If 2011 was your first Boulderfest you're probably wondering where we got the idea for holding an event with judges, scorecards, and everything else. The answer: Boulderfest is modeled entirely off of a scramble format bouldering competition. Many national, and world championship bouldering competitions are modeled the exact same way. The only real difference between Boulderfest and a serious competition is that we don't give cash prizes to the winners.
Lots of people, especially new climbers, are turned off by the word, "competition." But the best thing about climbing competitions is that even the best climbers in the world will cheer on a beginner that is trying hard on a route. Everyone comes out a winner because everyone has a good time. That is the sport of bouldering, it is a social event that that brings people together to do something they all have fun doing and build off of each others enthusiasm.
Now that you've had a chance to sample Boulderfest, you can go ahead and participate in other climbing competitions at other gyms with confidence, knowing that it is going to have the same atmosphere as Boulderfest, leave you with the same good feeling, and be just as much fun if not more fun than Boulderfest was. Most people don't even go to competitions to compete, they go just to have fun, play on all the new problems, and get a chance to watch and learn from some of the really strong climbers.
For those of you that are interested in going on and participating in other competitions, or simply want to learn how to do your best at Boulderfest next year, here are a few pointers that will help you achieve the highest score you can.
1. Prepare.
If you climb a lot, you know that even going a couple of weeks without climbing is enough to throw you off your game. If you want to climb your best at Boulderfest or any other competition, then you need to keep a regular climbing routine. Simply climbing regularly is more than enough, but if you're the type, then you might have a training routine that you would like to follow in order to get you into peak physical condition.
2. Relax.
Going into a competition on nerves will ruin you in more ways than one. First of all you're gunna be terrified about looking like a dork in front of all the strong climbers. Second, you're going to be all shaky when you're on the problems which is only going to increase your chances of falling. Third, your body is going to pumping out all kinds of chemicals into your system that are just going to pump you out faster than ever. Fourth, and most importantly, you're not going to have fun! If you're not going to have fun at a bouldering competition then you're not going for the right reasons. If you're not trying to win the comp, then just go to hang out, and enjoy yourself, go with some friends or make some friends there. Chances are that whoever is trying to climb the same problems as you is probably just as good of a climber as you, so introduce yourself, and voila, you have a new climbing buddy to sesh the comp with.
3. Warm up.
Everyone that has climbed has been pumped out more than once. Climbing competitions seem to pump you out faster than ever, because you get there, the music starts playing and there are just SO many problems that you want to try to play on! If you're in a playing mood then I would say just go play, but if you're trying to get your high score, then you are going to need to take time at the beginning to warm up your muscles and get you blood flowing, watch other people climb while you do this, that way you can learn how some problems are done so you don't wear yourself out trying them.
Most people have their own warm up routine, but if you don't have one, try climbing on something that you would consider SUPER easy, take your time on it, climbing it slow, down climb it even. You're simply trying to activate your muscles and get them ready for a lot more climbing. If your warm up starts wearing you out, then you need to slow down. If you start getting pumped out, try running on the spot, doing jumping jacks, or hopping up and down with your arms above your head, this will get your heart pumping, your blood flowing, and displace the lactic acid that is building up in your arms. Sometimes expert climbers will take up to an hour and a half to get warm while they are planning out what problems they want to try, which is the next step:
4. Plan out your Problems.
There is some strategy to getting a high score, and it doesn't involve having big muscles and climbing the hardest problem. You need to climb a series of problems that will all contribute to your final score, at Boulderfest it is your top seven problems, other places it may be your top five, or you may even go somewhere they count all of your problems towards your top score.
The most important thing you need to accomplish is to make sure that you at least fill your scorecard! For example, if you only try to climb the hard stuff at Boulderfest, but you only send five or six problems, then you're not going to have enough sends to get your full scoring potential. The second most important thing to do is to group all of your problems. Getting seven problems in a row is going to give you more points than if your top seven are spread out across your score card.
For example, compare these two score cards:
Climber #1: Problems sent= 41, 38, 27, 22, 16, 11 & 9. Falls=31 SCORE=1609 points.
Climber #2: Problems sent= 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26. Falls=0 SCORE=1610 points.
Climber #1 tried really hard to get problems that were at his limit, problems he knows he can get, but probably not seven of them in three hours. As a result, he fell a lot of times, only finishrd a couple of the really hard ones, then when time was running out he was too tired to fill in his score card with anything else but problems he would normally consider really easy.
Climber #2 on the other hand, she took her time, warmed up, watched some people climb some of the problems so she could figure out the beta, and then climbed a series of problems that she knew she could get. The final result, even though she isn't as strong of a climber as Climber #1, she ended up beating his score.
So try a couple of problems and try to figure out where in the range you could get seven in a row, keeping in mind that they are never rated perfectly. If you can't get one problem, try the one just above it. If you think you've climbed the hardest problem you can, then start filling in the gaps in your scorecard below it.
5. HAVE FUN!
I've said it before, but you can't say it enough, climbing is a recreational sport, people do it because they enjoy it, so enjoy yourself.
These are all general pointers from the experiences of someone who has gone to a variety of comps after first competing in a Boulderfest. Some of you will probably take something from this article, apply it to your climbing strategy, and perform better at the next Boulderfest as well as start going to other comps. Just keep in in mind that the problems change every year and vary at every gym, just because you got #28 this year doesn't mean that you're guaranteed to get #28 next year. (This year the highest score was 3407, whereas last year the highest score was 3848. This isn't because the climbers got weaker, the problems were just different, and we had fewer of them. The more problems you have means higher numbers, and thus, higher scores. Different gyms cater to different climbers too. My first Boulderfest I got problems 47-53 out of 54 problems. My first comp in Calgary the highest problem I sent was #36, and it was the only problem I got in the 30's, but I still had a tonne of fun, and there were more than enough problems for me to play on.) A lot of people may not like to associate Boulderfest with competition climbing at all, and continue to think of it as strictly a festival of climbing.
However you want to think about Boulderfest. It isn't going to change what Boulderfest is, and that is simply climbing in Lethbridge at it's best.
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