Deep Water Soloing 2015: Men's Finals
Aug. 30th, 2015 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylAs with the women's final, the format of the men's competition was also a speed elimination, with top six going head to head on the same problem with the fastest three going through to the second round. The problem, set in the middle of wall and featuring the wrecking ball, featured a number of dynos, including one across a big star of volumes in the middle of the upper section.
The problem starts on the volume and then up to a couple of footholds:
...a move on to the wrecking ball...
...out again with a move to a mono pocket...
...down to a volume...
...and the first real dyno...
...round the overhang using the crack created by the two volumes immediately above...
...a little campus onto the star...
...ready for another dyno...
...across the face of star...
...on to a couple of tiny crimps...
...with a last throw for the big ledge...
...and the bell and the finish!
The times for all this were nothing short of astonishing: Matt Cousins set the pace in the first round, flashing the problem in the staggeringly quick time of 38.06 seconds! After a rest to allow the second round of the women's final, the top three men — Cousins, Matt Varela-Christie, and Vincent Bouchet — returned to duel it out.
On his second attempt Varela-Christie managed to get his time down to 28.56 seconds. So with Bouchet on 35.69, it all came down to Cousins' final run which was superbly quick right up to the point where a slip on the final crimp cost him valuable points thanks to a premature splashdown, giving victory to Matt Varela-Christie and second place to Vincent Bouchet.
The problem starts on the volume and then up to a couple of footholds:
...a move on to the wrecking ball...
...out again with a move to a mono pocket...
...down to a volume...
...and the first real dyno...
...round the overhang using the crack created by the two volumes immediately above...
...a little campus onto the star...
...ready for another dyno...
...across the face of star...
...on to a couple of tiny crimps...
...with a last throw for the big ledge...
...and the bell and the finish!
The times for all this were nothing short of astonishing: Matt Cousins set the pace in the first round, flashing the problem in the staggeringly quick time of 38.06 seconds! After a rest to allow the second round of the women's final, the top three men — Cousins, Matt Varela-Christie, and Vincent Bouchet — returned to duel it out.
On his second attempt Varela-Christie managed to get his time down to 28.56 seconds. So with Bouchet on 35.69, it all came down to Cousins' final run which was superbly quick right up to the point where a slip on the final crimp cost him valuable points thanks to a premature splashdown, giving victory to Matt Varela-Christie and second place to Vincent Bouchet.
