ABS 13 Northwest Regional Championships, Boise Idaho

Jack

It's been quite some time since the blog has been updated and I'm attributing it to the fact that the team has been super busy training and crushing!  We've been training hard since September and are now entering our championship season with Regionals this past weekend, Divisionals in January, and Nationals in March!

This past weekend 12 members of the Bend Endurance Academy Climbing Team competed at the Northwest Regional Championships at the Boise Front in Boise, Idaho.  With the new region designations in place from USA Climbing we really didn't know what to expect in terms of how many climbers and what teams would be there beside our fellow Oregon teams.  The gym was smaller than what we were used to for a Regional Championships but the fields for each category were also smaller without our Washington counterparts in the mix.  The walls were great with nice sweeping angles and the setting was good albeit on the soft side for Female Youth C and Male Youth C which both had super finals.

The BEA athletes climbed very well despite some of them being in isolation for over 4 hours and some of them at the gym for 14 hours!  All the sitting around and schedule changing can really take a toll mentally and physically on the climbers and I'm very impressed with how all of the climbers handled it.

As a team we finished tied for 2nd with the Multnomah Athletic Club with first place going to the Circuit Bouldering Team.  Both of these teams have some great climbers and its always impressive to watch all of these kids tear apart the routes the setters throw at them.

Results:
FYD- Leah Pfeiffer,
MYD- Brady Pfeiffer, 5th
FYC- Olivia Brumwell, 2nd
FYC- Iris Flattery, 9th
MYC- Lukas Strauss-Wise, 1st
MYB- Tristan Helmich, 4th
MYB- Jack Groh, 5th
MYB- Walker Davis, 6th
MYB- Ethan Flattery, 13th
FYA- Riley Joyce, 4th
FYA- Abby Black, 6th
FYA- Sadie Koch, 9th

Lukas

Leah

Abby

Sadie

Riley

Walker

Iris

Tristan

Brady

Ethan

ABS Season 13, Season Opener, Fall Fever Comp at Bend Rock Gym

October is the month for rock climbing with cool temps bringing great friction and outdoor climbing conditions.  October is also the start of the American Bouldering Series (ABS) competition season.  For the Northweat region of USA Climbing (USAC) the season opener was held here in Bend, Oregon at the Bend Rock Gym's Fall Fever Bouldering Competition.  61 climbers from all over Oregon, Idaho, Washington and even as far away as Germany tested themselves on over 50 boulder problems for over 3 hours to see who would come out on top.

The Bend Endurance Academy Climbing Team was well represented with 10 climbers competing in four different age categories.  The team climbed well in their first competition of the season and with only a week and a half of training! Congratulations to all the competitors and a huge thanks to the Bend Rock Gym staff and all the volunteers for putting on a great competition!  

Bend Endurance Academy Team Results.
Female Youth A
Abby Black- 2nd
Riley Joyce- 4th
Sadie Koch- 5th


Male Youth B
Tristan Helmich- 3rd
Walker Davis- 4th
Jack Groh- 7th
Ethan Flattery- 9th

Male Youth C
Lukas Strauss-Wise- 2nd

Female Youth C
Olivia Brumwell- 2nd
Iris Flattery- 6th

Youth Climbing Article

This past month the website Greatoutdoors.com published a great article that focused on youth competitive climbing.  Be sure to check it out.  You'll see some photos of team member Tristan Helmich climbing in our backyard of Smith Rock and a couple quotes from coach Mike Rougeux.

Kids and Climbing: A Step Up In Life

For a lot of kids, youth climbing teams have eclipsed more traditional athletics

By Nancy Prichard Bouchard - July 26th, 2011

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Photos from 2011 SCS National Championships, Stone Summit, GA

Back in Bend and enjoying the relief from the relentless humidity of Hotlanta.  We had a great trip for Nationals and have come away as stronger climbers both physically and mentally.  Here's some photos from the 4 days of competition.  Yes, those walls are that big!

Over 14 draws on some of these routes!

Lukas way up high and on his way to flashing Q1.

Jack grabbing a quick shake and chalk before things get real steep.

Steep.

Steeper!

Steepest!

Lukas starting his way up the steep climb.

Getting onto the steep stuff.

Climbing the steepness!

Lukas chalking up on the massive roof.

Jack on Q2.

More steep climbing for Jack.

Transitioning to some vertical face climbing.

And back to the steep stuff.

Lukas finishing up a mandatory down campus on his finals route.

Lukas on his finals route.

Lukas on his finals route.

Lukas (4th from Right) finishes in 6th place.

