The BRI is still the only format that gives the crucial element of any comp back into the hands of the climbers. In 2007 we invited eight of the strongest, but very different German climbers to put up their own problems and climb them afterwards. Last year we had a tremendous event with the eight invited women from all over the world. Now, this year we feel that we matured enough to invite both men and women and have them compete at the same problems! As the last two years we would like to have very different climbers here, not only your usual competition suspects.

Keep it simple, stupid!

We are trying to make the format as simple to understand as possible and still allow the girls and boys to compete on an equal basis.

Each competitor will be given a part of the artificial structure to put up his or her problem with an identical set of holds. We allow 60 minutes for that. The girls will get 10 more minutes to put 2 more golden “joker holds” into the male problem of their respective area where they see fit to compensate for lack of reach for example.
During the actual 90 minutes comp, everybody climbs as many problems as possible, the own problem being of course of most importance. Every problem is worth € 250. This money will be split like this:

• one point for a boy doing a girl problem 2 points for a girl doing a girl problem,
• 2 points for a boy doing a boy problem
• 2 points for a girl doing a boy problem with the 2 joker holds
• 4 points for a girl doing a boy problem without the 2 joker holds! Finally, a special prize for the girl that put up a problem no boy can climb! (Unlikely you say? – well, Angelica Lind’s problem #1 last year never saw a second ascent!)

Stay tuned for more about the Bronx Rock Inviational 2009 soon, or better even, come by, August 15, 16:00 CET HERE! If you can’t make it to Cologne, follow our “live” tweet.

below: very cool clip of the BRI 2009 by our competitor Jérôme de Boeck!

Bronx Rock Invitational 09 from Jerome De Boeck on Vimeo.