Archive
More Psychedelia Photos! + Videocast
Yay! Here are a few of our favorites, link to full album at the bottom of the page.
Hoop dancers!
Hoop dancers!
Fire dancers!
Fire dancers!
Isabelle Goodacre of Team ABC Boulder on the Pro Final
Team ABC’s Matt Lubar sending the Men’s Pro Final
To see more: Psychedelia 2012 Photos
See video of the whole event, as the videographers become progressively more drunk, here - Psychedelia 2012 Boulder VideoCast
Psychedelia 2012 – First Photo Dump
Psychedelia 2012 by Melinda Rider
Melinda Rider of tape supplier Identi-tape sent us some photos. Check out a few here, then click the link for the rest in our Facebook gallery. Thanks Melinda!
Psychedelia 2012 Pro Final Results
Setter Jon Glassberg and Matt Wilder as Seigfried and Roy, Paige Claassen and Sandy Wilder as the tigers at the 2012 Psychedelia Costume Contest
Full results coming soon, but here are a few photos and the results of the open final. Finalists were the top 6 men and women from the youth and adult session combined scores, they got preview, then 4 minutes each for attempts on the final, if you got on the wall at 4 minutes you got to finish your attempt, onsight format so competitors couldn’t watch until they’d climbed.
Men’s Final
Men’s final was on the mega volumes on the Font boulder and was set mostly by Jonny and Jon, with some help from Danny. The finalists order was a little off as we misplaced a scorecard and there was some confusion about Greg Seitz. Greg ended up running first in finals (meaning he qualified last) though he really qualified 2nd or 3rd overall. Greg gave an amazing attempt, nearly flashing the boulder, but he fell off touching hold 13 and wasn’t able to get back up there.
Second out was Owen Graham. Owen is Team Texas alumni and has spent the last couple of years attending college in Fort Collins. He is a strong young lad and did well on the final, working his way up the volumes to a score of hold 10 on his 3rd go.
Third out was Matt Lubar. Lubar was a long-time Spot Team Member who for the last couple of years has been with Team ABC. He’s an awesome guy and we were really psyched to see him in finals. He gave an astounding performance, sending the problem on his 2nd go to the screams of the crowd. Nice job Lubar!!!
Fourth out was Matt Wilder. Wilder is a famous rock climber, guidebook author, and underground genius with many hard first ascents of boulder problems and scary trad climbs to his name. He’s also a regular fixture at Spot Series events and has been in pro finals many, many times. Above you’ll see a photo of him winning the costume contest. In finals he gave a good show, using his trad skills to static through a dynamic move near the top. Unfortunately his feet slipped and the next go was the same, giving him a score of hold 10, 2nd go.
Fifth out was Sergei Kiefel, also a long-time Spot Team Member who moved teams a bit in his teens before setting out on his own. He’s a great climber who is just getting stronger and stronger, and he came into the final looking very fit before he spun a hold, taking a technical as it immediately dropped him to the ground. The next two goes weren’t great but last go he worked his way up to hold 10.
Finally Gun Show 2012 Winner and top qualifier Ben Hoberg came out. He slipped his first go, but 2nd go he crushed the problem and topped out the boulder. The crowd went wild. Nice job Ben!
Men’s Final Scores
1. Ben Hoberg (top 2nd go, 1st place qualifier)
2. Matt Lubar (top 2nd go, qualified lower)
3. Greg Seitz (hold 13-)
4. Matt Wilder (hold 10, 2nd go)
5. Sergei Kiefel (hold 10, 3rd go)
6. Owen Graham (hold 10, 3rd go, qualified lower)
~
Team ABC member during the Youth Session of Psychedelia
Women’s Final
Women’s final involved two hanging dog bones and a rotating pipe on the Hueco Boulder. There were a few rules (don’t get stuck in the ropes, don’t crawl over the top of the pipe, don’t hit your head on the bones, and don’t forget to pat the bat!).
ABC climber Isabelle Goodacre came out first. Isabelle has done pro finals at the Spot before but not yet this season. She did well, managing the bones and the transition to the pipe before falling off grabbing hold 10. She did the same thing twice more, nearly holding the usable portion of hold 10 for a score of 10-.
ABC climber Laurel Todd was next and gave a dominating performance on the bones and the rotating pipe, falling as Isabelle did trying to stick the swing on hold 10. Score: 10-.
Hailey Bridgewater was next. I’d never met Hailey before but she is a strong young woman from Iowa who is now going to school in Fort Collins. Hailey climbed well, but she said she’d never encountered features like the bones and rotating pipe before and she had a little trouble working them out. She figured it out 2nd go, then fell moving toward hold 10 but not sticking it. Score: 9+.
