The Evolution 2024 | Results & Gallery

This past Saturday saw CityROCK Johannesburg positively buzzing with excitement thanks to the 2024 Evolution, which served as the finale of the Evolv Boulder Series! Scroll on to find out how the day went and check out our favourite shots from the day…

Qualifications

The air was full of suspense as the eager competitors walked through the entrance of the gym, many walking quickly to be the first to get a glimpse of the problems for the Qualification round of The Evolution. Competitors had 20 boulders to complete in 3 hours, ranging from 5a to 8a. The vibe was immaculate with music blaring, climbers sweating and trying hard and the crowd cheering for their favourites.  

Spectator Comps

The spectator challenges kept the fun going while the finalists rested and the setters put up the final boulders for the top 6 male and female competitors.

The hang challenge and pinch challenge drew the strongest climbers in the gym by challenging them to hang or pinch (8kg for the ladies and 16kg for the gents) for as long as they could. Table bouldering is always a goodie, seeing how fast you can traverse from one side of the table to the other. Guess the number of bolts in the jar and our classic “How Much Does Basil Weigh?” were crowd favourites once again, and everyone had fun playing around with some virtual climbing thanks to Dream Stream VR. All the while, SHY! Brewing Company kept everyone’s cups full and the fun flowing.

Click the links below to check out the VR climbs (best viewed with a headset on YouTube VR):

Finals

The finalists had 4 boulder problems, with a back-to-back, session-style comp format. The finalists came out and competed in reverse order ranking. A hush settled over the crowd as the finalists got ready to start their first problem, competing in reverse ranking order; for the males: a coordination dyno that spanned half the Sunset Boulder wall and for the females: a coordinated, balancey problem on the slab. As the first finalists’ feet left the mat, the crowd cheered and psyched up the climbers with shouts of “allez” and “come on!”.

Our competitors gave it their all but there could only be one winner in each category… well done to Jade Vogt and Alistair Stubs for taking home the gold!