2019 USA Climbing: Sport & Speed Open National Championships | Sport Qualification Round

[Music] the top American climbers have gathered outside the nation's capital hoping to get themselves one big step closer to possibly representing the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics two of the favorites to do just that on the women's side Ashima Sheree she comes in with some momentum after winning the 2019 bouldering open national championship in February and on the men's side it's Sean Bailey who also won that competition for the men and is your defending sport open national champion this is the 2019 u.s. a climbing sport and speed open national championships the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia thanks for joining us everybody I'm Sean woodland alongside former US national team member Meagan Martin and this competition today the two separate ones they are the last national championships on the USA climbing schedule and that means at the end of Saturday we will have a much better idea as to who may represent the United States at the Summer Games in Tokyo exactly the athletes today are trying to get on that overall national team which will give them the opportunity to then go to the World Cups this summer and spring and compete and try to get a shot at Tokyo in 2020 earlier today we had the speed qualifying that was an all-out sprint we now turn our attention to the sport competition and that is a much more methodical longer climb of the wall yes it's definitely endurance based every climber attempts two different routes the higher they get the more points they're awarded qualifying position is based on rank from each route and the top 20 climbers will advance to the semifinals and from the semifinals we will take the top eight to the finals and Meagan you mentioned that US national overall team you got to get on that team in order to possibly get yourself to the Olympics you earn points based on how well you do in competitions and right now the top four will earn a spot Kyra Conde has already clinched the spot she is your combined Invitational national champion on the men's side same situation top four get on the US national team that's the first big step towards getting to Tokyo Zach Galahad's already clinched as he is also your 2019 combine Invitational national champion we will have sport qualifying from the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia when we return the 2019 us a climbing sport and speed open national championships is brought to you by the North Face inspiring an enabling exploration since 1966 good look at the Lincoln Memorial just outside an alley of Alexandria Virginia where we are right now the nation's capital of Washington DC we are in the middle of qualifying for the sport competition there are two routes for the men two routes for the women and they will climb each one and then their combined ranking is what will get them [Music] [Music] they're all able to watch each other whoever went first there is a video demonstration so they are not at a disadvantage that way so it's different from the online format that we need and some of the other competitions and that's what we will see in semifinals and finals is the on-site format all of these routes are worth different amounts of points just keep in mind the higher you go the more points you get every designated and his work in additional points based on how many times have clipped in and then there are some decimal points that play into the equation that we will get to when we need we just remember the higher you go the more points you score and we are underway that his woman's route B and that is Catherine lamp Catherine making her first clip as she starts to become accustomed to getting up further on this route she scored 35 points out of a possible forty seven point one two points on route there are four athletes on the wall right now Humana two women right they are climbing the route that they didn't climb on their first run so all these athletes making their second run now on the wall and you can see kind of the way the walls angle those middle routes are a little steeper so they're gonna be a little more powerful because the angle is a bit steeper whereas the other ones are more of a vertical angle therefore a bit more technical so Jessen wisest come off the wall so his run is done once you fall you're done you cannot get back on Ashley Fisher scored twenty nine point zero six out of a possible forty eight point one two points on Ralphy and she is right now on women's route a she's approaching one of the crepes Azure more difficult sections of this route it's gonna be right after she Clips this getting into that next volume that big black geometric shape that you see is what we call a volume and the whole next section between the next two Clips is where it starts to get a little bit spicier right now she's about a third of the way up the route they have six total minutes to get themselves to the top [Music] and they have to clip every clip they are awarded points for the clip but it's also a safety precaution so if you skip a clip you will be told to come down and the way we measure that is if you are above the quick-draw and your foot passes that lower carabiner you have to come down you who down climbing clip which is a nice option but extra time too Tristan Chen meanwhile was one of the first men on route a he just fell his attempt as Ashley Fisher on the left here screen and Catherine lambs are still making their a sense there's fruit that Ashley Fisher is on have been topped by a Seamus Rishi whereas the yellow route catherine lamb is on has yet to be topped and she's still a bit of a ways away from the high point she's about 31 feet up it's a total of about 62 feet to the top so halfway right now really for the catherine lamb she's on the see her foot right on the bottom right of your screen Ashley Fisher continuing to work her way up she's more than halfway now up route a about two and a half minutes left for both of the women actually I'm one of more difficult moves isn't able to get all the way up and over to grab that crimp hold which is a very small hold that has a dual textured surface on it it's only part of it has friction fissures climb coming to an end as he lips here trying to get the power here wasn't quite able to get up there looks like she did hit the hold it'll be up to the judge whether or not she gets usable surface which is that point 3 in addition to whatever holds she actually controlled that's when the decimal place has come in as you see Catherine lamb get off the wall you get 0.3 for making forward momentum and then you get point 5 we're actually getting the usable surface so they will add that to however many designated hands hold handles that she passed and then you get points 0 1 for every time you clip remember the key is the higher you go the more points you're going to receive that's a look at Griffin Duval who on round a scored twenty two point five six out of a possible forty six point one three points this route is kind of on you the whole entire way setting up for one of the power moves there isn't what we call a blocker on the hole that he was trying to grab where there is a hole that you're supposed to grab but it's semi blocked by another hold so you have to really aim as well as you can and that's a move that we like to call a dead point Griffen Duval was unable to complete that movement and his climb has done Luke mirroring number 128 is on men's route a he did really well in the speed earlier definitely his better of the disciplines but also a good sport climber trying to make his way through this technical section taking the proper rest when needed though these walls are very tall so you can't take too much time 260 feet of climbing it's kind of a lot to do in six minutes peirong it'll be getting parts of his acsent lived in now five times so that will be point zero five attitude his score and counting subtle movements here on the volume though it is large the angle where your feet are has got a little bit of a drop off so you really have to be careful on how you're placing your feet especially when you're grabbing these holds that I mean you can't even really see the holds when he's grabbing them because they are so small you're trying to go shoe with a negotiate his way through this crux four people will be on the wall at once and they are all on their separate clocks and once someone falls someone will go as they try to keep things moving here and this is the second run for all of these athletes and make two runs one on each route and then depending on how well they do in both of them that determines their ranking and we will take the top 20 to the second round the semifinals then from there the top eight move on to the finals as we look at Quinn Mason she was just pulling up the rope they're trying to clip off of her left hand and she had to drop it for a second so sometimes you can't find the proper position right away and it's better just to drop the rope and then maneuver around to make sure you're at the optimal clipping stance Mason continuing her time you saw her score on 35.0 six points out of a possible pain away nicely through that press section which in a competition can be a little nerve-wracking to do moves like that there might not be the most difficult but because they are kind of committing technical movements it's hard to sometimes be able to find the right way to go for it but not overdo it and possibly make them stay so she did that nicely Alex it's partly Alex Plotnik off is the other woman currently on the wall she's on female route pay she's making the gray right side of your screen just reaching up towards that volume and now back to Luke Mary earring is making some really good progress here he's getting a lot closer to where the high point is this rune has also not been topped just the blue men's route has been topped so the higher up he can get here he's approaching a pretty subtle and the paint could tape around that volume at the top that is where he needs to get in order to top this round and receive a perfect score of forty six point one three points meanwhile on the far side Quinton Mason has come off the wall hold on there Mearing can't quite do it but a pretty solid run of route a just grouper it's been linfer in the purple top and next to him is Alex plotnikov looking like she's getting a little pumped there you see her elbows we're coming out a little bit and Lynn firs is now starting to reach one of the cruxes of this round we seen some men really struggle with this portion of the route he does have a good little rest there it's not too much of a rest that you can milk but knowing that multiple people have topped this you're gonna see the men fight a little bit more just because they know what's possible and depending on how they did on the first one you really might need to do well here then he will come off the wall the Lynn firs is done but you saw him reach towards usable first surface so he may get an additional point five added to his score and then you will add up all the clips and those were point zero one each and that's how the judges will determine his final tally on that route Alex plotnikov approaching one of the last better holds for about six moves she may rest here for a little bit the next few movements are really the major crux only a few women have gotten past it though this room has been topped a lot of the women have only gotten about six moves further than she is right now so she definitely needs to save up a bit of energy to make it through these next few powerful movements clawed the cup more than half way up on route a and hang it in there trying to figure out how she's moving up there needs to get her left hand up where her right hand is to be able to make it to that next volume twenty two point zero five on route B out of a possible forty eight point one two points so really needs to have a strong showing here if she wants a chance to make it into the top twenty and as she reaches for that hold she is off the wall we're early on here in the qualifying round for the sport competition we'll have more when we return to Alexandria Virginia Sport qualifying continues here at the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia is all these athletes looking to make it into the top 20 athletes who advance to the semifinal round this is the second run for all of these climbers that's Daniel say oh he is on men's route a twenty five point three seven points out of a possible 50 point one to which we got about halfway up on route B before he fell in now he's off the wall on route a wasn't able to make it through one of the earlier cruxes there's still a couple more on that route that's Gabriel Laurent on men's route B it's one of the last sections on this route where you can kind of get a shake for a bit I only scored nine point zero two points on his first climb but Brown a out of a possible forty six point one three so he really has supported you here definitely taking every precaution to make sure he gets himself the best chance so being on a good hole getting a chance to shake is helpful but you still need to make sure with walls that are this tall that you keep moving in a timely fashion just so you don't tire yourself out even if you're trying to recover looking a little perplexed there trying to figure out the sequence the women on the wall right now on the left it's Jenny Jiang and on the right it's Audrey garbage she's on female route B jjang with a nice move to hang on meanwhile Gabriel Laurent has come off the wall on men throughout be the women are able or all of the competitors are able to watch each other on these routes so they can choose how much they want to watch how much the time they want to warm up they have a set time of when they're going to climb well not a set time they're they know who they're climbing after so they just have to time manage themselves in order to see how much they want to learn about the route and some people watch less than others do just because maybe it works better for them but you can definitely have the chance to watch people climb and then watch the video just so you know what you need to do Shang on the left guy which is on the right garbage is just about a third of the way they did close to halfway up now get about 62 feet to the top on these routes Adri looking really calm here as she gets through one of the punchier sections needs to move quicker here than she did on the other part because the wall did just get a little steeper jjang on the left going to the chalk bag to try to help her grip a little bit and this is where we've seen some women get hung up garbage is off the wall meanwhile Jenny Jiang also just fell at that first real crux on women's route we've seen that really slow some that so some of the climbers down and we've had some problems with that portion of the route over to men's route a where we find Mililani miss Kinsella 17.3 five out of a possible 50 point one two points on route B so using the same situation there's a lot of climbers here early on in the second round they need to have a very solid placing in this second run in order to have a chance to get into the top 20 athletes who will advance to the semifinals and remember you earn points for the US team overall national standings based on how well you do in these events where you place a place the more points you get where his left hand is that's a pocket hold and it looks like it's gonna be kind of deeper and a little bit more of a jug year hold but the route setters actually blocked it with a small foothold so they're only able to use a partial point part of that hold which why that whole section right there looks so precarious it's all bad hold and there's trying to get to where no lolani is right now to then kind of regroup a little bit on some better holds before they get into the more difficult footwork section the luhan's Ella trying to navigate his way through this crux that stemming position he's in right now is a great way to kind of rest your arms a little bit though the feet are kind of bad so you have to be careful not to move too much so it's kind of like a tent stressed only helps so much he was able to keep yourself on the wall and now methodically moving up and clipping in for another point zero one added to a score measuring in the next few steps here is he just content just to hang out for a little bit it is necessary to rest so you can recover sometimes when you get on the wall you over grip a little so you can pump your muscles out a little too quickly so if you have a chance like he has right now you can kind of reset breathe and get the blood flowing a little bit better and he knows who's coming up on that steeper angle so he needs more energy look at Ethan Hunt who is on men's route B meanwhile for the women Gabriel tourtelot is off the wall on route a but it wouldn't sell oh nice clip there by Ethan trying to pull through to that next bin hold he's on the right here straight living cells on the left definitely getting a little pumped here just trying to keep moving as much as he can every move and hold counts and Ethan Hunt can make it and that when cell is off the wall as well meanwhile it is emigration layman who's come off the wall a lot more from the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia afternoons we're in the middle of determining who will be the 20 climbers to move on to the semi-finals of the 2019 u.s. a climbing sport open national championship and that is Michaela Kirsch on women's route a 40 point zero nine out of a possible 48 point one two points on route B so a solid showing for her on her first run if she can follow that up with a another good performance here she could lock up a spot in the top 20 move on to the semifinals Hill is definitely one of the more seasoned competitors and a phenomenal sport climber so expecting to see her climb really well here today she was just taking a second it's her breast and one of the better places to rest on this route because there aren't really that many after that one so she's really good at finding exactly where she needs to slow down and when she needs to move quicker here's about a third of the way up this route right now and this is now the first real crux that she's running into this is where we've seen a lot of women start to struggle and fall off the wall yeah this is kind of the part where it starts a minute kind of just keeps building from there you can go through this section a little smoother some women have but if you don't it can make the following section even more difficult so it's important to be smart here and you're about halfway up the wall at this point it is getting more and more tired this is where the real work begins for