Written by Tuomo
General info
After the great event in Oulu’s Kiipeilykeskus it is time to look towards the comps in BoulderSaimaa Lappeenranta. Tour standings before Lappeenranta competition is that the top rankings are held by Russians. Vadim Timonov is leading in a men’s category and Anna Mikushkina in women. Antti Virtavuo from Tampere is tied with Finnish climbing star Andy Gullsten in second place. The best Finnish female climber Roosa Huhtikorpi is in 3rd place in women.
This year we have some reforms in our competitions. This year competition will start with a three hour qualification. After qualification round the best five from both categories goes to the final. Final will be held in “jam sessions” concept that have been tested in Boulderliiga`s Kuopio competition. There will be four final routes for both categories: competitors get to climb problems in turns and time is limited to 8min for the whole group. Experiences from Kuopio`s Voema competition showed that this kind of format is really entertaining for both spectators and competitors!
Info for competition viewers and BoulderSaimaa customers
All problems will be take down before competitions so if you have some unfinished business now is the time to finish those!
In the competition day we welcome all spectators to watch the finals starting 18 o’clock free of charge!
After the competitions all the final routes and most of the qualification routes are left on the walls. Competition problems can be tested from Sunday onwards when BoulderSaimaa is open normally from 12-18.
Timetable of a competition day:
12 doors open
12-12.45 competitor registration
12.45 competitor info
13-16 qualification
16-18 technical break (route setting for finals). Dj Holopaisen Ville is entertaining competitors and spectators with groovy sounds from vinyl.
18-20 finals & prizes
Route setters & routes
This year master route setter is Anton Johansson from Helsinki. Anton is really passionate climber and route setter with over 20 year of experience in both climbing and routesetting. Anton works in Boulderkeskus Helsinki as a route setter and he helps other climbers to climb better with personal training service. Anton`s route setting style is inspired by holds and wall profiles: “Good holds inspire me to do good routes!” he said. Anton is a passionate outdoor climber and that can be seen from Anton`s problems
Second route setter Ila Tuunainen comes from Jyväskylä Finland. Ila loves big shapes, slopers and pinches with a technical twist. Small crimps and painful foot techniques like drop knees or kneebars are something that you would never find from Ila`s routes. Ila`s routes are really fun to climb!
Juha Olli A.K.A Jolli and yours truly represents local route setting power with a diverse combination of styles. Both of us are keen outdoor climbers so route setting is mostly based on technical movements with many beta options.
Prizes
Best climbers will be rewarded with some specialties from Lappeenranta like outdoor gear from Lamnia shop and street clothes from local brand Hito Hyvä.
And like last year we will have a ballot where we will reward climbers with entrance passes and merchandise.
Tours best climbers will be rewarded in Boulderliiga final competition in Helsinki. These comps will be in Boulderkeskus Pasila cave 19.3! The tour top prize is 1500€ in both categories.