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Alex Johnson wins first Bouldering World Cup of 2010

posted by dpm on 05/16/2010

During a few rainy days in Greifensee, a small village near Zürich, Switzerland, the world’s best boulderers were in attendance to battle it out at the first bouldering world cup of the year.   On May 15th, Alex Johnson of the US surprised herself and the European audience by winning the competition.  
 
 
All photos courtesy of Zach Lerner
 
The boulder problems, highly influenced by chief route setter Jacky Godoffe’s love of Fontainebleau, were very technical and often mimicked Fonts slabby sandstone formations. Alex proved to be “queen of the slab” by easily cruising even the most technical and obscure obstacles as she progressed through the 3 rounds of the comp.  
 
 
All photos courtesy of Zach Lerner
 
In the final round of the competition, where 6 climbers have 4 minutes to complete each of the 4 problems, Alex beat out an extremely strong and talent field that included last year’s overall champion Akiyo Noguchi, by flashing the second problem and gaining all of the bonus holds in the fewest tries. 
 
On the mens side of things, Kilian Fischhuber of Austria narrowly beat out Adam Ondra of the Czech Republic. With Adam climbing first and flashing 3 of 4 problems, Kilian knew what he had to do, and was able to match the performance, winning on count back.
 
All photos courtesy of Zach Lerner
 
Alex will be attending all of the bouldering world cups this season, and is excited to compete on her home turf in the USA at the Teva Mountain Games held in Vail, CO on June 4th and 5th. -Zach Lerner
 
Check out Alex Johnson's blog HERE