Recap and Photo Gallery: IFSC Munich World Cup 2019—Bouldering

At the beginning of April, the Czech Republic’s Adam Ondra kicked off the 2019 Bouldering World Cup season by topping the fourth boulder in a nail-biting event that went down to the wire in Meiringen, Switzerland. At last weekend’s competition in Munich, Germany, he had the chance to author an identical, thrilling script.

Ondra topped four boulders in his qualification group to advance to the men’s semi-final round. There, he shot to the top of the pack by topping all four boulders. In the final round, he managed to pull away from a stacked field that included German hometown favorite Jan Hojer, Austria’s Jakob Schubert, Russia’s Aleksey Rubtsov, Slovenia’s Anze Peharc, and South Korea’s Jongwon Chon. Ondra was the only competitor who successfully guppy-gripped his way to a top on the first boulder (51:18 in the livestream), and he cruised through the second boulder of Blue Pill slopers and topped the slabby third boulder too.

15 Photos From the 2019 IFSC Munich World Cup

One of the highlights of this year’s stop in Munich on the World Cup circuit was the energy of the crowd inside the Olympic stadium. The stadium was built for the 1972 Olympic Games and provided a fitting backdrop as climbing amps up its own Olympic focus. 

The Czech Republic’s Adam Ondra was in top form for most of the competition in Munich, coasting through the qualification and semi-final rounds. If he would have topped the fourth boulder in the final round, he would have won. He gave the boulder a valiant effort and nonetheless seems to be primed for a fantastic performance at one of the fast-approaching Olympic qualifying events.

Germany’s Alex Megos finished the Munich competition in 10. His most impressive moment of the weekend came when he topped the third boulder of the semi-final round on his ninth attempt. 

Throughout the weekend, Germany’s Jan Hojer enjoyed the cheers of his home country. A winner at Munich in a previous season, Hojer looked strong and finished in third place—his best showing of 2019. 

Japan’s Yuji Inoue held down the fort while many of his compatriots (including Akiyo Noguchi, Miho Nonaka, Rei Sugimoto, and Tomoa Narasaki took the weekend off from World Cup competition. Inoue finished the competition in 17.

The United States’ Sean Bailey launches from the zone hold to and upper edge in the qualification round. Bailey did not advance to semi-finals, but a World Cup event in Vail, Colorado, looms on the calendar. Bailey has done well at Vail in the past, and there he will enjoy the cheers of an American fan base. 

Slovenia’s Jernej Kruder brings his foot up to eye-level in preparation for reaching out to a volume. Kruder finished the competition in 11, three spots down from his compatriot, Gregor Vezonik. 

Russia’s Aleksey Rubtsov had his best showing of the 2019 season. He finished in 4, barely missing a spot on the podium.

South Korea’s Jongwon Chon posted on social media that he was sick heading into the qualifying round at Munich. It did not seem to have too much of a lasting impact on his performance. He finished in 6 within his qualification group, then placed second behind Adam Ondra in semi-finals, and finished the weekend in 6. 

Austria’s Jakob Schubert secures a top on the second boulder in the semi-final round. For this particular boulder, Schubert topped with just his hands, while most other competitors utilized a heel hook—if they were able to reach the upper section at all. The ease with which Schubert topped this boulder was an indication of things to come. In the ensuing final round, he topped three boulders en route to an electrifying victory. 

France’s Fanny Gibert was the only competitor who gave Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret any significant competition in the final round and threatened with an upset win. Here Gibert is pictured topping a boulder in her qualification round. Gilbert finished the weekend in 2, having topped all boulders in the finals. 

The United States’ Alex Johnson mentioned after the fact that the semi-finals in Munich was the hardest semi-final set of boulders she had ever encountered in her storied career. She finished the competition in 10—the highest of any Americans. The next—and final—Bouldering World Cup event of the 2019 season will take place in Vail. It was a victory at the Vail Bouldering World Cup event in 2008 that first vaulted Johnson to climbing superstardom and made her a household name among American comp fans. 

Italy’s Camilla Moroni uses her balance to steady herself atop the starting volumes of a slab problem. Moroni, who has been a mainstay on the youth scene for years, finished the competition tied at 8. 

France’s Julia Chanourdie takes a moment to chalk up and pinpoint some beta before attacking a boulder. Chanourdie had an impressive weekend; she tied her compatriot Fanny Gibert at 5 in the semi-final round and finished the competition in 4. 

Other competitors had moments of greatness throughout the weekend, but no one was as consistently good as Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret. With this victory at Munich, Garnbret becomes the overall champion of the bouldering World Cup season.

As the last competitor to attempt the fourth boulder, Ondra was primed to give another “Hollywood ending” to a World Cup event. Schubert and Hojer had already topped the long, powerful boulder, so Ondra’s top would clinch the win in climactic style.

But something unexpected happened during Ondra’s initial attempt. He did not reach the top, and did not secure the zone hold. In fact, he did not look comfortable with the dynamic style, the requisite airborne sequence of brachiating from sloper to sloper with momentum. Ondra tried another attempt, but again his dynamic movement did not look smooth and he failed to make progress.

