PLØKS Open

This weekend I partook in a rope competition in Pløks climbing club in Skovlunde.

The RopeComp is a Cup challenge spread over four competitions – called Volumes - held at different climbing clubs in Denmark. This competition was the third volume. The first competition Stine Østergaard – the Danish Route Champion (adult)  - won , and I came in second. The second RopeComp I won, and she came in second. So it would be interesting to see, who was going to win this third leg.

The competition had twenty-seven routes in different graded categories: cat. 1 to 4, where cat. 1 was the easiest (approx. 5c) and cat. 4 the hardest (approx. 7b/7b+). You gained different points depending on whether you flashed or redpointed a route. The routes were furthermore divided into zones having 2 zone holds, which would provide a lesser point amount. It was only the eight highest scores that counted, and of course the hardest category awarded most points.

I tried not to use too much energy in the qualification, and thought that being fresh in the finals would be the most important thing. Therefore I didn’t try all the hard routes and only climbed eight routes: flashing /onsighting all six category 3 routes, one flash/onsight on a category 2, and a Zone 2 on a category 4 route. After that, I hung around chatting with my friends, and resting for the finals.

I was ranked second after the qualification. Stine was heading the field with just 9 more points than me out of around 5000 points. In the female finals the six best women would compete. At about 17.00 we were sent into the isolation area. I really looked forward to climb the final route. Quite rested after not having climbed very hard and nearly a four-hour break, I felt quite confident that I would climb well.

The final route was presented to us, and it was an overhanging route on red holds. It looked quite hard, but also a lot of fun. Then it was back to the isolation with the five other girls/women and begin warming up. Fifteen minutes later the music was turned on, and the first competitor was called for J. The atmosphere was nice and relaxed. About twenty minutes later on, it was my turn. I entered the gym, took a short look at the route again and began to climb. The route had good holds, although some of the moves were a bit technical, but nothing really hard. I happily topped out.

After me it was Stine’s turn to climb, and she topped out too. As she was first after the qualification, she won this round.

Even though I was a bit annoyed with myself, that I hadn’t tried one more hard route in the qualification and earning just a few more points, I was satisfied with my climbing efforts. I personally think I climbed the final route with good technique, and hadn’t found the route very tough.

After the final volume next month the overall winner of the RopeComp Cup  will be found. Looking forward to it!

-          A nice day in Pløks J