The Community Competition is for all ages and abilities of climbers. Like the youth competition, we aim to make this competition fun, challenging, and rewarding for casual climbers, as well as those seeking a legitimate competitive experience.
FORMAT
CHECK-IN + COMPETITOR MEETING: Please arrive between 12 - 1p and be ready for an important Competitor Meeting to begin promptly at 1:15p.
From 1:30 - 5p, climbers will compete in a redpoint competition, which means that many, many climbs of varying difficulty will be set for the competition. All of the boulder problems are available to all of the climbers at once, and the competitors may attempt the climbs as many times as they wish within the given time period. SEE BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL SCORING INFORMATION.
BUT THERE WILL BE A TWIST. For the first 2.5 hours, the specific order of difficulty won't be given for the climb, instead there will be a symbol indicating broadly if the climbs falls into the suggested JAZZ, ROCK 'N' ROLL, or CLASSICAL divisions. Climbers will have a general idea of where the climb may fit into the competition, but won't know for certain if they're climbing number 37 or 47. YEAH, WE KNOW. Then, at the 2.5 hour mark, we'll reveal the order and point values to the climbers. At that point, climbers will have more information and will then have one hour to attempt to fill in holes in the score sheet and work hard to finish the comp the best that they can!
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
Mostly for fun, education, collaboration, and to shake things up. So many comps are the same ol' thing and we want to take this opportunity to present to you, our very intelligent and curious climbers, a slightly new experience and competition format. Other tangible things we think this will foster include:
Route-Reading: Experienced climbers are able to approximate the grade of a climb without trying it first. This is a learned skill that comes with practice.
Strategy: This known twist might make a competitor strategize how their going to play their first two hours, compared to their last. All competitions, and even outdoor climbing pursuits should be met with some amount of strategy, or tactics. What will your strategy be?!
Shenanigans: Climbing is weird, and while taking something we love serious can be rewarding, it can also be tiring. We invite you to play more with your climbing. Change it up, keep it fresh, and remember why you love this amazing sport.
DIVISIONS
You know yourself best, so we're asking you to select which division you'll compete in. Please be aware that once scores have been reviewed, ASCEND reserves the right to move a competitor up a division, but never down. The reason for this is to be as fair as possible, and to prevent a stronger climber from entering themselves into a lower division, either by accident, or, in a nefarious attempt to ensure a first place finish.
JAZZ: V1-V4 | consistently sends purple circuit (V1-V3), often sends yellow circuit (V2-V4), works on blue circuit (V3-V5)
ROCK 'N' ROLL: V4-V6 | consistently sends blue circuit (V3-V5), often sends orange circuit (V4-V6), works on pink circuit (V5-V7)
CLASSICAL: V6-V9+ | consistently sends pink circuit (V5-V7), often sends red circuit (V6-V8), works on white circuit (V7-V9)
CATEGORIES
Competitors will self-identify into the following categories:
WTNB [Women, Trans, Non-Binary]
MTNB [Men, Trans, Non-Binary]
Additionally, we're introducing a Masters sub-category, of 49 and older. Why 49? Because, that's why. You'll automatically be entered into this field and will be recognized as such during the accolades held before finals. Masters competitors will still be a part of the comp in every way, simply recognized as distinguished field, and maybe awarded some extra special items.
*While ASCEND recognizes that gender is not a binary system, for this competition we are asking that competitors self-select into either the WTNB or MTNB categories. Thank you for your understanding. We aspire to foster a true non-binary category in the future. If you'd like to collaborate (compensation will be offered) with our event organizers on how to better make space for this, please email [email protected]. We'd appreciate the insight and assistance!
ACCOLADES
Awards for Jazz, Rock 'n' Roll, and Classical divisions, along with the selection of the of our Finalists will happen shortly after 5p, but we'll need approximately 30 minutes to tally the results and get organized.
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in the respective divisions and categories will receive ribbons and prizes from ASCEND. 4th, 5th, and 6th place finishers will also receive ribbons!
The top three Classical finishers will be the 7th, 8th, and 9th finishers since the top 6 are moving to the Finals round.
FINALS
The top six MTNB and WTNB finishers from the Advanced field will move to Finals, where they will compete in front of an energetic and supportive live audience! They will attempt to onsite four problems on the front of the purple arch, having 4 minutes per boulder. All finalists will split a $3,900 cash purse (1st = $750, 2nd = $500, 3rd = $250, 4th = $200, 5th = $150, 6th = $100)!
