This weekend, the Hive North Shore, will play host to their first bouldering competition of the year. Double-billed by both Climbing Escalade Canada and Tour De Bloc, this National Series Competitions will count towards national points and not provincial points. Finals for this event will start at 7pm on Saturday Dec. 3rd, 2016 and is open to all spectators. With the talent pool coming out of the woodworks, this event will no doubt be off the hook!
Last years event at the Hive North Shore. Photo courtesy of Shane Murdoch ©
Last year, no one would argue that competition action was dominated by the Women’s field throughout the year, with local favourites like Alannah Yip and Tiffany Melius being challenged by a younger group led by Sophie Buitendyk and Hannah Block. However, this year there has been a change in the air on the Men’s side of the field, making this field much more competitive than last year. Joining the group are a number of Albertan climbers setting up shop in Vancouver, including Andrew Funk and Eric Sethna, both of which will be competing tomorrow, as well as the return of veteran climbers Gavin Johnson, JJ Mah and Ryder Hoy.
Eric Sethna. Photo courtesy of Shane Murdoch ©
Add this to the early season domination of Kin Wah Lai and things start to get very interesting on the podium. If this was not enough, the starting list for this weekend includes American climber Mike Foley, who is now a Squamish-local. Any one of these individuals are capable of a podium finish! Missing from the action is local hero Simon Parton, who is always a joy to watch and has been sporadic throughout the last few years because of head setting obligations.
Kin Wah Lai. Photo courtesy of Shane Murdoch ©
On the Women’s side of competition, we are very excited for the return of Alannah Yip to the spotlight.Alannah has learned a lot over the past year with much more experience on the international scene and will be interesting to see how that experience has paid off on home turf. Alannah will be challenged this weekend by two young competitors, Jani Zoraj, who has dominated every competition she has participated in since arriving in Canada last year and Lucie Hrozova who took a first place win at the Tour De Bloc Boulder House last weekend.
Alannah Yip. Photo courtesy of Shane Murdoch ©
Alannah Yip. Photo courtesy of Shane Murdoch ©
Not to be overlooked from this competition is the strong contingent of Calgary-based climbers, including Kelly Drager, Regan Kennedy and Rebecca Frangos joined by Allison Vest, now living in Vancouver, and Alyssa Weber. Let the battle of Western Canada begin! Missing from the action is Tiffany Melius and Maria Celkova, both of which who have played a substantial role in competition climbing in British Columbia over the pat few years.
Jani Zoraj. Photo courtesy of Shane Murdoch ©
Finals for this event will start at 7pm on Saturday Dec. 3rd, 2016 at the Hive North Shore and is open to all spectators. Get there early to get your spot on the deck before it is too late!
Special thanks to Shane Mordoch for the photos. What an asset to the history of our climbing community!