Michaela here so she continues to shake out her hands she's grabbing on to that rectangular hold that isn't it terrible but it's kind of a slow purr so a little more difficult to grab there's nothing in cut on it she fits in those smaller holds and it's gonna prepare to clip and then the next hold is a fin which turned the opposite way is a jug but in this position it's not as good of a hold as it is in a different orientation Pierce doing a good job of negotiating her way through this crux and it's past the halfway point here on route a this is where it's about to get a little more intense she's gonna need to move quickly through these smaller holes with no real relief until she gets to the hueco that's about five holes above her but she knows because she's watched other people so she's prepping herself for this section continues to do a very good job of alternating her grip and making sure she's shaking out her hands just to save as much energy as possible really nicely done getting to that crimp staying close to the wall now going through yet another clip to add another point zero one to her score is about two minutes left the athletes get six minutes to climb these routes don't get the top before the clock runs out their road is off to be finished here's trying to get to the top of this route inside of that six minute window and getting to the last portion through these volumes trying to set up for that Waco move able to stick it good place from here to take another shake before she sets up for this powerful pinchy section the next folder what we call pinches they're open hands and there's just squeezing involved so there's more contact with your whole hand which pumps out the muscles faster so this at the end of the route is a lot more difficult the green tape at the upper left part of your screen that surrounds that volume that signifies the topic is robbed that's where she is trying to get [Music] and Keirsey own a good job so far methodically working her way up the wall it has a minute left to get to the top she took a second earlier to kind of look down and see the clock or attempt to see the clock each Rudess has its own clock because the climbers are starting at different time so she knows she has to move just cannot make it but given what she did on her first run earlier that should be good enough to get her inside the top 20 so solid effort for Mikaela tears she had a really good rhythm this is one of those blocker holds I was talking about earlier she hit it but didn't get deep enough in it because you have to aim in between the two holes and she just kind of missed it a little bit pulling her off of the wall really good climbing there for the key like here Martin keemal number 87 the right ear screen is on men's route B has a nice knee bar there with his left leg keeping him sucked into the wall a little bit more taking a little bit of pressure off of his arms for a second twenty-nine point zero eight points on his first run out of a possible 46 point one three penal getting to that volume that signifies kind of the beginning of one of the biggest crutches on this route exactly thinking answer that max told he can kind of feel a little more comfortable but only for a second but right now he's in a pretty precarious situation because he needs to kind of move out of that but he's definitely already getting a little bit pumped little more than halfway through here it's a good shape for a second kind of Rhea we said there is a pocket hold that you can see and that is what he's trying to get to because it is a better hole where he can actually recover so he's going to move as quick as he can to hopefully make his way up to that hold doing a good job of staying calm and getting there and this next volume that horizontal one has really presented some problems for a lot of the climbers as well totally it's a very interesting sequencing out here with all these volumes and right on cue he was off oh good climbing him from him there though McKeen we'll wait and see if what he has done is good enough to get him into the top 20 and on to the semifinals over on Ben's route a is Salomon barb Solomons in that position where you're still kind of on your feet and your feet and your hands holes are not too too bad so you can kind of take a moment before getting into that steeper angle to reset and get a little bit of a recovery back there for you forty-one point three nine on his run up Ralphy out of a possible 50 point one two points so really solid effort for him to start you can get maybe three quarters of the way up here she put himself a good position for the trip to the semi finals in Solomon's been in many sport climbing national finals so it's a position where he's trying to get to the final because he knows he's capable cuz he has a very good support climber and has done well in the past so he's able to stay calm and reassess what's happening just hopefully execute the way he lost you remember every designated handhold on the route is a point or two points depending on theft with both hands on the higher you get the more points scored and there are some partial points involved when it comes to how many clips that you've hooked into do not make it to the top what you did on your highest point if you've got positive momentum to the next hold or if you were actually able to touch use with the surface you get the additional points for that as well Salman has a really nice rhythm he's one of the other possible rest points on this route it's a good hold he's grabbing and he's about to get into a more technical balance II Section which after watching all the other climbers he knows that's what's coming up so he just needs to prepare his body to be in the best place to him [Applause] Soloman Barth needs to reach the pink tape at the top there at the screen that's where he's shooting for again at 62 feet in the air this move out left and he's setting up to do he's going he's gonna be going to a pretty bad pinch hold and then he's gonna have to flip his right hand in order to not lose balance does that really [Music] [Applause] hold with a closed grip on that crimp-fold haven't seen this root topped yet so he's looking to be the first get his way up there himself he is getting closer and then his hand will slip so he would probably get an additional point five added to his score for getting a touch on some usable service one more look at it definitely should get some usable surface obviously so it's up to the judge but he definitely had a hand on it there that section the route is really not over until you clip after talking to the head root Center or the chief root center of this competition Ryan's will he was telling me that even when you have both hands on the finish you could possibly get tired flipping because it's such a difficult finishing room the holds that they have on the finishing hold are not good that's Lauren bear on V scored thirty one point five seven out of a possible forty eight point one two points and now on starting to get to some of the more difficult climbing on this route taking a moment to rest you're seeing a lot of people arrest in the same places because they know they only have so many spots where they can hopefully recover and they need to save enough energy to get through those more difficult section Lauren Behr approaching the halfway point and again the crux of this route that has given a lot of women problems setting up for a bigger move it's not too difficult but it's just difficult enough after that much climbing where you need to make sure you're recovered enough to get to that hold racing onto that smaller crimp she can quit there's the flip for an additional point zero one points doing a very good job of navigating through this trouble area on this route where again we've seen a lot of women we've seen there a sense come to an end on this portion the route sitters did a really good job of kind of perfectly tiring them out before what's about to be the most difficult section where only a few wouldn't have actually gotten through just taxing open hand movements right before you have to punch it on some smaller crimp folds choosing her calf actually rather than her heel most of the women have been filled hooking there but I mean you can use whatever you want sometimes your knee is helpful at this point whatever keeps you on the wall and you took a look at these routes yesterday and the first thing you said to me was they're really hard yes comparatively to a lot of the national sport climbing competitions in the past these are much harder qualification routes than what I've seen in the past but it's necessary so much more is at stake with the Olympics and we need to make sure that we get the best people on that team so I think before women are in the field and you'll only take 20 to the semi finals and from there only eight will move on to the finals and again you get points based on your placement overall in these events as bearers now off the wall and those points go towards getting you on the US overall national team's affairs run comes to an end we'll be back with more qualifying in the sport competition in Alexandria Virginia [Music] welcome back to the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia and it's the qualifying round for the 2019 us a climbing sport open national championship continues and that is Natalia Grossman who on route a had a total of thirty five point three nine out of a possible forty seven point one two points in Natalia is very much alive for a spot in the top four in the overall standings and a trip to the world competitions with the United States overall national team these were the standings coming into the competition Nick Grossman is also competing in the speed competition and because of what she did there she was actually able to gain some points and unofficially is now in fifth place making her way through that technical section very nicely and now getting into the power section on this route we still haven't seen a top on this route she needs to get to this next fold in order to kind of have a moment where she can relax a little bit more those big yellow pinches are quite difficult to hold and very powerful so they zap so much energy and so she's made it to that really the pollute I think it's like the last rest kind of before the end so there's still a lot of climbing and you don't really have much of a rest there she's about two thirds of the way through now she's getting close to the high point as well seen a cover girls here but the high points a little bit higher just a few holds higher really fighting to keep it together on these pinches needs to figure out if she can quit the gross food will be keeping a close eye on Margot Hayes Hayes is the woman who currently sits in fourth place overall in the u.s. national team standings and she'll be going a little bit later on Ruth a is Grossman is off-the-wall on would be and hoping that she will have accomplished enough to get herself into the semi-finals kind of got stuck up in that section there with that Gaston with her left hand on the pinch trying to figure out how she could match that hold and get out wasn't able to but she should get positive movement there so that extra point three because she moved her body forward as she was falling and I believe that she's now tied with a high point if not just right below it because that is the section that we've seen people fall in great effort from from Grossman although she does not get to the top of the route and now over to Allen Ishii she's on female route a they see a pan-american champion trying to navigate her way through one of the big cruxes of this route gets the clip that'll be point zero one added to her score taking it through that section pretty quickly trying to conserve that energy before the more difficult climbing like you were saying Shawn she is a fan of American champion on the youth side a little newer to the open competition but clearly very seasoned in competition climbing and excited to be on this open stage he's still her left hand there we've seen a lot of women trying to go with their right hand because they can kind of reach it but then they're out of sequence actually so exactly what happens there as a Lanie she even nicely could have talked to her right there give her a little bit of advice we have help but she's off the wall it's a really nice position there where you can like rock up and go to your right hand with your right hand but unfortunately unless you're go go gadget arms you can't go with your right hand again so a lot of the women when they're getting tired they're just going with her right hand cuz it's right there but in reality there's no way of moving past that without going with your left as we just thought ali-a she do still plenty of more qualifying to come we're going to step aside we'll be back with more from the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia back at the sport rocket climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia as qualifying continues for the men and the women who are vying for a spot in the semi-finals of the 2019 USA climbing sport open national championship there are 92 men and 74 women and the top 20 will move on Dean cuts are oh he's over on Ben's route a 20 point 5 5 out of a possible 50 point one two points on his earlier run Thanks so getting into that first section where you can kind of take a breather on this route see many of the men take a moment here before getting into that technical footwork section still yet to have this route topped though we haven't seen the only man who's talked to rude on it yet mr. Sean Bailey has not climbed a second one yet he nicely making its way through getting closer to that position where he can kind of stand on top of that volume and take another breather that's how I going for another clip gets that easily and out of the chalk bags hopefully strip out a little bit as I'm sure he is starting to feel a little bit of fatigue in his arms shaking out his right hand momentarily and this is where it's a physical battle obviously but at the same time mentally you're gonna you're thinking through things as well how tough is it when you start to fatigue to kind of keep a clear head about this so you hope that you kind of run ran yourself through the route enough times where you kind of know what's happening but definitely you have to think about what you're gonna do next while you sit there and make sure parts of your body are tense enough to keep you on the wall as you're trying to rest under parts of your body and plan for what's ahead so there's a lot of multitasking going on here I like to break the roots up in sections so you have these moments where you're going faster and slower in right now themes at a moment when he's going slower and he's gonna go fast through that next section until he gets to that big pinch which is the next place where he can kind of rest because you can't hesitate on those other sections where you need to move quickly otherwise with the alcohol Katsaros on the far left of your screen on the right is Kyra Conde nice and making her way to clip right here off of that volume getting ready to come into the press move Kanye was forty two point one zero points on route a out of a possible forty seven point one two so she was very close to the top and I was fighting with the Rope there looked like it was in her way a little bit as she was trying to get her foot on the volume but able to maneuver through it nicely Dean Katz arrow who we were watching earlier just fell off the wall as condi again is playing with house money is she is the twenty nineteen combined Invitational champion and that individual automatically earns a spot on the US overall national team three spots still up for grabs on that squat may hear way to that next rest section you'll see some climbers rest longer than others just depending on their endurance level Kyra is looking a little more fatigued so she's just trying to find the place in which she can feel comfortable resting but she is choosing to rest a little less probably just because she's tired and knows that she needs to keep moving we found a fish of a click here struggling it's really sorry to lose her grip like she got a little bit of a handle on it there I think yep I was gonna say I think she's gonna go for the moves over the clip here just because she got a little too tired but usable space rule point five obviously worth more than clipping in and because of what you did on her first run Kyra Conte in solid position for a spot in the top 20 definitely in a solid position and I believe she did grab that hold earlier and then come back down you'll have to go to the judges for that but still up there close to the high point so in a nice position to hopefully make it into the semi final tomorrow County now checking with her judge to see officially what she was given more I'm burying on women's root a working her way through the small crimp semi powerful section getting ready to approach that pretty good hold where we've seen a lot of the women rest before they go through that next punchy section before they even more difficult but she's anxious it's just kind of build its entire route the route centers did a very nice job of setting this up so that things certainly do not get easier for you the higher you go and you are fatigued to some points to make more difficult moves and like you said we want the best athletes moving forward and now Barry is off the wall as she slips making that move to the next hand hold John Brock taking a moment John brach with a 41-point 1-0 score on route B out of a possible 50 point one two points so that was a solid performance from him on his opening run he can match that here it's a very good chance he winds up in the semifinals 92 men in the field and were only taking 20 to the next round he is one of our taller climbers as you can see his his body's a little more bunched up in this section than we've seen some of some of the other men just so he's having to be a little more careful with where he's placing his feet because he could be a little more off-balance being that bunched up but made it through there very nicely the other man on the wall with Brock is Samuel woods he gets to that next volume and now we'll go for the clip he's approaching that more powerful section on this route - there has been some men that get a kneebar once they get to this next blue hole they can kind of wedge their left knee and if they're able to good recovery there he didn't get the best part of the hold right away but was able to hang on to bump up further on the hold definitely having a little more fatigue as you see his head was going back a bit Samuel would run comes to an end leaving John Brock the only man on the wall currently