ABC climber and Gun Show 3rd place winner Margo Hayes was up next. Margo came out, got set on the start holds, then promptly misjudged the move to the swinging bones and fell. She looked a little surprised to have fallen, and with renewed determination jumped back on the problem, got through the bones and across the pipe, stuck hold 10, hung the difficult swing, then hiked her way to the top. The crowd went crazy. Nice job Margo!
Spot Coach Tiffany Hensley was next and she gave a great performance, moving left hand to hold 10 instead of her right. She then matched, then hit hold 11 and nearly hold 12 but she was in a weird body position and fell. Next go she looked similarly strong but again got a bit backwards, moving solidly to hold 12 with her right hand, but she was unable to unfold herself. Score: 12.
Finally Gun Show winner Nina Williams came out. Nina has been looking stronger and stronger in competition for the last two years and she’s been doing quite well. Here she looked ready to flash, but fell as everyone else but Margo did on the move to hold 10. Next go Nina stuck it and finished the problem to secure first place as she qualified higher than Margo and they climbed the final in the same number of tries.
Women’s Pro Final Results
1. Nina Williams (top 2nd go)
2. Margo Hayes (top 2nd go, qualified lower)
3. Tiffany Hensley (hold 12)
4. Laurel Todd (hold 10-. 1st go)
5. Isabelle Goodacre (hold 10-, 1st go, qualified lower)
6. Hailey Bridgewater (hold 9+)
~
Some little aliens crawling out a busted ship. Part of the elaborate tape art that makes up Psychedelia!
Stay tuned for full comp results and more photos soon!
Thanks for coming out and we hope you had a great time at Psychedelia!!!
Have you registered for Psychedelia yet?
Pscyhedelia 2011
Don’t forget to pre-register! It’ll save you time and hassle on comp day, and even if you haven’t been to the gym before you can fill out all your documents online!
Psychedelia 2011 Wrap-Up and Results + A Bunch of Photos
Psychedelia 2011!!!
Psychedelia 2011 was the best Psychedelia yet! Innovative new features for climbing on, some truly amazing tape art, fire dancers, and even a trapeze act made this the most off-the-wall event we’ve ever thrown at the Spot! Read on for stories, results, and media from this one-of-a-kind event.
A view of the main gym from the front.
Set Up
The setters started out on Tuesday night by stripping the Beach and the Dojo. Wedensday those were set, and Wednesday night we stripped the rest of the gym. Thursday we set all day and installed several special features (see below). Friday we left the gym to the crews of volunteers and Spot staff who came in to set up the lights, decorate, and make sure the gym looked just right. Here are a couple pieces of tape art, much more is in pictures down lower.
The Dragon by Hunter Damiani | Photo by Jay Droeger
Iron Lion Tape Art | Photo by Keith North
The Comp
The comp itself happened in two sessions–youth and adult–with youth being further broken into staggered sessions to allow the youngest kids to climb for an hour without a bunch of big kids trying to climb around them. Because Psychedelia is so dark and different from normal climbing, we felt this would allow the younger categories some time to get comfortable with the blacklight climbing before things got crazy. In the end over 180 kids showed up for the staggered youth sessions. 35 of those kids were with Team ABC, making them the Team Competition winners again, though the BRC and Spot teams were right behind with 31 and 30 kids, respectively. After youth climbing we fed the group Wahoo’s and drinks, gave away a bunch of stuff with the kids raffle, then kicked everyone so we could prepare for the adult session.
Emcee Brett Merlin giving out some schwag, including cases of Mix 1, at the Youth Raffle.
Mix 1 Rocket Ship | Photo by Keith North
The adult session started at 6 and ran until 9. Over 260 mostly-costumed adults climbed their way through the many special features we put up for this comp including:
The Toilet Seat Finish!
The Bowling Ball turned into a hold.
There was even a swing! This is the tape art on all the holds of the swing problem.
Multi-colored volume on the Native side of the Font Boulder. Painted by Hunter Damiani. If you haven't been to the Spot lately and are wondering what that green thing is on the right side of the Font, scroll down to find out.
The Grab Bag - Suspended Punching Bag at the end of an advanced problem.
Side view of the Grab Bag, the Dojo, and part of the Yosemite wall. You can see the open Coffin in the far right of the photo.
The Vertical Girl crew rockin' out in front of The Coffin
The Slide! We screwed a playground slide to the wall, and a crafty volunteer turned it into a giant fly!
