Come to the Land of the Brave

This summer, Rock Republic brought you the ultimate test of strength, endurance and willpower. The annual Boulder Bash kicked off on August 7th and has been witnessing amazing progress across all categories –finishing in a spectacular live finals round on 27th August.

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For the second year running, Boulder Bash proved to be a fantastic summer competition for anyone to join. Rock Republic’s Prime Minister, Vanda Turcerova, elaborates:

“Summer is heavenly for bouldering; this is our season. We are one big family at Rock Republic and among us we know almost every member by their first name. We know their winter projects, who is progressing at what, their other hobbies or pets or kids. Without these athletes, we would not be successful. The annual Boulder Bash is a fantastic way to give back, push and motivate in the right way and of course, it is a fabulous excuse to get together and support each other. That’s how we roll.”

In line with recent announcements about climbing being introduced into the lineup for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2020, the competition suits the international
professional format other countries established long ago.

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“I have worked and climbed all over Europe and beyond; Rock Republic became my pride a few months ago. Us climbers and boulderers are ecstatic at this month’s announcement and while on the Old Continent clubs and gyms are well established and can plug into the regional and national matrix for qualifications, here of course we have challenges ahead of us. Putting together a bouldering event this summer is just the beginning for us; expect more events of various natures as well as performance and technique classes starting in October 2016,” states Sebastian Crosina, Minister of Interior at Rock Republic.

The rules of the competition were simple. Sign up for an AED 70 one time fee; climb for as long as you like and score on 60 routes until Saturday 27th August at 3pm. Scores are tallied on the same day and the top 3 competitors are to battle live, on 3 special problems set up only for the finals.

Over 40 climbers signed up and pushed hard over the 3 weeks of the duration of Boulder Bash. Measuring their progress on weekly basis, it was evident for most how dedicated they were to coming back and working tirelessly to better their results. On the 27th, top performers in their categories battled it out in front of supporters and friends and gave everyone a gripping finale to their fantastic 3-week long performances.

Emily Garbutt scooped first place in Junior with Master Zayn Reynolds coming in second – Emily also absolutely rocked all female problems. The ladies showcased unrivaled endurance with Homai Faridi strong in third place, determined Mayssam El Kaii placing second and the Ballerina Nemo Chang crushing first place and managing to break only one nail! What a battle!

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The boys went head to head with incredible stamina and power, and put on an amazing display of determination and strategies across the walls. Tatsuya Kashiwamura killed the third spot, with Masaki Ishitobi close in second and Alan Goddard almost flashing all three finals problems!

Nyi Nyi, a veteran of bouldering and mountaineering and Republic’s Chief of Staff, explains the golden formula of making it into finals: “The real value of bouldering is progression. It is like those before and after photos; a few months can make a huge difference between your starting point and where you are or want to be. Our Bash is about that; keep coming and keep getting better. The more you come and train, the better the chance of being top five. If you don’t come back, you will stagnate where you already are without any progress. We at Rock Republic work super hard to bring you new experiences on and off the wall; for example Sebastian, Federico and myself have set up 45 brand new routes for this competition. Because we love it, we understand how to bring the love out in you too.”


Photos by: Nyi Nyi Aung