Brock continues to work his way up route a getting really close to that section where the holes get a little bit better it just needs to fight through this move on the pocket and then one more crimp move and then he'll be at that fair pinch hole where you can relax a little nicely done there it is open hand so it's gonna zap your energy a bit more but at least it is a good hold rock shooting for that volume that is outlined in the pink tape at the top of your screen we have yet to see this root get topped by any climber [Applause] getting ready for that more technical in tensioning section a lot of body tension needed to stay on the wall here that flip nicely done [Music] whether Rock topsis or not he is doing himself a huge favor as far as getting into the semi-finals definitely in a good position right now just loses it on the crimp there but very nice planning John Brock doesn't get to the top but very likely will we will see him in the semi-finals that's Claire Burr fine thirty five point five nine on Rue de out of a possible thirty seven point one two points so she's looking good as far as a spot in the top twenty is concerned in BIR fine coming into this event was in fifth place in the u.s. overall team national standings but has dropped to six unofficially after the speed qualifying she has her ground to make up here she does but she is the defending national sport climbing champion she did look a little uncomfortable in that lower section she is one of our taller competitors so it looked a little bit bunching for her height but this next section shouldn't be like that it's a little more spread out so as long as she didn't panic too much down there and has conserved her energy enough she should be able to get through this section she's definitely seasoned competitor and a very talented super climbers earlier in the day her fight finished 17th in the speed competition not her best speed day because she also wanted to be last year at this competition so and that finish earns her 36 points in the overall standings if you win a competition you get a whopping 200 points if she can duplicate her performance from last year those would be 200 valuable points in the battle to get herself onto the US overall national team able to get to that hole where you can rest a little bit more than on the others choosing not to just going to keep moving every vote counts really nice flip they're definitely fighting here go fine just lets cannot win that fight with the grip but a very nice job from Claire Berger finally she looks to work her way into the semi-finals more qualifying coming up from Alexandria Virginia the 2019 us a climbing sport and speed open national championships are brought to you by the North Face inspiring and enabling exploration since 1966 qualifying for the sport competition continues here at the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia and that's your defending sport champion Sean Bailey he's getting sent to climb the roof a he topped me be on his first run he's 22 years old at a San Diego California and also won the 2019 USA climbing bouldering open national championship that was helping bend Oregon's back in February so this kid looking really good as far as a spot on the US overall national team is concerned the next big step towards getting himself to the Olympics in 2020 yeah really good season so far for Sean Bailey and this discipline is his best discipline it's really where he's a bit more untouchable he was the national champion last year in sport climbing him definitely capable of bringing home another one and as far as the national team overall standings are concerned he came into this weekend in third place with 395 total points and has about a 200 point margin on fifth place Matt folds so he is solidly in the top four right now he's just preparing to get back to get on the wall for his second time today just taking a quick look at the route before he got on and then he's ran it through his head enough times that he knows what he's doing and Shawn's one of those climbers that really knows how to sport climb well and the way in he intuitively climbs while he's on a route is something that not everybody can do and that's what really separates him from everybody else this score of 50 point one two was a perfect score on route B as he got to the top and trying to duplicate that performance here on route a and move on to the semi-finals the beginning of this route is very technical and not really comfortable you're kind of just uncomfortable until you get to that orange hold the pocket that he's grabbing right now looks like it could be good but there is another hold inside of it making it barely a full pad now it just lost his resin bag his chalk just fell out of his bag so hopefully there's enough he should have loose chalk in there too but definitely not ideal [Music] you know I mental is so important so he just needs to forget about it and stay focused on what he needs to do Roger back the same thing that you might see a lot of ancient league pitchers use on the bow that just came in tumbling out of his chalk bag but like the set beggar there should be some bits of that in there that he could use to his advantage exactly if anyone can deal with obstacles like that Sean Bailey so too much trouble as he gets into that section where you can kind of rest there on your feet for a little bit before getting into that stupor section of the route [Music] [Applause] nicely making his way onto that smaller crimp on the volume he is not on the tall side really he's more in the middle it's not on the lower and so he had to kind of press up into that volume with his hand before getting to the orange crimp on the volume seeing some of the taller competitors do it a little differently it's one of the cooler things in climbing how you see different body types approach the same class and we saw him do similar things in the bowl during the open national championship where he was perfect in the finest flashing every single problem in the final that means just getting in the top in the very first try said he knows how to navigate his way through these precarious situations he's really good at figuring out what he's aligned to it for him almost falling out of that pocket it wasn't able at that point as accurately as he would have wanted to but able to save it and getting close to that better pinch fold where you've gotta take a little rest before approaching the basically the rest of the route is a crust it really isn't a time that lets up so much after this salary Osborne is the woman at the top of your screen she is on his route a and Sean Bailey meanwhile trying to become the first man to top men's route a he already did it earlier in the day on route B and trying to go two for two and it's qualifying around and give himself into the semifinals setting up for this tension II get his feet just a so you reach out there then he needs to flip his hand done with ease sixty-two feet high that's where that volume with the pink tape around it is still looking quite casual more casual than anyone else has been in this position so sending us nicely to get both his hands over there before you go out to the last hold that is again blocked by another hold on top so there's only so much you can get your hand on there making it even more difficult they just make me know difficult hold even more difficult just really trying to separate these bends in such a strong field Bailey looking to go two for two has his hand on that final volume now he just needs to complete the clip that's to his right and he is going to make it to Sean Bailey tops defending national sport champion picking up right where he left off and he will be in the semi-finals as he looks to defend his title and more importantly get himself on to the US overall national team [Music] now that sean has been able to top both the routes they the rest of the competitors know what they're up against they know that it's gonna take a lot to be competitive with him and I'm sure a lot of people are ready to to really go for it and semifinals and finals but Sean Bailey is gonna be a hard one to catch hard to catch in the u.s. national team overall standings again he came in in third place overall the solid hold on that what he's doing here at Alexandria is just give him basically a stranglehold on one of those spots in the top floor Sean Bailey two for two and qualifying we'll be back with more from the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia day one of the 2019 u.s. a climbing sport and speed open national championships continues here at the sport rock climbing centers and Alexandria Virginia we are in the second round of qualifying in the sport competition to welcome men and the women all these climbers making their second attempts on the route they did not climb earlier in the day your combined ranking is what determines whether or not you get into the top twenty and then on to the semi finals Joe Diaz is on the left and Sammy singleton it's on the right Diaz's on as being singleton Donny female route a Sammy was just taking a second there to rest before this somewhat powerful section where there isn't as much rest Joe looking pretty smooth as he approaches one of his final rest for a couple moves oh isn't able to get all the way in there he made it about halfway up route a and about the same result on roofie now the question is will that be good enough to advance him in this competition Sammy trying to quickly get through here so she can get to those next two holds are a little bit better than where she is now fighting to get up there on that hold a little bit more singleton enroute be more than 27 points out of a possible 48 point one two and that's the area where we see so many women's struggle and singleton falls victim to it as well if she is now off the wall lots of fight there from Sammy trying to hold on with everything she could to keep going but that part is where it gets pretty difficult Marco chuckle Anjali is on the left of your screen and now he is off and that leaves Emma hunt as the only climber on the wall right now nicely pressing through getting her foot up there working away to some better holds for a second before she has to punch through that more powerful section 28.57 out of a possible forty seven point one two on a according to move quick here which she clearly knows as she's moving a lot faster than we saw her before had to go twice to that blocked crimp cold nice flippin stance there she is more than halfway up the route now the right hand slips off and Emma hunt is done with Ruby the Steffi Felder now the only climber on the wall he's in that break green shirt on the left here screen he is in the opening stages of his descent kind of needs to move through this section efficiently with every placement counting just because it's easy to kind of go off balance get that nice knee bar there thirty five point six points out of a possible forty six point one three earlier in the day on route 8 taking a little bit of the stress off of his arm so he can shake and breathe for a second using his knee to suck him into the wall and that's a really nice me barring hold because it's not sure if at all it kind of just is perfect to slot your knee in there as we've seen a lot of the men do felder going for another clip as he reaches across his body to grab his line kind of a technical part but the next hold that he's going to go to is gonna be a little bit better which is a nice place to rest again if he feels like he needs to this bigger hole that he just got to before the kind of power endurance section that is a little off balance words we've seen a lot of men struggle barista giorgio is in the upper right-hand part of your screen as we once again have four climbers on the wall Aylmer continuing to hang on and making good progress up Ruby is next to him grace to Giorgio is off the wall really nice flow that Stephan has right now he sees going a little bit faster than he was before because he knows it's important for him to conserve as much energy as you can going for another knee bar which a few of the men have done here Ezra David is now on the left of your screen in the black shirt he's on route a remember six minutes in which to get to the top and all these athletes are on separate clocks really nice use of the rest here for seven Felder this kind of anytime you can use your knee as a knee bar it really releases a lot more of the stress of your arms you see a lot of the climbers shaking as they're climbing but it's hard to recover when you're still hanging so much on your arm so when you can find a knee bar like that and you can make it work for you definitely helps to conserve your energy and this is that section that gets a little more difficult so uncomfortable movements felt are still the only man on the wall as Ezra David just came off gonna clip again from that position really smart an efficient means to make sure you hit that properly able to do so getting really close to that next section where you can rest again and about four holds there's a profit that if you can get there another good place where you can take a moment to breathe left-handed Jason Felder if you can get past this things are not going to get any easier as he has about 20 feet left to go and his climb will come to an end about halfway through the field here of this ball flying around the sport championship we'll be back with more after this Hashima sireesha getting set for her second qualifying run as we return to the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia Shawn with it alongside former US national team member Meagan Martin and sashimi Sheree she earlier in the day topped route a forty seven point one two points for a perfect score and no reason to expect that she cannot do the same here on route B it's been really nice to see Ashima back in this kind of form she had a shoulder injury last year so she actually wasn't even able to compete in this competition due to trying to heal that and since the combined Invitational it seemed that she's definitely back from that injury and back to her normal self being the only person only woman who topped route a Alex Johnson meanwhile is in the black sleeveless shirt upper left-hand portion of your screen as she's enough she is on female route a and we talked about how the dominant Sean Bailey was at the bouldering Open national championship and machine mystery she was in that category as well and she looked like she was in a league of her own at that competition yeah she had a really good bouldering Nationals and it was her first time winning that competition she's wanted as a youth many times but never has an adult until this year so she's definitely in good form and it's you know a great time to be in that form considering what's coming up and Alex Johnson meanwhile has fallen off the wall Sheree she as far as the u.s. overall national team is concerned came into this weekend in second place remember the top four women in those overall standings advance to the US overall national team and that is a huge step as far as possibly earning a trip to the 2020 Summer Games is concerned nicely making her way through that technical section now on to the more powerful portion of the route before the last rest which she looks extremely casual here and the thing I noticed about her when I watch her in bouldering is that she seemed just so precise every time she moved she does have a precision to her climbing a lot of flexibility which is also to her head to her advantage in terms of her climbing style she's really good with movement sport climbing though is definitely where she is most comfortable as you can see is a lot of the moves that have been giving a lot of women trouble she's just flying through with not even a second thought sharee she well past the halfway point here she has already topped route a and well on her way to the semifinals at the top 20 women move on to the next round 74 in the field right now she's about halfway in to her six minute timeframe still plenty of time for her to go two for two in the qualifying round at top route B and she chose not to rest on that ball where her foot is now but not because she's tired or at least it doesn't look like she's fatigued like we've seen some of the other women maybe not rest because they were getting tired but because she still has enough juice to just keep going getting closer to a high point section where we've seen a couple of the women taking a moment to shake out there she's in the same situation as Bailey was earlier she's basically just working on giving herself some insurance right now as far as getting to the semifinals are concerned this is basically Jared Meghan say the highest point that any other female climber has gotten on this roof to get out to this other yellow open hand pinch that foothold that she's on as of another one of the volumes but it's definitely kind of slippery she needs to get her a bit of like she's doing now to be in the right position to stand on it and then place the left and then this is gonna be a pretty committing powerful move that there should be a barn door if she's able to stick it nicely done having user palm against the wall to stop her swing in uncharted territory here Cherie she is now the one who has reached the highest point on route B and she is still moving nice hold to shake on it's not a huge hole but it's pretty in cut she can take a moment before she gets into these open hand pinchy sloper holds no just one clip to go for Cherie she here on route B and that's how close she is that holding the green box is where she's trying to get the next few moves are very powerful and the finish move is another difficult move the hold itself is good but it's very powerful move to get up into that jug so she has to make sure she has enough juice after all that climbing see if she can do it Ashima Cherie she already topped route a earlier in the day and looking to become the first woman to get to the top of Group B and now all that's left is to clip and that'll be no problem she was sorry she perfect in qualifying she will lock up forty eight point one two points for getting to the top of route B and we will see her in the semifinals just another day at the office for Ashima Sheree she that moment of relief as she Clips the final draw on this route topping both climbs sending her out perfectly going into the semifinal round this move which is what we call it barn door almost came off able to press her hand against the wall and pop her foot over a little to keep herself on there probably one of the most difficult moves on the route and she was able to execute perfectly Sheba Sheree she gets herself into the semi-finals and gets herself to the top of roofie more from Alexandria after this back