SALT LAKE CITY -- Rock climbing professionals and amateurs from all over the country have been in Salt Lake City this week for the Outdoor Retailer Convention, but they're also here to take part in one of the largest climbing competitions in the country: The second annual Dinamik Bouldering Championships.
Mike Bockino, is the head route setter for the Front Climbing Club in Salt Lake City, and he spoke about the sport.
“Bouldering is just climbing like short, hard moves,” he said.
Professionals and amateurs compete for a $5,000 cash purse and more than $10,000 in prizes. Bockino described the details of scoring.
“Each route is assigned a point value, and so the higher the point value, the harder the route is," he said.
Annie Trujillo, general manager for Front Climbing Club, said this is the second time they’ve held this event.
“So we had one last year, we had over 800 people in here,” she said. “We have some of the strongest climbers in the country that arrive. And it's just like a huge party, both for citizens and for pro climbers all over the country."
Bockino said the event attracts people from far and wide.
“We've got a guy here from Massachusetts who flew in just for it, we've got really strong kids that are like 17, 18,” he said.
The climbing routes are color coded.. According to difficulty.
“At the base of a climb you might see the green holds with a little piece of paper that says the difficulty,” Trujillo said. "And then you follow all of the green holds, so your hands and feet have to be only on the green holds."
Trujillo said some of the routes are very challenging.
“The Yoda hard is for the strongest climbers in the country,” she said. “Those are the climbs that like us mere mortals look at and go, 'how do they even hold onto that?’”
Casey Turner, a first time competitor, said it’s enjoyable to watch as well as compete.
“And it's fun to watch them climb,” Turner said. “It's kinda fun for an intermediate climber like myself."
The completion was open to all comers.