Day Four 2011 SCS Youth Nationals, Stone Summit, Atlanta GA

Done.  It's been a long four days of climbing for all the competitors here in Atlanta.  Four days on very hard routes is really stressful when one false move or wrong sequence can bump you down several places in the standings.  Over the whole four days of competition there were only 2 climbers in all of the catergories who flashed all four of their routes.
Lukas had another good day on the wall on a cool route with a couple unique movements.  He made it high on the wall and looked very solid climbing through a couple complex sequences and then fell high on the route matching on a bad hold. 
Lukas had a good run at his first SCS Nationals and finished 6th place in the nation for Male Youth C.  Way to go Lukas!

Day Three 2011 SCS Youth Nationals, Stone Summit, Atlanta GA

Another day done here at Stone Summit.  Today were the semi-finals where the top 16 in each category were climbing on some ridiculously hard climbs.  Isolation was a bit lonely this afternoon with Lukas being the only climber from Oregon in the afternoon iso.  Lukas had one route today with over 50 hand holds for him on the wall!  There  was a real techy traverse section to a very cool no-hands rest that Lukas found that I didn't see any other climber use.  A couple more  moves and Lukas was in another no-hands with a real cool drop knee.  Climbing smooth Lukas negotiated a little crux with a very high heel hook that seemed to work well for him.  After moving off the face climbing Lukas was unfortunately thwarted by a powerful move way up high.  Going into today Lukas had qualified in 6th for semi-finals and now sits in 5th for tomorrows finals route.  Hopefully he can continue to claw his way up a couple places!

Day Two 2011 SCS Youth Nationals, Stone Summit, Atlanta GA

Day two of the 2011 SCS Youth National Championships is wrapped up here in Atlanta at Stone Summit and I can't tell you how impressive the level of climbing is in the qualifier rounds.  The youth climbing teams in the US are getting more and more organized and the athletes are really stepping it up. Today's routes for Jack and Lukas were a mix of some old and new routes.  The gyms walls still seem super high and it's hard to climb so strong and precise on these long routes.

Lukas was first up for the Bend Climbing Team and was climbing on the same wall and route as Jack did yesterday.  After watching the demo climber and a few extra climbers Lukas felt that he had the route pretty well sussed out but was still nervous about the long moves out the horizontal roof.  Lukas had some great flow through the opening sequence and the first crux. He moved well through the direction change on the roof but fell after a couple power moves pulling the lip.  His hard work put him into 6th place after qualifiers and will be moving on to semi-finals tomorrow.

Jack's route today found him off the horizontal and onto some steep sections with some dead vertical thrown in for good measure.  After watching some other climbers and figuring out the moves Jack was ready to tie in and give it his best.  The start of his climb was steep but on good holds, sticking to his plan Jack climbed smooth and fast through the steep section to an awkward rest and shake just under halfway and before the first crux.  After some chalk he was into some hard moves but not stopper. a wrong foot placement and body position forced Jack into a harder than it should have been move where he fell throwing to a pocket.  Jack finished the two day qualifier round in 30th place which means he doesn't advance to semi-finals.  We're all extremely proud to say that Jack finished 30th in the NATION in the Male Youth C category.  Way to go Jack!

Day One 2011 SCS Youth Nationals, Stone Summit, Atlanta GA

While most folks back home are just starting work we're already done for the day out here at  the 2011 SCS Youth National Championships.  The gym here is very impressive with it's 60 foot walls and steep terrain and you can feel the excitement from the 400+ athletes.
We're all a bit tired from the 3 hour time change and a day of traveling but Jack and Lukas still managed to climb well on their 1st round qualifier route.  Lukas flashed his route and was surprised that the route didn't feel as long as it looked!  Jack climbed smooth and controled through the first half of his climb and then took a dramatic swinging fall from underneath the roof on a tricky direction change.  Both Jack and Lukas will thankfully be climbing as bit later in the day tomorrow so we'll manage to get some much needed sleep.

On the Way to the 2011 SCS National Championships

We're rounding the final turn here in our training and the finish line of SCS Youth Nationals at Stone Summit in Atlanta is within our sites.  Atlanta may seem like a strange place to hold a rock climbing competition but the facility at Stone Summit is truly world class and the best of the best in youth climbing will be on hand to put their training to the test over four days of competition.

Two of those competitors will be Bend Climbing Team members Jack Groh and Lukas Strauss-Wise.  Check the links below for a quick little bio on both climbers to get a better idea of who they are and what they've done.

Jack Groh

Lukas Strauss-Wise

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Divisional Championships

It's championship season for the Bend Climbing Team with Regional Championships last month, Divisional Championships this past weekend in Salt Lake City, and National Championships coming up in Atlanta in July.

Tristan getting in the zone.