in the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia where Xander Waller is on men's route a and almost hits to the top great effort though from Xander Waller as he looked to match Sean Bailey's effort from earlier and was just about five feet away from doing so before his grip slipped and he came off the wall the big fall he took there too that's Charles Barron in the white who just came off a wall now Zack gala is getting sent on route a and gala as far as the US overall national team is concerned has already clinched a spot as he won the 2019 combined Invitational back in January that was held in Salt Lake City so he is moving on to the next phase of qualification for a possible spot on the team that will represent the United States in the Olympics gala with 410 points coming into this weekend Nathaniel Coleman Sean Bailey and who Luana would be the men who joined them if these were the final standings as a top four make it on to the u.s. national overall team it's really interesting and honestly really cool seeing both Zach gallant and Kyra Conde choose to do all these other competitions because since they are on the team they actually didn't mean to do it at all but clearly that's how it driven and how much they love these competition so it's really cool to see them wanting to come to them all and you know do really well in there they've been able to execute it just been really awesome to see and gala was close to advancing to the speed finals earlier in the day he finished 10th in that competition the top eight move on to the finals and he will now begin his ascent on route a forty three point six six zero points out of a possible 50 point 1/2 on route B he set himself up nicely for a second run nice little barn door move there no problem for that gala as he continues to make his way through there's more technical beginning of this route clay Gordon is the man on the right of your screen and the gray he is on route beam both men are on the sections where they're just kind of starting to build the fatigue on this on these groups the moves are just taxing enough to where when you get to the hard part's it's a question of whether or not you have enough juice left depending on how efficiently you were able to climb through those other less challenging but still taxing sections Zach taking that home and to rest on that hole before he gets into his technical footwork section this is where really the first challenge is on route a is when leave one man has topped this brood and that was Sean Bailey who topped both routes to go perfect in the qualifying round and get himself into the semifinals now is that gala story taking the second clip and then we'll see whether or not he decides to take a moment to rap before heading into the section on this route [Applause] Galla now about a third of his way up route 8 important to take those moments to reset because especially in such a competitive event where there's so much stress involved when you start climbing it's easy to just over grab and kind of what we call a flash pump can happen do it do that over gripping and high stress at the beginning of the route so when you have a moment to just kind of like relax for a second is really important to take it so that you're ready for you know the real stuff play Gordon on the right he is in one of the big cruxes of route B was to sort of half don't volume that he's working on keeping it out of this and get to that pocket will give him a moment of relief before setting up for the other difficult section [Music] nice heel hook on the right to kind of calm down for a second as he moves his way through that big cylinder volume on small bold trying to find a kneebar get comfy there Jack Ella is also on that better hold you can get ready to set up for that technical tensioning section College is inching closer to matching shot Bailey who's the only man who topped this room plate Gordon meanwhile but surely now moving up moving quicker but if he can keep his momentum now he slips Crocs and he is off the wall hi Kelly needs his left hand wearing his ring hand just was wasn't able to get it but really high for Zack gala should be pretty good definitely be enough to get him into the semi-finals thanks to his effort on root beer now we go to Margot Hayes who's on women's route a and Hayes with a 41 point five nine out of a possible forty eight point one two points is trying to hold off Natalya Grossman and clarified in the overall standings she will be keeping an eye on what those two women are doing trying to fish ahead of them in this competition the better you doing a competition the more points you receive in those u.s. national team overall standings you win the competition you get 200 and then the points decreased rivera's you work your way down the standings Mario climbed really well in the first route after everyone had just climbed one route she had the high point so we're looking to see her get pretty high on this route as well to secure a spot in semifinal she's been in finals the last four or five years so at the place she was trying to get back to so earlier the day she didn't start off that strongly she had a slip on her first run in the speed qualifying and failed to get herself into the top eight she finished 25th in the speed competition and that's good for only 12 points u.s. national team overall standings 12 points are better than no points right taking that moment here to rats before having to commit to a few of those punch of your moves before the real crux three Clips away marco hayes about a third of the way into her ascent as she as you heard vegas say approach is that first crux and these are the overall standing for the u.s. national team margot Hazen it's just a fifty three point cushion over Claire Burr fine coming into the weekend but remember because of what happened in the speed competition this has changed a little bit and unofficially that I across Minh has now moved herself into fifth the speed competition still not complete the top eight spots have yet to be determined Margaux getting into the couple of those better holds right before this route really starts to turn up probably gonna take a couple moments to shake here she has quite a lot of endurance one of the sport climbers that does along with a few other ones just more endurance then you see a lot of the other competitors needs to go with their left hand here another athlete could get very well at the bouldering open national championships that were held in Bend Oregon back in February about two and a half minutes remaining in her six-minute window to get herself to the top here of Roode a starting to get to a section where we've seen only a few women and we've only seen the Ashima Shiraishi and Mikayla Kirsch get past the Winco that's just at the edge of the screen so Margo's in a good position right now but she's a determined one and she wants to talk kind of tried to go out of sequence there for a second I'm not sure she great that she needs to go to because there are a lot of female climbers right now who can sympathize with her where she's at as many women have struggled on this portion of the route to get into that block cold little precarious just inching her fingers into there with a lot of control now needs to cut up to go to that Waco only - I'm gonna have been able to actually get control of that hold it's a little tired but in the right position here Hayes reaching with her right hand just can't make it to that hold and she is off the wall that Margo Hayes looking like she's done enough to get herself into the semi-finals will have more qualifying from the sport open National Championship from Alexandria Virginia [Music] welcome back to the 2019 USA climbing the sport and speed open national championships at the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia as the qualifying rounds before the sport championship continues that is Dylan barks making his way up men's route B at forty two point one two out of a possible forty six point one three on his first climb up route a and we were being joined now by the man who set these roots chief route setter for this competition Ryan Sewell Brian thank you so much for being here I know you have something in mind when you set these roots how has that played out compared to what is actually happening yeah thanks so much for having me first of all thus far the qualification rounds been really really good we've set out to challenge the climbers and a diversity of styles and at a very high level and thus far things are looking good it looks like these roots we've been talking about you did a nice job of making them harder as they go on what kind of things did you like to throw at the at the climbers that they make there a sense that make sure that things don't get easier for them you know we want to make sure that we're avoiding any possible resting positions and that's definitely something that enables the climbers to recover and and in turn are able to do many more moves after that and then after that we want to do a few different things to try and keep them challenged one would be a bit of a diversity in style so not necessarily giving them the exact same type of movement one after another after another and then the other would be just in general pure difficulty of the climbing so the hold is there grabbing on to or getting smaller the positions that they're in are getting more powerful and the overall scenario is getting a little bit more stressful as they get fatigued how many different versions I guess I would say up these routes is you kind of have to test before you came up with the one that they really settled on yeah each route gets put on the wall and then we take a first pass at it usually the route setting team will decide who wants to go first and try and make the initial concept work and then after that it becomes more dialing in the specifics so each one of these depending on how close it was from the get-go probably three or four different versions before we finally got it tuned up to what you see now how much does what if what happens here in the qualifying rounds and how does that affect how you will lay out the routes for your not only the semifinals but ultimately the finals yeah that's a great question what we do is we have already set this in my finals and the finals in the week prior and the intention is that we are able to view what happens in qualifiers and take some bits of information about the overall level of the field and then minor changes to the semi-final again review what happens in the semi-final and ideally make very minor changes to the finals well and after talking to you last night about the roots it seems that it's kind of playing out similar to how you would hope so I feel like you guys are pretty spot-on with the level having just few Thompson I mean this field has a lot of very strong sport clamorous so it is necessary you know make it more difficult yeah absolutely 162 competitors between both genders combined so it's definitely something that we strive for is to try and get a few tops having a route that doesn't have a top at all isn't ideal but it's also not the end of the world the last thing that we want to do is have these competitors come out and then not be challenged and us not learn something from one of the big cruxes here on on route B did you know this was going to be such a sticking point when you set it up this year on Ruby yes yeah we felt like the route got a bit progressive meaning that the difficulty you got harder as you got higher and you had to keep fighting for it and the intention would be that oh here we go oh so close Bartz just can't make that grab with his left hand really nice move there because it's a dead point to the pocket smaller surface for him to latch on to there and after climbing so many moves he's a little more fatigued and isn't quite able to get in there as efficiently as I kind of needed to to set up for really the most fun part of the route we're hoping that this evening we get to see somebody top this route I'll show you guys a little little stunt we put on at the finish there for you something that I've been told is called the back half right you know anything obviously about bats bats hanging upside down so it get completely inverted hanging from their toes on the finish hold before they can reach up to the finish with massage Sean Bailey actually executes that earlier when he woody top and it is a very impressive movement to see if the climber gets that high have no idea how they're able to pull that off at that fatigue level but the best in the country find a way and we've seen a few do it yeah we're very very happy that we ended up in that that orientation there and that finished sequence because of course it's crowd-pleasing but again it keeps the climbers on their toes it makes them is that something that you knew you wanted to include someplace we got to get someone to hang for their feet here yeah it was a it was more a conversation that happened in the lift so we set all these routes in like a big boom lift and fortunately we have two of these this week and it's enabled us to have two teams running at the same one of the teams is up there in the initial he was a completely different orientation and when they were up there making some changes and looking at some things one of the setters had this idea oh we can we can create this bad hang scenario what do you think and the other setter of course was game for it and they put it on here's Hobbes Kessler who was on route a and was close to the top and he is off with Hobbes with that run will certainly improve his chances of getting into the top 20 and moving on to the semi-finals yeah he climbed very well in qualification route B as well Charles hammer is the other man on the wall right now and Isabelle Gifford just falling female rue de these walls are also very tall which you know some people are more accustomed to walls this tall but not everybody is and I feel like we are seeing a little bit of that throughout the field you can tell the people who are used to being on this yeah 60 feet is quite a ways one thing that we were a little bit apprehensive about going into the week was 60 feet up lining in six minutes at this level of difficulty is kind of a big ask and so we set out with the intention of trying to keep the move count a little bit lower somewhere between 45 and 55 moves on you know across all the routes ensured to us at least that we would minimize competive words that are running out of time before finishing a week and then that way it keeps it to where you're focused more on the actual climbing than the resting like you were talking about earlier because that's last thing we don't want to see is people just resting Gerald's hammer is the only climber on the wall as he is now being joined by Ben Blackmore who just started his ascent on route a I've been finding it really interesting that you're seeing a lot of men on route a get to that head wall but then still unable to top whereas we're not seeing as many men get near the end of Group B though it's been topped more times yeah route rue de the orange route has a very vertical finish I think that wall is five degrees overhanging so it means that the climbers are able to get their weight under their feet but at that point we kind of change gears on them and ask them to do a lot more balancing movement movement that puts them in positions that they could potentially slip off lose balance and fall whereas the top of the blue route is more of the fatigue in your forearms is building they're getting the pump and by the time you get to the showy finish as long as you're not too pumped and you execute the movement you should be okay the kaya Sanders is on the right of your screen and on the left is Ben Blackmore he's on benzene and Sanders on women's room and I think these two routes to the men's quali a which is the orange route and the women's quali be the yellow route are both very similar in terms of their overall style and the effect that they're having on the field the intention there is just to try and balance the the test of the climbers between the more physical powerful endurance style of climbing and the more technical slow base climbing it's cool to look at those two climbs because you can almost see the separate Boulder problems within the routes with that technical beginning and then the steep section to another tech section followed by it's one of my favorite things is to get the climbers in situations where they get into a groove after only a couple of bolts and then ask them to change gears and do something very very different and I can definitely attest to that feeling as I've climbed so many of your routes in the past and it's a feeling in a competition that is one that is just a little terrifying at times nakiya sanders flirted with a little bit of a disaster there she almost came off the wall but was able to save it so she stays alive on route a and on the right of your screen is Julia Talbot she's on women's Ruby I really do like the use of that press section there it's really cool to see that in the middle of the roof kind of throws I mean some people go through it smoothly but others it gets them a little bit out of sorts as we just saw unfortunately with Julia Talbot and this one for me especially being a getting my foot up like that is incredibly difficult but you see some of these girls who are incredibly flexible and quite a bit shorter have a very easy time Ryan we want to thank you for stopping by and well done on these routes Ryan Sewell chief wrote Center for this competition we will be back with more qualifying from the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia after this day one of the 2019 USA climbing Sport and speed open national championships continues as we are working our way through the field for the sport competition they look to qualify into the semi finals at the Sienna cop who've on route a scored thirty five point five nine out of a possible forty seven point one two points and four cop both the speed and the sport competitions are big for her as far as the US overall national team standings are concerned she came into the weekend in seventh place overall the good news for her she is still alive in the speed competition she is one of the eight athletes who made it into the finals if she can get into the semi finals in the sport competition then on to the finals she could really score some valuable points and possibly possibly overtake the women in front of her and work her way into the top four and those overall standings remember you get points based on how well you do in competitions and that's how they figure out who is going to end up on that US national team that is a big step not the final step but a