In my opinion, one of the reasons why the viewership of climbing competitions is way
less than that of other sports is that you don't have to know the complex competition
rules in order to enjoy climbing yourself, whereas sports like basketball, you have to
know the same rules as the NBA players.
Otherwise, you can't even play with other people.
Instead of climbing yourself, why not support climbing athletes by checking out climbing
competitions?
The climbing competition today I am going to introduce is called MoonBoard Masters.
MoonBoard Masters competition is held whenever a new set of MoonBoard holds comes out.
Climbers from all over the world will have 1 hour to set a problem after they see the
new hold set for the first time.
After that, each climber will have 1 hour to complete their own problem and the problems
set by other competitors.
Typically, there will be 5~8 climbers competing against each other, so that also means there
are 5~8 climbs that they have to finish.
The final score is based on the distance climbed.
Each row on the Moonboard is worth 10 points.
For example, there are 18 rows in total on the Moonboard.
If a competitor is able to climb to row 13 on a particular route, the competitor will
earn 130 points.
If a competitor is able to finish the whole route, there will be 20 bonus points, which
means instead of earning 180 points, the competitor earns 200 points.
If a competitor is able to flash the route, that's another 20 bonus points, which means
instead of earning 200 points, the competitor earns 220 points.
The winner is whoever can score the most points in total.
If there happens to be a draw in the score, the competitor who has fewer attempts on the
climbs will rank higher.
I know this sounds a little bit complicated.
In order to demonstrate how this all works, I had a mini friendly competition early this
year with Moonboard enthusiast, FearlessTofu.
We both set 1 problem on the Moonboard 2016, and since there were only two of us, the winner
would be determined by our performance in these two climbs.
I purposely set my route to have big moves to take advantage of FearlessTofu's height.
I thought this route would be easy for me but tough for her, but little did I know...
-[FearlessTofu] Nice.
-[Geek Climber] OK, not the most graceful send, but a send is a send.
Are you ready to jump?
Nice.
What?
Oh~! What?
Flash it!
-[FearlessTofu] Yay!
-[Geek Climber] Wow! You even break the beta.
You can actually get your foot this high and reach for it?
Wow! That's insane.
I knew I was in big trouble, and I was right.
When I saw FearlessTofu show her route, I knew she was going to hand me my first loss,
but as a true competitor, I tried my best to put up a good fight.
Nice.
Wow!
OK.
Nice.
Wow!
What?
-[FearlessTofu] No!
-[Geek Climber] Man, you set a problem that even yourself cannot climb. What's happening?
-[FearlessTofu] I've not actually finished this problem.
-[Geek Climber] What?
OK. My turn.
-[FearlessTofu] Nice.
Nice.
-[Geek Climber] Man, that is crazy.
Oh.
-[FearlessTofu] Woah. What is that leg?
-[Geek Climber] Oh!
What's happening?
Oh.
Come on.
Nice.
Hold it.
-[FearlessTofu] No!
-[Geek Climber] Last go best go.
Let's do it.
Nice.
Nice!
Come on.
Nice.
Nice
Hold it.
Nice.
Oh!
-[FearlessTofu] Nice.
-[Geek Climber] Thanks for watching.
FearlessTofu really motivates me to step up my MoonBoard game.
I've been climbing a lot on the MoonBoard lately and I have noticed that training on
the MoonBoard is a really great way to improve footwork, crimp strength, and body tension.
Additionally, FearlessTofu made a video on her YouTube channel breaking down in depth
of her thinking process when she set her route for our competition.
Be sure to check out the video here.