The slide before it was installed.
The Slide in action
Special Events
Fire Dancers!
After climbing there was Wahoo’s food, Avery beer, Mix 1, and several special events, including a costume contest which was won by the fabulously dressed Crimp Chimps Gorilla, fire dancers, a huge raffle, and a blacklight trapeze act by Vertical Girl Jenn Quattrocchi. To see a video of the trapeze act, click here - GIRL BETA » Static Trapeze Artist: Jenn Q
Jenn Q. from Vertical Girl on her trapeze
And Finally…
Sierra Blair Coyle zipping by with the Psychedelia Results
The Open Final happened after the Adult regular session. The top 6 men and 7 women (there was a tie for women’s 6th place) each got four minutes to try their luck on the Men’s or Women’s Open Final Problem. For results and breakdown, click the link below.
Women's Open 3rd place winner Kara Caputo on the finals zip line by Jay Droeger
For the Open Finals Breakdown click here - Psychedelia 2011 Open Finals Result « The Spot Route Setting Blog
Thanks for coming out everyone! See you at Highlines & Highballs December 3rd!
Psychedelia Results!
Here are the unofficial results. Unofficial because there is still a contest period for people who feel they didn’t get enough points, or got too many. I’ll write the 1st 2 places of each category and click the links at the bottom for the rest.
Adult
Masters
Women – 1. Lisa Youngwerth
Men – 1. Steve Woods 2. Pete Youngwerth
Rec
Women – 1. Kelly Puzak 2. Danielle Lovely
Men – 1. John Perrine 2. Alex Nelson
Intermediate
Women – 1. Caitlin DeVries 2. Risa Scott
Men – 1. Zachary Young 2. Jeff Schaefer
Advanced
Women – 1. Mercedes Pollmeier 2. Taylor Nystrom
Men – 1. Mike Rohsler 2. Jordan Romig
Open (pre-finals, adult session scores only. Actual results for the top 6 were determined by the Open Final Problem–see link below)
Women – 1. Sierra Blair-Coyle 2. Nina Williams
Men – 1. Alex Johnson and Matty Hong tied for first. 3. Garrett Gregor (Spot setter! But obviously he didn’t set for this event.)
The Open Pro Final took the top 6 competitors (7 women because of a tie) from both sessions of the comp combined to one single finals problem. For Open Finals Results click here.
Full Psychedelia Adult Results
Youth
Junior
Girls – 1. Mica Hartman (BRC) 2. Katelyn Hudspeth (BRC)
Boys – 1. Austin Wilkerson (R&J) 2. Aaron Bugh
A
Girls – 1. Laurel Todd (ABC) 2. Tika Anderson (Spot)
Boys – 1. Remi Arata (BRC) 2. Stefan Lavender (ABC)
B
Girls – 1. Megan Mascarenas (ABC) 2. Margo Hayes (ABC) *Megan, age 13, also won the aduolt open portion of the comp.
Boys – 1. Austin Lankford (ABC) 2. Shawn Raboutou (ABC)
C
Girls – 1. Ivy Todd (ABC) 2. Rebecca Debalski (Team Colorado)
Boys – 1. Timmy Dolan (ABC) 2. Finn Stack (ABC)
D
Girls – 1. Brooke Raboutou (ABC) 2. Ella Greene (The Spot)
Boys – 1. Thomas Savage (Mojo) 2. Joe Goodacre (ABC)
Psychedelia 2011 Open Finals Result
Goodness, gracious... yes that is a real bowling ball. Most of one anyways. O1.
The rest of the results will be up soon (preliminaries at least) but here are the top results from the open final. We had 6 men and 7 women due to a tie for women’s 6th, and we couldn’t take 7 men cause we had a tie for men’s 7th, which would have meant 8 men, which would have meant finals would have run quite long.
Men’s Open Final
I really hope someone took video of this. The guys started on the far left side of the Beach. After a few moves straight up they were handed a bone that was hung with chain from the rafters. They had to jump and swing across the huge open space to grab a large incut jug ledge just left of the center bulge of the Beach. From there they had to down climb and then climb in a semicircle out and right before heading up again into the left side of the bulge.
Matty Hong got the furthest on his flash go and to the same place on his second try, and he ended up falling around 3 holds from the finish. Spot setter Garrett Gregor, who did not set at all for this event, came in 2nd because he fell grabbing at a hold that Matty held. From there people fell off in various places across the semicircle traverse, except the first competitor who didn’t manage to stick the swing. The swing was definitely difficult and took several competitors several tries to stick. Adam Markert, who came out 2nd, stuck it straight away though to the great delight of the crowd and proceeded to spiderman around on the jug for a while before continuing on the problem. Gun Show winner Michael O’Rourke almost didn’t stick the swing, but after several goes he worked it out and made his way down and through part of the traverse. Michael and Alex “socks” Johnson both climb in socks, and for this comp they had matching knee socks that kind of glowed in the blacklight.
