Instead, I spent about three weeks in a sandbox called Utah. My home: a van we called the "silver bullet," a random basement, the side of a highway, and a few hotels along the way.
The first order of business came at the JCCA National Championships at the Momentum Rock Climbing Gym somewhere south of Salt Lake City. Team MetroRock had 16 kids go to Nationals and with that small group, we finished 5th place in the country out of about 80 other teams.
Imagine a bunch of 12-17 year old kids cruising 5.12-5.13 for three days straight amidst a mass of screaming parents and Michael Jackson beats, the standard chalk cloud hovering overhead like dementors rushing through Azkaban, and a less-than-entertaining MC corresponding on the obvious and you have Nationals. Don't get me wrong, it's exciting--can you imagine being 12 years old and walking past hundreds of people as you leave isolation to meet the hardest route you've redpointed in the past year with just five minutes to send? I'm always impressed with the young competitors who effortlessly shoulder this pressure and destroy. I'd be quivering.
Next time I'll take some video and photos for posting. I was so gosh darn busy coaching with Buckie that time for gallivanting was minimal. There's even evidence below.
"Just don't fall, alright? DON'T FALL." Try topping that coaching expertise Team Population Texas.
After the three day battle with gravity was over, six of our kids ended up making it to the World Championships for Speed, most of whom are en route to France right this moment. Keegan Cole is the national speeding climbing champion and is looking for a win at Worlds. Good luck Team USA--Keegan, Alec, Erin, Alex, David, Francesca, and Olivia. If I forgot a name, you can go ahead and sue me.
With Nationals in the rear view, a few of us bounced out of the local Holiday Inn in true vagabond fashion, stuffing extra oatmeal packets and oranges in our pockets from the front desk. Grocery shopping at Holiday Inn breakfast buffets is extremely efficient and I recommend it. With a fully packed rental car, we headed north to Logan Canyon--land of high altitude choss.
Super Tweak. 5.14a. First in the country.
Super Tweak.
I didn't send the route due to lack of time [read: TOO FAT], but got all the moves within my second try. With three days, I did some hard-ish routes (13's), got to climb outdoors with the kids, and learned a bunch just from watching Steve Buck, our Head Coach. This guy cranks 5.12 off the couch like he is floating up an escalator. Unbelievable.
More importantly, I learned what it felt like to be given a death belay by my teammate and friend who shall remain unnamed. As you may be able to read by the less-than-impressed glare smeared on my face below, I was not keen on falling for fear that I would either break my back or legs due to inattention or short-roping. In fact, at the top of the dihedral, I told the belayer to unclip from my rope and soloed the remaining 20 feet. It was safer--trust me. He has since improved quite a bit. Love you buddy.
After Logan, I took Alex, Alex, Sam, and Connor to Joe's Valley for a few days to play on some boulders. The sun more or less ravaged our souls from sunrise to sunset, beating down on us with 100-degree oven temps as we scurried around the desert looking for shade beneath boulders. But I think we made the best of it. Return trip in the winter anyone?
One night, after spending the entire day bouldering, we realized it might be a good idea to head into town and find some food before it got too late. Unfortunately, this divine revelation came about three hours too late. With no food and no place to stay, I came up with Plan B: empty the van and whatever we could scrounge from beneath the seats, we could eat.
Five minutes later we had gourmet peanut-and-jelly, some rice, and a few Holiday Inn oranges, not to mention a prime sleeping location--a turn-off from the road down by the river bed. Sam had even purchased a massive box of fireworks and a few smoke grenades to which we set fire immediately after dinner. If you look closely enough, you can see the evidence, a blue and yellow box, behind Alex as he slaps on another pound of peanut butter to satisfy his daily starvation. In the morning, while paying for groceries, the cashier had a few questions for me.
"Hey, was that you fellas up there with dem fire works?" she asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said with flashes of our pyro-antics dancing behind my eyes.
"The fireworks you bought yesterday. Did you set them off? It sounded like there was some kind of war going on up in the valley."
"Wow, you remembered us from yesterday, huh? Then yes, you are correct, that was us."
World War II aside, the last leg of our trip was probably the most exciting--for me at least. Jason Danforth and Pete Ward, among a slew of other invaluables working for NE2C, put on the biggest and baddest comp of the year. Perfect timing; the Mammut Bouldering Championships was being held within Salt Lake City during the Outdoor Retailer week, with Qualifiers at the Front and Finals on top of the Shilo Inn.
Here's a shot from Qualifiers at the Front.
Unfortunately, I just missed finals. With 34 total points, I had taken down more holds than the 9th place finisher, but because I fell going to the final jug on Problem 3, I got bumped out, leaving me at 15th when they took top 12. The competition field was very strong and super tight, so even the smallest mistake was devastating. Next year!
All of these photos were taken by professionals and I take no credit. These shots were taken during the Finals show, the most impressive display of climbing talent, competition organization, and overall industry performance of the year. Big ups to NE2C for giving climbers a stage of proportions that would have been deemed unfathomable just a few years ago.
With competitions like this, its inevitable that ESPN or something like Fuel TV will catch on. If ping pong can reach these media outlets, why can't climbing? Insanely strong athletes pulling heinous human tricks high above the ground with hundreds of people screaming for them while a DJ serves up bone-rattling beats--it's all there. Embodying the excitement that grows from the moment at these competitions is close to impossible in comparison to actually being present, so I recommend either competing or attending the next one.
What's as equally impressive, and probably some sort of disconnected bi-product of a growing public awareness due to comps like the one in SLC, is an increased school involvement in the sport. This year at MetroRock, I'll be coaching high school teams, college teams, and the regular JCCA team, but I never would have imagined high school level climbing teams at the local gym and surprisingly, MetroNorth has even more kids from the local education system joining the program this year than last, with even more yet applying for the JCCA team and college teams.
Progression equals increased public awareness which means wider media attention. With this increased scope, financial sponsorship will hopefully rise and give other average climbers, like myself, a better chance to make a living doing what we love, even if you're not the very best climber on the planet.
Anyway, just some random thoughts. Back to training! [IE. Eating]
