This weekend, Up the Bloc Climbing Gym, will play host to the 2018 CEC Open Boulder Nationals. The start-list of climbers for this event was released earlier this week and the competition looks stiff.
On the Men’s side, the obvious favourite is 11-time Open Canadian National Champion Sean McColl, who often makes his only Canadian competition appearance at Nationals. However, a number of strong competitors will be ready to give Sean a run for his money, with fan-favourites Jason Holowach and Sebastien Lazure coming out strong this season. Also to note are Squamish-local Tosh Sherkat and Ontario’s Zach Richardson.
On the Women’s side of the competition, North Vancouver local Alannah Yip will be making her first competition appearance this year and is the favourite to win. This is the second year that Alannah has focused on competing at the World Cup level, putting a priority on her training over competing provincially throughout the year. BC/Alberta based climber Allison Vest will also be in attendance after winning the 20178 BC Provincial Open Bouldering Championships. It will be quite a show to watch these two strong women battle it out for the top of the podium.
If you can’t make it out in person, join us for the Live Stream of Semis and Finals of the 2018 Canadian Open Boulder Nationals on March 4th. Commentary courtesy of Tyler Norton and Pete Woods.
