Over-caffeinated, I rolled in to Vail Friday
morning, just in time for IFSC Bouldering
World Cup qualifiers, at the Teva
Mountain Games. I paused at our hotel
room, a very swanky two-bedroom
condo, courtesy of the Vail Mountain Lodge & Spa ( VML;
vailmountainlodge.com). Deluxe would be an understatement:
marble counters, a hallway with more square footage
than my old apartment in Brooklyn, and a location
just five minutes from the climbing area. The VML, I found,
is also home to the Vail Athletic Club rock wall, where the
World Cup competitors warmed up in isolation; I stopped
in to see how they were doing (focused). There’s vid from
iso, quals, semis, and finals at urbanclimbermag.com.
At the main event, a giant, white, roof-like cover cast
the wall in shadow. “The Vail Valley Foundation [vvf.org] got it for us,” says Kynan Waggoner, director of operations for USA Climbing (usaclimbing.net) and a routesetter at the event. “It allowed us to set, forerun, and run the competition in the rain. We could take more time getting the problems ready for such an incredibly talented field.” With the help of the shelter, the team set solid qualifying problems, well-keyed to the competitors’ ability level. Quals winnowed the field from 71 (40 men/31 women) to 40 (20 per gender). The Americans came out strong, with six women (Alex Johnson, Alex Puccio, Tiffany Hensley, Lizzy Asher, Chauncenia Cox, and Lisa Rands) and five men (Paul Robinson, Kyle Owen, Daniel Woods, Carlo Traversi, and Julian Bautista) moving on to the semis.
Day 2 started with a rollicking semi-finals comp. The
probs forced big moves, especially Women’s #2 — a hold
on this problem spun, dropping Cox suddenly onto her
back from 12 feet. The dark horse was Owen, 19, of Upland,
California, who sent all four semis probs and advanced to
finals in second place, behind Paul Robinson and ahead
of Daniel Woods. Jonas Bauman (GER), Kilian Fischhuber
(AUT), and Rustam Gelmanov (RUS), joined the three
Americans. On the ladies’ side, Anna Stöhr (AUT), and
Johnson took the top two spots, respectively, followed by
Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), Jain Kim (KOR), and Natalija Gros
(SLO), with Puccio squeaking in at sixth.
Women’s champ Alex Puccio at the podium.
Held later that day, finals featured four gnarly problems
each for the men and women. On the women’s side,
problem #2 was comprised of widely spaced jugs on a
steep overhang. The two Americans, Johnson and Puccio, dyno’d through, while the other
women used a more complex, but
less powerful, inverted feet-first sequence
(see facing page). For the men’s
probs, M3 proved the most technical,
involving a desperate mantel onto a
massive dome, followed by a slabby
balance move over to a facing wall.
There was a scary moment on M4,
when Gelmanov stuck the flat finishing
hold, swung out, came off, and
rotated in the air, landing on his neck
from about 15 feet. He lay on the mats,
clutching his lower back, and was
taken away on a backboard,
but mended in
time to place fourth
in another Bouldering
World Cup, less than
one week later.
As the finals
wound down, standings
shifted. Despite
his strong performance
in semis,
Owen slipped to fifth.
Fischhuber, ended
up third, Woods took
second, and Baumann finished
in first place. On the women’s side, Noguchi
knocked out Stöhr, for third; Johnson, last year’s winner at
Vail, slipped to second; and Puccio muscled her way into
first place. “The comp was smooth, save a minor technical
problem with the time screens. The IFSC Representatives
gave us a rating of 90 out of 100,” says Waggoner. “One
hundred is an absolutely perfect comp, with no issues
whatsoever.” The high score’s good news for the future of
World Cups in the US.
Jain Kim, of Korea, employing jungle-gym tactics on Women’s Finals #2.
Jain Kim, of Korea, employing jungle-gym tactics on Women’s Finals #2.
Before I left, I overheard some chatter about the big,
feet-swinging routesetting style of this year’s comp. “That’s
definitely perceived as the American style,” explains Waggoner.
“Our international reputation is big moves and long
problems.” One thing’s for sure — it makes for a good show.
