The idea
It’s the Europe`s biggest climbing competition and the most extensive organisation of wall operators, climbers and climbing activists there ever was – in a word: the HardMoves Boulder League, an independent association of Europe’s best bouldering and climbing gyms. In a qualification round, twenty gym distil a mixed team of their 10 best boulder gals and lads to represent them. In a spectacular finale, the twelve teams of these twelve gyms then face off against each other to win the HardMoves Boulder League.
How it all began
Winter 2007/2008 saw the first round of the HardMoves at the DAV Kletterzentrum Wupperwände in Germany. Climbers and boulderers such as Tobias Reichert, Thomas Schulte and Arndt Wilmanns had teamed up to establish a new form of bouldering competition in Wuppertal. Bouldering contests of course were no longer news at the time: Soulmoves, Rock & Jump and the Kölner Bouldernacht were already well-established events in the area.
The HardMoves however introduced the idea of giving its participants more time to qualify: they were to vie for their spots in the finale not during a single day but over an extended period of six weeks, allowing them to return to their climbing or bouldering centre and to pit themselves against the problems set as often as they liked. Only the sent problems were then noted down in their score cards, each worth one point, and in the end the best 100 chicks and lads met up in the finale. Already more than 250 climbers participated in the HardMoves of winter 2007/2008; during the 2008/2009 season numbers easily exceeded 300.
The boulder league develops
n May 2009, Thomas, until then one of the most creative heads of the HardMoves and chief route setter at the Wupperwände, died. During many conversations with Arndt, Tobi and Christian as well as other gym operators and friends, such as Gregor Jäger from the Kletterfabrik in Cologne, Thomas had frequently promoted the idea of a bouldering or climbing league.
In summer 2009, Christian spent several weeks climbing in Norway and during a long evening with Götz Wiechmann (Vertical Word, Kassel) the idea of organising a joint bouldering event developed. Back in Wuppertal, it didn’t take much to persuade Tobi and Arndt, all being eager to expand and realise Thomas’ idea.
In cooperation with Florian Kops, whose creative think tank had provided the HardMoves logo, a first draft was put on paper and sent along the big mailing list. The feedback we have received since then has surprised and motivated us to further develop this vision. In the end it wasn’t just one or two but a total of twenty climbing and bouldering centres all across the nation that participated.
Special thanks therefore go to the twenty gyms enabling us to realise our vision, to Florian Kops, Jonas Baumann and Udo Neumann for their support. We’re now looking forward to the first season of theHardMoves Boulder League.
Hard moves. Nothing else!
