Perched 10 feet above the Elevation Place floor, with a sea of mad climbing fanatics below him screaming mayhem, Eric Sethna contemplated a leap of faith.
Twice before he had jumped and missed the final problem at Canmore’s Tour de Bloc stop, tumbling to the ground in dramatic fashion, and now, with the clock reaching zero, he had one more shot at the problem. As the hometown favourite, competing at Elevation Place for the first time in front of friends and family, he could feel pressure mounting.
Eyeing the final hold six feet away, Sethna soared through the air, his arms fully extended in flight, hunting for paydirt. Unbelievably, his right hand hit its target, muscles back to the wall, and secured the open men’s win Saturday (Nov. 7) at Tour De Bloc 13.
“Topping the fourth problem was the highlight. I probably didn’t need the top to win, but I amped up the crowd. To finish it like that – that was a great finish for me. The MC is right – the louder the crowd cheers, the harder we climb,” Sethna said. “This is my first competition here … it’s pretty sick.”
Sethna has spent much of his young career trekking the globe on the world cup circuit, but he said competing at home has a completely different feel.
“I won a competition two weeks ago and this was my second competition of the season. That made it a little more nerve wracking because there was a little bit of expectation,” Sethna said.
He topped three of the four problems in the final to secure the win, conquering his nerves and four very difficult bouldering routes for the win.
“Problem #1 was the most difficult. There was some nerves and it started with a dyno (dynamic movement). Everyone wanted to do the dynos differently, so there was some confusion and that made it difficult. To do it over and over again was tiring,” Sethna said.
Marc Eveleigh finished second with one topped route in the final, followed by Wolfgang Kendler. Local athletes Dexter Bateman and Patrick Gibeau finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Stacey Weldon won silver in the open women’s division, topping three routes in the final. Coming off a full season of world cup starts, where she snagged a 12th-place finish in Chongqing, China and ended up ranked 25th in the world, the former Canmore Indoor Climbing team coach said the Tour de Bloc was a great tuneup for her season.
“I didn’t have any specific goals in mind. I just wanted to have fun, stay calm and try hard,” Weldon said.
Weldon’s strength was on full display in front of her hometown crowd, and she didn’t disappoint her many fans in the final. Weldon’s raison d’etre in the climbing world is community, and hers turned out in spades at the packed EP gym.
“Always, the community is the highlight for me. Everyone is friends, and it’s good to see everybody,” Weldon said.
She imparted many tips and tricks to younger climbers, and was encouraged to see a few of her former pupils in the finals.
“I try to pass on some strategy to them, telling them to not try too many times, and be friendly in isolation (climbers are isolated from watching their competitors attempt problems in the final),” Weldon said.
As for the rest of the year, she’d love to compete in more world cups around the globe, and earn a medal at Canadian nationals. But the emergency room nurse will need more support to chase that dream.
“Last year was quite expensive. I did the full world cup tour and it cost me $10,000. I will try and find some funding, and if I do, I will try it again,” Weldon said.
She’s also upgrading her nursing skills at Foothills hospital with an emergency nursing course through Mount Royal University. She said the job definitely helps her climbing, and vice versa.
“You go to that same spot, when you’re competing and when you’re dealing with an emergency. It teaches you to be calm,” Weldon said.
Alyssa Weber won the competition, topping all four routes in the final. Eva Thompson finished third.
The competition was a great experience for many young climbers in the Bow Valley. Banff’s Gibeau was seventh in the final, moving up one spot from last year’s competition.
“I gave it my all. Some of the routes weren’t quite my style, but I pushed myself as hard as I could,” Gibeau said. “Last year was my first bouldering finals, and I didn’t know how to pace myself. This year I did that a little better and saved some energy for the end. My hands aren’t bleeding as much, so that’s a start.
“There were lots of dynos. They were pretty hard to stick, and there were some scary moves for sure,” Gibeau said.
