ABS 12 Youth National Championships

Here's the report for semi-finals and finals for the Bend Climbing Team at the 2011 ABS 12 Youth Bouldering National Championships.  When we last left our fearless four climbers Tristan, Walker, and Lukas were moving on to semi-finals.  For a report on the qualifier round see the previous post below.  Semi-finals had the top 16 climbers from each category out on the walls battling it out on 3 routes with 5 mins per route.

Lukas was 1st out for the Bend Climbing Team and proceeded to put on a show for everyone in the house with a massive fall from a dyno on route #1 20 feet above the mats!  Lukas was pretty shaken up as he landed on the spotter and his wrist and face took the Asana pads head on.  Calling it good with one attempt he proceeded to pull himself together climbing strong on #2 and #3 and moving on to finals in 4th place.

Lukas on semi-finals #1

Walker was next out of isolation and came into semis in 1st place in male youth c.  He made quick work of route  #1 on a steep section of the wall climbing around two Motivation Volumes.  Route #2 Walker made a strong flash attempt dynoing onto the roof and falling trying to pull out from under it.  Route #3 Walker gracefully dispatched on his first attempt and had him moving into finals in 6th place.

Walker walking his way up semi-finals #3

Tristan was last out for the team in the male youth b category.  I'm not sure what these kids in other parts of the US eat or drink, but these 14 and 15 year olds are huge!  The routesetters had these guys working hard to make it up the walls.  Tristan flashed a cool #1 problem with a sweet campusing rose move.  Problem #2 had the big boys on the slab climbing from massive sloper to massive sloper.  Tristan got the send of problem #2 on attempt #2.  Route #3 for the youth b climbers was a straight up burl fest!  I'm pretty sure there wasn't a single send of this route.  Even though Tristan climber super strong and smart after day 2 he was in 10th place and wouldn't be moving on to Finals.

Tristan on his way to flashing semi-finals #1

Finals had the top 8 climbers gunning for the US team and the podium.  Lukas held it together for one more day flashing #1, establishing a temporary highpoint on #2, and flashing #3!  This stellar performance combined with the prior two days of strong climbing landed him a spot on the US team and a 3rd place finish!

Lukas working his way up route #3 in finals

Walker came out strong cruising up #1 but fell right before the finish hold.  After a well timed rest he hopped back on and was quickly matching the finish hold.  #2 for the male c climbers pitted them against the slab and slopers with a precise body tension climb with a dynamic move in the middle.  Walker gave it two strong attempts but fell at the 2nd to last hold and smartly called it good and rested up for the last climb. After a fall on his flash burn from the finish hold of #3 Walker hopped back on sticking the opening dyno and was soon matching the finish hold after a series of powerful moves on a steep wall.  Walkers three days of climbing found him in 5th place in the nation for the male youth c category and a spot on the US team!

Walker on finals #1

The whole weekend and comp was perhaps the best ABS Nationals I've been to in the past five years. The non-gym venue is a huge welcomed change as it allows for comfortable viewing and I don't have to be thinking of a plan of escape in the event of a fire.  The brand new walls built by Vertical Solutions had a great variety of angles and provided a great canvass for the setters.  The routes seemed to be quality for the most part and had great flow and did a good job of separating out the field. Although there is some debate of how high is too high for our youth climbers to boulder I think the setters did a great job for the most part in regards to safety. I'm still liking the addition to slab climbing to comps as it rounds out the skills that the competitors need in order to place well.  It was a great comp and the Bend Climbing Team was glad to see so many of our other PNW climbers representing in finals. While we all compete against each other at the local comps it's great to have the support and cheering of fellow PNW climbers, coaches, and parents helping us up the walls!
Another huge stand out at the comp was Abby's father and all-star volunteer/spotter Jay Black.  Jay was out there on the pads all day and every day of the 3 day comp keeping all the climbers safe!

Super spotter Jay(left) and Walker(right) monoing!? out the roof!

