Ian Dory is an American Ninja Warrior!

Ian at the Denver Finals

Our very own setter and coach Ian Dory joined several other climbers and competed on American Ninja Warrior in Denver this season. We are so proud of Ian! Want to see how he did? Rewatch the Denver Finals at this link:

American Ninja Warrior Denver Finals 2014

Click forward to around 54 minutes to watch Ian, or start from the beginning and watch climbers and Spot friends Brian Arnold, Matt Wilder, Keith Allen Peters, Alex Manikowski, Paul Kasemir, Noah Kaufman, and of course #mightymeagan Meagan Martin.

Nice job Ian!!!

Happy Birthday Lily!

Yay!

Lily is awesome. It’s her birthday. Better late than never – Happy Birthday Lily!!!

New Article – Tape! – UPDATED

So many colors!

Tape is an important part of setting at most US gyms. Wanna know more about setting tape? Want to buy your own? Read: The Tape Article

UPDATE – Just looked at the article, realized I wrote it late at night, and updated/fixed the beginning some. Sorry guys! Hopefully it is more helpful now.

Awesome and Creative New Volumes

Found this via reddit. Some new volumes were up in this gym (not sure which one) and they took some pictures.

Looks legit? Except for that spinner.

They move around on the walls, which is weird.

Cause there’re people in ’em!

Best Costumes Ever?

Sweet!

See the rest of it  ::  Climbing Mutant Ninja Turtles – Imgur

The Spot – Early May Setting Update + Spring in Review

It’s been a long period of short updates (besides comp coverage) and so here is a little review of what we’ve been up to lately:

fig 1. Connor’s ‘stache.

1) Connor rocked a mustache for a few weeks (fig 1). You might call it a bit of a  social experiment, as he learned some things. Most women liked it. Most men either thought it was awesome or thought it was creepy. Awesome = comfortable with their manhood, creepy = they were threatened by it. Connor looked pretty amazing, obviously, and when he felt like it could deadpan creep out stare like nobody’s business.

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2&3) We got a new setting closet. We moved from behind the River (fig 2) to the room that makes up the front half of the hold washing room. There are some things we will miss about the old room though (fig 3).

fig 2. The Old Closet

fig 3. awwww

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fig 4. Ian cleanin’

4) Ian Dory and I built some shelves in the new closet.

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fig 5. Progress?

5) Jay Jay started collecting tape for “the world’s biggest tape ball”. She’s convinced she’ll easily beat the current world record. We told her she can but she has to keep the tape ball somewhere else, and it can’t interfere with work.

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fig. 6

6) Danny put up the lunch rope and got carried away.

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fig 7.

7) The best block ever? Yeah, I did this.

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fig 8. New Floor under the Beach

8. We got our new flooring in under The Beach! More new floor, in the whole gym, coming mid-July!

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fig 9.

9. Jonny went all yacht club for the day in his Adidas Routesetter shirt, his fancy Verve pants, and his USAC Setter Sweatshirt.

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fig 10.

10. The septuplet tape job on the new Dojo.

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fig 11.

11) And finally, last week we reset the LEFT DOJO! Tons of new problems on the left bulge and the right side of the mid-Dojo overhanging arete. We’ve set more 2s and 3s than ever before on the left Dojo, so if you’ve never climbed on the Dojo might be a good time to try it. We’ve also got a bunch of everything else, so everyone should find something to send and project.

Enjoy!

Blog Updates

Chris Schulte and Jon Glassberg filming in Independence Pass last summer. For the video (if you haven’t seen it already) check Chris’ Guest Setter page.

We made a few quick updates to the site.

First of all, we’ve updated the bios for setters:

Connor Griffith | The Spot Route Setting Blog

and

Ian Dory | The Spot Route Setting Blog

and added a little page for guest setter:

Chris Schulte | The Spot Route Setting Blog

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We added this useful page to the sidebar of “Useful Info” links: Lincoln Lake Bouldering | An illustrative compilation of information about bouldering at Lincoln Lake

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We also added a link to  iandory on Instagram.

To see the rest of our Instagram pages, scroll down and use the links on the right menu bar.

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I’m back in town again and will have some reviews up soon for Prinz, Redpoint, and G-Strings.

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Perhaps most excitingly, THE BEACH IS GETTING A NEW FLOOR NEXT WEEKEND!!!

Goodbye red pads. Hello Futurist flooring. Learn more:

Futurist Climbing

Hueco Update! + 2013’s lookin’ buff!

The view from North Mountain at Hueco!

Well, I’m still in Hueco. Namesake of our Hueco boulder. The weather has been pretty good, sometimes sunny, sometimes windy, sometimes overcast, and lately quite cold!

