13 athletes from 14 different nations have registered for the Bouldering World Cup on April 2018 and 210, 30 in Meiringen. Including an athlete from the Bernese Oberland. 16-year-old Zoé Egli from Hünibach started last year in Meiringen, but at that time she was still with the youngsters. This is the first time she is competing with the elite. We keep our fingers crossed for the Bernese Oberland woman for her World Cup premiere.
"We are overwhelmed by the number of participants," says Christian Willi, OC President of the Haslital Mountain Festival. "Every year we have more athletes here in the World Cup
Meiringen at the start, that's a big compliment for us, "says Willi. In order to cope with the rush of participants, the organizers have decided to advance the start of the men's qualification on Friday by 30 minutes to 8.30 clock.
15 Swiss at the start
The SAC Swiss Climbing Team travels to the Bernese Oberland with eight ladies and seven men. The Swiss team is led by Petra Klingler, who won 2016 the Boulder World Champion title in Paris and, like every year, is looking forward to the competition in Haslital: "It is always nice to perform in front of the home crowd and I also feel how much passion the organizers along with all the helpers are there ", says the 26-year-old woman from Zurich. The OK around Christian Willi is satisfied with the preparations.
New boulder wall built
Last Thursday, the six-tonne bouldering wall of the Haslital Mountain Festival is under construction. The construction took two days and Bauchef Christian Anderegg is very satisfied. "The construction work went according to plan and although we set up the wall for the first time, there were no delays," explains Anderegg. The wall is 30 meters long and five meters high and consists of 24 elements, which can be put together variably. Until recently, the route builders were busy screwing the boulder problems. Every route that climbs the World Cup and the Mammut Youth Climbing Cup does not only have to be screwed in advance, but also tried out. For this, the eight route builders needed around a week.
The World Cup program in Meiringen
Friday April 13th 2018
10:00 am - 14:30 pm Qualification men - Boulder Arena, climbing hall Haslital
16:30 - 20:30 qualification men - Boulder Arena climbing hall Haslital
Saturday 14. April 2018
11:00 - 14:00 semi-final men and women - (LIVE stream)
18:45 - 20:00 Final women - (LIVE stream)
20:00 - 21:00 Final men - (LIVE stream)
Here is the live stream of the semi-finals (14 April, from 11.00 clock)
Click here for the live stream of the finals (from 15 April, 18.30 clock)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1J_b2P_OF0
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Credits: Diego Schläppi Photography