It is worth nothing that for the men’s final qualification it came down to falls, meaning that the two guys who tied for 7th, BRC setter Seth Lytton and Logan Jauernigg, were only 2 falls behind 6th place John Brock, and Seregi Kiefel, who qualified in 9th, was only 2 falls behind them.
Men’s Open Final Results
1. Matty Hong
2. Garrett Gregor
3. Adam Markert
4. Alex Johnson
5. Micahel O’Rourke
6. John Brock
Women’s Final
The women’s open final started opposite the men’s, with a few hard moves up the right side of the Beach followed by a bone zip-line and a difficult campus move to a jug, followed by a drop down, more mini jugs, another bone, and some hard moves out left where you were supposed to bicycle the bone and then swing your feet around to a heel hook. That’s not exactly how things went but I don’t have time to lay it all out this second so I’m gonna post this for now and fill in later. Ok, updated now.
Kara Caputo came out first and after a bit of difficulty with the mantle at the beginning deftly rode the zip-line and campused off the end to the first mini jug. She climbed through the small drop down, up the next mini jugs, grabbed the next bone, jump-campus-match-campused to the next mini jug (out left on the right side of the Beach’s overhanging bulge) and then fell campus-crossing to the next hold even further left. Her 2nd go yielded the same result.
Rachel came out next, as she and Kara were tied going into finals. She fell in the same place as Kara on her first go, and then got there once or maybe even twice more before running out of time.
Note – The idea with the 2nd bone was to bicycle the bottom of the bone with your feet so as you moved out left your foothold would sort of extend with you. No competitors seemed to think of this solution though, as, like Kara who tried campusing and Rachel who tried bicycling the bone at the top, everybody either bicycled at the top and therefore were unable to extend all the way left with their feet still on, or abandoned the foot and tried to do the extremely difficult campus move cross left to the sidepull jug. The other pitfall of bicycling the top of the bone is that the bone will suddenly flip and drop you off like a trick trapdoor. This happened to Rachel at least once and Sierra and Nina as well (if I remember correctly).
Paige had a ton of trouble with the zip line and using sport climbing technique couldn’t seem to figure out how to stay high enough on the zip line to catch the next jug.
Tyler Youngwerth whipped right through the zip line and fell higher twice, the 2nd time at Kara and Rachel’s highpoint. Tyler also tried the campus maneuver but was stymied.
Nina Williams, who sets at Miramont out of Fort Collins and is sponsored by event sponsor Vertical Girl, came out next and did almost the same as Tyler, falling at the cruxy cross after trying the campus method.
Sierra Blair-Coyle, visiting from Arizona with Rachel Pienknagura, had a bit of trouble with the zip line at first but once she figured it out she climbed past the previous climbers’ highpoints and got a hand around the corner onto a foot jib but was unable to grab the next handhold. If she’d bicycled the bone down lower she might have been able to keep moving out left with her feet on, as it was she tried the jump-campus twice but was not successful.
Finally, Gun Show winner, 13 year-old Megan Mascarenas of Colorado Springs, came out in her Verve pants, Mad Rocks, and glowing cat ears to give the problem a go. The crowd was worried as she fell over and over from the zip line. Finally she stopped to rest and re-examine the end of the problem. After working through the sequence in her mind she grabbed the start holds, stuck the zip line move, and proceeded to hike the rest of the problem. When she encountered the difficult section at the lip of the bulge she CAMPUSED through it–campusing from the hold everyone else fell off to stick the hold Sierra fell off, then campusing to the foothold, to the next left handhold, and, after trying and rejecting the left foot heel hook, campusing her left hand up AGAIN to the next high hand hold. After that she put her foot on, crossed into a gaston, and casually rocked out left to the finish hold. The crowd went absolutely nuts. The future of climbing was once again on display at the Spot open finals, and Megan’s performance was amazing, impressive, and most of all inspiring–an fantastic ending to a wonderful evening.
Women’s Open Final Results
1. Megan Mascarenas
2. Sierra Blair-Coyle
tie for 3rd:
3. Kara Caputo
3. Rachel Pienknagura
5. Tyler Youngwerth
6. Nina Williams
7. Paige Claassen
Psychedelia is happening RIGHT NOW!!!
