His actions are gonna change the sport i believe in him !

I totally understand why the massive lache into paddle dyno exists. It’s fun for the audience. I assume it’s WAY harder for non climbers to see the fun and struggle with shit low friction crimps on steep overhang… I do miss it sincerely though

Incredible guy!

Yes! Finally someone trying DNA!!

I never thought about the size of the holds having such a profound impact. I guess companies have a financial interest in selling bigger and more complex holds. At the same time that is maybe not what the sport should be focussing on, or at least not exclusively. In my view, many great boulders can be set with low budget, relatively small holds. On the other hand, I like volumes giving the wall a different shape and making everything a bit more 3D. For me, a good boulder is about the moves, not the wall itself. And that is very abstract, requiring experienced and creative routesetters.

Do people not think that the variability in bouldering is more the fact that the field is just extremely close, and thus the final is inherently much more open. Who wants to see the exact same group in finals every time, that gets boring.

Jacob is right in many things - especially of IFSC practics quality but competition climbing wont be anymore same like rock climbing and its not a problem for really strong climbers of new era :D

Agree. I stopped watching comps 3 years ago. That’s is not climbing anymore. Are so boring.

Yeah bring back the physical hard stuf to at least a proper ratio. It should be more around 50% of the boulder than 25% I think.

Try climbing. It might surprise you what can be achieved without money& hype.

New boulder comp rule: 2 board style problems!!!!

Nice that Jakob is mentioning the elephant in the room in climbing

Remove the "Electric" boulder and replace it with a "Classic" theme. Prioritize sequence complexity and high body position risk.

He's so right about the competition's route setting.

Climbing gradually became circus tricks. This started off as a way to try and split the field and avoid ties. It then took on a life of its own. It makes for more injuries and certainly more luck.

Fully agree on the world cups becoming more random in their results except Janja because she's a few levels ahead of the rest. I am under the impression that routesetting for competitions has become less about testing the participant's skills in different ways and more about cooking up the craziest dynamic coordination jumps. Hugely impressive when they go, but less suited to determining the best climber and comps are saturated with them making it boring to watch.

IMO Colin Duffy's top of Boulder 4 was a highlight of the Paris Olympics and it lead to a dramatic showdown in the lead for the bronze medal. As a spectator, and a fan of competitive bouldering, I think some of those kinds of problems make the sport more interesting and dramatic to watch. Plenty of old school boulders to be done outside, if that's what you're looking for.

I don't like this new style of climbing when climbing myself. But I don't hate them in competition. But I think that we really need more variety in the competition. Jakob explained imo really good why we need more variety in the competitions

Also second note, why is there no crack climbing in comps? Isn’t that a massive discipline that isn’t really represented? Doesn’t that require massive intricacies to get right? I think we could see a different group of leaders in climbing.

Great honesty here! Sounds like the hold shapers could be double dipping as route setters with making money as a key driving point. Not sure but if it’s true, when money wolves come in, the spirit of any endeavor gets lost in what it could be, on the alter of how much can we make.

I think top climbers need to be advocates for their sport in this way. There’s way to much hesitancy to say anything negative - we need the open dialogue that isn’t blindly positive all the time. If you had that, top athletes would hold much more influence over the sport.

The business model of the hold manufacturers dictates the direction climbing takes. Big holds = increased financial gains, which leads to the specific style of coordination moves and dynos. Simple as that. Money drives everything these days...

Boulder problems that reflect actual bouldering 😁😳🧗

Nope; one discipline…just do better

Well said! Sadly, I don't think the ifsc is listening to climbers as much as they should, they are trying to make a spectacle because they think they will attract more eyes with flashy boulders, "betraying" their regular viewers! It will turn into a vicious circle of organizers trying to outdo the previous competition! It's all about the money, and not even money athletes will get! As he said, certain countries are regularly getting to organize cups, but it's almost always half empty stands and lausy organization! "It's to promote the sport,...but then we end up in SA or some other shady country

The comps look like Ninja Warrior and not bouldering/climbing.

Sohta Amagasa catching strays 🤣

What should improve substantially are the prize money amounts in the World Cups, as they are among the lowest of any professional sport that exists

09:00-09:19: well done naming only man but not one single woman and especially not Janja who has been winning nearly every competition for years?! Dear Jakob, woman are also excellent climbers, it would be nice if you take that into account the next time 😉☺️

Such a nice lad 👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻

Best and clearer interwiew ever. Bring back the ruckus!

