Saturday night was the final round for The Spot Gym’s Battle In The Bubble bouldering competition, and it was off the hook! The Spot pulled out all the stops for this awesome night of elite climbing. It seemed that there was a bit of a hitch at the beginning when one of the first problems was missing it’s starting hold. But everyone was pretty stoked to find out that it was being delivered via skydiving. A few minutes later the hold was on the ground, bolted to the wall, the competition was underway and the action didn’t stop until 4 hours later when the final problems went down to the two winners. Hit the jump for a breakdown and my favorite images of the event.
Julian Bautista on the 4th Men's problem.
The last of finals problems was done in a format I’ve never seen before, where the final two men’s and women’s climbers traded turns, going head to head; and whoever sends first, wins. I was hoping that no one would just step right up and crush it, because this is the Battle In The Bubble, and I wanted to see something epic happen. Well, the event delivered! Daniel Woods and Julian Bautista were the final two men’s competitors and Alex Puccio and Angie Payne were the final women’s competitors. The route setters did a fantastic job making sure that no one got the send without working it first. The action was amazing! Fall after fall, they traded turns trying to get the first ascent of the men’s or women’s final problem. Julian and Angie both put in awesome efforts and did some top form climbing, but then Daniel and Alex finally each stepped up to their respective problems and just absolutely crushed them, as if they hadn’t really been trying until then. It was truly a great comp, and I’m stoked to see The Spot pushing the limits of what a climbing comp can be!
Daniel Woods taking first place.
Carlo Traversi sending hard early in the game.
Kevin Jorgenson keeping the crowd amped with free t-shirts.
Alex Puccio sticking it on the 4th women's problem.
Angie Payne on the 5th women's problem.
Carlo Traversi getting ready to throw down.
Daniel Woods about to crush.
Carlo Traversi going for it on the 4th men's problem.
The action packed final round! Daniel and Alex on the wall.
Great photos! I love all the different positions from which you were shooting. And great catch on Woods’ latching the M5 final hold!
Ben, good stuff, I will link to this in the next email update. How did you get inside the ropes. Calvin
Thanks, Josh! You gotta work it, baby! Bob and weave. Roll with the punches. Keep it interesting!
[...] For some pictures by a guy who actually knows what he’s doing, check out these: Battle in the Bubble Finals – Bouldering Comp | Fullerton Images [...]
Really great images, Ben. Congrats to all the competitors and to The Spot Gym for what looks like a truly amazing event. (Really wish I’d been in town for it!)
[...] #2: Check out this gallery of shots from finals by Ben Fullerton AKPC_IDS += "8230,"; stepcarousel.setup({ galleryid: 'mygallery', //id of carousel DIV beltclass: [...]
[...] Photos Courtesy of Ben Fullerton [...]