Archive
Quick Reset Update + An Interesting Solution
Reset Update
So in the last week we’ve reset the River, Dojo, Hueco, and today the Beach. Tomorrow is the Font, and it’ll be open around four pm. We’ve set a ton of problems of literally all grades so come on in and finish those comp projects and try out all our new lines as well.
An Interesting Solution
A popular problem at the Gladiator Finals was the intermediate on the slab. This problem consisted of two big footholds low down on the wall that you could either perch on or jump off to reach the big yellow HRT volume. From there one had to smear on the wall or jump to a large yellow Ruckus cone hold and then mantle off the volume to finish on top of the slab. A few people mantled on the volume without using the cone at all. I almost set the problem that way, but I added the cone to make the boulder a mid-intermediate instead of a low advanced. In any case, this young woman found an interesting solution to the “how-to-get-to-the-cone” problem:
Ok, so she's got the volume. Now how to get to the cone?
Ok, so maybe try a heel up?
And rock. This does not look super comfortable...
Yes, it did work. Apparently she does yoga. A lot. Nice job on finding an original solution to this boulder problem!
Gladiator Finals Unofficial Results Posted – Please check them out!
Spot Team member Tika Anderson on O4
Here are the unofficial results from the Gladiator Finals comp. If you have any questions or notice any mistakes please email us at events@thespotgym.com by Wednesday, February 8th, at 5pm. Thanks!
Gladiator Finals 2012 Youth Results – unofficial
Gladiator Finals 2012 Adult Results – unofficial
A3 on The Beach
Gladiator Finals Open Final Results!
Ian Powell and Spencer Pitman battling it out.
Ok, so the comp just got over and man was it exciting! Gladiator Jousting, 230 adult competitors and over 150 youth competitors. Food, beer, a huge raffle, and of course beats from rising star DJ Dirt Monkey and a rockin’ pro final! More pictures, full results, and a rundown will come soon, but for tonight here’re the top 3 from the Open Final.
Women’s Final Top 3
Megan Mascarenas eyeing the committing dyno that she stuck one handed to flash the boulder and win the comp.
1. Megan Mascarenas! For the first time this season Megan qualified for finals in 3rd instead of 1st. Nevertheless, Megan handily flashed the final to secure her fourth win in the four-comp Spot Bouldering Series 7, making her the overall champion of the series and igniting a fire in the crowd who cheered loudly as Megan stuck a huge committing dyno and finished the boulder.
2. Nina Williams! Nina was looking really strong and she qualified for finals in 1st place for the first time this season. She looked strong but it took her two tries to make the 2nd and final send of the final problem for 2nd place overall behind Megan. Nice job Nina!
Chauncey Cox about to static her way through the dyno.
3. Chauncenia Cox! Chauncey hasn’t been at a Spot comp so far this season but she came on with a vengeance to qualify in 2nd and end up in 3rd overall after statically controlling the dyno stick hold with her off-hand but not being able to move from the position to match it. Thanks for coming out Chauncey!
Men’s Top 3
Spot Setter (but not for this comp) and Team ABC Boulder Coach Garrett Gregor came out and gave the best flash burn on the problem to control these slopers and the win.
1. Garrett Gregor! Qualified in 5th, but came out and gave a great flash burn to control hold #8 on his first try. He and the 2nd and 3rd place finishers all made good tries to stick the blue pinch that is the last hold on the problem, but nobody could stay on it so Garrett took the win. Nice job Garrett!!!
First-place qualifier Jon Cardwell came close to sending the final and taking the win but he couldn't quite stick the blue pinch to seal the deal.
2. Jon Cardwell! Jon qualified in 1st over Matty Hong by a few falls. Both sent O10, O9, O8, O7, and O6 and still had enough energy to perform strongly in finals.
3. Matty Hong! Like Jon and Garrett, Matty fell trying to get a hold of that last little blue pinch. They gave the crowd a good show, and hopefully one of these guys will come back and send this rig soon before Carlo gets home from Boston.
More to come tomorrow. But until then, contemplate this:
Excuse us, Miss, what, exactly, do you think you're doing?
Gladiator Finals TODAY!!!
That’s right. Today! So what are you doing sitting around in front of the computer? Grab your climbing shoes and get on down to the Spot for the most fun you can have on a snowy day in Boulder. If you missed Thursday’s post, here’s a bit more about the comp and the schedule – Gladiator Finals on Saturday!!! The Setting has begun!. Read on for the top 10 reasons you should come to SBS 7’s Gladiator Finals at The Spot!
