Michaela Kiersch wins Hueco's Women's Open with incredible performance
- Thursday 22nd February 2024
Top US climber Michaela Kiersch had an amazing day’s bouldering in the Women’s Open at the 28th Hueco Tanks Boulder Competition, in the USA, held last weekend.
“š¤ easily my best day of bouldering ever!” Michaela wrote on her Instagram page having amassed a total of 108 V-Points and a grand total of 7437 points to easily win the Women’s Open Category.
Her nearest two female competitors were Nina Williams and Maya Ene; they finished the comp with 5614 and 5529 points in second and third place respectively. For reference the top three places in the Men’s Open category were taken by Paul Robinson, Olympian Nathaniel Coleman and Daniel Woods; respectively they finished on 8152, 7934 and 7480 points respectively. Kierach’s score of 7437 points was therefore only a whisker behind Wood’s score of 7480 points, a testament to just how good Kiersch’s performance in the event was.
On the day of the competition, Kiersch’s remarkable performance included climbing two V8s (Font 7B+), two V10s (Font 7C+), two V11s (Font 8A), two V12s (Font 8A+), one V12/12 (Font 8A+/8B) and finally one V13 (Font 8B). Under the Hueco scoring system, only Kiersch’s top six problems counted towards her points score.
Kiersch’s victory was especially pleasing for her as the V13 she climbed during the event was the first V13 she had climbed some years previous: “Crown of Aragorn was one of the top climbs on my list for the day — extra sweet because it was my first V13 many years ago and I’ve progressed to a place in my climbing where I can repeat it in a few tries š„²”
In addition to Crown of Aragon Michaela’s other top boulders she climbed were Thrilla in Manilla (V12/13), Rumble in the Jungle and Phantom Limb – both V12, as well as Landjager and Sunshine – both V11. As well as Swiss Crisp Mix and Left Chupacabra – both V10, Michaela also climbed Better Eat Your Wheaties (V9) and Mr. Serious (V8).
Climbing multiple hard boulder problems in a day isn’t unusual for Kiersch. In late January and early February this year she climbed multiple V12 and harder problems; one day in particular she climbed Power of Landjager (V11), The Full Monty (V12), and Thrilla in Manila (V13). As well as an extremely accomplished boulderer, Kiersch is also a top-flight sport climber having climbed La Rambla (5.15a/F9a+) at Siurana last winter as well as Dreamcatcher (5.14d/F9a) at Squamish in fall 2022.
The Hueco Open boulder competition is one of the very few that is held at an outside venue on natural problems. Unlike usual indoor competitions, the Hueco Open is a “redpoint” competition where climbers can practice the problems prior to the event day. However, every year a specific set of problems are listed by the organisers that the competitors can climb to gain points; in effect, this means that the most successful competitors will not only have to be very capable boulderers but they need to be very familiar with the area. The event last weekend was the first time it had been held in recent years. Click here for the full results from the 2024 Hueco Open. Hueco Rock Rodeo Results — KAYA (kayaclimb.com)
Watch a video from the 24th Hueco Open below…