The weekend is just over and so happened my first series of the Level Up Boulder Series (LBS) 2013 @ Onsight Climbing Gym. This is the start of something new, driven by individuals who want to give back to the climbing community.
There were a total of only 15 people who came, very much downscaled from my proposed idea of 50. Perhaps given that this competition is only catered for the Open climbers, as well as Climax@Outram was happening and the few numbers. But even so, that did not dilute our psych, sponsored by Sig's playlist. HAHA.
There were 4 easy routes that most can finish, and 4 harder routes which required alot of rest and alot of mental to get through. The difficulty of the routes were not as i imagined it to be at V6-V8 as this would deter the number of people consistently having a go at it. Soon, I tell you, soon! But i would say that these routes are probably around V3-V7? Yep.
1 hour flew by pretty fast and it was great to see people enjoy the routes and work hard at it. From this group of 15 that joined the competition, all I saw was hardwork, perserverance and a love for climbing. For that, I am truly thankful for them to come participant in this mini competition.
 |
| Intermediate wall and some of them on routes 1 & 2. |
 |
| Kai having a go at route 3, set by Felicia. This ending is not easy, not easy at all. Takes a lot of confidence. |
 |
| The crowd on the main Advance wall. 4 routes on this wall front. |
 |
| Results from LBS 2013 OS. Nice even scores! Well done routesetters! |
 |
| 1st place winner for Womens category, Kai Xuan. |
 |
| 1st place winner for Mens Category: Nicholas Lee from Climb Asia, sponsored by La Sportiva |
Planning this event was not easy, despite the small scale. But there was certainly alot of learning points that I could take away from this. The timing and advertising of this competition was micro, just a facebook event or word of mouth. Early morning climbs were not taken to with enthusiasm, haha. But climbing draws people and we started the event later than expected.
Thanks to bella, I've now got a cool logo for thi series. Am hoping to do up a shirt too, to show off my pride. HAHA. I was blessed with sponsors from apparel Grimpe, adidas watches and chalkpots from people who wanted to motivate climbers. THIS, is a community competition and I think its triggered a spark. :)
Routesetting came by easier than I thought, given that there were only 8 routes and the tiles were already up on the wall. Taping the routes up was underestimated and I took 1 hour to out all the tapes up on my own. :p I think I'll do it better next time, probably the day before. I missed afew holds while I was taping and I think this would affect the tries and efforts of the climbers. But thank you to my routesetters out there, for bearing with my inexperience (first time being chief route setter!) and also helping me learn more about the stylesof climbing.
I tried to enlist the help of my vjrc kids, but they were caught up in training, hence there were no route judges for the day. HAHA. It was all on integrity, and given no attemptes were considered, it was easier to keep track of the scoring in the number of bonuses and tops.
Overall, I feel kinda proud of myself for having a go at this unknown. I never imagined I would host everything on my own. Or that people would respond. Of course I would like to see more people, as well as carve a strong competitive vibe in this, but standards will slowly raise, and people will come to Level Up. Someone gave me an incredible idea for the next series:
Level Up Boulder Series 2013, Sundown.
