INTERNATIONAL CLIMBING COMPETITION report and winners pictures

The first two days of Girivihar Competition were of great fun, with a dash of amazing international performances.  This is the second year that The Masters Challenge was incorporated in the Competitions. The idea was, to put on display, the best of Climbing talent, by making National Champions compete with each other. 

We had glorious names with great achievements participating here. For e.g. : Tuhin who had climbed 8B plus the Ganesh Route… or Sandeep Maity who has climbed 8A in the past at places like Hampi and Badami in India… or someone like Adriel Choo from Singapore who has been participating in World Championships, etc 

Mens Semi final was a great spectacle. It was a very close affair, with every one vying to qualify for the finals. 6 people qualified for Mens Finals. Adriel for the second time in row was determined to win.

Routes were good. 2 Singapore girls topped all the route, Neha Prakash topped 3 routes. Routes were relatively easy for Singaporean Climbers but not so easy for the Indians climbers 

Out of 13, 6 people qualified for the finals

Iranian and Singapore Climbers were very happy to be here with such tough routes set up at the competition. 

Girivihar this year has been sponsored by EP for the 'holds', mainly features (they are the huge holds with multiple grip opportunities, it also adds character to the wall). Using such fancy features this year, the wall was truly an international climbing site. Vaibhav Mehta who flies down to India every year from France to be the Chief Route Setter, had put in a serious thought laying the routes for this competition. Especially with the Masters Challenge incorporated in the competition this year, the routes had to set, tougher, better, and more technical and to stay at par with the international standards. 

Girivihar, though a totally routed competition in Indian Climbing scene, makes sure that the entire organization is held upto IFSC prescribed standards in all means. 

All this contributed to a spectacular climbing demonstration in the Finals. 

Adrenaline Rush = Mens finale. A highly thrilling affair, with all the usual suspects Sandeep Maity, Adriel Choo, Tuhin Satarkar, Aziz shaikh vying for a podium finish. A surprise entry to the finals this year was Michael Schreiber a German climber. He surprised everyone with his feat by finishing 3rd.

First route of the finals proved to be a little difficult with people taking more attempts than the others. Adriel flashed rest of all the 3 routes except the first and emerged a winner. 

Womens finals was a relatively an easy affair so to say. Singapore Climbers were a class apart. This may be such an alarm bell for the Indian Women Climbers.  

Final Ranking - Number - Family Name - First Name - Nationality

1 M-37 Choo Adriel Singapore

2 M-14 Satarkar Tuhin Pune

3 M-15 Schreiber Michael Berlin, Germany

1 W-10 Goh Janet Singapore

2 W-11 Koh Lynnette Singapore

3 W-02 Prakash Neha Bangalore

1 Singh Adarsh, Delhi

2 Gaikwad Aakash, Mumbai

3 Ahire Sachin, Mumbai

*Features adds an element of surprise and difficulty to any route problem. They are used heavily in World Championships Circuits.