big step towards qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics as Sienna is definitely in a good place though sport is her weaker of the disciplines she definitely still has a chance to prove here but speed and bouldering are definitely for to better disciplined she really needs to get her right foot up on that other hold the other yellow hole that's closer to her knee she had it on the lower one and if she could just get her foot up there she could kind of leave her wait a bit to go this funky section I have noticed though that this section is a little more difficult for those taller competitors and she is one of those hard competitors and just has Brian Poole was saying the little bunch here in this first part of women's route B so it gives those taller competitors a little more of an issue and kind of zaps their energy so break quit just caught up a little higher she keeps moving it trying to recover and not waste too much energy but five foot eight and a wingspan that's five nine that's the plus one means it just means that her wingspan is one inch longer than her height really nice fight they're making it work for her should be a better position for her to relax a little you can see I don't know if you can tell as well on the screen but her shoulder was rubbed against those volumes a little bit making me look thick red got a red marker on the upper left-hand part of her shoulder reaching another clip to add a point zero one to her score she knows how within her grasp things are on that overall so she's gonna fight tooth and nail throughout this entire competition and she's doing a really good job right now of figuring out how to keep going on this route the good news for CN is basically all the other women that she's chasing in those overall standings are done in the speed competition except for Brooke rabbit ooh but Brooke was so far ahead of Siena that that probably was going to be a problem regardless but she really has a chance to make myself grounded now Siena is off we've got about short of the halfway point before coming off the wall and now the question is did she do enough to get herself at least into the semifinals she started getting her foot up there fairly easy to begin with but then wasn't be able to find the exact balance position to stay on the wall there she did do pretty well on drew number one so we'll just have to wait and see how the scores turn out but she definitely would have benefited from getting but definitely can't say you didn't try because she fought super hard great effort from Siena cough that's Eric Libby on meds root be next to him Anthony lesyk just came off of men's route a we're going to be getting into that somewhat uncomfortable section of been droopy gonna probably try and double click here you can get up in here then maybe take a breather nice efficiency there you can see he's shaking a little bit now he's in that place where he can kind of take a second but that tenuous section right where he was before so he does have time to rest but the bottom line is things don't get any easier he's off the wall who saw his first score on route a twenty one point three six out of a possible forty six point one three points so we can't really needed a strong performance here on route B to get himself into the top twenty and got past the halfway point of that route reaching the back half of the qualifier will continue from Alexandria when we come back [Music] the 2019 us a climbing sport and speed open national championships are brought to you by the North Face inspiring and enabling exploration since 1966 day one continuing here at the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia we had the speed qualifying earlier in the day the sport qualifying wrapping up here on Friday evening before action resumes tomorrow that is merit earns Berger on route B and that's a look at Brooke rabisu who's getting sent to start her run up route B and rabbit two came into this weekend solidly in the top four it would basically take a disaster for her over the next day to not make it on to that u.s. national team third place with 342 points but the good news for her as she is in the final eight in the speed competition so she will be able to add valuable points to her a total there as you get 200 points for an event win she is guaranteed at least an eighth place finish and speed that would hurt her 80 points and looking to get into at least the semifinals here in the sport competition on route a forty two point six out of the possible forty seven point one two points very close to getting to the top of Route a looking to duplicate that before it's here on route B another one of those climbers that really excels at speed I'm sorry I saw that bouldering and sport climbing and has improved so much in speed seeing as she is like you were just saying Shawn one of the only other women that are kind of close to that overall that got in to defeat fennel as well as Santa crop so this is a more comfortable position for her sport climbing and she's been in the finals over the past few years about every time so definitely looking to get back into a final this year and we were saying earlier he's you were saying just how well-rounded she is that when it comes to those Olympics in 2020 it's still a lot of work that B to be done but it's hard to think that she won't be one of the women who was wearing the red white and blue in Japan she definitely has a really good chance of being one of those women you know it's interesting to see how so many of the women and men have adapted since the announcement of the Olympics and the three disciplines and so many of the men and women that were good at bouldering sport have really gotten into the speed and been able to excel quickly and put them in a position where they are so well rounded now and it's just becoming more of a possibility for them just getting into that section where it gets a little more powerful gravity really does kind of come from the first family of climbing her brother's a competitor her both her parents were competitors her mother's a coach definitely kind of like the first family of climbing perfect cuz we're near DC right it's so true and you know sport climbing is something about both Robyn and DDA rabbits you were always so good at and I mean watching their kids climb it's just like a natural intuitive nosov that do you know the rest of us would like killed I have basically so it's kind of really cool to watch that next generation really take the reins and continue to excel in climbing I'm guessing the rabbit two kids were probably climbing before they were even walking I believe they were she's getting into that section with the subtle movement here she's gonna flip her hands doesn't nicely gravity looking really good here she is now in back third of this climb got close to topping route a and this effort more than likely will get her into the top 20 considering how well she did on the first time where she is right now puts her in a position where semifinals should definitely be happening for her we've only seen as she Missouri she up in this position see if she can stick that move she goes with an under plane there and but gaston which is flipping her hand a different way when she was one how we thought she madhu at creating the foreign door so she then is able to keep her body into the wall and not barn door having to use an extra energy to control the swing really smart climbing there by brook rabbit - now one clip remaining for her and she's trying to get to that hold in the green box and finish out her day with the top on route B looks pretty good very nice use of her flexibility there just one more move left hand needs to get on that hold the noise and now the clip - just close it out nothing about me for rabbit - rabbit suit stops [Applause] [Applause] is one of the things I love about climbing so much I mean Ashima and Brooke are pretty similar in terms of stature as well and still they do they they did parts of the route differently which i think is so cool about climbing there's always a different way do something what we're looking round to getting to the top she's a nice flip there on that pinch setting her up perfectly to get into the jug at the finish and not have any problem clipping that last quick drop her atop and we mentioned this earlier but you get so hung up on the the physical gifts that these athletes have and the talent that it takes to to be able to negotiate their way to the top of a problem and you forget about you know all the mental work that goes in as well it's it's almost equal to if not greater than what you need to have physically to get yourself up the wall I feel like the mental is an even more important part of these high level competitions especially those competitors that have been competing at this level for so long which is you know where we see a lot of our people that a lot of the competitors that are in the top ten they've been doing this for so long so you know they're all physically prepared it is whether or not you can execute mentally on the day of competition Josh Bering is trying to execute here on Route three and that's the portion that we've seen so many men get hung up on and Mearing is off the wall the brook rabbit two with a top as we reach the back half of qualifying here in Alexandria Virginia qualifying continues for the sport competition here in Alexandria Virginia and the big thing that is at stake here is a spot on the 2019 u.s. national team the top four men go they don't necessarily go to the Olympics but you got to get on the national team if you want to qualify and Matt folks right now is in fifth place overall he's got to get into the top four and catch guru Juana if he wants to earn a spot on to that national team and there's a look at Matt Fultz so he really needs to have a strong effort here after score of 39.6 one out of a possible 46 point one three so sets himself up nicely after a solid run on route aid and if you can duplicate that here on route B he will move into the semi finals where he is looking to overtake drew who wanna for that final spot on the united states overall national bouldering is generally the discipline of math bolts excels at most though I know he's been really working hard to get better as for climbing in speed climbing which is definitely shown in the last few months so that overall is something he's trying to be a part of and he definitely has the talent and capability to make that happen the man on the left and the white top is Colter Holden he is on route a as kailia mark who just came off the wall on women's route a that was on the right of your screen mat folks looking pretty casual here these moves for his strength are probably not too difficult it's all gonna come down to how much endurance he has to do the hard moves when it comes to the end [Music] faults approaching that first really big crux of this route really smart placement fair with the knee bar kind of take the weight off his arm when you are more of a boulder and you don't spur climb as much don't have all that endurance you know the general shaking when you're on your arms really doesn't help you really need to be in a nice heel hook or a knee bar like Matt bolt is in right now or just kind of standing but the more hanging on your arms the less you're able to actually recover so this is a really nice place for him to get some juice because some of the other places won't be as good of rest for him good decisions here that first big half dome of a volume represents the beginning of the really toughest part that he will face on this route things obviously get more difficult after this but this is the first real big crux that he's going to face still looks pretty fresh here which is good clips both the drawers easily gets to that next hold he's gonna want to move quickly through this section to the pocket in order to get set up for that section starting a little shaky this is the point where a lot of men have seen their climbs in looking pretty good though I'm gonna find the right places Oh on this didn't see that hold that was out there who's about to go all the way out another me bar really smart [Music] it's that more precarious section before that fun section that hopefully we get a chance to see chief root said of Ryan's school join us earlier if you missed that he said he wanted to see one of these athletes get towards the top of this route because you need to pull off a pretty exceptional movement in order to get to the top something known as a bad hanging man bolts is getting closer to that point and he is off but Fultz looks like he may have done enough to get himself into the semi-finals and keep his chances of earning a spot on that US overall national team alive as he came into this weekend in fifth place in those overall standings he's got to catch new who wanna if he wants that to happen it's really good climbing there from apples you've been watching this feed today he made all those look pretty easy just kind of ran out of gas there at the top that was Arabella jereal who just came off the wall Vanda Brownstein is now the only climber left can you ready to sit in that rest to recover it but before that next section [Music] and in case you're wondering they cannot use those clips for any sort of support and canoe to the sport that is illegal those things are there just for safety purposes only although they do at points to your score point 0 1 every time you clip in yes but there's slack in the rope so they're not actually able to weight them at all and then sometimes you'll see the silver bolt hangars on the wall and they have to do their best to avoid them because if they wait any of those will be disqualified from the point at which they waited so they can get points up to wherever that incident happened but they're not allowed to step on them Brownstein is one of the eight women who made it to the finest the speed competition that will be contested tomorrow getting ready to start moving again on this route regular section to get to those bigger holes or she can possibly arrest depending on her endurance level really good solid grip with her right hand now this is the first really big sticking point on route a that has got into a lot of women amended their climbs gonna get to that hole not without too much stress [Applause] each of those holes is worth a point the higher you go the more points you receive some additional points for clipping in point zero one and then the judges if you don't get to the top may add some additional points depending on what you do before you fall off the wall definitely looks a little more fatigued as she was kind of moving a little more frantically now this is that point where you really need to go with your left hand but we've seen so many women try and go with their right she can make it happen now there's possibility to match but I feel like that was a bit awkward not a lot of space on that hold matching the Swedes getting both hands on and then she goes for that usable space as she sort of propelled herself up that might be worth additional points the top 20 moving on here in the sport competition back with more in Alexandria [Music] back in the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia as guru Juana is getting set to climb route a rowana coming into the weekend with that fourth and final spot on the overall national team 46.6 one out of a possible 50 point one two points on route B we wanna just try to hold off mat faults in the overall standings that are determined by your finishes in these events and that ultimately determined what four men will advance on that u.s. overall national team that will then take place in those worldwide events and that will ultimately determine if any of these men will represent the United States at the Olympics of 2020 and those of the standings coming in Rwanda with 283 with 197 that was before this week at the year drew is definitely very strong when it comes to sport planning something that comes naturally to him and Excel that basically his whole life as most of the competitors that we're seeing in the top have been doing this for most of her life which is scary because he's just so young climbing is such a young person sport it definitely is especially in the competitive realm more so than outdoor is a lot of kids are getting involved in climbing a bit earlier these days and competitions a great way to get involved in the sport Druce setting up for that nice little rest section here before he gets into the steep section earlier in the day looks like we made a minor mistake and that's why he came off of the first route he definitely had the potential to top so I'm sure he'll be looking for a top here and hanging a bit more attention to every body movement body positioning so that he is able to execute the way he knows he can and earlier in the day in the speed qualifying he just missed getting into the finals the eight-minute eight-top times advanced the finals and he was nice but that will score him a lot of points in those overall standings that was good for a total of 74 so he has put a little bit of distance between himself and Matt fold so a little more breathing room for guru Juana as far as a spot on the US overall national team is concerned and thanks to that ninth place finish in the speed competition that is not done yet the top eight have yet to be determined and now we want to make it some good progress continuing to methodically move his way up route a and ultimately work his way into the semi-finals under the 92 men in the field of the sport competition only 20 moving on to the next round which was not to rest at all there on that lower pinch world where we've seen a lot of the men to make a moment to grass so he must be feeling pretty good was just setting up him up nicely coming into this next section that's that more difficult section where we've seen a lot of people kind of get into it a bit but then mess up and fall Sean Bailey is the only man who has topped this route who seen a couple men come close but Bailey the only man who's gotten to that volume that is surrounded into the pink tape successfully no water getting very close as well just a couple moves met just a couple moves left though none of them are easy very balanced II and it's very necessary to be in the absolute perfect body positions to make sure you're set up nicely to go to that finish hold which is just a volume with a bad hold on top and he's searching for that hold with his right hand gets his left hand on and now the clip and roo-roo water becomes a second man we'll enjoy the ride down as he has earned himself some more work as we will see him in the semi-finals making it onto that finish hold without any problem and able to clip it was funny because some of the