The international competition season 2005, a comment by Marco Scolaris, UIAA Climbing President

Marco Scolaris, the President of UIAA Climbing (International Council for Competition Climbing), tells us about the just finished competition season and unveils the perspectives 2006.
Oscar Durbiano

From the World Cup to City Climb
The fifth and last leg of the European Youth Cup (EYC) in Kranj, on November 27, has closed the long sport climbing season. The youth series is always very interesting, being always more the obligatory way for the future champions. Not only. By now it happens frequently that some athletes compete at the same time in both categories, harvesting already brilliant results in the World Cup. This is valid for the Juniores, but also for the athletes of the Youth A and B categories, who by now seem to be able to challenge the older competitors. The generation change and the rejuvenating of the ranks have had a remarkable acceleration in the last three to four years. The spreading of the climbing gyms has permitted a capillarization of the sport and therefore of training, allowing a lot of climbers to aspire to results unthinkable until recently, if you lived, for example in Norway and didn’t want to emigrate at least in winter. You remember South France as the top climbers’ Mecca? Other times…. Today plastic is prevailing, the sport becomes urban and the bond with the mountains is weakening.

The season in numbers
Let’s speak about the competition season. For the files, in 2005, we have had a World Cup with nine difficulty (this discipline is now called “lead”), four bouldering, and five speed events. And further, the World Championship, the World Games, the Rock Master, three other international events; and then the Youth Championship and, in Asia, the Asian Indoor Games and the Senior and Junior Continental Championship. In short, another long stretched season, with a few moments that probably will become a milestone in the history of the sport, for its growth and its ambitions.
The facts have given reason to the ones that considered 2005 as a turning point, as it really was it, even more than the forecast. Only one flaw, the bouldering specialty, that has suffered a little, with a World Cup reduced to only four legs (but for 2006 there are already 11 candidates), a lack in some way compensated by the difficulty, with nine events.

A “world” World Championship.
If we add to all this the World Championship in July in Munich, the season could be considered simply fantastic. In Germany more than 500 athletes entered their names for the three disciplines, representing 55 countries (53 have actually participated, two have been excluded for visa problems). In the five competition days, hosted by the Ispo, it has been possible to see what climbing can offer, in front of a large crowd, with tickets sold out for the difficulty event. Thanks to the “partnership program” of UIAA Climbing, for many climbers the dream came true, to participate to a World Championship, near the famous names.
Tomasz Mrazek (23) has won his second difficulty title in a row, after Chamonix, a really exceptional exploit, if we consider the incredible current level in the men’s field and the fact that the Czech champion didn’t start at all with the favor of the predictions. Of course there has been the undeniable help of the unexpected weak performance of Crespi, and, even more, the incredible oversight of the Spanish team. As a matter of fact Ramon Julian, who had been the best until that moment, arrived in the isolation zone before the final half an hour after closing time and was disqualified (the fact has been so sensational that the Spanish Federation has started an inquiry). The Czech climber anyway has been able to show his value at the right moment, so that neither the other Spaniard Patxi Usobiaga (25), nor Alexandre Chabot, with ups and down performances, have been able to prevent him from confirming his title.
Among the girls, nobody has seemed to be able to stop Angela Eiter (19), who, in the final, has left all the competitors very far behind. Surprise instead for the rest of podium, with silver to American Emily Harrington (19) and bronze to the Japanese Akiyo Naguchi, a good sign of the potential (not yet expressed) existing also outside Europe. Unfortunately the Cup takes place almost completely in Europe, and few federations outside the old continent have the means to carry the expenses for the travels of their athletes (and some of them don’t even think about it…).
Sensational instead the results of bouldering. Salavat Rakhmetov, the legendary Russian, born in Kazakhstan, has achieved complete victory indeed: at 37 years of age he hasn’t needed one try more than the twelve ones necessary to climb on sight the six qualification boulders and, the day after, the six ones of the final. For the other competitors only the crumbs have remained. Kilian Fischhuber (Aut, 22) has won the silver, and Gerome Pouvreau (Fra, 22) the bronze. Delusion, among the favorites, for French Meyer and Italian Core (retiring champion).
Among the girls, Ukrainian Ohla Shalagina (22) has followed the same fantastic clean itinerary toward the gold medal, with behind her on the podium Ioulia Abramtchouk (23), silver, and Czech Vera Kotasova, bronze. In short, only athletes from the eastern countries on the podium. We have to point out that Shalagina had placed fourth in the difficulty two days before! The big delusion has been French Sandrine Levet, gold in Chamonix in this specialty and bronze in the difficulty.
A few words about speed, for which in Munich a new formula had been introduced, based on a standard wall, with two identical and homologated routes. Therefore there was a record to be established and a nice show. The World title went to Russian Evgeny Vaitsekhovski, an incredible sprinter, who seems to fly on the holds, with a record time of 8.74 (on a 12-meter-high wall); faster than Maxim Stenkovoi (Ukr) and fellow-countryman Serguei Sinitsyne. Among the girls Ukrainian Olena Ryepko was the fastest one (record at 17.76), in front of Russian Valentina Yurina and Polish Edyta Ropek.