MEN
1. Jonas Baumann (GER)
2. Daniel Woods (USA)
3. Kilian Fischhuber (AUT)
4. Paul Robinson (USA)
5. Kyle Owen (USA)
WOMEN
1. Alex Puccio (USA)
2. Alex Johnson (USA)
3. Akiyo Noguchi (JPN)
4. Anna Stöhr (AUT)
5. Jain Kim (KOR)
Dave Buzzelli crunches numbers on Double Down (V13), his first of the grade. Speed Boulder, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Photo: Paul Jung
Dave Buzzelli crunches numbers on Double Down (V13), his first of the grade. Speed Boulder, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Photo: Paul Jung
THE BUZZ
From V9 to V13 . . . in one season
A guy sent us an email the other day, saying his buddy, Buzz, just sent a V13.
Impressive, no doubt, but the tale started to smell like BS when the guy explained
Buzz’s next-hardest send was V9 . . . and that Buzz is 40. How do you go
from V9 to V13 in a single bound? We decided to get to the bottom of things.
Following is the response we got from Buzz (real name, Dave Buzzelli), a civil engineer from
Syracuse, New York. Apparently Buzz sent on his last try of the day, after seven hours of work,
and using fingerlock Beta that left his finger numb and swollen for over a month. —UC
So what V13 did you send?Double Down (aka Castellete SDS), on the Speed Boulder in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It’s a 2006 Dan Yagmin problem. Repeats I know of are Paul Robinson, Daniel Woods, and Phil Schaal. What was your hardest send, before DD? Several V9s . . . most notably Fotowa, also at Great Barrington.
Is V13 a consensus on DD? Yeah. On Paul
Robinson’s 8a.nu card he states, “felt signif
harder than roses [Roses and Bluejays],” which
is the other V13 on the boulder.
How do you explain the jump? Was it a
fluke, or what? I wanna believe it wasn’t a
fluke. Still, I don’t consider myself a V13 climber
— this just happened to fit my style. I’ve
only been bouldering for six years. I started
as a trad climber and loved to headpoint or
toprope short, hard routes. I wanna believe I
can do what I set my mind to.
Any more V13s in your future, or are you
back to workin’ the 10s? Double Down pretty
much consumed me, so I need to take a break
from projecting. The anxiety going into the send was overwhelming . . . I lost eight pounds!
Plus, I have a minor finger injury from the
fingerlock. But the Speed Boulder fits my style,
so I’m optimistic that once I get focused and
the temps are good, I’ll have a shot [on some
other 13s].
What’s the message in this for all those who
think they’ll never climb double digits? That
you continue to get stronger. At 40, I’m definitely
stronger than ever. Sharma said in King
Lines that he only had four more Octobers
before turning 30, so had to take advantage of
his time, because he didn’t know how long he
could sustain that level. He’s got many more
good years! As long as you’re working at it,
you can get there.
What’s your special plus-four-points secret?
The crew tells me it’s my homemade BUZZBARS!
(See recipe, above.)
Anything else? I climb with an awesome
crew that — even though most didn’t think
I had a prayer — always gives me the psych
to send. And of course, I had to show all the
young punks the old man still has it!
Make Your Own BUZZBARS!
Buzz’s secret fuel. Probably won’t get you up a V13 . . . but you never know . . .
3parts maltodextrin
1.5 parts rice crispy cereal
1 part fructose
1 part whey protein
0.8 parts water
0.2 parts peanut butter
Mix dry ingredients, add water, mix with hands, portion into sandwich bags, and freeze.
When La Sportiva invited me to Melloblocco, to present Chuck Fryberger’s
film, PURE, and to try and hold some street cred as a team athlete, I was
curious. Would the event live up to its name (Mello[w]), or would it be an
over-hyped, chest-beating brahfest? Mello is perhaps the largest outdoor
bouldering comp/gathering in the world. It’s held yearly, on the first
weekend of May, in the picturesque Val di Mello, a few hours north of Italy’s fashion capital,
Milan. The granite valley of Mello contains nearly endless bouldering potential. And though
the setting is perfect — grassy meadows for lounging, nightly parties, and free camping — the
granite isn’t quite as nice as in Ticino, to the north. Still, when you’re hosting thousands of
climbers, space is concern #1.