10. Snow. It snowed two nights ago. It snowed yesterday. It snowed last night. It’s supposed to snow today. It’s supposed to snow Monday. The high for the next 3 days is something like 29 degrees. It is time for indoor entertainment.
Figure 1. Snow
9. 42 new boulder problems! Jackie (that’s me), Jonny, Nic, Danny, Carlo, and Jay Jay set 10 problems for each category and two pro finals to boot! We were assisted with setting by Gabor Szekely as well as past Spot head setters (and current BRC setter) Seth Lytton and (current Movement setter) Jamie Emerson.
8. Pro forerunning! In addition to the setters and guest setters, forerunners included Daniel Woods and Paul Robinson! Paul and Daniel are both in town between jet setting around the world to take down and put up the hardest lines on the planet. Along with some friends, Daniel and Paul have recently formed a media company called “Welcome to the Hood“. In case you were wondering, Daniel foreran instead of competing because he had to fly out to Boston where he, alongside our own head setter Carlo, will be competing at the Dark Horse Comp . Paul has a pretty bad fingertip flapper so he’s not competing either. Don’t be dismayed though, when the big boys came to forerun they brought their guns along to make sure that the open problems are high quality and no walk in the park.
The Welcome to the Hood boys looking hood.
7. Free Avery Beer
It's local, it's delicious, and we've got it at the Gladiator Final!
6. Free Mix 1
Where do you think the setters get all the energy to set and forerun for two long days pre-comp? Mix 1!
5. Improved paddage. The Beach Pads got an overhaul for increased flatness. Yes, they are still uneven foam. Yes, it’s best to fall in a relaxed manner. But check out this smoothness!
The Beach landing is looking pretty smooth...
4. We got some new holds! Our buddies over at new hold company Urban Plastix hooked it up with some of their new shapes. The urethane is the same high quality that E-grips and Teknik are made of and the shapes we got are a combination of basic goodness (a variety of wide pinches) and Brooklyn style (red brick crimps and the big brick hold featured in the photo below). We’ll write more on ’em later, but if you want to check them out (and you know you do) get on Advanced 4 in the middle of the River Wall.
A preview of Advanced 4 featuring Urban Plastix
3. Did we mention the weather report?
2. Huge Raffle. For the last comp of the season we’re pulling out all the stops and giving away a TON of gear. Competitors and spectators get 1 raffle ticket for free, and additional tickets are only $2 a pop or 3 for $5. Not a bad deal when you could walk away with new climbing shoes, a new crashpad, a new wardrobe from Vertical Girl, or one of our other high value prizes.
1. IT’S A SPOT COMP!
Need we say more?
Doors open for the adult comp at 5. Finals start around 8:30. See you there!
Gladiator Finals This Weekend!!! + LT11 In the Daily
We are happy to say that we are only a few days away from the last comp in SBS Series 7 — The Gladiator Final!
So what is the Gladiator Final? Well, as usual it’s 40 brand new awesome Spot problems from 1 Spot to 5+ Spot, 2 pro finals, two huge raffles, food, free drinks and beer, and GLADIATOR JOUSTING!!!
Yeah, that’s right, we give you guys big foam q-tips and you get to wail on each other with them. Fun! Fun!
As usual pre-comp, the Dojo and the Beach will be CLOSED on Thursday for setting. The whole gym will be closed on Friday for setting. On Saturday we will be open for the comp only. So see you at the Gladiator Final!!!
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Also, LT11 made some local news! Check it — Louder Than 11 — and climbing – Colorado Daily
Sale at SBS VII Sponsor Vertical Girl!
SBS 7 Sponsor Vertical Girl is having a sweet holiday sale on some of their closeout items. If you’re looking for some comfortable and functional climbing clothes for yourself or the lady in your life, check it out and pick something up asap before it’s all gone. Click the logo above to go straight to the sale page.
Highline Highball Rundown + Media Links + Slackline & Comp Results + Setting Update
Matty Hong qualifying well in the Men's Open category. He took 2nd in Finals.
Highline Highball 2011 – The Rundown
The SBS 7 Highball Highline Comp fell on a cold and snowy weekend in the beginning of December. We were a little worried the bad snow conditions would limit attendance, but climbers can’t seem to spend a full day without activity and so people braved the icy roads and the comp was packed.