route setters were telling me that even the clip was difficult and both Sean Bailey and drew on I mean it looked pretty easy so you mind just being illegal I rolled over here drew ruana has had a really good start to his weekend ninth in the speed competition earlier and now getting himself into the semifinals of the sport competition that will be contested tomorrow Elizabeth Sepulveda the upper middle portion of your screen you had a nice job of securing a hold on that volume she's on women's route a 27.06 out of a possible forty eight point one two points on route B earlier in the day she's definitely one of those shorter competitors so that moved to the hold she's on now is a little more jumpy than for other people so it's a nice place to them reset before this next section after probably feeling a little more frazzled going to a hold like that [Applause] over there doing a nice job working her way up this volume and as a solemn hold with the right hand and eyes to clip to her left it has that secure fort additional point zero one to a total you say get up on this little unfortunately she grabbed the worst part of that hold she just needed to bump her hand up a little more in to get to that better spot to then kind of relax for a second good fight though from Elizabeth Sepulveda qualifying is done now on women's route B and we have a handful of competitors left for the women on route a Sarah Kate Ashton will be the next woman to attempt that route over on the men's side Danny Griffith is on the right of your screen and it's Noah Ridge on the Left ridges on route a Griffith um Ruby I was on that nice resting hold where you can set up to get into this technical foot work section good effort on Reeth be earlier in the day more than 39 out of a possible 50 point one two points another one of our or another one of the good sport climbers in a competition he's been in sporting finals before at Nationals and generally does well in sport climbing so has the potential to get pretty far on this roof [Music] Danny Griffith continuing to inch his way up route B [Music] Noah Ridge on a route that only two men have topped and he's following the man who just did it as Drew who wanna Sean Bailey did it earlier this evening [Music] where Noah is right now you can see those two orange holes on that next volume we've seen a few men struggle getting into that section but if they can get there and then do the next couple moves to get to that longer pinch they have a moment where they can kind of get it back a little bit and then keep going on the head Bell Noah Ridge continuing to rack up some boys with every hand hold heat secures [Music] getting really close to that foothold Sarah Kate Ashton is the only woman on the wall right now is all the women who had to climb route B are done so only women remaining in the competition our climbing route a at this point getting a couple shakes here for Noah Ridge Dani Griffith just [Music] drue ruana was able to top this route Noah Ridge looking to maybe start a little bit of a streak here let's he be the second consecutive man the top would be sells a lot of work before he can get there but he was able to make it work Thanksgiving a little shaky ridges off but that effort should go a long way towards advancing him in this competition on to the semifinal round [Music] back to Sarah Kate Ashton now on route 8 we came pretty soon here as a committee move we've seen it done a few different ways you can either go right hand to this and then bump or you can cross she chose the bump okay where she moved to one hand to the next hold on to the good part here where she can then take another breather before the most difficult section of the route this last far she had wondered 31 points on Rue de out of a possible 47 point 1/2 right now in decent position possibly get into the semifinals she could secure a few or hand votes and walk up some more points here on on this point really needs her left hand where her right hand is see if she can figure out how to switch it Oh nicely done there by Sarah Kate she just a little too much momentum trying to get to that next hold but she definitely should get usable surface there cuz she was all over it Sarah Kate Ashton is off the walls we reached the back portion of Popeye here we'll be back with more closing out day 1 of competition at the 2019 us a climbing Sport and speed open national championships from the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia Simon Baker is the man on the wall on the red shirt trying to get himself into the semifinals and we keep referencing the top 20 the reason we can't show you the top 20 is that your overall standing the qualification is based on your performance on both routes and with more athletes still out there and still climbing those standings are constantly changing but if you are an athlete who manages to get pretty high on both routes odds are you're gonna make it into the semi finals Simon been here fighting his way through this section getting to that more comfortable stance right now hoping to get a little something back calm it down before the next difficult section we are more than halfway through qualifying for the men the women are actually getting set to wrap up and once everyone has done who will be able to tell you who the top 20 athletes are we will be moving on to the semi-finals Baker's run comes Isabella Novak Red Roof here on the wall just twenty five point five six points out of a possible four eight one two forty eight point one two on route B so Novak really needs to get herself up a good portion of this route to advance in the competition [Music] that's been someone's dynamic [Music] before she goes Tyler Thompson is in the opening stages of his climb up route your screen [Music] the chocolate you'll see climbers when they are rusting these streets as that is the best way to recover any kind of locked off position stops the blood flow basically not recovered that elongated stance the bed matches with her left feet to get up into this a little punchy move to the smaller cripples got her right hand on it too likely that she won't recieve 45 additional points for that she comes off the wall Novak I'll have to sit and wait for the final standings see if she is inside that top 20 as Derek knew and Tyler Thompson knew is on the right Thompson is on the left [Applause] having a nice rhythm as he makes his way to the middle of the wall see whether he decides to try and put an e bar in there for the rest here that position but I see it [Music] keep going [Music] Thompson meanwhile the left-hander screen is take quite a bit of time to move through this portion of the room just six minutes for each athlete on his run and they are on separate clocks there is fighting his way through that section Tyler Thompson tries to figure out the feet here so kind of a winning move here a little bit of fatigue and Derek even get up into this he might be able to relax for a second before that back section [Music] this is where the difficulty really starts to increase for Derek knew as Tyler Thompson has come off the wall [Music] [Applause] and now Derek knew slits that portion of the wound has just proved to be way too much for some of these climbers at it because that's where a lot of assets have come to an end that's Megan Lynch great result for her on route we've 41.5 nine out of a possible forty eight point one two points definitely has the ability to get fire on this group see if she's able to execute where she needs to in order to get through those presses those difficult sections root has a really nice rhythm currently getting close to that first little uncomfortable section [Music] she'll have to do that - pretty good hold but it is committing [Music] which world [Music] dereck new in that really challenging part that's those two half don't volumes better to the left of Megan Lynch this is where the challenge now really starts on route a for the yeah everything kinda turns up a notch starting here and doesn't let up enough so you got a rest wisely but not for too long [Applause] [Music] quickly there [Music] [Applause] right to that bit part of the holes into the classic bunker way [Music] nice job securing her that matches with her right now we'll go for the clip Megan Lynch dropped the rope there she's on so had to go with me right and at this point of a climber met just then seemed like a lot but it is just more energy you're expending these guys how does move out once you start getting tired just holding on to the wall with one hand becomes it becomes like a stressful thing looks like she just used her right enhance its kind of rock up over a little bit on that she's gonna be the old left you know if she wants to get any further [Applause] and notes just could not find the hole who she is off but follows up a solid effort on being with a good climb up route a able to get her left hand to that crimp and really pull she was close to the wall like she needed to be but she was kind of on the right side instead of kind of going up underneath that hold she was going to run the volume kind of messing up her trajectory but really good climbing there for Megan Lynch especially after doing so well in the other room we'll be back with more qualifying from Alexandria after this qualifying round for the 2019 USA climbing sport open national championship continues here at the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia we have reached the latter stages for the men the women have almost wrapped up only four climbers remain and that is Ross Wilkerson who is well into men's round a and looking for his final approach to the top of this route [Applause] Ross's into that nice section where he was on a good hold and setting up for this pension he moved it gets a little technical on this head ball [Music] needs to slowly get over to that pinch hold and then flip his right hand in order to stay close to the wall and not fall out very nice it done there definitely seen a few people up here but only two I've made it to that very top Sean Bailey and who wanna the only two men who have topped this route see a lot of guys get to this point but just proves to be too challenging for them Fulkerson just can't hang on but given what he did on route b looks like he will be moving on top 20 going on to the semifinals and again it's based on your finishes in both route a and B they combine that together and then they determine who moves on as Garret Gregor twenty nine point five eight out of a possible forty six point one three points on with a he's on meds Ruby right now may recognize Garrett if you tuned into the bull during national speed he was one of the route setters at that event he did the fun triple clutch demonstration for us and he used to coach Brooke ravva too and Margo Hayes yes he's still an ABC coach Brooke is currently in San Diego and college and road travels a lot for climbing so she's only in Boulder sometimes she still goes to practice every now and then taking a moment to look at the clock he's in that really nice me bar position been in sport finals before last-minute decision to do this competition so excited to see him out here looking really smooth right now on this roof out of that first half dome volume that's the difficulty begins to really increase for Garrett once he gets into this holding he kind of position himself a little better to make that clip [Applause] that next hole a little tangle with the rope but gets out of it nicely and to get into that pocket and pretty close as long as we can put all these folks nicely see he there's a blocker there on his left hand so you kind of have to go past the hold in the fall back into it which after so many feet of climbing is definitely more difficult than these climbers make it look doing a good job of keeping his grip with his right hand on that horizontal volume just loses his grip as he reaches for the clip and he is upset with himself for that one little slip there and man falling with her rope in your hand I three-team that much slack is quite a big fall therefore Garrett just trying to reach up and his toe hook accidentally came out and almost as he clipped which created a bigger fall but definitely not what he wanted to happen but for climbing there from Garrett burger and like you said earlier when you get fatigued that looks like an easy movement but it really isn't yeah it's kind of crazy how difficult flipping becomes carry Scott with a successful clip of her own as she is on women's through a twenty eight point three seven out of a possible forty eight point one two points on her first ascent [Music] pausing the chalk and check out the rest of the route as we've seen a lot of the women here and as well as rest I don't think anyone is blown through this it seems to be the place to rest it's not employing the similar technique we've seen so many other women go to at this point of the climb it's so far serving her well but able to get on that career fashionista bump with her right hand and she just did setting her up nicely to take a moment [Music] definitely where she needs to clip from choosing not to this will work too but most of the webinar clips is lower it's a little precarious with her foot there and I think that's why a lot of the women have clipped lower but it still worked she's got that rope hung up a little bit on her left leg luckily at this part at this point if she were to fall it would just fly out now going for another clip adding point zero one to her score she looks to get past this first really big sticky point on this rude trying to get a little bit of energy back so that she can set up for this next difficult section going to a few women get through it and these next two moves are quite powerful too once you get past these next two it's more like hip positioning and grabbing small holds but to get into that section you have to be powerful to get to the next two prints just six minutes for Kerry Scott to get as far up this route as she possibly can we saw Mishima Sheree she get to the top of this roof but she did it outside of the six minute window like Ryan's wolf that is these walls are tall so it is a lot of moves boy these climbers to do within that six minute you can't rest to on she means her left hand there she's going to be able to continue every handhold is worth a point sometimes they're worth to because you have to get your right and your left hands on them and there are 47 scored hand holds on this roof she's just trying to get as much back as she can using her calf to kind of relieve some of the stress on her arms there and I need to start going for it soon though she bit her left hand up there and she's in the final seconds of her window now she's just got to try to score some points down to ten seconds left now five and Kerry Scott has now timed out and she gets the call from her judge and she will hop off the wall it's only two women remain in qualifying still have several men to go and we'll have it for you when we return to Alexandria Virginia back inside the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia for the qualifying round of the sport competition and Josh Levin is struggling with that a horizontal volume on men's route B but still able to keep his hold and keep himself alive thirty-eight point one one out of a possible 46 point one three points on his climb up route a trying to figure out a way to get over to that other volume without being too dynamic because at this point in the route he's been climbing for a really long time more of his limbs on the wall versus swinging really good off right there could probably get half a point for getting his hand on usable surface before he fell off the judges will be the final arbiter of that 11 given his two climbs combined looks like he has a chance of getting into the top 20 that's Sam McQueen who scored 41 point zero nine out of a possible 50 point one two points on his time on Ruby he's now on Ruth hey pretty good here get into this somewhat difficult section before the rest Sam's been doing well across the board this year but really will have bouldering nationals and looking to do well here this weekend a little bit a hesitation before he went to that pocket hole and wasn't able to getting exactly in the right spot left hand slipping and the queen is off the wall silva Crespin is off of route a and now only one woman is left before we close out qualifying for them and that is Maggie hammer we will have her climb when we come back Alexandria Virginia the 2019 us a climbing sport and speed open national championships are brought to you by the North Face inspiring and enabling exploration since 1966 the American Art Museum in Washington DC not too far for where we are here in Alexandria Virginia and we have the final women's climber in this qualifying round on the wall and it's Maggie hammer next to her is Jesse grouper and Jesse you're making their way through these opening moves on the routes that are meant to attach the perfect amount before getting into the more difficult section that's further up on the wall thirty two point five seven out of a possible forty eight point one two points out we [Music] it efficiently with Maggie hammer here [Music] [Applause] [Music] setting up for that more dynamic here where she needs to control the swing which will tax the body a little bit before she can rest [Applause] and both hammer and grouper on the left view screen are approaching the first really big flexes of their respective roots nice big jump there for Maggie hammer hoping one day there might be style poisoning adding another layer of complexity to the scoring system totally kidding I take it both Jessie and Maggie and good collisions to shake out Jessie using a kneebar oh wow they I guess they want to climb in unison right basically neck-and-neck if this were a race [Applause] [Music] [Applause] grouper on that first half dome volume that signifies the beginning of the really difficult portion of this route then things only get tougher for him from here this position it's somewhat comfortable for Jesse but that means we need to move quick back into that profit position he is one of the competitors who could top this group because we would love to see the end of this route definitely want to see the bat hang Sean Bailey successfully pulled that off and Maggie hammer is off the wall and that will be the end of the women's qualifying round of the sport competition now everything will be tabulated and we will determine the top 20 athletes out of this field of 74 who will move on to the semifinals and there's a bar there for Jesse group we're gonna switch it if I were to take a while to try to figure this thing out the most comfortable positions we've also noticed that that toe hook isn't very secure so it's hard I wanna keep moving