That seemed to be the consensus among climbing fans that were watching online as Daniel Woods and Chloé Graftiaux won the Bouldering World Cup at the 2010 Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado.
Woods ended the drought for American men in Bouldering World Cups in decisive fashion as his 2 topouts meant he was the only male competitor to finish more than 1 problem. As is his habit of late, Woods came out and closed the show in exciting fashion by getting highpoint on Men’s #4 even though his victory had already been sealed...
Graftiaux narrowly defeated Anna Stohr in a very hotly contested women’s field that the routesetters seemed to have trouble separating all day. Over the course of finals and semi-finals, the top 5 finishers all completed the same number of problems and reached the same number of bonuses with only their number of attempts separating them.
ClimbingNarc.com reported about problems:
It will be interesting to read reaction from climbers and setters on how they felt the problems went in finals. As an observer with an admittedly poor vantage point the Men’s problems seemed to revolve mostly around a dyno of some sort which gradually lost its excitement as all the men struggled over and over again to make the huge leap at the end of Men’s #3 and almost all the men struggled mightily to hold the swing on a long jump at the beginning of Men’s #4.
For the Women the first 2 problems went down pretty easy, and an unintended sequence on Women’s #2 that allowed a couple of the women to stem their way to the finish hold left at least some of us online spectators scratching our heads about the rules constituting control of a finish hold (apparently just touching the hold is enough?). Women’s #4 did help the comp end on an exciting note though as a send by any of the Women would have given them the victory and a couple of the women came off on the very last move.
Daniel Woods said after the competition:
I was feeling psyched for this year in Vail. Last year I came close to first, so this year I wanted to do specific training to be in my ultimate shape. Basically, just dedicated 2 months to indoor climbing/workout training.
There were alot of strong men this year. Kilian had an unfortunate accident, stubbing his toe which turned it black and blue. He still climbed strong and it was impressive to see him make podium with a bad toe. He is definitely a true competitor.
Jerney was amazing in all rounds and was a difficult challenge. The style of setting fit him well (big moves on slopers and pinches). I felt strong after semis and was fresh going into the finals. In the end I was psyched on how I climbed (though I really wanted to do the final problem). It was the first time I felt completely relaxed and confident in a WC.
Now I have another competition in Brazil in 2 days then MANY projects in RMNP. Me and my fiancee Courtney will be leaving for Australia in August, then just travel and climb after. Psyched on how things are going and now it is time to get on some real rock!
