DYNO COMP Summed Up

The Dyno Comp at Threshhold tonight was off the hook! The energy in the air was thick, the crowd was lively, and the competitors put on one heck of a performance.
Qualifiers went well. The Intermediate Problems seemed be alot of fun for those climbing them, it came down to who could flash the most of the 8 problems, and props to Jake Gingerich for taking first in the Intermediate category. All five of the five Advanced competitors displayed alot of talent and determination. The top three ended up being Kyle Owen and Dan Fry tied for first and Garrett Gregor in 2nd. These three moved on to the finals round. Garrett Kyle and Dan all flashed problem 1, a jumpstart to two slopers led to a double-clutch dyno off of smeary feet to the so-ill "hands" feature. This problem was a shade to easy, but a great demonstration of the strength and talent that each competitor had. Problem two was a two stage run-and-jump to a hold to a feature in which you had to catch two jug-crimps and squeeze, then set up off good feet to a medium/long steep dyno to a really good hold. Kyle Owen flashed this problem in proper style, catching the finish jug one handed right at the dead point. The problem managed to elude Garrett and Dan, Garrett displayed alot of heart scraping his face on the wall and bleeding from the run and jump but still staying focused and determined. Problem three was a straightforward huge dyno off the rockcandy sea sponge feature and a really good foot, that went to a jug that had two good sidepulls. Dan was the only one to stick it, on his fifth out of five attempts, making it look desperate. Hence there was a tie between Kyle and Dan. This led to a sudden death round. Kyle had not completed problem three and Dad had not completed problem two. The two competitors went back and forth attempt to attempt to see who could stick their problem first. Kyle ended up nailing his problem on his second attempt, after changing his beta and double kicking the starting holds. Kyle won, and it was a great show, nailbitingly close and super fun to watch.

Look out for video footage soon!

WORLD NEWS:
Ethan Pringle is still burning everyone off. He just did the Cobra Crack in Squamish, B.C.

The Mammut SLC OR NE2C 08 comp went down this past weekend. It looked sick.
Mens
1. Chris Sharma
2. Ethan Pringle
3. Guillaume Glarion Mondet

Womens
1. Alex Puccio
2. Alex Johnson
3. Sydney McNair

and honorable mention our very own Julian Bautista placed 8th! He beat out the likes of Kevin Jorgeson and Paul Robinson.

topa ropa

WORLD NEWS:

Ethan Pringle is tearing it up. He recently repeated (2nd ascent) "The Path" in Canada. The Path was FA'd by sonnie trotter late last year, you may recall it because it spurred much controversial debate: as Sonnie chopped the bolts after leading it on all natural pro. The Path is a solid pitch of 5.14 climbing that is led with traditional gear. This now puts Ethan in the elite category of strong climbers who are pushing the limits of both physical and mental climbing to the max, by climbing hard sporty facey pitches on traditional protection. So he hurts his leg bouldering and decides to start headpointing 5,14's off the couch. hmmmm.
Right now, Ethan is in Squamish attempting the Cobra Crack and Dreamcatcher. Up until last week neither had been repeated. Dreamcatcher was first put up by Chris Sharma and is 5.14D. It is in Squamish and has been up for grabs for nearly several years now, and still has yet to see a second ascent by any local Canadian hardmen (lev pinter, mike doyle, sonnie trotter, sean mccoll). This sport climb is very hard, proud, and unique. Check out a video here. The Cobra Crack is well known for being the central theme of the best climbing film ever made "First Ascent". In the film you watch Didier Berthod work the line, and Sonnie Trotter get the first ascent. It is arguably the hardest climb in the world (on trad lead). If you haven't seen it, let me tell you that the crux is locking off a one finger undercling finger jam and getting a fingerlock in a heinously flaring and thin crack. Ethan has been working both, and is psyched, motivated, and very very strong.
Speaking of this proud line.. It is kind of on the DL, I guess, but Nico Favresse has gotten the second ascent of the cobra crack! Last week. He must be pretty humble because ethan said, "I was even on the route the next day after he sent and none of the other people at the cliff knew" Well now, we know. Allez Nico! And good luck to Ethan and Dave Macleod (who is also working the capturing line right now).

Ty Landman and Dave Graham are in Europe right now climbing some hard boulder problems. In the last week he has climbed two v14's Radja and New Base Line, and three v13's! Most impressively one of the v13's (Cullinan) he flashed! This puts him in the very small and elite 8B flash club. And yes in case you were wondering he called it soft. along with nearly every problem he logs on his scorecard ;).

Paul Robinson, Daniel Woods, and Lisa Rands and the rest of their crew are nearing the end of their Rocklands venture. Paul writes in his blog that everyday at least someone is sending one of their projects. They all have sent alot, but the two most noteworthy ascents are Lisa's ascent of Nutsa 8A+ (another v12 for Lisa!) and Paul Robinson getting the third ascent of Amandla 8C (v15 fa by Frederic Nicole and second ascent by Tony Lamiche) Lamiche repeated the problem only a week or so before P-Rob, and word has it from a credible source that he walked up to the problem on crutches!