Melloblocco 2009 (sponsored by La Sportiva,
Petzl, The North Face, Sterling Rope, and Beal)
drew more than 2,000 pad people (nearly
twice the 2008 count) and 6,000-plus total
visitors, resulting in a Woodstock-like vibe.
There were climbers from 43 countries —
from Slovenia, to Isreal, to Vietnam. The event
organizers chose challenge boulders for the
men and women, calling them “ultimate projects”
and assigning a 500€ cash purse to each,
to be split among the ascentionists. Adam
Ondra dominated the competition — he was
the only climber to send all eight ultimate
projects, and he also put up a V12/13 first
ascent, Magic Bus. The young Czech’s closest
rival was France’s Guillame Glarion Mondet,
with respectable crimping
performances by
other super-climbers
like Sean McColl
(Canada), Gabri Moroni
(Italy), Nalle Hukkataival
(Finland), Michele
Camanatti (Italy), and
Daniel Woods (USA).
Melloblocco offers
a nice fusion of local
and international vibes,
a picturesque setting
and non-stop movie
showings, shoe demos,
and music. Will we ever see an event with
this vibe, combined with town council and/or
tourist bureau support, in American venues
like the Gunks or Bishop? Only time will tell . . .
The Canadian Sean McColl climbed in Melloblocco
for the first time this year. He placed
fourth. Here’s a quick Q&A:
Sounds like Melloblocco was crazy
crowded . . . There were upwards of 200
people at the more popular boulders . . .
What was the weirdest thing about Mello?
A lot of drilled holds. There were drilled pockets
lining the backsides of some boulders. On
one of the 50-foot boulders, there were alldrilled
routes. I’ve seen this at other places,
but I don’t know why people would do it
with so much rock to climb in the area.
Who climbed the hardest? Adam Ondra. He
flashed one of the V11s we’d been working for
hours. . . .
What was your favorite problem? [One
that] went straight up a 30-degree wall
and ended with a huge move for the lip.
They dragged a mattress out to cover the
landing — we were throwing for the lip, taking
massive backwards falls.
Tell us something thing about Melloblocco
we don’t know. Valle de Mello is a small
town — putting thousands of people there
means it’s packed. Once you park, someone is
probably going to park behind you, so don’t
count on moving your car.
Valle Cochamo, Chile. Photo Jose Ignacio Morales/Escalando
PAN AM
Hemispheric Access Crusade
In 1990, Armando Menocal and a small
group of climbers started the Access
Fund — an organization dedicated to addressing
access issues at climbing areas
throughout the United States. Today,
Menocal, 68, works as a climbing guide and writer
in Wilson, Wyoming. In the decades since he first
started tackling domestic access, Menocal has repeatedly
heard from Latin American climbers about their
access troubles. “I realized the best way to deal with
these problems was to start an organization and see
who we can get involved,” he says. The new org, Access
Pan America (APA; accesspanamerica.com) is “the only
organization dedicated exclusively to protecting climber
access in the Western Hemisphere,” according to the
site. Access Pan Am will meet for the first time at the
Squamish Mountain Festival, sponsored by the Petzl
Foundation, August 12-16, 2009.
Why did you form APA? For 12 years, I’ve been involved
in climbing development in Cuba. (I’ve been banned
because of my work there.) That just brought home to
me the unique problems of climbing in a third-world
country. . . . Their sacrifices
in order to climb
are much greater.
How will APA operate?
That will be
decided at the session
in Squamish. I think
APA will start as a network
of people. . . . It
will probably be more
about helping locals
get started. One of the
first things I learned
at the Access Fund is
it’s important to just
show up.
What are some of Latin America’s access
issues you hope to tackle? There are plans
to dam the valley of Cochamó (often
called the Yosemite of South America),
which would flood the entire area and end
all climbing. Meanwhile, the problems in
Mexico center around property laws — finding
out who owns things is really difficult.
In Brazil, there are problems with park
authorities — they see a lot of climbers and
react, to protect the resources, by closing
areas to climbing.
What are some of the challenges you foresee
with Access Pan Am? One gamble is that our
common bond of climbing will overcome
cultural differences. . . . Can you get climbers
in Chile to help climbers in Argentina? I don’t
know. When we started the Access Fund, we
ran into the same problems — we got people
saying ‘I’m a climber in California, why should
I help climbers in Alabama?’ But really, this
isn’t about trying to persuade people we
aught to altruistically go help people somewhere
else. The reality is, Americans have the
most resources, and we’re the ones climbing
in these places.
