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Climbers flock to The Core

Bouldering contest attracts over 60 adults, 30 kids
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Movin' on Up Watchers spot a climber in Tuesday's HardCore bouldering competition, held at The Core climbing gym.

The first and probably annual HardCore Bouldering competition held at The Core in Whistler on April 22 was bigger than the organizers anticipated, with more than 30 kids taking part in the youth category after school, and more than 60 adults competing in the evening.

About 50 different bouldering “problems” or routes were marked, and each competitor earned points according to difficulty if they could solve the problem. Each time they failed an attempt the maximum score they could be awarded for a problem was dropped, and if they walked away they would wind up with a score of zero for the problem.

Whistler’s Anne Price competed in the intermediate category, but was bumped up because of her scores and took the overall win in the advanced category, after edging out Melissa Smart from Vancouver. Marie-Christine Boulet placed third in the advanced group, sporting two black eyes after accidentally breaking her nose in training the previous week.

In the intermediate category, Marcela “Tete” Altamiranda and Maria “Lula” Darquies tied for first in points, although Lula was relegated to second because she attempted fewer problems to reach her total.

In the men’s advanced category, Vancouver’s Tim Catcher placed first, after beating Whistler’s Josh Freeman by just nine points.

The main competition was followed by the Cliff Bar Dyno competition, with Adam Darcy and Matt Parr going all three rounds while 13 others dropped out. Matt Parr took the win after jumping two metres from the starting holds.

The kids competition was for fun instead of prizes, and no points were given.

“I can see this getting bigger and bigger for our kids program, it really was a fun time for all the age groups to get together and show off their skills a little,” said organizer Darin Newton.