If you hurry you can still catch 1.5 hrs of climbing + the pro final, costume contest, food, beer, huge raffle, blacklight awesomeness, did we mention the costume contest? $15 for spectators (includes Wahoo’s food, drinks, Avery beer, raffle ticket) and $35 for climbers (climbing, drinks, Avery beer, Wahoo’s food, raffle ticket), extra raffle tickets are 3/$5, costume contest is open to all, 40 new boulder problems with several ALL NEW special features, it’s gonna be off the hook! So get down there!!!
Is that a slide?! At Psychedelia 2011, who knows what you'll find!
Guest setter Steve Woods (that's right, Daniel Woods' dad!) helping put the finishing touches on the Psychedelia setting.
Psychedelia is set! Mostly…
We’ve got some great surprises in store for you at this year’s Psychedelia. 42 new problems (10 rec, 10 intermediate, 10 advanced, 10 open, 2 open finals) and a bunch of awesome blacklight decorations and cool new features mean this Psychedelia is one you won’t want to miss.
IMPORTANT — If you want to climb in the blacklight, you have to come to Psychedelia (Saturday) or you can come to the private Living Social Halloween Party that will take over the gym on Sunday.
What?
Click this link –> Rock Climbing Party, Beer + BBQ – LivingSocial <– to find out about that party and buy tickets if you’d like to attend. Basically it’s private (i.e. the gym is closed to normal customers) blacklight climbing with a costume contest and Avery Beer and Famous Dave’s BBQ after party. We will set some more problems after the comp on Saturday night, so Sunday there’ll be even more blacklight problems for you to try.
Monday we can’t have the lights off all day so the gym will be lit normally. That means if you want to climb in blacklights this year, you have to come to Psychedelia (highly recommended!) or the Living Social party (also should be very cool). For more details check out their website and call their help line, cause the Spot is closed tomorrow for the finishing touches on Psychedelia light set up and decoration.
Oh yeah, and current active Spot members can still climb at the Boulder Rock Club for free Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with a photo ID. Thanks BRC!
SBS VII Comp 2 – Psychedelia! – This Saturday! – Setting Schedule
On Saturday, October 22nd, we will be holding Psychedelia! As usual, our pre-Psychedelia setting schedule is set back 1 day because we need extra time for decorating. What does this mean for you, Spot members? An extra day of free climbing at the BRC! (current, paying, active members only)
Spider-adam Markert on the 2010 Men's Final | photo by Adam Bove
Setting & Closures Schedule
Tuesday
9 pm – Begin stripping Beach and Dojo. These walls will be closed to customer use until Psychedelia on Saturday, October 22nd (if you’re in the comp) or Sunday, October 23rd, if you’re not competing*.
*A note about competing. Of late we have been noticing a reduced number of participants in the recreational and intermediate categories. If you are considering competing but feel intimidated, here are a few things to think about:
1. These comps are set for everybody. There are 42 new problems–10 Rec, 10 Intermediate, 10 Advanced, 10 Open, and 2 Open Finals. This means that each category has the same # of problems set for it and no matter your category you are welcome to work problems in any category above or below your own.
2. The goal of our comps is to foster fun events for the climbing community. Everyone should be there psyched to see everyone trying hard, regardless of their ability.
3. Food, drinks, a huge raffle/giveaway, fun special events (in this case a blacklight costume contest & a trapeze act) and a pro finals are there to make the festival even more festivally. Competing costs $35 and Spectating costs $TK
~
Wednesday
Beach and Dojo are closed all day for setting. Rest of gym is open.
9 pm ish – begin stripping rest of gym with River wall. There will be at least one wall open for climbing until regular closing time of 11pm.
~
Thursday
Gym closed. Members can climb free at BRC with their card and a photo ID.
~
Friday
Gym closed. Members can climb for free at BRC with their card and a photo ID.
Taping volunteers show up for your volunteer shifts! If you aren’t sure when you’re supposed to be there, email events@thespotgym.com to coordinate with Andrew Clinkingbeard.
The Fire Dancers 2010 | by Adam Bove
Also, if you know you are coming to Psychedelia (of course you are!) please save time and effort and Pre-register. Psych is $35 or, for only $40 more, you get the rest of the season (two more comps) and a free SBS 7 t-shirt–that’s a $65 value–so you’re saving $25 on the whole package, which is like getting one comp for free!) Spectators can pre-register as well by calling the Spot or stopping by before we close on Wednesday night. Pre-registration speeds up the process coming in the door of this always-busy event.
See you at Psychedelia!
