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Comment by wonder_er | Hacker News Reader

> Without the promise of competition...who is watching an average person running a hundred metres?

No one. This is why climbing making it into the 2020 Olympics is going to create a lot more trouble for the sport than good. Generally, climbing (be it alpine mountaineering or more approachable "rock climbing") is horrendously boring to watch, except for other climbers.

Climbing, done well, looks almost effortless. No one wants to watch someone _not_ struggle.

I don't know how it will be monetized. Probably just via gear endorsements, like all the other sports. :(

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Indoor bouldering is very entertaining, even if you know very little about climbing. You don't need to be an expert to see the challenge posed by a tiny crimp, a massive overhang or a big dyno. The immense difficulty of the problems mean that the struggle is visible, even for the strongest climbers. In a sense, you're watching a battle between the climber and the route-setter.

https://youtu.be/00nLWbGQJks?t=48m15s

Indoor bouldering has evolved over the years to "comp-style" indoor bouldering, favoring exciting moves, large, dynamic movement, etc.

I love climbing, know a fair bit about it, and enjoy watching. I just don't think it lends itself to spectating the same way a team sport does (I.E. american football/football).

One thing climbing DOES have going for it is the skill of the athletes is immediately visible. It's not like an endurance sport where, while we all know the athlete is better than we are at the sport, we can all go outside and run a few miles.

In contrast to the one-arm antics required for world-cup bouldering, etc.

People seem to enjoy watching Usain Bolt run, and he certainly doesn't seem to be struggling. Not to mention that he's much less fast compared to the average person compared with climbers.

I think part of that is the time involved. Watching Bolt takes 10 seconds -- the entire event can be shown on the evening news. Not as many people sit and watch the 10,000 meters and even less an entire marathon. The more time involved, the more likely it that you are a fan of the sport/activity.

I don't know. Sport climbing isn't that boring to watch, and they already have a world cup, national championships, world championships.

To a climber, climbing is fascinating.

But take a look at this video of Jain Kim winning the 2015 world cup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLp89uGq2s4

It is a masterful display of climbing prowess. But it is, unarguably, _boring_.

Nothing happens quickly, the rests strategically throughout, and exerts little apparent effort.

Please note, again, that I LOVE climbing, and have eagerly watched this entire video in real time several times. But this is not the kind of sport that lends itself to the average observer.

At least, I don't think. Maybe I'm wrong! Wouldn't be the first time.

Cheers.

I'm not a climber (I've meant to get into it, but the day only has so many hours ...), but I like watching climbing. At least it's more exciting than 10 meters air pistol!

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