The upcoming edition of the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Salt Lake City, Utah will feature a deep-water climbing event at the nearby Park City, after a two-year hiatus with no climbing competitions in conjunction with the big American trade show. The Psicobloc Masters Series, to be held in conjunction with the OR show, will be America\'s first official deep-water soloing competition. The qualifying round will run on July 28-31, followed on Aug. 1 by the semifinals and then, on Aug. 2, by the finals, at the Utah Olympic Park at Park City. Some of the top climbers in the world will battle head-to-head on a 50-foot wall overhanging the Olympic Park's 750,000-gallon freestyle aerial training pool, using no ropes or harnesses. The competition, featuring both a men's and women's division, will be “duel” style, with participants climbing on identical routes and the highest or first to the top advancing to the next round. The event will be open to the public, who will also be offered a ski jumping exhibition during the intermission periods. Winners will divide a purse of $20,000, the highest cash purse of any climbing competition this year. Organized by Chris Sharma, a professional rock climber, the event is part of a new Psicobloc Masters Series, inspired by a competition in Bilbao, Spain, in 2011, which Sharma won.

Topics