nice graph with that right hand to make the toe hook more secure get him in that position to clip [Applause] pretty solid position now to start setting up for those powerful moves before the fun part grouper navigating his way around and over that horizontal volume has ended a lot of men's ascent still alive one of the that crimps able to stick at dead point moves does a grouper grouper approaching the final stages and now it's time to get and learn a pull off that bad [Applause] gotta trust them to get to those drug finish Jesse grouper close to topping [Music] [Applause] ah one of those hole big box he's got his left hand there and now and the clip now do it Jesse grouper will stop roofie [Applause] [Music] unfortunately he timed out he thought was still exciting to watch we've been wanting to see that bad hang he didn't get it pulled off inside the six minutes but it was nice of him to show everyone at home exactly what we were talking about impressive effort from Jesse grouper yes we are all thankful for Jesse grouper sticking it out there and showing us that an awesome bad hang had to campus they're moving without his feet from one small hole to the next small hold get his toes up above him hang like a bat and then figure out how to get his hands up there in order to secure the finish holds and then make the clip I can't imagine what's going through your head other than a lot of blood at this point when you're hanging upside down to nearly sixty two feet off the ground I know they know they're secure they're gonna be safe if they fall but still that's gotta be nerve-racking I mean I've never never done a bad hang that high and honestly it looks like a lot of fun so I'm sure he had a great time Jesse grouper the final clip will count as a top officially but he does put on a show for the crowd more qualifying from Alexandria this here are your 20 women who will be advancing to the semi-finals led by Ashima Sheree she and Brooke rabbit to Margot Hayes that's great news for her as far as the standings that gets you to the US overall national team are concerned Natalia Grossman is one of the women trying to make it onto that squad she is 10th Maggie hammer we saw her go she finishes in 13th and Mariel Horseman is your 20th and final qualifier now the men continuing to work through their ranks as we get closer to the end of their qualifying round Timothy King making his way up this men route B starting to get into a more difficult section it was nicely to that fin hold that has a cold screwed on it's the world perfectly finds the knee bar take off some of that pressure on the arm get a good shake in there Timothy King is joined by Keith north on the wall North is on route a that's Kang who's on route feed before we left you we saw Jesse grouper get to the top of this roof but it did not count because he didn't do it inside of the six minutes but there's a look at what Timothy Kang did on his first climb up route a 21.5 six out of a possible forty six point one three points Timothy pending a good rhythm as he approaches this tenuous section counting these to only 18 men are left in this field of 92 good clipping position quick rest before it's a little more intense Keith noses on the bottom left of your screen [Applause] trying to negotiate his way through this portion of the roof meanwhile Timothy Kang [Music] now onto that horizontal volume that have stopped gonna climber in the field chief North is off of route aid a lot of big falls here some of you finding a nice rest it's a kneebar there when he gets into that last of the half spheres before he gets into the quarters we might get to see yet another backhand moving pretty quickly too so don't think time will be as much of an issue Timothy keg clearing the first really big challenge on this route and as he reasoned with his left hand he's off the wall but that's still a really solid climb for him on route B and that should help his cause as far as staying alive in the competition is concerned tried to move there and this heel actually slipped right after he clipped he tried to move and it just kind of popped off you probably could feel himself slipping actually as he was moving into the clip it was just try this is possible remember at your stopping point if you make forward progress to the next handhold you get point three out of your score if you actually make contact with usable surface you get point five and then you get point zero one for every clip that you successfully clip your lead into Nathaniel Surma is now making his ascent of Route a whether the women are done with their qualifying we already know the top 20 who will be advancing the semifinals for that now we putting the finishing touches on the qualifying for the men he was able to bypass that Gaston move there but then having to come back down and match hands to get back in sequence you can skip as many holds as you would like just maybe not always the best decision but if it makes sense then you can do it which is a really nice way to keep it to where people can figure out their own way to do stuff it's get balls which you cannot skip Cliff's true you must clip safety first and that comfortable resting position now they know server it's ready to get into some technical climbing slip there but able to save it daaamn speranza meanwhile is on route feed thanks me bar off-screen now on screen Dom its ground it's been interesting some people choose not to take a moment there but when you see a hold like that it's usually a better idea to just take a second Mirage is so far look pretty solid in the opening stages of his descent next to him Nathaniel Surma continuing to work his way up route a dumb moving smart and quickly through that section not really any place to hesitate and shake before setting up for this typical section of the room twenty nine point five eight out of a possible forty six point one three points on route a she has some work to do here on route B we've been seeing more and more men get higher on this route which means it's just more important that when you're on the wall you do as well [Music] really in a pretty good clip so far and see if this first big crux of the route manages to slow him down but is not in the best place bumping there on that volume being in ins that pocket to just take a breather for a second just didn't look like he had a solid foot placement and he is off the wall but that may be enough to get him into the top 20 and now Nathaniel Surma is also off the wall so both of those men will now just sit and wait final stages of men's qualifying continues when we return to the sport rock climbing centers at Alexandria Virginia day one almost done here in Alexandria Virginia here's what's on tap for tomorrow on ESPN 3 we get started at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time with a sport climbing semifinal and then at 5:00 p.m. Eastern both the sport and speed finals being contested between eight athletes in each competition should be exciting especially late in the day when we get down to those final athletes it's very valuable points in those national team standings up for grabs Maddi Hong is on the left and he had a very solid start to his qualifying round topping route a for a perfect score of 50 point one - yeah really exciting to see him Maddie doing well again he came to bouldering Nationals this year without having competed in a competition in quite a few years and he is a good Boulder but sport climbing is where he really excels and he's won this competition before in the past so it's nice to see him looking in form already today starting out the weekend in a good spot only two other men have top route hey that was Sean Bailey seems like a day ago and this qualifying round that drew who wanna follow that and he was the second man to topic Maddie Hong out looking to become the third Andrew Nimr is the other man on the wall right now over on route B [Applause] to prepare the steeper section on this route really kind of have to punch through these next before getting to that better pinch hold read can kind of relax for a second before the headwall it's always a good idea to break sport clams up into sections make sure you have the right speed and necessary sections and take the time to rest or go slower in other sections and earlier we talked to the chief fruit center Ryan Sewell who's responsible for these these layouts and he basically told us as much so he tried to divide these up into sections that they creat some difficulty as you worked way up the wall and so far it seems like his mission has been accomplished the setting is definitely turned out to be really good so far in this round I think the separation is worked out nicely which is always what they're looking for they want people to complete the routes but they don't want everybody to they don't want it to come down to ties or just being too easy and they definitely don't want people to not finish it all so I think it's gonna really good mix this weekend or the start of this weekend or just beginning so it's exciting to see what the next few rounds hold for us patty Hong trying to go to four - as far as tops are concerned in this qualifying round Andrew Nimr has reached that first big crux on problem sorry I roofied and Andrew numerous setting up to do those couple moves before he can get into that pocket and then have to maneuver his way through that cylinder looking volume Maddie's about to get ready to do that more tension he move where he needs to make sure he can stay as close to the ball as possible and flip that right hand on the pinch to continue upward on the head wall they aren't loose now never is done as once again that crux stops another climber leaving Maddie hung all by himself and getting closer to the top it's that black pyramid looking volume that's outlined in pink that's where he's got to get to I need to secure one hand and they clip himself in to complete the climb looking really good here as he approaches that final fold before the finish hold it is a blocked hold as you can see a little bit of his finger now is his lip at home can't recover but he did top root be nearly get to the top of rue de and should get himself into the semi-finals he was looking so good there and he just had a minor slip trying to wedge his fingers in there left foot slipped almost being able to find the balance to save it but it's a little too much of a bobble but all-around good climbing formating hong today so we should be seeing him tomorrow only 12 men remain in this an initial qualifying round 92 men began the competition only 20 will advance and Maddie Hong will be one of them nearly becoming the third man the top root Hey not just confirming his score with his judge as again you get partial points can be awarded at the point where you come off the wall and the question is now whether that is going to be for honking to mean that he got positive momentum or if he actually got his hand on usable space the difference is point two points but I can make a difference but maddy Hong nearly got to the top brew day after toffee roofied [Music] relatively safe it's definitely in against poppers at my finals hogan wilder meanwhile only sixteen point three five out of the possible to forty six point one three points up in his first climb on route a so he's basically got to get to the top of this thing to have a chance of getting in to the semifinals like ryan soul was saying earlier when he was in the booth with us he's the chief route setter they try to set the routes to where they focus on different skills so there is a possibility that you could really mess up on one route but then do really well on the other and it's always nice that that is a possibility because sometimes people are just really good at one thing verses as well-rounded it's in that nice me bar section right now hogan wilder taking a moment to take that stress off his arms and kind of set himself up for that next section of climbing on the left of your screen is Makati Sanders on route a to get the women are all done we do know that 20 female climbers who will be moving on to the semifinals tomorrow now we're just trying to determine that for the men my party with hotties setting up to get into this technical section back up onto those volumes one of our shorter competitors not the shortest male competitor but definitely probably the second shortest honestly because Colin Duffy is five feet but in certain situations that can be an advantage yes it can be an advantage sometimes for sure hoping wilder meanwhile is off the wall it doesn't look like he's done enough to get himself in my files Sanders needs trying to get there himself about a third of the way through his climb a brute a that 62-foot wall only two men have topped this roof Sean Bailey you notice a little bit more of a relaxation right after Makati Clift because when he was in that position before he had flipped yet so the fall there would be kind of big and you're on that more vertical angle and nobody wants to fall and removal generally so that moment after you clip you can kind of relax for a second pose though you're still in it with the climb you know you're in a safer position Makati was a very deliberate pace so far on this route next moves gonna be a bit of a little jump for him oh I take it back to use that my foot which is really smart [Music] keep moving a speed up to get into that pocket now adding another clip get past this next part and get up into a pinch and be in a good position to wear [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] execution getting into the chocolate there grandpa now he is off riccati Sanders off the wall it's a handful of men left wrap things up here in Alexandria only ten men remain as we close out the qualifying round of the sport competition here at the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia that is Raymond Hanson 26.5 seven points out of a possible 46 point one three on route 8 Raymond's in a nice position right now it's take a few rest before he gets into this powerful section that doesn't let up too much there is a knee bar where you can rest by taking the weight off their arms and wedging your knee into the volumes but depends on whether or not it fit too wanna take that time rapin has that first really big crux of this route in his sights makes his way onto that pinholes nicely set up for the clip doesn't look like he's gonna use the knee bar [Music] now we will see how he handles the first really big challenge on this route and ravens grip cannot hold and he is off he reached over onto that volume with his right hand and she ended up just under the hold so he was grabbing onto basically nothing making it difficult to stay on the wall at that point Thomas pixel is on route a 30 1.08 out of a possible of fifty point one two points on route beat Thomas seems being a good rhythm here getting close to that section where he can almost relaxed seems to get through a few more holes to get to that better pinch we'll take a moment does need to clip so he's a little tired I'm sure of what to do that's gonna be it for pizza and she may have just been going for those additional fractional points instead of clipping him only two men remain on route weave and just six now are left [Music] [Applause] pizzas Bay is done next two men up will be Devin Wong he'll be on route a and Jonathan mark in the blue sure getting set to climb route B [Applause] this is an open national championship meaning basically anybody can sign up for it we had ninety two men enter that's why day one has been a long day the people here at the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia one good thing about the format today though is that since it is flash format the competitors don't have an isolation so there's no check-in time whereas if this is the bouldering event and they had to be an ISO for six or seven hours I would be pretty awful but here at least they can figure out when they need to be at the gym and they can leave if they need to and then come back but that does change as we move on into the correct semifinals and finals are on type format so the we'll have isolation they'll have a check-in time and a closing time if they missed that time they cannot have Devon Wong on the left of your screen just getting started on a roof a nice execution from Devon on that barn door move called it nicely he's done well in the past sport climbing and bouldering in the youth are on the youth circuit and then pretty well until the adult competitions well [Music] Jonathan mark on the right has nearly slipped from where he was but was able to keep his grip and can't do it on that time now one man remains on Ruby and that's Gabriel gala getting into that Lane section collection needs to get up on oh boy slips so after a really good run on roofie brunei proves to be more of a challenge for him back with the final qualifiers when we come back [Music] day one of the 2019 us a climbing sport and speed open national championships coming to a close as Gabriel Galen in the final man to take on route be in this qualifying round for the sport competition 28.58 out of a possible forty six point one three points on route a likes to be in a pretty good rhythm - that little foot slip then you recovered from thanks Lee makes his way into that resting position a chance to take a moment and reset Alec Fritz at the bottom of your screen has just started his climb up route a I was counting these two only six men remain in the qualifying round both athletes out of vertical world Alex Fritz action coaches there as well Alex getting ready to get to that good hold where he can rest for a second before getting into the technical footwork section before the steep head of the wall made his way close to the top on the Ruby 45.4 one possible 50.1 to Alex fritz barring a disaster here looking good as far as a spot in the semi-finals really good save there from Alex red paddle one his right foot on as his left foot was popping off he's in a lot of body tension there to stay on if you would have seen my face my job real gala meanwhile is on that first major crux of route B Gabriel is gonna need to get through the next couple moves pretty quickly conserve energy before slip from Galen and he is off and that will do it for the men on route B alex fits in that more comfortable position now on top of that volume where he can take a couple moments to rest before setting up through the steep part such a committing move there to that volume you have to trust your palm into it before flipping and then getting that little jib hold that is on top of the volume quick shake ons wage of that Britta's close to the halfway point on this climb well when two men have gotten to the top two of his former teammates Balian do want to only two men to get to the top