Today was a REST DAY for the team. We spent the day shopping in the downtown harbor area. Several parents were able to meet us and join in for exploring this fun city. We split up into 5 groups, each with a USAC staff member. This area of the city has a variety of shops, from American Apparel to China Town. After a few hours of sight seeing and shopping we all met at Barb's Fish & Chips on Fisherman's Wharf for lunch. Looking at the map it appeared to be a decent walk from one side of the harbor to Fisherman's Wharf. It turned out that it was located about a mile past where we thought it was. All the athletes were good sports and made the 30 minute walk without complaints from anyone
(I think that all of Claudiu's cardio work has paid off!). Everyone enjoyed Barb's fish and chips. The coaches took the water taxi back across the harbor to get the vans. THANK YOU COACHES for doing this so we did not have to walk back.
Unknown to most of the team Coach Meghan had purchased window crayons for the climbers to dec out the van windows. She, Michaela, Nicole & Kyra did a great job on Van #3 with artistic drawings of USA patriotic symbols and USA Climbing logos. Their hope was to keep it a surprise for the rest of the team and then get each van decorate their own van windows. Unfortunately it rained not long after they finished and completely washed their art work away. Not to worry, I have faith that they will duplicate their efforts tomorrow.
Early this evening there was a parent meeting. Several parents who were already in town were able to attend. A summary of the meeting is as follows:
1. Opening ceremonies will be at 8:00 p.m. Thursday evening at The Boulder's Climbing Gym. Parents are encouraged to wear their red , white and blue to show team USA support. Climbers will be transported to and from the gym by USA Climbing staff.
2. Q1 routes for sport climbers is on Friday. Warm-up area opens at 8:00 a.m. for climbers, climbing begins at 9:30.
3. Q2 routes for sport climbers is on Saturday with the same schedule as Friday.
4. Running orders for sport climbing for Friday and Saturday will not be known or published until after the coaches technical meeting on Thursday evening. Most likely it will be later in the evening before they are posted on the IFSC website, (www.IFSC-climbing.org) The Boulder's Climbing Gym will also post them on their website, (www.climbtheboulders.com)
5. Speed Climbing competition will begin on Sunday with qualifiers beginning at 12:30 p.m. Finals will be from 4:30-8:30 p.m.
6. Semi-finals and finals for sport climbing will be on Monday. Climbing will begin at 9:00 a.m. for semi-finals. Isolation area for finalists will open at 3:00 p.m. and close at 4:00 p.m.
7. Awards Ceremony is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. USAC coaches and staff strongly encourage climbers to stay for the closing ceremonies if possible.
8. There will be an after party for coaches and athletes after closing ceremonies.
9. Athletes are allowed to visit and hangout with parents/ families at the venue after they climb but are NOT allowed to leave the venue with parents.
10. Team USA will have 3 canopies/tents for the athletes to hangout at during the competition after they are finished climbing.
11. The venue will have vendors and local restaurants for spectators to enjoy.
12. Coaches request that any questions or concerns be directed to Kim Mitchell who will relay them on to the coaches. This is to ensure that coaches can stay focused on our athletes and their climbing.
13. Kim will be at the competition venue all day each day of the competition. She will also be available for parents to meet with each night from 9:00-9:30 p.m. in the lobby of The Harbour Towers Hotel. The Facebook page and blog sight will be updated every evening (may be late in the evening due to schedule).
14. Parking at the venue, there are additional parking areas. Please see www.climbtheboulders.com.
15. There will be a live stream of the competition on the IFSC website.
16. A formal team picture will be taken on Thursday afternoon before the opening ceremonies.
17. Coach Dave Hudson gave a brief overview of IFSC scoring and rules as they are different from USAC rules.
18. In sport climbing the 26 top climbers will advance to semi-finals, the top 8 climbers will advance to finals.
19. In speed climbing the top 16 go to the next round from qualifiers. (This is based on best times). After qualifiers it is a head to head elimination much like the NCAA basketball tournament.
20. Krista will post links on the USA Climbing homepage to the IFSC event page and The Boulders Climbing Gym homepage.
21. The Team's schedule for Thursday is as follows:
9:30 a.m. Light workout at the university fitness center
1:00 p.m. Lunch at university dinning hall
3:00 p.m. Get ready for team pictures and opening ceremonies
5:30 p.m. Dinner at university dinning hall
6:30-6:45 p.m leave for opening ceremonies
22. Lastly, enjoy the opening ceremonies and competition, for this is a true honor that your son or daughter is representing our country at the highest level of competition for the sport of rock climbing. For this you can be proud. Anything past this is icing on the cake!
