Banff’s Eric Sethna finished 13th while his sister Elise grabbed 19th as the Bow Valley was well represented at the first Canadian bouldering World Cup, last weekend (May 27-29).
The obvious hometown favourites both progressed to the semifinals on home turf, much to the delight of the large crowd.
On the national scene, Eric was behind only Canadian Champ Sean McColl, and happy to finish his first world cup competition close to home.
“I would have liked to have been in the final, but I’m pretty happy with how I climbed,” Eric said.
The puzzles were a definite challenge for the smooth climber.
“It’s a mix of brain and braun. You have to have the strength and skill to figure out the right way to solve the problem,” Eric said.
Elise Sethna scored well enough to carry her through to the semifinals. While she fell well short of a trip to the finals, she said the experience was a thrill.
“I was happy to compete with my heroes,” Elise said. “This was a good world cup to start with at home. I could have done better, but I’m happy with my result.”
Both siblings travel to Vail, Colorado this weekend for their next world cup with the rest of the Canadian team, and both hope the sport will progress to the point where the Olympics become a possibility.
Hosting a world cup was a dream come true for Dung Nguyen, owner of Vsion climbing gym. After starting his own modest climbing gym years ago, to orchestrate such an event with the help of the Alpine Club of Canada was a huge thrill for the Canmorite. Nguyen was given a standing ovation at the conclusion of the climbing event and said he was thankful for the support and partnerships formed during the world cup.
Canmore town councilor Gordie Miskow took in the finals and said the town wants to attract similar events.
“I was just blown away by this. It’s like watching Spiderman without the web,” Miskow said.