The women’s champ Lizzy Asher on the burly Finals Problem #4.
The women’s champ Lizzy Asher on the burly Finals Problem #4.
LE GRAVITY BRAWL
CENTRAL JERSEY'S BOULDERING BATTLE ROYALE
By World-famous DJ, Mon Voyage Neon // Photos by NE2C / Leland Marshall
In early Summer, it is hard to pry me from
my beach house in Ibiza, where I spend
many long nights preparing DJ sets for ze
private celebrity parties that descend on
my island. But zis year, I received a call
asking me to DJ ze Gravity Brawl, Presented by Native
Eyewear, in Fairfield, New Jersey. I view zis as ze hottest
bouldering comp of ze season, and one not to be missed,
so of course I gave my answer as, Oui! Here, I have recreated
ze pro finals in writing, through ze kaleidoscope of
my music . Sit back on your white leather sofa, put on your
audiophile headphones, and enjoy . . .
6:00 p.m.: Le beginning. Hundreds of people
rush to fill ze New Jersey Rock Gym. Spectators
are packed like fine, imported sardines.
6:55 p.m.: I push ze “go” button — Baba
O’Riley by Ze Who starts. I see butterflies flittering
through ze spectators’ stomachs.
7:35 p.m.: Two-time Gravity Brawl Champion
Lizzy Asher has laid down a challenge: if
I play Cut Copy, she will win. I start Hearts on
Fire, and she devours problem #2 on her first
attempt.
7:55 p.m.: Ze first male competitor enters to
House of Pain’s Jump Around. Zer is hardly
room to move, but ze crowd writhes. I pity
ze hippies, with zer open-toed footwear.
8:00 p.m.: MC Hammer’s Can’t Touch Zis.
No explanation for my genius is required!
8:07 p.m.: Amidst ze flurry of activity on ze
men’s problems, it appears that
Lizzy and Kasia Pietras are tied.
Judges break ze tie on a count back
to qualifiers. Lizzy makes good on
her promise, and wins! I receive ze
full credit, for playing Cut Copy!
8:23 p.m.: Brian Kim is, as zey
say, crushing. He is a local, no? It is
time to bring ze hometown music:
Livin’ on a Prayer, by Bon Jovi.
8:25 p.m.: 500 spectators are
singing along to Livin’ on Prayer.
If American states had anthems,
zis would be New Jersey’s. Vasya
Vorotnikov is crushing now. It’s so
nice to see a proper European — so much power; so much grace; so many consonants!
Allez, Vasya!
8:44 p.m.:Thriller, remixed by Louis La Roche.
8:47 p.m.: Paul Robinson needs to do somezing
amazing. Vasya is close on his tail. Cue
Hate It or Love It, by Ze Game.
8:51 p.m.: Sabotage, by ze Beastie Boys. P-Rob
gets one hold furzer than Vasya, to take ze
lead! Ze moment of truth: it is all coming
down to Daniel Woods on problem #4.
Men’s second-place finisher Vasya Vorotnikov lights up Finals #4.
Men’s second-place finisher Vasya Vorotnikov lights up Finals #4.
8:55 p.m.: Daniel checks ze problem, and
I play Big Poppa by Notorious B.I.G. And as
soon as he starts, ze Bloody Beetroots’ Warp
1.9 jumps ze pace from 80 bpm to . . . je ne sais
pas . . . 130?! Sacre Bleu! Zis Daniel, he is a raging
animal! He figures out ze sequence, only
to get shut down just before ze top. Le Gravity
Brawl, she is a harsh mistress. Paul Robinson
is le champion!!!
9:00 p.m.: Song for Junior, by ze Beastie Boys.
Ze band, Tigercity, takes ze stage, and I am
already planning an even better set for
ze Mammut Bouldering Championships, in
Salt Lake City on July 20
and 21. Ah, ze good life — it is like a
fine wine. I drink it up!
L’HOMMES
1. Paul Robinson
2. Vasya Vorotnikov
3. Rob D’Anastasio
4. Brian Kim
5. Julian Bautista
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