The 2011 ABS Nationals competition went off this weekend with a bang… I mostly took video behind the scenes and shot some photos of people falling off boulders…

The competition was nothing short of extravagant.  Huge warehouse on Pearl Street in Boulder, rock stars, lights, cameras, friends, and tons of climbing.  There have been posts all over the internet about all aspects of the comp but very few people see and hear what goes on behind the scenes when the competitors are in isolation behind the wall.  I was able to get “all access”, as Jonny Hork puts it, and shoot some ISO footage of the finalists preparing for battle (or maybe just picking on each other and pretending like they weren’t nervous).

The competition was full of highs and lows. I placed 7th in the qualifying round and topped all the problems and only had one fall. I felt really good going into semi-finals and then it all fell apart. The zone scoring was hard and after failing on all three problems I thought for sure I was going to be in last place with a score of zero, and guess what, I was. Carlo, Brian, and I did not make a single zone, which was really upsetting and demoralizing. At least I can try and make up for the failure at the World Cup in Vail this summer…

I had zero expectations going into this competition and I think that is when you do the best because you put the least amount of pressure on yourself. I have a pretty badly injured pinky finger and I have only climbed a few days in the past two weeks so, I was happy with my results and ultimately I am psyched to compete in the World Cup!

I hope you like the highlight reel that I edited for NE2C and if you were not able to catch the live feed or attend the event in Boulder this will give you a good idea of what went down!  Alex Johnson (the one with the socks on) is our new national champion!!!! And congrats to Sean McColl for CRUSHING in finals and earning that blue ribbon!