Let’s see some crack climbing with some sustained jamming, too, since we’re talking about neglected climbing styles and keeping it closely related to rock climbing.

I can’t believe the old school climber thinks comps should be set in a way that benefits old school climbers. Mind blown. Just adapt or retire. Listening to a competitor constantly complain about the setting instead of just fucking grinding is so annoying. I agree there could be slightly more static climbing but not much.

why is he sitting so far from the interviewer?

Great interview! Thanks for sharing this!

Nice criticism! I would love to see waaaay more board climbing competition. Like moonboard masters or tensionboard problems!

I think his point about making the problems in boulder competitions differ from each other is correct, however I don't agree with his randomness in the problems themselves. Each and every problem is random to a degree, sure some setters can replicate a certain move, but that's true across all styles and not just dynos. As for the randomness in athletes who progress to semis or finals, that in itself is exactly what competition is about. Who will progress through semis and finals and who will win? Alot of the female competitions where Janja Garnbret was in, you are almost certain who is going to win. In my opinion, each competition would challenge the climbers in different styles AND create some sort of randomness as to who's going to progress.

I heard some routesetter saying that static crimpy boulders do not separate athletes anymore, and that's why they aren't proposed that much in comps. I don't really get that. Plus semi static moves on crimps or big lockoffs could be pretty spectacular imo.

The interviewer’s question about potentially two bouldering disciplines reminds me of bodybuilding a bit. Open bodybuilding became so removed from “classic” physiques of the golden era that they came out with “classic physique” as a category that values aesthetics + muscle mass versus absolute muscle mass. I think a “classic” bouldering category could actually be really interesting.

Competition is nothing. Ppl will remember who did the hardest routest/boulders... no one cares who get a WC win or olymic medal 20 years ago. So go outside 😁

Mr Consistent. Congratulations on another competition season. Always love hearing top climbers opinions. I'd like to see team medals as they have in gymnastics. Much talent goes unrecognized. Again I love your enthusiasm for our sport

I will be the captain-obvious, but climbing is unique in terms of how you are competing. In all the other sports, you are kind of doing the same thing. Tennis, football, volleyball, basketball, swimming, etc. You name it. It is always something repetitive. Competition climbing is unique because the route is always different (kind of like surfing, where the wave is always kind of different). Now, the point is that climbing in general has never been this hype before. It is great. But it is changing. The moment you involve many many people in something, that thing will start changing. Jakob has a point, but he is coming from a "previous generation" perspective. Yes, it is not about "new school" vs. "old school". It is about generations. For many generations, climbing was about outdoors, on real rock. After many generations, it has become what it is now, and at some point, it will converge to a format.

I really like the idea "sports climbing should be nearer to (outdoor) rock climbing". Even if I never climbed outdoors, I imagine myself being faced with some nature problem.

complete agree with Jakob

I strongly disagree with this take on comp bouldering. I understand the desire to have a climbing competition more dedicated to pure overhung crimp-strength, but I find the current Boulder World Cup format much more compelling. World cup bouldering is a mix of strength, power, coordination, and route-reading ability, a very different skill-set than top-end out-door bouldering. If we had comp boulders which were just steep overhung crimp-fests, then of course athletes like Simon Lorenzi, Will Bosi, Sean Bailey, and Aidan Roberts would dominate. I just don't find this possibility more interesting or compelling than the current bouldering style. I think that an important caveat is that 'best boulderer' is a truly subjective take, and it's ultimately arbitrary which mix of skills we choose to test in competitive bouldering. That being said, the outdoor V-grades have primarily tracked a single skillset, which is pulling/crimp/finger strength. If you want to find out who has the greatest crimp strength by watching them pull on boards in a competition, fine. I don't. I'd rather see athletes tackle climbs in a variety of styles in a short time-window. I can find out the absolute limit of human crimping capacity when the new Mellow video drops.

if you think about formula 1, a problem it has is that the same person wins all the time. I think it's awesome that more people have access to finals. I don't want to see the same old faces

Spot on, I want to see who is the strongest and most technical on hard climbing problems , not jumpy / balance stuff. Hope Jakobs statement has some inpact on this

Great and brave words Stephan. Thanks for standing up for rock climbing and the core of what makes us climbers. Lets hope the powers that be are listening and we can see our sport blossom how it should and not become a freak show of crazy moves.

Grande obbiettività. Grande equilibrio....un vero campione.

Great input. Thank you for sharing!