every day it's a couple holes away from that more secure position that large pinch hole once he gets there and you can take a breather this moment of really fair setup for this next delicate section like securing another clip now getting to the final portion of this route right heel is on that volume to take a little weight off before he keeps moving now with the toe and with every hand hold heat secure as he tightens a grip on a spot in the qualifying round is he's inside 2 minutes of his six-minute window for this climb oh so smart with that heel hook to make the flip a little more secure then reaching with his left hand just can't secure the hold but should secure a spot in the semi-finals upper two really good climbs up routes a and B Collins Duffy will be up next as now just four men remain as Alex Fritz leaves the competition floor just taking one last look at the climb definitely hard as competitor not to replay things that happen in your head but every round of competition is a new day so you just got to let it go Colin Duffy just 15 years old several 15 year olds competing in this competition but he certainly looks like he's on the early side of that 15 years just five feet tall from Broomfield Colorado he's done a great job over the years learning to adapt with his height he's always been little for his age group and then youth competitions and I think having dealt with after so many years coming into these open competitions this being the first year he's really old enough to do them can set him up nicely to just adapt to whatever the route setters are throwing at him which you know not everybody if they have those moments where they're kind of on the shorter end and they don't it doesn't always last forever so it's definitely figured out a way to make it work for him age certainly wasn't a factor for Duffy and his climb up route B is he got to the top of it a perfect score of fifty point one two points really nice execution on that move the Gaston at the left-hand little barn door that didn't cause him any issues using that foothold out left to send them up to get into the handhold so grabbing extra holds like that if they're not scored they don't give you points but you can use feet or hands if you need to nicely into that first rest on the route he ends up clipping here and Colin Duffy as far as the u.s. overall national team is concerned is in the hunt he is sixth overall that was coming into the weekend but he has a ton of points to make up on guru wanna in order to leapfrog him for that fourth and final spot but just the fact that he is on this list and in contention is pretty incredible for a 15 year old climber and on top of that he didn't even do bouldering Nationals so that's all just coming from the combined invitational really nice start to his open competition career Colin Duffy has a bright future ahead of him in this sport as in just 15 years old he's already been able to accomplish quite a bit see if he takes a moment here to kind of relax before getting into the steeper section and the good thing is next year he actually might be able to drive himself to do some of these columns there into that press which is quite a press for him trying to figure out how to hold this volume in order to set up for the clip moving pretty quickly through this steep section toughy trying to become the third man to top this route as he got to the top of route be earlier in the day setting himself up nicely already really hopefully getting a spot into the semi-final and Colin Duffy will turn 16 in December you got to be 16 years old in order to compete in the World Cup season by the end of that year and he just squeaks in so definitely even on the younger side just of all the 15 year olds that are competing this next section this move out left it's gonna be a little Spani for him probably but I have no doubt that he'll be able to figure out a way to make it work for him it's gonna be a little quicker flip nice that ankle flexibility on his left foot you can pull stuff off like that on a consistent basis and Duffy is now reaching the part where we've seen quite a few athletes stumble and getting closer to being perfect and qualifying and getting to the top of route a looks like he's trying to give Shawn Bailey a bit of a run here drew wanna also get you to the top and Colin Duffy is look very impressive during this ascent needs to get fingers in the a little bit more figure out how to get that foot up Balian rowana have topped this route but only Bailey has topped them both and dunkey looking to match him and he won't be able to do it but Colin Duffy will get himself into the semi-finals is now just three men remain to tackle route a one more look at the final moments for Duffy on Rudy he's a little spanned out there trying to figure out how he can hop his foot up with his left foot so low he went for it but wasn't able to get it all the way up there without slipping it's kind of a high kick for him they're really good climbing from tall and Duffy today executing perfectly on both routes to the best of his ability for us have worked from the 15 year old excited see what he does tomorrow we will be seeing him tomorrow in the semi-finals as he confirms his score with his judge Nathaniel Coleman will be coming up next and he is almost a full foot taller than Colin Duffy Nathaniel Coleman and 22 years old out of Murray Utah came into the weekend in second place in the overall standings for the United States national team with an even 400 points you get those points based on where you finish in these events he has quite a cushion between himself and fifth place mat faults remember the top four get in and Zach galahad already clinched courtesy of his win at the invitational the combined invitational that was held in Salt Lake City back in January you know Holmen have him pretty well on his first route so if you can keep it up on this one [Music] a good chance we'll see him in a semifinal tomorrow and he made finals last year in this discipline so they got close to the top of Ruby definitely potential to see him in the next couple of rounds Coleman also had a very impressive performance at the bouldering open national championship and Bend Oregon back in February yeah he's had an impressive bouldering national over the past few years first time he's been beat in a while so it's still nearly perfect yeah really solid result earlier in the day even though he did not make the finals of the speed competition that will be contested tomorrow night he did finish 12th that will add 56 points to his 400 point total in the standings for the US overall national team approaching this technical footwork section one of the taller competitors so we've seen a few of them get a little bit bunched up here they're able to get out of it but you see his he's using all of his flexibility there to get a comfortable position to stand up Coleman was second in the combined Invitational in that second again in the bouldering open national championship and remember just getting on the US overall national team does not guarantee you a spot at the Summer Games but you can't get to the Summer Games not getting on that team first exactly you have to be on the team to then be able to compete on the world cup circuit where you're trying to do well in order to get enough points to then hopefully get to compete at World Championships which is the first place where people will actually reflect in for the Olympics and only at most two men and two women will go to the Olympics that's a very small number I know that's something that's hoping to change in the future for climbing in the Olympics hoping to get more medals in there in the future and the three disciplines will not be contested separately so bouldering speed the sport there if you don't get separate medals for those competitions it's all combined into one at all one medal that's why it's important to have athletes like Nathaniel Coleman who was so well rounded exactly he's a really good position to be one of those athletes that had the possibility of being in Tokyo I'm ready to get out of this steep section isn't a good rhythm nicely into that good pinch hold it is a good hold but you can't rest too long here because the feet are not really there there's no feet on the left side so you're kind of just on like one hand and one foot - you've seen the men take a second but then they kind of keep going and again there is no tension on that rope it's not like they can rest once they clip in that's just for safety purposes only it's not helping them in any way Coleman looking to move to the final stage of this climb as we close out the first day of competition here in Alexandria Virginia day two starts tomorrow we're on the air at 9 a.m. Eastern time with these fort semifinal round really nice hand flip that will be on espn3 set up the left hand about crimp-fold that is blocks the only portion of that hole is actually usable that's why it makes it kind of precarious right here it gives the men more possibility to slip it's really good going into this volume to hold the tension to turn only two men have topped this route near slip the pony was able to recover [Music] [Applause] that fight all hold nice foot matching getting that foot up the 5 foot pulling rock over it just won't be able to make the transition it's solid ever from Coleman and he learned it with a fall was able to save it but then ultimately couldn't hang on I really nice save Uranus annual luckily just as his left foot popped his right foot actually landed on the hold had to get his foot really high started to rock up and kind of just lost that balance point there as he was trying to go to that final volume pushed him out too much it unfortunately fell right before the finish but great climbing just two climbers remain and we will have them for you when we return to the sport rock climbing centers in Alexandria Virginia only two climbers remain here in the qualifying round for the sport competition at the 2019 us a climbing sport and speed open national championships net Nathan Hadley 35.0 9 out of a possible 50 point one two points on route B work his way into the top 20 and on to the semi finals already in quite a good flow here confident movement at the beginning that's another thing the way the routes are set it's really easy to become hesitant but the more confident you are the more likely you are to get through those difficult sections and you'll see some of the climbers will hesitate and the fall becomes inevitable moving nicely through this technical section the order of the climbers God to the wall was determined by a random draw yes so unlike bouldering Nationals there is no ranking involved in this competition to go into the qualification round but once this qualification round is decided semifinals is based on that top 20 rate Nathan taking a moment to weed his feet before he has to be using so much of his power in his arms to get through this next steep section drop the rope there for a second now he will get the clip every clip adds point zero one to your score every handhold and it's designated on the route is worth a point sometimes two depending on if it requires you to get both hands on it higher you go the more points you get nice movements semis sloping pulled on the volume really controlled move to that pocket we've seen some of the men dead weight a little more or somewhat dynamically with having to aim to that smaller surface area nicely into the more comfortable pinch hold once he works his way around that ledge he will be in the final stages of this climb try and get that difficult section does need to flip this ropes on the left side of him so that might be a little tricky problem out get clipped in you know it is that is a whole nother part of it when the climbers are reading the route they have to figure out what they're gonna do but they also need to know where they're gonna clip from which side the rope is gonna be on just so that they don't run into any issues trying to deal with the rope because that just takes more energy good for him to drop his foot a little because the Rope is kind of creating a bit of slack on any of his book you will not be able to hang on as he actually retreated a little bit that made me find it better hold and now just one man remains to take on route a before we close out it's a qualifying round of the 2019 USA climbing sport open national championship and that will be bryce belgian who has been waiting quite a while to get himself back on the wall one more look at Hadley's slip just couldn't figure out the tension there he had his heel and we've seen a lot of the men flip that yield to a toe to reach out because the heel though it's comfortable keeps you from actually reaching left it kind of holds your body back into that right direction sadly untying and we'll turn things over to that man Bryce Belson is getting one final read on the route one of the great things of the climbing community everyone is so supportive even though they're all competing against each other there's a serious case of camaraderie within climbing and it's always been that way in you know it's been that way from the start based on climbing without doors and then turning into competitive in doors and it's nice that that part has never changed melon waiting for the judge to confirm the score with Nathan Hadley Dolson was watching that discussion he's probably been ready to climb for a little bit so he's gonna run the route through it's kind of bit it's just ready to eat on the wall we have just hit 10:00 p.m. Eastern here in Alexandria Virginia most of the crowd that was here earlier is cleared out as they were getting ready for day two this man still has some work left 25.3 seven out of a possible 50 point one two points on route B nice control of the swing there on that barn door move it's to go with his bright hands that those next two holds see the two little screws in them we call them screw out holes like seem to clip in before he makes that move trying to figure out if he flips his left hand under and turns it into an utter cling he could get into it better you could possibly match his answer it's just not the way that most people are doing it could very well work as it is right now it's a little extra time and you don't really want to waste just six minutes repulsion on the wall and he gets hung up a little early trying to figure out this part of the route pocket I said earlier the pocket looks like it's really good but it's not as deep as it should be because period setters blocked it with one of those smaller footholds that we call chips to make it to where they couldn't get as deep into the pocket very often on these routes are only hanging on with a couple fingers as was the case with that last hold nice moment to relax therefore brace before he gets into this technical section seen a couple people have a bit of a hard time swinging the foot out there you kind of have to really commit to it although he is successful right now has been taking quite a bit of time here in the early stages of this climb that lower section is a little more technical so it makes sense to take a bit more time if you don't read it exactly right but you could make up time on the steeper section just a little more straightforward or the two and a half minutes into his six minute window right now a couple nice shape one thing that's really easy when you're climbing to do is to accidentally hold your breath it's sometimes hard to remember to breathe in those very tenuous situations where you're trying so hard so when you get to a place like this it's nice to make sure you can catch your breath reset inside three minutes now for Bryce Bell should be closing out the first third of this route and has yet to really hit the really tough portions of this climb [Music] I'm gonna make that flip while he's in the press house there's two minutes left for definitely pick up the piece needs to get into that fast on with his left hand pocket should try to find a good rhythm here to keep moving looks a little bit pumped as he tries to fight through that clip really fighting see if you can get to that next hold 90 seconds remain and Belson is off and qualifying is done we will be back with the 20 men moving on to the semi-finals after this [Music] the 2019 us a climbing sport and speed open national championships are brought to you by the North Face inspiring and enabling exploration since 1966 day one of competition is at an end as we are still calculating the overall standings for the men here in the opening round of qualifying as just twenty will move on but we expect to see the usual suspects in that group yeah there was a great round of competition today not too many surprises a lot of the men that we expect to be in that top end of the competition we're kind of there which is always nice because you know these athletes worked so hard and they train so much so to have crazy slips happen which can happen it's always devastating so it's nice to see that a lot of them were able to perform the way they should and it'll be interesting to see who was able to kind of sneak in there too for those people who might not know how these competitions go what changes tomorrow in the semifinals so different from today the semifinals will have one route it will be the on-site format which means the competitors will go into isolation they will come out as a group and get a preview time so that they can sit there and look at the route only being able to touch the start holds and no other hold and then after their preview time is done they'll go back into isolation and they'll have to climb without watching anybody we have the 20 men who will be advancing to the semifinals tomorrow Sean Bailey leading the way as he tops both routes Colin Duffy the 15 year old his second followed by drew rowana and Maddy Hong eleven through 20 Hobbes Kessler and Matt full it's important for Matt full says he stays alive for a possible spot on that us overall national team Zack gala who's already qualified for that team finishes in four teeth and it's Josh Levin who is the 20th and final man into the semi final field busy day on day one of competition here in Alexandria Virginia for Meagan Martin I'm Sean woodland saying so long our coverage continues tomorrow on ESPN 3 9:00 a.m. for the semi finals of the sport competition and then 5:00 p.m. Eastern for the finals of Sport and speed all games airing on the ESPN networks are streaming live and archived on the ESPN app this has been a presentation of ESPN [Music] you

Channel: USA Climbing

Views: 30,289

Rating: 4.6969695 out of 5

Keywords: USA Climbing, Bouldering, Sport Climbing, Speed Climbing

Id: F3LExUXW1qM

Length: 212min 20sec (12740 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 27 2019