip off, Galla completed the problem. It was heinous.
In the end, Galla secured second just behind Waller’s unbelievable performance. While few would have predicted this outcome, Waller’s consistency in this week’s events could become the first in a series as he prepares for the Olympic qualification. For the moment, much work remains to be done. Waller’s steadily increasing ability could make him a contender with the best. After all, Galla, Richardson, and Fulkerson are all extremely powerful boulderers.
Result
1 – Zander Waller
2 – Zach Galla
3 – Simon Hibbeler
4 – Ross Fulkerson
5 – Zach Richardson
6 – Joe Goodacre
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