The End of Summer Bouldering Comp

On Sunday, while hiking up to the boulders in Rocky Mountain National Park, a hail storm hit us. I sheltered the girls under the bouldering pad, but all our coats got soaked. We decided to hike back out and climb that afternoon at the End of Summer bouldering comp at Inner Strength. It was a fun comp with more participants than were expected. I climbed well, and was happy to come in 10th. Ashley was one of the top four females who competed in the finals round. She had to go into isolation for about 30 minutes while the two finals problems were set. Both finals problems had one big move, and I wasn't sure if Ashley would be able to win. The long move on the first problem threw off the first two competitors, but the third , a tall and strong high school freshman named Ellie, managed to tag the hold past the large move. Ashley managed to tag the hold to tie Ellie's score. Then Ellie flashed the second finals problem. Ashley stepped up to the second problem not knowing that she needed to reach the top to win. She climbed smoothly to a huge undercling move to a high left sidepull. She couldn't reach it so she grabbed the lower hold again and moved her right foot to a higher hold further to the right. She stretched up and left again, and her finger tips just barely made it around the hold to cheers from the crowd. She floated the rest of the problem. It was a tie in the finals, but Ashley had a higher score in the qualifying round, so she won the comp and a pair of Evolv shoes. She also caught a t-shirt, and I won a pink water bottle, and a free burrito. It was a fun day. Thanks to Bryan, Colin, Chase, Mike, Tracy and everyone else who made the comp happen.