Keirsch was also just one of a handful of competitors who opted to use the available downclimbing holds to decrease her plummet by roughly 15 feet, for which the announcer hounded her each round. Matched quite evenly for the majority of the fourth run up the wall, Keirsch proved her supremacy and topped out first, with Trinidad close in tow.

Mikaela Keirsch and Sidney Trinidad were paired for the final round of the Women’s Competition, which saw them both tearing up the wall. Muller was unfortunately eliminated in the early rounds, as was the famed Chris Sharma, who had a huge hand in bringing this brand of climbing to its current popularity. “The part of the wall that is currently looking wet is actually the hardest part,” said Josh Muller (a lifetime climber and frequent competitor of other disciplines), but he was only mildly concerned, if at all. As the competition wore on, slippage didn’t seem to be a serious issue. Weather threatened the finals by gracing us with a little rain, which was promptly mediated by hand towel. The contest saw very few climbers fall from the wall before reaching their objective. It’s also worth noting that the first rounds of the event were power protection paired, to keep the higher seeded athletes in the competition longer. Obviously, if you fall off of the wall before reaching the top, your chances of winning are pretty slim. Many climbers have been able to utilize stand-up paddle boards and other small personal water implements to reach and claim previously unimagined ascents.įormatted as a single-elimination, head-to-head tournament, climbers could advance by climbing higher or getting to the top first. Of course, in the natural environment, the climber must scout the water thoroughly for rocks and other hidden obstacles lurking below the surface beneath their intended route. The premise of Psicobloc stems from the practice of “deep water soloing,” which sees climbers tackling natural routes over water that is deep enough to take a high fall into. The Psicobloc climbing wall, illuminated by the Park City sky.

Soundwaves olympia