Tristan flashing qualifier #1

Walker pressing it out on the slab in finals

Lukas latching the finish hold

Abby Flashing qualifier #1

Abby flashing qualifier #2

Lukas on the podium

Walker in 5th place with the other youth c finalists 

2011 Youth USA Climbing Team

ABS 12 Nationals Qualifiers

Wow! So many strong climbers out here at ABS Nationals in Boulder, CO.  The Bend Climbing Team had a good showing on day one with 3 of the 4 climbers moving on to semi-finals tomorrow.  The venue and the new Vertical Solution walls are great and I can't wait to see what the setters put up tomorrow. 
Today the climbers had 4 climbs with 4 minutes per climb.  Here's quick recap.
Lukas on-sighted his 4 routes making things look effortless sporting his " I climb like Sharma" shirt and currently is in a 6 way tie for 1st.  I'm going to start wearing a " I climb like Lukas shirt"!
Walker destroyed his first 3 routes that were all on super steep terrain.  Just to show that he's not just a powerhouse he proceeded to establish a high point for his category on a super tech-fest #4 and is heading into semi-finals in 1st place!
Tristan flashed his first 3 climbs and was in typical Tristan form looking ultra smooth.  Route 4 gave him a challenge and is in 6th place behind a 4 way tie for 2nd (all climbers got one more hold above him) and a 1st place climber who topped #4.
Abby was last out for the team and for her category.  She made quick work of 1 and 2 with flashes and fell going for the finish of #3 on her flash attempt. #4 for her was the same as Walkers  tech-fest and she reached 2 holds lower than the top climbers in her category. Although she fell one hold from the top of #3 and 2 holds lower than the 1st place climber on #4 she ends the comp 20th in the nation for female youth B! 
Super proud of the climbers! Check back for results of semi-finals!

Bend Climbers Who Climb

One of the benefits of living in Bend is that we are surrounded by climbing and climbers.  Here's some coverage that local climbers who climb and train at the Bend Rock Gym have been getting.

Metolius Climbing recently put up a video of local climber Mel Sweet getting after it out at Trout Creek.  Trout Creek offers some classic splitter cracks in a dramatic setting in the high desert.  If you're fingers ever get tired of the endless crimping and nubbin pulling of Smith this is a great place to get your jam on!

Recent Portland transplant Ryan Palo recently red pointed the iconic 5.14 To Bolt or Not to Be out at Smith Rock State Park.  Here's a great interview that Dead Point Magazine posted about Ryan and his recent send.

DPM Interview To Bolt

PNW Advanced Bouldering Clinic for the Competitve Climber

Last bouldering season the Pacific North West region put on a weekend training clinic at The Circuit in Portland OR and there was a great turn out of about 15 climbers.  This year the event doubled in size!  The Advanced Bouldering Clinic was geared towards the competitive youth climber and focused on competition strategies, mental aspect of climbing, and advanced climbing technique. The clinic was headed by Steven Jeffery and Kevin Jorgeson with the help of  team coaches from The Circuit, MAC, Bend Climbing Team, and Nike.  The clinic had 33 attendees with climbers from The Circuit, Bend Climbing Team, Vertical World, Stone Gardens, Edgeworks, and Nike

Kevin Jorgeson going over the finer details of footwork. Photo Emmy Surma.

The first day of the clinic was at the original Circuit where we had the participants run through a mock on-sight competition.  The focus of this exercise was on route preview and decision making. In the afternoon Kevin Newell from FiveTen stopped by so we could test out some of the latest and greatest in climbing shoes (my personal favorites were the Quantums and the Hornets).

 Kyle (Circuit Coach) running some heel hooking drills.  Photo Emmy Surma

Day two was at the recently opened Circuit Part Deux!  The groups were split up with half running through another mock on-sight competition with Steven Jeffery and the other have doing a technique based training circuit with Kevin Jorgeson, Kyle Elmquist, and Mike Rougeux.  The technique training was centered around foot work with stations addressing heel hooking, drop knees, trailing foot, and back stepping.

It was great to have a bunch of climbers from various teams throughout the PNW Region get together and train for a weekend.  It's really cool seeing these young climbers feeding off of each others energy and throwing down on the wall.  I can't wait to see what some of them go on to do in the climbing world.  Thanks to all the coaches who helped out, Emmy for getting things organized and making it happen, and a huge thanks to Kevin and Steven for spending time working with and climbing with our PNW climbers!