- Location
- Austin, TX
The short version: Our representative will be a kid named Miguel, who was competing for his first time (they had to talk him into it). He smoked almost everyone on both FL and belay. I don't remmeber his last name (it was a new one for me) but I'll get the full results later and update.
The contest was a three-day ordeal. With near-100% chances of thunderstorms on Sat., the decision was made to run FL, belay and TL on Fri. Some of us arrived at 8 am for conference (Thanks, Mark, for lots of good ideas!) and left at 8:30 pm (probably some judges were there longer).
Sat. proved to be very wet, but not electrical, so we started by finishing FL and TL (arrival time: 7:30 am, start time: 10:30ish). Then we moved on to AR. Left park around 5pm, I think, but I don't really remember. Sun. morning (still drizzling), we showed up at 9:30. Top ten finisher from previous events ran WC in wet bur oak, starting around 11am I think. Finsihed by 1pm, top 3 went on to MC starting about 2:30. Event finished about 5pm, when I left, so I don't know how long they stayed handing out plaques and cleaning up. Miguel was the only one of the three to finish the event in the allotted time. Leoncio Ruiz Carlos and Francisco Ruiz Carlos have been strong competitiors for years, but Leoncio missed his first 3 throws and Francisco tried to get fancy and never quite got his ascender high enough on a single line to work the tree. I'm not sure if he timed out or got DQ'ed for climbing above his ascender/tie-in. That's not to say Miguel didn't earn his win; he did a great job and finished with a minute or two to spare, I think.
I just flat didn't climb well in the WC, but I did manage a second place in prelims (AR, missed 1st by .67 pts). I think I just got too worked up/worn out mentally by all the hurry-up-and-waiting. Still, it was fun to see everyone again and the trees were beautiful. It was a perfect, sunny day for the drive home.
I'll see how business is for the next couple of months and then decide if I can spring for my own trip to PA. hope to see you there!
Keith
The contest was a three-day ordeal. With near-100% chances of thunderstorms on Sat., the decision was made to run FL, belay and TL on Fri. Some of us arrived at 8 am for conference (Thanks, Mark, for lots of good ideas!) and left at 8:30 pm (probably some judges were there longer).
Sat. proved to be very wet, but not electrical, so we started by finishing FL and TL (arrival time: 7:30 am, start time: 10:30ish). Then we moved on to AR. Left park around 5pm, I think, but I don't really remember. Sun. morning (still drizzling), we showed up at 9:30. Top ten finisher from previous events ran WC in wet bur oak, starting around 11am I think. Finsihed by 1pm, top 3 went on to MC starting about 2:30. Event finished about 5pm, when I left, so I don't know how long they stayed handing out plaques and cleaning up. Miguel was the only one of the three to finish the event in the allotted time. Leoncio Ruiz Carlos and Francisco Ruiz Carlos have been strong competitiors for years, but Leoncio missed his first 3 throws and Francisco tried to get fancy and never quite got his ascender high enough on a single line to work the tree. I'm not sure if he timed out or got DQ'ed for climbing above his ascender/tie-in. That's not to say Miguel didn't earn his win; he did a great job and finished with a minute or two to spare, I think.
I just flat didn't climb well in the WC, but I did manage a second place in prelims (AR, missed 1st by .67 pts). I think I just got too worked up/worn out mentally by all the hurry-up-and-waiting. Still, it was fun to see everyone again and the trees were beautiful. It was a perfect, sunny day for the drive home.
I'll see how business is for the next couple of months and then decide if I can spring for my own trip to PA. hope to see you there!
Keith
