Central Park may seem like a strange place to host a rock climbing competition, but that’s exactly where the UBC Pro Tour Eastern Mountain Sports Pro finals will be tomorrow. The event is the second on U.S. climbing’s pro tour schedule and the first major climbing competition ever held in Manhattan. With no dedicated climbing gyms on the island, organizers at NE2C Productions had to , trucking in four tractor trailers’ worth of wood panels and steel beams and assembling them onsite. “This is competition climbing in the most important city in America, and it will stand on its own two feet,” NE2C Managing Partner Pete Ward wrote in a blog post. The contest kicked off on Thursday with preliminary rounds at The Cliffs in suburban Valhalla, NY. East Coast athletes dominated the early action, with New England-based climbers Vasya Vorotnikov and Francesca Metcalf taking first for the men and women, respectively. Several favorites are missing from the otherwise strong field: regular contenders Daniel Woods, Alex Johnson, and Alex Puccio are in Europe competing on the Bouldering World Cup circuit. Saturday’s finals will be , beginning at 2 P.M. EST.
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