The World Games
After just three weeks, at the end of July, all the best athletes (almost) met again in Germany, for the World Games in Duisburg. It is a big event that takes place under the support of the International Olympic Committee (CIO) every four years (the year after the Summer Olympics) and that collects 39 sports, among the non-Olympic ones, and 2500 athletes from over 100 countries.
Climbing has made its debut with two intense days, one dedicated to difficulty, the other one to speed (at the moment of the registration, seven years ago, bouldering practically didn’t exist yet). The competition took place in the huge and by now abandoned metallurgic factory of the town (we are in the Ruhr) and the 1700 tickets were sold very fast, with a sensational sold out several weeks before the event.
The fact that climbing was a new entry has unfortunately limited the participation of athletes and countries, but the show has been of the highest level anyway, and has been appreciated not only by the spectators, but also by the numerous insiders present on the gallery. In the speed two new world records (and the crowd really warmed up) for the winners: Serguei Sinytsine, 8.45, and his compatriot Anna Saulevitch (21), 14.02. Patxi Usobiaga (25) instead got his revenge after Munich, winning the gold, while there wasn’t any problem for Angela Eiter to win a new title.
Beside the results, what matters is the fact that sport climbing has been considered among the most successful sports of all the World Games, due to the quality of the offered show, increasing the interest for the sport itself. The next appointment is in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where surely we will be able to count on a wider participation. From now on it will be possible to use the success of the World Games to climb the not easy heights of the world sport.

The World Cup
In the last years the World Cup has become a long and difficult series, where the ones who aspire to the final victory must stay in top form for almost nine months in a row, trying to avoid the damages due to the unavoidable moments of loss of shape. Nevertheless it remains, for history, tradition and required commitment, the most coveted trophy for many top climbers. At the end, for the Italians, the great satisfaction has arrived of inscribing for the first time in the hall of fame an Italian climber. Flavio Crespi (25), athlete of the Fiamme Gialle, has been able to win five of the nine legs (Veliko Tarnovo, Imst, Marbella and Kranj) and has been able, above all, to demonstrate that he is a true champion, beating all the competitors in Slovenia, where he couldn’t allow himself the slightest error, considering the mathematical possibility of Ramon Puigblanque to catch him: the pressure on him must have certainly been very heavy. A guarantee for the future and the FASI, which needs impulses and champions.
The big surprise of the year instead has been the Netherlander Jorg Verhoven (19), who has fallen in love and has spent a couple of seasons in Austria, where he trains, obviously with success. Winner in Valence, he has almost always placed in the podium zone, finishing at the end second in the general ranking in front of Ramonet. Another one to keep in mind is the very young Magnus Midtboe (17), habitual finalist in the last part of the season, who comes directly from the brilliant results in the European Youth Cup (where he has won the trophy in the category Youth A) and the gold medal for the same category in Peking.
Among the girls, the decline of the great Muriel Sarkany (31) continues, all the same she placed fourth in the final World Cup Ranking. At this point, to resist to the new age of the terrible teenagers (or barely older) it is necessary to have a motivation that has probably faded for the Belgian Champion, after an exceptional career. The unstoppable march of “terminator” Angela Eiter (19) continues instead. With her eternal smile on the lips, in 2005, she has won everything, but really everything, from the World Championship to the World Games, from the World Cup to the Rock Master.
Only “flaw” (otherwise she would have won all the legs of the series), the second place in Shanghai, where for one holds Maja Vidmar (19) has won. The petit blonde Slovenian girl deserved it, after a season where she has collected a long series of places on the podium. Well done also for the French Carolina Ciavaldini (20) (from the Reunion Island), third in the general ranking (and five time second!) who should still have good growth margins.
Behind them the Japanese school is moving fast, with Yuka Kobayashi (18), with promising results in the Cup, and Akiyo Noguchi, third at the World Championship in Munich.
Something more was to be expected from Alexandra Eyer (24), who has lost two places compared with 2004. Quite good also Italian Jenny Lavarda (21) sixth in the general ranking, a result that, after losing terrain at the beginning of the season, at the end she has demonstrated to deserve.

The new rankings
For the first time two new rankings have been introduced: the team ranking and the combined bouldering-lead. Russia has dominated the speed ranking, with 2201 points, that means 1500 more than the second placed, Ukraine, third Poland. In the difficulty France has the lead, in front of Slovenia, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. In bouldering the lead of France was stronger (France has here a powerful women’s team and a very respectable men’s team), second Austria, and then Russia, UK, Poland and Finland. In the combined ranking the best were Flavio Crespi and Sandrine Levet.

What is waiting for us?
Let’s look towards 2006, “Italian” Olympic year.
A calendar with too many candidates (a few will have to be rejected, following the existing rule of a maximum of 10 events for each specialty), with always more competition in Asia. There is no doubt about the leadership of China (where the support of the government confirms the social value of our sport), but also in the far eastern countries we can notice an always-growing interest for the sport. Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore… Japan and Korea remain a little behind, may be the conservative groups in the federations are still very strong and don’t let too much space. Anyway it is just a question of time, the results of their young champions, together with what is happening in the neighboring countries could soon open different perspectives.

City climb
In Shanghai, the Chinese have exactly copied the Chamonix wall and have let it become part of a big structure, well incorporated in the middle of a public park. But above the green and the little rocks with waterfalls, above the trees, there isn’t the Mont Blanc with its glaciers like in Chamonix, instead there are the skyscrapers with thirty and more floors of one of the modern residential areas of the largest metropolis of the planet.
The major of the town, here like somewhere else, supported the necessity of “taking the youth away from the streets”, proposing them something new and fascinating, climbing exactly.
In the numbers, therefore, climbing is becoming “city climbing”. This shouldn’t scare us, on the contrary. Thanks to the gyms, the artificial holds and walls, to competitions at any level, we can put the basis for a huge spreading and the possibility of new proposals, from the schools to the physically impaired. The social role of the sport, that is needed today more than ever, applies very well to “city climb”. It is a new sport, not a substitute of something that already exists, and is near the natural and spontaneous basic movements of every human being. And to the ones who fear that all this lets us abandon rocks and crags, well, I would say that we shouldn’t worry: just think about huge meetings like Melloblocco. The movement grows in all direction, let’s help it….
Marco Scolaris
Presidente UIAAClimbing
(www.uiaaclimbing.com)