Sean McColl

Sean McColl (born 3 September 1987) is a professional rock climber from North Vancouver, Canada. He competes in the lead climbing, speed climbing, and bouldering disciplines, and has won major competitions in all three.

Sean McColl
McColl competing at the 2012 Bouldering World Cup in Munich
Personal information
Born (1987-09-03) 3 September 1987
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
OccupationProfessional Athlete
Height169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Websitewww.seanmccoll.com
Climbing career
Type of climberSport climbing
Highest grade
Major ascents
  • Dreamcatcher (5.14d)
  • Nagual (V13), flash
  • Big Paw (V15)
  • Meadowlark Lemon (V14)
Updated on 19 November 2019.

Biography

Sean McColl was born on 3 September 1987[1] in Vancouver, Canada and lived in Chambéry, France for several years in his twenties.[2] As of the past couple of years, he travels the world training and competing. He is sponsored by VISA, Adidas, SCARPA, Flashed Climbing, Perfect Descent, Joe Rockheads, and Vertical'Art.[3]

Competitions

McColl at the final event of the Bouldering World Cup 2012
McColl winning second place at the final event of the Bouldering World Cup 2012

Sean McColl found early success while training with the Canada Youth National Climbing Team.[4]:p. 3438 He won the gold medal in lead climbing in his age group at the 2002, 2003, and 2004 Youth World Championships. In 2006, he won in both the lead and speed climbing categories, and was beginning to break into the top 20 finishes at adult competitions.[5] In February 2011, McColl won first place at the 12th Annual ABS Nationals bouldering competition in Boulder, Colorado.[6]

2012 was McColl's most successful competition season to date, with 10 podium finishes at major climbing competitions.[2] In September, McColl competed in the IFSC Climbing World Championships, where he placed second in lead climbing and fourth in bouldering. Although he did not win either event, he earned enough points to secure first place in the overall competition.[7] Two months later, he went to the PanAmerican Championships in Venezuela. He took first place in lead climbing and second place in bouldering, making him the first Canadian athlete to reach the podium at the competition.[8]

In May 2013, McColl earned his first Bouldering World Cup win at an event in Log Dragomer. He was the only male competitor to solve three of the four finals problems, taking first place over Jan Hojer and Dmitri Sarafutdinov.[9] One week later, McColl took fourth place at the World Cup in Innsbruck.[10] He placed fourth once again in June at the World Cup event in Vail.[11]

In 2014 McColl competed for Team Europe in American Ninja Warrior, USA vs The World, and led his team to victory. On Stage 2 McColl blew through the stage, at one point landing hard on his stomach. During Stage 3 McColl fell on the final obstacle, just feet from the end, allowing the American team the opportunity to tie up the competition. On stage 4, although the Americans started strong, McColl flew up the rope, beating their time by three tenths of a second. Likewise, in the 2018 American Ninja Warrior "USA vs. the World" competition, McColl led Team Europe to the top of the podium, beating out American "Papal Ninja" Sean Bryan by approximately eight tenths of a second.

McColl is known as a very strong athlete both in bouldering and lead. Although he was never able to win a World Championship in these individual disciplines, in 2012 he won the overall IFSC Climbing World Championships, by ranking second in lead and fourth in bouldering. From 2011 to 2014, he consistently obtained very high IFSC Climbing World Cup rankings in both disciplines. In 2014 and 2016, he won the Combined World Cup, while in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015 he ranked second in the Combined World Cup.

McColl won the bronze medal at The World Games 2017 in Wrocław, Poland.

Rankings

Climbing World Cup[12]

Discipline 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Lead 56 - - 20 - 9 12 43 6 4 5 2 8 6 21
Bouldering - - - 27 - 8 11 11 13 5 3 6 8 6 40
Speed - - - - - - - - - 24 32 29 17 36 84
Combined - - - 11 - 6 6 6 2 2 2 1 2 1 41

Climbing World Championships

Youth[13]

Discipline 2001
Youth B
2002
Youth B
2003
Youth A
2004
Youth A
2005
Juniors
2006
Juniors
Lead - 1 1 1 6 1
Speed 1 - - - 8 1

Adult[13]

Discipline 2007 2009 2011 2012 2014 2016
Lead 41 5 13 2 6 6
Bouldering 25 6 11 4 9 14
Speed - 43 53 43 26 38
Combined - 1 - 1 1 1

Number of medals in the Climbing European Youth Cup

Lead[13]

Season Category Gold Silver Bronze Total
2001Youth B11
2006Juniors11
Total0022

Number of medals in the Climbing World Cup

Lead[13]

Season Gold Silver Bronze Total
200811
200911
20100
2011112
20121124
2013224
201433
2015112
2016112
201711
Total39820

Bouldering[13]

Season Gold Silver Bronze Total
200811
200911
201011
201111
2012213
201311
2014123
201511
201611
2018 1 1
Total26614

Notable ascents

Routes

In September 2009, McColl claimed the second ascent of Dreamcatcher, a sport route in Squamish, British Columbia. Rated 5.14d on the Yosemite Decimal System, Dreamcatcher is considered one of the hardest climbing routes in Canada. It was first established and climbed by Chris Sharma in 2005, and was unrepeated for four years despite efforts by Ethan Pringle, Sonnie Trotter and Paul Robinson.[14]

Boulders

In March 2012, McColl competed in the Hueco Rock Rodeo, an annual outdoor bouldering competition in Hueco Tanks, Texas. During the competition, he completed Nagual (rated V13 on the V-scale) in one attempt, an accomplishment known as a "flash". McColl is one of few climbers to have flashed a bouldering problem with such a high degree of difficulty.[15]

References

  1. "adidas Rockstars: Sean McColl". adidas. 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  2. MacDonald, Dougald. "2012 Golden Piton Awards". Climbing.com. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  3. http://seanmccoll.com/sponsors
  4. Martel, Lynn (2008). Expedition to the Edge. Rocky Mountain Books. ISBN 9781897522097.
  5. MacDonald, Dougald (2006). "McColl Wins Twice at Youth Worlds". Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  6. Fox, Amanda (13 February 2011). "McColl, Puccio Win ABS 12 Nationals". Climbing.com. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  7. Schiassi, Franz (17 September 2012). "World Climbing Championships 2012". Planet Mountain. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  8. Larsen, Leia (12 November 2012). "DiGiulian, McColl Take Gold at PanAmerican Championships". Climbing.com. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  9. "Bouldering World Cup 2013: Sean McColl and Anna Stöhr win in Log Dragomer". Planet Mountain. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  10. "Germans Take Gold in Austrian World Cup". Climbing.com. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  11. "Russian, Austrian Victories at Vail World Cup". 9 June 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  12. IFSC, ed. (20 August 2019). "World Cup Rankings". Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  13. IFSC, ed. (20 August 2019). "McColl's profile and rankings". Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  14. MacDonald, Dougald (24 September 2009). "McColl Bags Second Ascent of Dreamcatcher (5.14d)". Climbing.com. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  15. Fox, Amanda (6 March 2012). "New V14s by Robinson, Graham". Climbing.com. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
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