Big climbing competitions can be stressful on the climber, coach, and the parents as all the training and hard work comes down to a couple routes and where a misplaced foot or bad sequencing can spell disaster and advancing on to the next round or competition is decided by one hold or one clip.

Jack on his finals route

This years Division 1 Championship was held in Salt Lake City at Momentum Climbing Gym.  Division 1 is made up from teams from Alaska to Northern California and East to Montana.  The top 20 climbers in each category were there to compete over two days on three routes and gunning for a coveted invite to the Youth National Championships.

Jack high on qualifier #2

Tristan Helmich, Jack Groh, and Lukas Strauss-Wise from the Bend Climbing Team all climbed well on their two qualifier routes against a very talented and strong field.  At the end of day one all three team members were in the top 10 and moving on to finals with Tristan in 7th, Jack in 6th, and Lukas tied for 1st.

Lukas latching the finish on qualifier #2

Finals day was just one route which leaves no room for error as the route setters need to separate the finals field and avoid having super finals.  This all translates to very hard climbs!  Everyone climbed well under the pressure of everything riding on one route and when it was all done Tristan was sitting in 8th just missing a invite to Nationals by one, Jack in 5th earning a invite to Nationals, and Lukas in 1st with an invite to Nationals.

Tristan on qualifier #2

 

2011 SCS PNW Regional Championships, Clubsport, Tigard, OR

Lukas on his way to flashing his finals route.

With local SCS competitions behind us it was time for the Pacific Northwest Regional Championships.  This year the comp was held at Clubsport in Tigard Oregon.  Clubsport has been host to great local, regional, divisional, and national competitions in the past and offers a great view for spectators and ample climbing terrain for the competitors.  This on-sight competition had two qualifier sessions where climbers had two routes with four minutes to do each route and a finals round where the top ten in each category had five minutes to do one route.
I joined Tristan and Lukas in the isolation zone to help them get warmed up and prepped for their routes.  After they came back from preview they both seemed to think the routes looked pretty good and doable.  Both Tristan and Lukas advanced to finals with Tristan in 3rd fro Male Youth B and Lukas tied for 1st after flashing both routes for Male Youth D.
After session one it was back into iso to get Jack ready for his two climbs.  After Jack came back into iso from the route preview we worked on some specific movements that he thought would be helpful on his two qualifier routes.  Jack climbed strong flashing route one and fell high on route two.  Jack climbed well enough to move into finals in 9th place for Male Youth C.

Tristan powering through the opening sequence in finals.

With only one route for finals there isn't much room for mistakes since you don't have another route.  For most categories the top six would receive invites to Divisionals so the pressure was on.  After the route preview it seemed like the climb for each Tristan, Jack, and Lukas had some similarities.  All three started out on good holds on steep terrain, traversed and turned on the wall, and finished with smaller holds and techy climbing.  Back in iso each climber came up with their plan of climbing smooth and fast on the steep sections with good holds, shaking out and chalking up on the last good jug, and changing gears to launch into the smaller holds and precision foot work.

Jack mid-way up his finals route.

The Bend climbers' climbed strong and smart with good route reading and efficient climbing.  Jack climbed his way from 9th heading into finals to a 6th place finish and a invite to move on to the Divisional Championships! Tristan came out of iso climbing strong and smooth through the lower power section and fell high on the route which placed him in 4th place and a invite to Divisionals.  Lukas climbed through his lower climb calm and collective and choose great holds to shakeout and chalk up on before pulling into the upper portion of the route.  With the only flash of the route for his category Lukas finished 1st and will move onto Divisionals.

Bend Climbing Team Results

Tristan Helmich- 4th Male Youth B

Jack Groh- 6th Male Youth C

Lukas Strauss-Wise- 1st Male Youth C

2011 Smith Rock Spring Thing

Every year climbers from throughout the Northwest spend a day lending a hand at the Smith Rock Spring Thing volunteering on a variety of service projects all over the park.  This year there were over 200 volunteers with 8 of them being from the Bend Climbing Team.  The team had a good time and put in some hard work smoothing out the "chute trail" and prying out rocks that pose a tripping hazard for climbers walking in and out of the park.  The hard day of work was rewarded with a couple of pitches of climbing followed by some well earned burritos at the volunteer dinner.
It was great to spend the day participating in such a cool event and to see what a thriving climbing community we have here in Central Oregon.

Prying rocks and filling in the holes.

Making it nice and smooth.

Lukas heading up Taiwan On 5.10c

Lukas getting in some arete climbing.  Taiwan On 5.10c

Walker pulling through the roof on The John Gault Line 5.11b

Tristan heading for the chains.  The John Gault Line 5.11b

Last rays of sun on The Marsupials.