SLO-OP: March Madness

San Luis Obispo is a fun young town that is home to many scenic beaches, beautiful coastal weather, and a high concentration of strong climbers. The SLO climbing community has experienced rapid growth over the last few years since the advent of a local climbing gym cooperative: The SLO-OP. Touting mostly overhung walls and slab top-out boulders with 24-hour member access, this gym is a haven for people who want to train for some serious pull strength. And not only does the SLO-OP serve as an intimate venue for hosting climbing competitions, such as the CCS on March 3rd, the staff know how to throw a party!

It would not be daring to say that SLO-OP just set the standard for CCS 2012! The event ran without a hitch thanks to plenty of staff who flawlessly facilitated contestant registration, rules meetings, competition judging, safety and security. The addition of a live DJ, cheap burritos, and free beer kept the morale high and the smiles big on everyones faces. The energy never dropped once from start to finish.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of "March Madness" was the addition of a finals round, in which the top 5 men and top 5 women were chosen to climb three additional problems after the regular redpoint comp. Each finalist was given 5 minutes on each of the three problems, and scored points based on their progress on each problem. At the end, the scores were tallied for all three problems to determine the winners. The benefits of having finals at a competition are that it resolves any potential conflict in determining the winner(s) of redpoint format, and it adds an entertainment aspect to the event. In the case of the SLO-OP, there were at least 50 raucous college students and other spectators crowded around the show from the floor to the rafters. With that many people cheering on each competitor at once, things get pretty intense! This intensity provided welcomed motivation for the finalists, who, after already having climbed for three hours prior, displayed impressive strength on the powerful and dynamic climbs that were set.

Props go to the setters of this event who made those walls look very clean! This was perhaps the best-set CCS event in Northern California to date. The boulder problems showcased a variety of movements across a wide range of styles, which resulted in challenging climbing for everyone at the comp. Notably, all of the problems were set for the field so that nothing remained unclimbed when the competition was over. The holds and that were used were also very finger-friendly, which minimized the risk of injury to climbers.

Thanks again for a great event, SLO-OP!

Here's a link to the results of the event:
http://usaclimbing.net/rockcomps/comps/event_details.cfm?id=2649