Bouldering World Cup Coming to Vail

A World Cup is coming to Vail, Colorado, and this time it isn’t for skiers. The Teva Mountain Games will host the first Bouldering World Cup ever staged in the U.S. on June 6 and 7, 2008. This will be the first climbing World Cup on U.S. soilsince the 1990 competition at Berkeley, California, and it’s a welcome opportunity for top U.S. boulderers, many of whom have never competed in Europe or Asia. In 2007, not a single American competed in a Bouldering World Cup.

The six-year-old Teva Mountain Games has always hosted an invitational and amateur bouldering competition, with significant prize money drawing many of the top U.S. climbers. Now, as one of eight Bouldering World Cups on the 2008 schedule, the event in Vail is expected to include the top boulders from 30 or more countries.

As the host country, the U.S. will be allowed to register its top six men and women (with more slots potentially available). The U.S. rankings will be determined at the ABS National Championship in Boulder, Colorado, on February 15 and 16. Under International Federation of Sport Climbing rules, competitors must be born in 1992 or earlier. For more info on qualification, go to Usaclimbing.org.

The Teva Mountain Games bring more than 2,000 competitors in 21 different events to Vail for the five-day festival.

Date of event: June 6-7, 2008

Sources:Usaclimbing.org, Tevamountaingames.com

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