The problems were a mix of styles, with R10 involving a balance move at the top, I2 being a little steep but very juggy and flowy, I6 involving a trust move, I8 a technical pressing slab, I10 also a little steep and dynamic, A1 a balance-fest, A8 an incredible journey through the Dojo roof (don’t forget to clip!), A9 a stem, A10 involving a small dyno, and the Opens running the gamut from slopey and steep to the near-vertical volume testpiece of O10 on the right river wall.
A competitor fights for it on A4 at the Highball Highline Comp
When the dust from both sessions had settled the Highliners demonstrated their skills for the crowd (who were feasting on Wahoo’s tacos, pizza, and Avery beer) and we frantically added up scores to find out who our open finalists would be. It turned out that once again junior climber Megan Mascarenas from Colorado Springs had the most points in the female category so she qualified for open finals in first. Alex Johnson barely beat out Alex Manikowski and Matty Hong to qualify in first for the men. Both held on to their leads in finals to win the comp. For the full rundown on the finals click the Open Finals Results link below.
Here are the final results from the rest of the Highline Highball Comp in the Youth and Adult categories. I will write top competitors here and the rest can be seen at the links to the full results.
Adult
Recreational Female
1. Sarah Josey
2. Ali Schultz
Recreational Male
1. Matt Melton
2. Raleigh Burrell
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Intermediate Female
1. Tracy Ng
2. Jade Sevelow
Intermediate Male
1. Luke Shaack
2. Russell Teabeault
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Advanced Female
1. Becca Bossert
2. Megan Cerise
Advanced Male
1. Brian Moore
2. Cletus Blum
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Open Female (pre-open final, adult session scores only)
1. Nina Williams
2. Tiffany Hensley
Open Male (pre-open final, adult session scores only)
1. Alex Johnson
2. Alex Manikowski
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Masters Female
1. Bobbi Bensman
2. Diane Nickerson
Masters Male
1. Pete Youngwerth
2. Rob Gilbert
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Slackline
The Highline event was another fun demonstration from some very brave and balanced individuals. This year’s winner was none other than Emily Sukiennik (below) who won over the crowd with her skillful slacking.
Highline winner 2011 - Emily Sukiennik | Photo by Jay Droeger
He didn't land it, but it was a good effort!
Youth Climbing Results
Girls Junior
1. Katelyn Hudspeth – Team BRC
Boys Junior
1. Sean Morgan – Team Spot
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Girls A
1. Laurel Todd – Team ABC
2. Tika Anderson – Team Spot
Boys A
1. Matt Lubar – Team ABC (Matt also got 6th in the Open Final)
2. Remi Arata – Team BRC
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Girls B
1. Megan Mascarenas – Team ABC (Megan also won the Open Final)
2. Isabelle Goodacre – Team ABC (Isabelle placed 4th in the Open Final)
Boys B
1. Austin Lankford – Team ABC
2. Pierce McCrerey – Team ABC
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Girls C
1. Ivy Todd – Team ABC
2. Felina Jaeger – Team Spot
Boys C
1. Timmy Dolan – Team ABC
2. Ethan Kruteck – Team ABC
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Girls D
1. Brooke Raboutou – Team ABC
2. Stella Noble – Team ABC
Boys D
1. Joe Goodacre – Team ABC
2. Liam O’Brien – Team ABC
Said Parirokh looking stylish, as usual.
Setting Update
As usual, we set every day last week to get hundreds of new problems up for you to climb on. Every wall has been reset and next week we will continue to fill in. Setting will be light through the holidays and pick up to regular speed and density again shortly after the New Year.
Don’t forget to pre-register for Gladiator Finals! This last and best comp of SBS 7 will be held on February 4th. Click here to sign up or get more info: SBS 7 ~ Registration.
Highline Highball Media
2011 Spot Bouldering Series: Highballs and Highlines Photo Gallery from Climbing Magazine
SBS Highlines & Highballs Open Results + Commercials – Alex Honnold & Katie Brown, and Chris Sharma selling watches?!
Highballs & Highlines Open Finals Results
Yes, it was exciting. As usual. Three members of Boulder’s Team ABC made finals, giving the start of the finals some orange flair. On top of that, we staggered start times due to a men’s finals no show, so our 2nd girl ABC’er and 1st guy ABC’er ended up climbing at the same time. There was SO MUCH ORANGE! I’ll write up a longer rundown later, but til then here are the results:
Men's winner Alex "Socks" Johnson staring down the Bear Claw. Photo by Jay Droeger.