Back in Boulder, Danny, Jonny, Jay Jay, Connor, and sometimes Ian and Jon are still keeping things fresh for everyone at The Spot while I’m gone. In fact, I heard Santa even stopped over on Christmas and set some extra routes!

For those who are interested, here are some pictures of my trip so far:

Sweet hold on South Mountain. Mammoth rubbing???

Trailer lyfe. Not a bad view.

Visiting Japanese climber Yuiko sending her first V5 with the classic Dragonfly. She went on the same day to send her first V7, Ides of March, also in a couple of tries, and to nearly flash Mangum (V9). Not a bad day!

Yuiko’s husband Yuta flashing Mangum (V9) via the lock-off-every-move method.

Chris on a last call attempt to top out the new line The Owl Charmer on East Mountain. 

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I’ve spent some rest days taking showers, Internet-ting, and generally hanging out with my friends Rocco and Mary at the Hueco Hacienda.

Christmas at The Hacienda

The Hacienda is a sweet old adobe that used to be a religious retreat, meaning it has some amazing wooden front doors and lots of heavy woodwork. Inside it’s fairly well restored and Rocco and Mary are constantly working to make it even awesomer. One of the updates is new headboards for the beds that Rocco built. For the headboards our artist friend Nikias has been woodburning each mountain into an oval, then Rocco stains the outside of the board. Here are a few pictures of the process:

Nikias hard at work.

Woodburning done.

Stain part 1. A nearly finished product.

If you are thinking of coming down to Hueco, there are a few steps you’ll need to take. First of all, you should have a place to stay. You can camp at the Hueco Rock Ranch or at Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site. You can also stay inside at the Rock Ranch and at The Hacienda. For climbing you’ll need to have North Mountain Reservations or tours scheduled. Learn more at these links:

Hueco Rock Ranch – American Alpine Club (camping, house stays, tours, pads)

Wagon Wheel Coopt – Welcome (request commercial tours)

PARK ACCESS – The Hueco Hacienda (tours, rental pads, chalk, tape, brushes, links, phone numbers, and other info)

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And finally…

Found this on Facebook. The photo looks old, but it’s definitely Baby 2013, clearly he has been in training to be a strong year! Time to crush!

Happy New Years Everyone!

A Slovenian Perspective

Slovenian Klemen Becan at the Chonqing World Cup in April 2012

Because of the World Cup in Vail, many strong climbers from around the world descend on Boulder in late May and early June and can be seen in The Spot getting used to the altitude and ready for the comp. If these climbers are lucky (and if the series schedule allows it) they get to stick around Colorado for a bit after and sample some of our outdoor climbing and bouldering.

Jernej Kruder at a local comp in Slovenia, October 2013

Over the last couple of years several members of Team Slovenia have gotten to spend several days climbing outside here, in Clear Creek Canyon, The Flatirons, RMNP, and, their favorite area, Mount Evans (A, B, and Lincoln Lake). One thing that surprised me when hanging out with the Slovenians was their attitude–they were just psyched to climb, and climbed on whatever we pointed them at. Problems and routes of all sizes and heights, they didn’t even ask how hard they were meant to be, they’d just jump on and give their best shot. Obviously, since they’re on the World Cup team, their best shot is a pretty good one. In any case, recently I was checking out the blog reader and saw that both Klemen Becan and Jernej Kruder had written surprisingly similar blog updates. I wrote a little post about it on another site I write for, check it out and see if you see what I noticed: Climbfind Heroes – A Different Perspective from Slovenia. What do you think?

 

Quick Setting Update! + Cool Flying Trailer Pic

Cool.

I didn’t have any pics of the walls, so you’re getting this cool flying caravan instead.

Today, Tuesday, October 30th we added a bunch of problems to the River and Font boulders. We got even more new holds, so prepare for some awesomeness. We will add more to those two walls tomorrow, and I’ll update if there’s anything extra to note. Also, the setting board has an accurate graph of the problems in the gym again, as I think we’ve got the computer problem sorted out. Next week we’re on to the Dojo!

See you at The Spot!

Dark Horse Video with Connor and Danny

Recently setters Connor and Danny helped Jon make a promo video for the Dark Horse comps–a series out of the Metrorock gyms Boston. Dave Wetmore, who as you know is setting at The Spot when he’s in Boulder, is the head setter at Metrorock and he even though he’s on sabbatical, he goes home to Boston to set for these comps. The video is to motivate and inspire–especially for those who don’t have access to amenities like The Spot. How are you training?

And check out the comp series here: 2012-2013 Dates | The Dark Horse Series