• Missed the Munich event? Watch a full replay of the livestreams here.

“Traditionally you would have thought Adam Ondra would find a bit of a trick, find a heel hook, find something to drag with the toes—but he has gone with the campus method,” noted commentator Mike Langley on Ondra’s adherence to his anti-style. “This is where the game gets really interesting.”

Ondra’s victory was no longer a foregone conclusion. It was in jeopardy. The clock ticked down and Ondra muscled through more attempts, swinging desperately for a zone hold to no avail. A final attempt with only ten seconds remaining resonated like a last gasp. To the surprise of many, the Hollywood narrative had swerved. Schubert, not Ondra, was the winner (having topped three boulders and secured the zone on another). Ondra descended to second place in the scores, and Hojer placed third.

Garnbret Stays Perfect

If Schubert’s defeat of Ondra at the end of the men’s portion felt like a swerve, the women’s portion was the same ol’ story that we have heard many times before. Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret continued her season of utter domination, aided by the fact that her biggest rivals—Japan’s Akiyo Noguchi and Miho Nonaka, and Great Britain’s Shauna Coxsey—did not take part in the Munich competition.

Garnbret topped every boulder in her qualification group. She promptly underscored such supremacy by topping every boulder in the semi-final round as well. Other competitors had their moments in the final round; Ukraine’s Ievgeniia Kazbekova and France’s Fanny Gibert—along with Garnbret—were the only competitors to top the slab of the second boulder, for instance. And Gibert, in particular, latched onto Garnbret in the scores, as both women finished the finals with tops of each boulder in the round.

But in a sport of increments, Garnbret was just a notch better on every ascent, usually flashing and rarely staying on the wall for longer than a minute. “You can’t help but feel slightly sorry for Fanny Gibert,” said commentator Langley. “She has just come good in the era of Janja Garnbret.”

With smooth progression up the arête and Blocz volumes to top the fourth boulder (3:37.48 in the livestream), Garnbret not only secured the 2019 Bouldering World Cup season title, but she did so in impeccable fashion: by earning a perfect season score of 500 points. Gibert finished the competition at Munich in second place, and Slovenia’s Mia Krampl placed third.

Krampl Transcends

While we’re on the subject of Krampl, it is worth mentioning the grit and determination she displayed throughout the finals. Hindered by a left knee injury, she could barely walk as she approached the base of the opening boulder in the round. The fact that the boulder was a slab only compounded her struggles. It required a committing step with full weight on her injured leg. Krampl winced after each attempt and limped around while sussing out the beta. Commentators Langley and Charlie Boscoe debated whether a competitor hindered by such pain should just quit to avoid further injury.

While Krampl did not top the first boulder and looked tentative on the dynamic movement—and the aerial landing—of the second boulder, she persevered. Finally, on a fifth attempt, she secured a top. Shortly after that, to everyone’s surprise, she topped the third boulder too. She was still in great pain and limping even more, but her persistence amid the agony turned her into an unanticipated crowd favorite.

By the time Krampl utilized a figure-four move and topped the fourth boulder to secure a place on the podium, the crowd was frenzied. The cheers—and Krampl’s teary acknowledgment of the adulation—was a magical sports moment that tapped into pathos beyond scorecards and medals (3:29.46 in the livestream)

Team USA Struggles

As with most stops on the 2019 World Cup circuit thus far, American competitors were mostly in the middle of the pack in the scores. In the women’s division, Brooke Raboutou finished tied at 51; Sienna Kopf tied at 45; Ashima Shiraishi tied at 25. Kyra Condie barely missed advancing into the semi-finals and finished tied at 21.

The standout was Alex Johnson, who advanced to the women’s semi-finals (where she secured two zone holds and was in first place for a decent chunk of the round). She finished the competition in tenth place.

• Related: Meet the 2019 USA Overall National Team

Of the four American men who took part in Munich, Dylan Barks tied at 97; Josh Levin tied at 59; Sean Bailey finished tied at 53; and Zach Galla placed highest, tied at 49.

The final stop of the 2019 Bouldering World Cup season will take place in Vail, Colorado (where American Alex Puccio won in the women’s division last year and Sean Bailey placed second in the men’s division) on June 7-8. The competition will present Garnbret with an opportunity to sweep the entire 2019 Bouldering World Cup season. Stay tuned to Climbing.com for the livestreams and coverage.

Results

Men

1. Jakob Schubert (AUT) 
2. Adam Ondra (CZE) 
3. Jan Hojer (GER) 
4. Alexey Rubtsov (RUS) 
5. Anze Peharc (SLO)
6. Jongwon Chon (KOR)

Women

1. Janja Garnbret (SLO) 
2. Fanny Gibert (FRA) 
3. Mia Krampl (SLO) 
4. Julia Chanourdie (FRA)
5. Jenya Kazbekova (UKR)
6. Katja Kadic (SLO)

Missed an event? Catch up on the 2019 competition season here.