It was a sweaty weekend for everyone involved. At 35 Grad, Lucia Dörffel from the DAV Saxon Mountaineering Federation and Max Prinz from the DAV AlpinClub Hannover in Dortmund won the titles in the German Championship in Bouldering. The video replay of the finals is below.
For a long time, it looked as if last year's champions could confidently defend their titles. But then things turned out differently and the audience saw a fascinating competition with surprising turns until the last boulder.
A finale like from a picture book
In the preliminary rounds everything went according to plan for Alma Bestvater (DAV Weimar) and Yannick Flohé (DAV Aachen): Both defending champions were confidently in first place and therefore went into the final as the last starters. On the very first boulder, a complex vertical movement problem, Flohé didn't really take off and consequently didn't get a rating. In contrast to Max Prinz, who delivered a convincing Flash and immediately took the lead. Alma Bestvater got off to a better start at first. In the third attempt, she pulled the overhang to be climbed with several knee clamps for the right and in the meantime landed in second place behind Hannah Pongratz from the AlpinClub Hannover.
Unbelievable then, what the route setters around Christian Bindhammer and Jonas Baumann presented to the athletes and the audience in the second final boulders: For the ladies there was a balance problem of the extra class, which only Lucia Dörffel was able to solve, but right away, what brought her the lead , After all, Alma Bestvater made it to a daring jump to the top grip, which she missed by a hair's breadth. If you had succeeded this dynamo, the German championship might have gone differently.
The gentlemen had to deal with an overhanging stomach, which initially went quite well for everyone. The sticking point of the boulder was then to climb the top handle from the side and not be shaken off the already mentioned belly. Several solutions were possible here, and they were all demonstrated to the delight of the audience. Once again, Max Prinz came through straight away and stabilized his leadership position. In such cases one might say: He had a run.
The run continued. Although again a complex movement problem waited, this time in the strongly overhanging terrain, Max Prinz could not be stopped. As if inspired, he immediately recognized the right solution and also flashed the third of three boulders. It was clear: the title is no longer the Hanoverian. In the last boulder, it would only be about placing second and third. Unlike the ladies: their third final boulder, a strong, but quite obvious to climb overhang, almost all inspired. Before the last Boulder Lucia Dörffel, Hannah Pongratz, Alma Bestvater and Afra Hönig (DAV Landshut) still had chances for the title.
The best starting point had Lucia Dörffel: If she does not need more than two attempts, she would be the victory no more. She made it exciting: In the first attempt, she fell off. In the second attempt, however, she gathered all her strength and reached the top grip amidst the cheers of the roughly 400 spectators. Second and third place went to Afra Hönig and Hannah Pongratz. And then came Alma Bestvater at the very end: With a flash, she would be able to displace Afra Hönig from second place, and he was loose in their previous performance. However, she made a mistake on the first attempt and came to the top only in the second attempt. The fact that this little mistake cost her the entire podium and that she had to settle for fourth place shows just how high the power density of the ladies currently is.
For Max Prinz, the last boulder was no longer about anything. Actually. Nevertheless, he insisted on climbing the fourth boulder straight away and thus achieving the best possible final rating: four tops in four attempts. However, his competitors still had to work out the remaining podium places. In the race: Max Kleesattel from DAV Schwäbisch Gmünd, Martin Philipp from DAV Allgäu Kempten and Yannick Flohé, who was fourth at the time. Kleesattel got the top grip in the second attempt and thus hurried to second place on the podium, but Kleesattel failed and only reached the zone classification. For Flohé, the way to bronze was clear - if he could manage the boulder. And then last year's winner showed all his class and flashed the thing.
Hexenkessel once different
In view of the impressive and exciting performance of the athletes, it was no wonder: The atmosphere in the Dortmund bouldering world couldn't have been better. And that, although everyone present struggled with the heat. It was easily 35 degrees when the final took place. It wasn't much cooler in the semi-finals on Sunday morning and in the qualifying rounds on Saturday. The route screwdrivers played a major role in ensuring that the Dortmund audience was offered top-class sport. Despite difficult conditions - see temperatures - they managed to conjure up spectacular, surprising and intelligent bouldering problems on the wall. Whether flat or steep, whether dynamic or filigree, whether on tiny structures or large volumes - climbing techniques and climbing skills of the most modern cut were always asked. One can confidently say that the audience was offered state-of-the-art bouldering. Incidentally, the organization, which an event the size of a German Miesterschaft requires, ran smoothly. This is not least thanks to the team of the Boulderwelt, the help team of the DAV Dortmund, the experienced referee team around chief referee Ferdinand Triller and the many other helpers and partners.
The finale in the video replay
The results in detail are available at www.digitalrock.de
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Credits: Text Deutscher Alpenverein, picture DAV / Thomas Schermer