Men
1. Alex “Socks” Johnson (fumbled the accursed BEAR CLAW!)
2. Matty Hong (1 move below Alex)
3. Garrett Gregor (we messed up scoring a little at comp time, Garrett actually earned 7- so he should have been 3rd)
4. Alex Manikowski (6+)
5. Michael O’Rourke (6+, qualified lower than Alex M so in 5th actually instead of 3rd)
6. Matt Lubar (6+, last qualifier so in 6th here)
Women's winner Megan Mascarenas hiking her final.
Women
1. Megan Mascarenas (flash!)
2. Nina Williams (14-)
3. Tiffany Hensley (13-, top qualifier of the next 4 climbers)
4. Isabelle Goodacre (13-)
5. Gabi Masse (13-)
6. Jesse Youngwerth (7)
I can’t find any more pictures of it yet, so here’s a picture of Maddie in the youth section of the comp.
Commercials
You may have seen this recent Citibank Ad featuring Alex Honnold and Katie Brown.
No, that is not Katie’s voice. You can read an interesting blog about how that all went down on Beth Rodden’s Blog.
But you probably didn’t know that Chris Sharma ditched his hot Spanish lifestyle and went climbing in Italy. Well, check this out:
He ties the rope, but did you see him use it?
We’re glad to see that climbers are finally getting paychecks from other industries!
Highballs & Highlines Results & Reset
We will be resetting Monday – Friday in the mornings. If you want to climb only comp style go to The Spot today. Tomorrow afternoon (after 4 is a safe bet) there will be at least 1 new wall for you. Etc. for the rest of the week until the gym is fairly full.
The rest of the SBS 7 Highballs & Highlines Wrap Up is coming later this week. Photos, full results, and more. Stay tuned, and see you at The Spot!
Comp Today! Reasons to compete + an impressive little video from Garrett
Yeah. And unfortunately for those of you who wanted to go outdoors today, the weather is right! But don’t be dismayed, cause we just set 42 brand new boulder problems for today’s Highballs & Highlines Comp!
A quick list of reasons you might use to not come compete, and reasons you should reconsider:
1. It costs $.
~ So does everything else in life, it isn’t that much (30/climb, 10/spectate), it is expensive for us to put on a comp but we do it because it is so much fun! Also, it is warm in the gym, we feed you, give you high quality Avery Beer and Mix 1, we entertain you with a sure-t0-be-exciting pro finals and our once-a-year highline slackline competition, and most likely you’ll either win something in the raffle or catch something in the schwag toss that is worth at least the cost of your entry or spectator fee. So, to recap, it’s more than worth it for a fun evening with the climbing community.
2. It is snowing outside and I don’t want to leave the house.
~ Yes, it is snowing. By 5pm you’re going to be bored silly, and if you don’t get some exercise you might not even sleep well tonight!
3. I am a beginner or intermediate climber and I feel intimidated.
~ Spot comps have an equal number of new problems for each category (though of course you’re welcome to climb on problems from any category in the comp). That means there are 20 new rec and intermediate problems, or 20 new problems in the 1-3 spot range. That is a lot of problems. You should get tired before you run out of things to climb. Also, most of the problems are separated on the wall so people can more or less climb at the same time without interfering with each other. Also also, Sender Films is coming to document the efforts of some of our intermediate and rec climbers to help show how much fun it can be to compete in a Spot comp at any level.
4. If I win I don’t get a prize, so what’s the point?
~ We don’t give prizes for category winning to discourage sandbagging. Instead we do an equal opportunity schwag toss and raffle to encourage everyone to climb their best and try some new problems instead of winning the category below the one they should be in for the sake of the prize. That way you get doubly rewarded, once for pushing yourself on the routes, and the 2nd time just for showing up!
I could go on, but the point is Spot comps are designed to be fun community gatherings where the high group psyche will help you push yourself and perhaps even surprise yourself with how well you can climb when everyone is pulling for you. It is snowing, so get on down to the Spot and climb some highballs!
Garrett’s Video
Yep.
Comp tomorrow!
Highballs and Highlines is coming TOMORROW!
That means today we’re gonna be closed for setting, but if you are a Spot member you can climb for free at the BRC. Tomorrow the fun starts! Check out The Spot’s main website (link on the rt. bar) for details.
The Spot Route Setting Blog 