pumpfest 09 - bouldering comp for climbers by non-climbers

the above statement pretty much sums up everything about the competition.

disclaimer: i am about to embark on a barrage of criticisms against pumpfest 09. what right do i have to critique this annual bouldering competition? well, i am a member of the rockclimbing community in singapore, and i am concerned about the level of professionalism displayed during events like this which showcase our sport. a well organised event could hopefully help raise the bar for the aspiring young generation of climbers .

in this post, you will see me using 'lame-ass' quite often. lame ass is my personal synonym for 'seriously fucked up'. i am trying to cut the use of vulgarities but sometimes, it is perhaps the best word to use to describe some seriously screwed up occasions of pumpfest 09.

first and foremost of my grouses, the reception was a disaster. we had to stand around like cocks waiting for the registration booth to sort out whatever they needed to sort out. only a few people were working while the others were basically vases. only useful for looking pretty. the girl attending to me also had a bad attitude. when i registered for the school team event on friday, this were the exact words i received,
Girl: "you open climber?".
Me: "yes"
Girl: "only can take one shirt you understand? cannot take 2!"
Me: "erm.. ok.. whatever"
it's like wadeva man. i didnt even ask for 2 shirts in the first place! the girl just jumped to the conclusion that i was going to take 2 shirts for wadeva misconstrued reason of hers. spare me. i just want to boulder.

there was also this isolation girl with some lame-ass attitude. initially i thought it was only me being overly sensitive. but when i overheard some people complaining about her too...

i also dont understand why they decided to put the ntu fun climb on a sunday. seeing new climbers(i do not have anything against new climbers) wearing sport shoes/not wearing shoes to climb on a sunday afternoon is a waste of precious time. the committee should sideline this nondescript event to a friday instead of putting it on a sunday - the day when the traffic is the heaviest and most of the climbing community in singapore is there. my point is further evidenced by the fact that there was virtually nobody watching the event. the crowd dispersed after the intermediate mens finals at 1pm only to gather again for the open womens competition at 6pm. these 5 hours could have been put to better use. like for example having more finalists in each event, or allocating more time to the open womens and mens competition (which undisputedly is the main crowd drawer). or use this time to train their route judges, which brings me to my next complaint.

the route judges were NON-climbers. which means they know next-to-nothing about the adrenaline-pumping, faint-inducing sport that is bouldering. instances of poor judging are listed down below:
1. jiawei's video replay clearly showing that he held onto the bonus tile TWICE for his novice men's finals, but the route judge decided otherwise. if that was counted he would have shot up the rankings to 3rd place. he decided against appealing. i cannot decide whether i agree with his decision. but i have to agree that given his poor judging, the inept route judge would have probably bungled jiawei's appeal. at the end of the day, we climbers just want to climb and have fun, not partake in some senseless dispute as to whether we held the tile or not.
2. there was this indian girl for the open womens route 2. xiaoxian is really the victim of this unfortunate series of events. she was the first up for a route that climbers will clearly see as a jump start. however the route judge insisted that she had to set on the hold WITH 2 HANDS. which is impossible. if i were xiaoxian, there and then i would have told her in her face to show me how to start with 2 hands on that small tile that is obviously a foothold which is placed below knee level. luckily for xiaoxian she eventually redeemed herself with a fairytale ending.
3. ben saw this fiasco and immediately insisted that xiaoxian be allowed to try the route again. however the lame-ass chief judge insisted that this major oversight on his part be carried on FOR THE REST OF THE OPEN WOMENS. bouldering is a spectator sport. it would be senseless to see 8 grown women fumbling with the FREAKING STARTING TILE. the chief route judge should immediately recognize the problem and address it. instead, his heated argument with ben carried over to felicia's turn and wasted close to 40 seconds of her time. i was there and just told her to do the jump start, because i am a climber and i can certainly discern correct route judging from wrong. when the rules are wrong you screw them and make up your own ones.
4. after which all the other participants did the jump start. until it came to shuang e's turn. for some reason only known to that indian girl, she allowed shuang e to start on the second hold. so shuang e just locked off on that hold while stepping on the first foothold to reach the higher tiles, without needing to jump at all! RIDICULOUS. any competent route judge or chief route judge would resolve this issue instantaneously by asking the competitor to come down from the wall and giving her one attempt. however, this is not done. in the eyes of the spectators this actually amounts to blatant cheating. i saw this and immediately reported it to the chief route judge. below is an excerpt of his mind-blowing, preposterous, absurd and irresponsible reply:
"i will settle this issue later. any appeals you do through your coach. i will handle this later."
imagine a similar setting at the olympic games. if the athletes contravened some rule, THERE AND THEN they are disqualified or at least penalised. why is this age-old rule inconsistent with the judging at pumpfest 09?
disclaimer: i admire shuang e for climbing with an injured ankle and for bravely finishing most of the routes. the route judge should have stopped her when she started with the incorrect hold. but as a national climber, she should have known better. if the reason for allowing her to start on the second hold was because of her injured ankle, then perhaps for the next comp i will scratch myself and ask for the same allowances. although i probably wouldnt get the same set of incompetent judges which ironically complemented each other!

climbing is a spectator sport. the whole point of the competition is for the viewing pleasure of the spectators. however, the double whammy of a high barricade coupled with a low tentage made it such that the spectators could only see the middle portion of the walls. whatever happened at the bottom and at the the top(which is the climax of each climb) is unknown to them. and is there really a need to place the boundaries so far back? as a spectator, i want to catch all the action. i want to see my climbing heroes in action. i do not want to have to kneel or stoop and shift myself around to catch the feats of strength and dexterity.

the new format of the competition, whereby the competitors climbed on one wall while the other wall was prepared for the next route is also messy and distracting. the flurry of activity at the mainstage area meant that the spectators attention is diverted from watching the action. the blaring noise of the impact drivers also distracts the competitors from focusing on their climbs.

my last and final grouse is the lame-ass 'spotting' at the competition. is this the epitome of lame-ass. in bouldering, because of the nature of the spot, we have 'spotters' in charge of guiding the competitors safely to the mats, hence the phrase 'spotting'. they are not supposed to SLAM THE GENITALS of the competitors. here i am forced to sucuumb to my desire to use expletives. i FUCKING dont care whether it was an FUCKING accident or not. the damage is FUCKING done already. i got hit in my balls and i crumpled to the mattress. the moment you get hit in your manhood the first reaction is to be FUCKING PISSED. the 'spotter' (i wonder if you can still call him that) is lucky that the injury is not serious. this is no laughing matter. i was seriously FUCKING TEMPTED to box him in the face. luckily i controlled myself. in this case i would rather i fall to the ground and sprain my ankles then get a dent, or rather a 'zham', to my chances to celebrate fathers' day. sometimes it is better to express your displeasure rather than keep it bottled up. i feel better after voicing out my angst. as of now i am still undecided as to whether i should repay that fellow the same pleasure with the effects magnified ten times.

the spotter in the football tee for the open mens final route is also a joke. he would spread his arms out sidewards and then drop his hands when the competitor fell instead of rushing out to guide him down.

the only gratifying thing about this competition is that we at nus central helped voiced popular opinion and made a dig at the emcees.