Battle in The Bubble – Men’s Final 5 – Technique Thoughts

Obviously, Men’s Final 5 had to be a really hard problem.  The bulk of the problem was set by Jonny Hork, who took one look at the big purple Climb-It tufa and set to work screwing it on the steepest part of the roof.

First hold on the wall.

The ladder was sketchy (flimsy aluminum on wet plastic) so Jon decided to help Jonny out a bit.  Anyways, with a bit of input from the rest of the team and a lot of his own ideas, Jonny put up what turned out to be a spectacular final problem.  One of the most interesting things about it is that, after a few tries, both Daniel and Julian were getting high on the problem, but Daniel was besting Julian by two moves (even before he stuck the final hold in the dramatic finish).  Here are some pictures I took of their last tries, cause it’s interesting to see what’s different:

Julian

Julian sticking the Halo hold

Throwing his heel in the Halo

Doing an incredibly powerful flag move to the hold far out left.

Straining to reach the left hand hold, but he wasn't quite long enough in the position he was in to grab a hold of it well enough to move on.

It looked like Julian tried as hard as he could to reach that left hand, and he couldn’t quite get it well enough, so he fell off.  That Halo he’s matched in is kinda slopey, and it’s pretty impressive that he did the movement the way he did.  Let’s see how Daniel did it differently:

Daniel

Daniel kept his feet low and used a left foot heel hook on the tufa for the hand move out left.

He matched his right foot on the tufa, moved his left heel to a toe, and now he's in a good position to get his right heel up with his body already high.

With a high body and good heel, he can do the powerful move to the next high right handhold.

On his first two tries, Daniel did these same moves, but he seemed to be barely hanging on.  Before this try he had a 2 minute rest, and it showed.  In this sequence he is much stronger, and locked off much higher on his left hand and right heel, so the move to the high right hand isn’t so stretched out this time.  Also, his foot cut isn’t quite as dramatic as the one you saw in this post: Battle in The Bubble Goes Off HUGE!!! This go, his last, he easily got his feet back on, hucked sideways for the finish hold, and somehow, magically, stuck it.  The crowd went absolutely wild, competitors rushed the mats to hug Daniel, and everybody had huge grins on their faces.  It was a fantastic ending to a great event.

Angie Payne Battle in The Bubble Spectacular Fall!

After a long hiatus from comp climbing, which included some outdoor climbing and lots of school and work, and then an ankle injury that stopped climbing entirely for a while, Angie Payne burst back on the scene and came a hairs breadth away from WINNING The Battle in The Bubble!

Set up on those tiny crimps!

It’s right there!  Just grab it!!!  After slipping off on her flash, Angie wanted to be certain of grabbing the hold the second time, so she pulled as hard as she could off the little tiny Climb-It crimps…

Soooooo close to the finish jug!

And then her left hand blew...

We're so glad she landed safely...Thanks Asana!

On her next try Alex Puccio promptly pulled it together and hiked the problem, and Angie, tired from her two laps, succumbed to a foot-slip at mid-height on her final try.  Both girls climbed super well and we were proud to have them.  Great job Angie and Alex!!!

Alex securing the win!

Battle in The Bubble Goes Off HUGE!!!

The sheer power of Daniel Woods | pic Jackie Hueftle

The Battle in The Bubble was fantastic.  I know, it’s immodest to say how amazing it was, but we at the Spot and the Professional Climbers International are so proud of the setting crew, the climbers, the Sender guys, the AV team, the lighting guys, Ian the skydiver, the volunteers, the vendor village participants, the kayak and paddle board demonstrators, the APEX parkour guys, the Vail Valley Association, Red Bull, Wahoos, Avery, Avid 4 Adventure, Mix 1, Gibbon Slacklines, everyone who tried David Garcia’s ATG challenge, and the staff from the Spot for taking many unlikely variables (and lots of doubters) and putting together a spectacular show.  Thank you everyone for your hard work to make this the best climbing event Boulder has ever seen.

Women's winner Alex Puccio and men's winner Daniel Woods on their final problems | pic Jackie Hueftle

We’d like to thank all our sponsors, but since this is the setting blog I’m going to focus on the setting-related sponsors here.

Thank you Climb-It, for all the awesome holds in such striking colors!

Thank you ASANA, for all the neck-saving crashpads!

Thank you to Ivo, Travis, and the rest of the crew from Walltopia, for building these spectacular walls.  We’re looking forward to getting them up in the Spot!!!

Asana pads, Walltopia walls, Climb-it holds. And Brazilian strongman Felipe Camargo forerunning Men's Final 1.

Finally, we’d like to thank all the spectators for showing up, enjoying the festival, and hanging out through the cold (but luckily dry!) weather to watch the climbers battle it out.  It was an amazing evening, and it could never have happened without the support and hard work of so many, but if you hadn’t come to watch it would have all been for nought.  We hope you all had an excellent time and were psyched out of your minds when Angie and Alex and Daniel and Julian battled it out on the final problems.

This picture of Alex Puccio high up on Women's 4 isn't particularly special, until you notice Julian Bautista taking flight in the background. Thanks Asana, for saving his butt.

There’s so much to write about this comp, and so many pictures to share, so stay tuned for pictures and video in the coming days.  I’ll do a full write-up as well.  Until then, here are results:

Finals Results

Semi-Finals Results

Citizen Results

And a few bits from others who came to the event:

Peter Beal’s Battle in the Bubble Review

Pictures from the redpoint round and pro qualifier | Fullerton Images

Climb-It’s Kyle Owen to Compete in The Battle In The Bubble

So Cal climber Kyle Owen will be representing Climb-It Holds as he does his best to bring home the big $$ at The Battle in The Bubble.  Kyle is no stranger to Boulder, and he’s no slouch in competition either.  Last year he surprised everybody when, as a member of the 2009 USA Climbing Bouldering Team, he earned one of only 6 spots in Finals against a very stacked field at the Bouldering World Cup in Vail.  Here are some pics I took of his dramatic solution to Men’s Final 1:

Kyle psyching up for the end of Men's Final 1

Deciding to go for it

Jumpin' like Jordan

Stick!

After a great performance he ended up in 5th–an amazing result for a climber who literally came out of left field to best many international competitors far more experienced in World Cup style competitions.  Here is a video of the event: Kyle Owen Climbs in the IFSC Bouldering World Cup Finals, 2009 on Vimeo.

Almost sticking the last move of Final #4!

He’s a nice kid with a great attitude and a bunch of potential, and we are extremely excited to see how he does at The Battle in The Bubble.  Wanna know more about him?  Check out:

This interview with Urban Climber–Drive: KYLE OWEN

This video Garrett made from a trip they took last year–Garrett Gregor, Kyle Owen, Carlo Traversi & Alex Puccio Bouldering In Yosemite & Hueco Tanks

And this video Carlo made of Kyle doing an amazing sideways dyno at The Spot–World Record Campus Dyno? | Dead Point Magazine

See you at The Battle In The Bubble!

Help us pick some Climb-It Holds!

The Battle in The Bubble’s Title Hold Sponsor – Climb-It – makes tons of awesome climbing holds.  On top of the holds they’re sending us to sponsor the finals of The Battle in The Bubble we’re gonna order some holds from them for our new wall.  So we wanna know, what Climb-It holds do you like?

Pinches?

Climb-It L B Pinches

Slopers?

Climb-It Shallow Slopers L

Huecos?

Climb-It Halo XL

Technical Crimps?

Climb-It Powertools LG Crimps

These holds and tons more are featured in their online hold store: CLIMB-IT HOLDS – Climb-It.  Check out the site, peruse the holds, and make a case in the comments for the sets you think we should get for our new wall.

Battle in The Bubble Title Hold Sponsor Announced!

Climb-It Holds out of Southern California will be the title Hold Sponsor for the finals of The Battle in The Bubble.  This means they are providing all the holds for the 10 awesome finals problems we’re gonna set!  That doesn’t mean all the problems will be the same style–far from it.  We’re not sure what we’re using for the comp yet, cause Climb-it makes tons of different kinds of holds (check out their website to see most of ’em) but some of our favorites are these bad boys:

Climb-It Southern Sandstones 3XL

The Souther Sandstone 3XL is one of my favorite Climb-It shapes.  You may recognize this one (we have a couple of ’em at The Spot, one yellow, one orange) cause we use it all the time.  It’s big enough to match, big enough to heelhook, even big enough to mantle on, but still challenging and versatile enough to be found anywhere from vertical 3+ spots to the hardest 5 spots.  It’s Climb-It’s Boss, and one of the most awesome big slopers on the market.

Climb-It Moderate XL Slopers

We have a couple of these at The Spot as well (they’re blue) and we’re looking forward to using more.  These slopers provide a good challenge on vertical to slightly overhanging walls (think the river granite, the Font, the left and far right sides of the Dojo, and the backside and headwalls of the Hueco) but they’re a little…slopey…to be used on the steepest terrain in the gym.  We love ’em cause they’re great for setting technical problems, difficulty deadpoints, and arete squeezes.

Climb-It Powerpinch 1

Whooo!  We don’t have these, but we wish we did.  Big slopey pinchy goodness.  They make several versions of the Powerpinch, and we want ’em all!  POWERPINCHES!!!!!

Climb-It Patina Crimps A

These are some great technical holds–whether they’re used as gastons, pinches, or straight crimps, they’re all different sizes, some have thumb catches, some have thumb wraps, some are good feet, others aren’t, and most of ’em have a nice lip so they can be used on steep walls (even the cave of the Dojo!).  If you’re setting a rope climb, several of them could even be technical (but not impossible) clipping holds!  Our set is yellow, and we use them all the time on problems from 3- to 5+.  Check ’em out next time you’re at The Spot and let us know what you think!!!

Stay tuned for more info on the Battle in The Bubble and our title hold sponsor — Climb-It Holds!!!