GYM NEWS:

This past weekend Chris Danielson- one of, if not The, most respected routesetters in the nation hosted a routesetting clinic. It was a great time to say the least, very productive and insightful. Thanks Chris.

New climbing holds are on their way, and fresh routes are being put up daily.

The next post will come sooner

WORLD NEWS


There is a four stage bouldering World Cup going on in Europe right now. The last stage completed was in Montauban, France. The next and final stage is to be held in Moscow, Russia. Click here for the most recent results.









Expect some more serious climbing to go down here in the near future... Chris Sharma will be heading to Schleier soon. Tony Lamiche is in Rocklands, South Africa along with Daniel Woods and Paul Robinson who are cleaning up some hard testpieces. And Sean McColl is heading up his Canada crew in Europe.


Adam Ondra just climbed Reality Check 8c+, Gambit 8c+, and onsighted Resistence 8b+/c at the notorious Schleier Wasserfall, Austria. Adam is currently trying to redpoint Open Air, an old Alex Huber (one of the two Huber brothers who now hold the speed record for The Nose)testpiece with zero repeats. Adam has commented that Open Air is "9a+ for sure".












Adam Taylor and Jon Cardwell just repeated The Crew 8C+, which was orignially graded 8C but has suffered many breakages, in Rifle, Colorado, one of the hardest routes there.


LOCAL NEWS
Speaking of Rifle, our very own Alan Moore is currently getting back into route-shape before heading off to Ceuse, France. Alan has climbed two 8Bs including Bride of Frankenstein and Simply Read.

Youth wonderboys Julian and Michael Bautista have both climbed 8B+! After both finishing first at divisionals in Arizona, they made a speedy trip out to Maple Canyon. Julian climbed two 8B+'s (5.14a) including Millenium and Hole Shot.

OTHER NEWS

Perfecto the newst climbing film is an in depth look at Mallorcan Psicobloc featuring Boone Speed, Ethan Pringle, and Katie Brown. Also, Dosage 5 is still being shown at various theatres nationwide.

Speaking of Psicobloc everyone should check out the short, "Nels Rosaasen Life Without A Shirt"

GYM NEWS

Air Conditioning is in! Finally. no but really. it is. Come on in and check it out.

Next Monday (the 14th) is Ladies night. All women climb for free from 6-10. Tell your friends!
And the following monday is another mustache monday. So give it time and let grow.

Good Job Alex Johnson!

WORLD NEWS:

The results are in from the Bouldering World Cup in Vail, Colorado this weekend:

MENS
1. Kilian Fischhuber (Austria)
2. Gabriele Moroni (Italy)
3. Paul Robinson (USA)
4. Gerome Pouvreau (France)

5. Daniel Woods (USA)

WOMENS
1. Alex Johnson (USA)

2. Katharina Saurwein (Austria)

3. Anna Stor (Austria)
4. Tiffany Hensley (USA)
5. Vera Zijlstra (Netherlands)

As you can see, Austria dominated with three out of the six placers, 2 from the U.S. and one from Italy--yes i called it.

Another 5.15 from Chris Sharma. Right before the competition he finished one of the most impressive routes on his list of projects Papichulo 9A+.

Ethan Pringle. Still nursing a bad injury, and just started climbing again around a month ago: Just climbed a 5.14c at Index called "The All Around Routine". Hmm.

LOCAL NEWS:

Our very own Nic Oklobzija, fresh in from Minnesota, tore it up at the Tram this weekend. After crushing every problem on the Vanishing Point boulder, (including Flight of the Osirus v7, Snowblind v8, Vanishing Point v9, and the newly established Vesper v10), he had a first ascent of Vesper SDS v11.

Also Alan Moore another member of the Threshhold staff added a hard problem in the beach on the Blue Flame boulder. Alan added 5 hard moves to the Cackler v9, by climbing it from an obvious sit. Alan is suggesting v10.

GYM NEWS:

Bring a friend for free night is on Monday the 23rd.

Climbing Techniques - Tying In

One essential technique in the world of Rock Climbing is Tying In. It is the term used for attaching the rope to your Climbing Harness. There are several things to take into account when doing this technique in order to ensure your safety.

If you are Leading a climb, or sometimes if you are Belaying, you always need to be tied in. In this section, know some guidelines about the equipment involved in Tying In and learn what knot to use in this technique:

Guidelines - Climbing Harnesses

• As harnesses have different specifications, you should always follow the manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
• A full body harness is recommended especially for very young climbers.
• Sit harnesses can be used in climbing if you are not carrying a backpack. Otherwise, wear a sit harness with a chest harness.

Tie-in Knot - Figure Eight Follow Through
This is the most commonly used tie-in knot.


When completed, the tie-in loop should be about the same size as your abseil loop on your harness. If you want to know more about knots, please go the our Climbing Knots section.

Belay Loop
By tying in, you have created a belay loop. This should always be used to accommodate your Belay Device if necessary - never should the abseil loop on your harness be used for this purpose.


As mentioned above, Tying In is connecting yourself to the rope. Thus, you need to be very careful, especially in tying knots. Know how to tie the required knots correctly to ensure safety.

All New Problems on the High Ball Boulder

Hey guys we are starting our new stripping and setting system. We just completely stripped the High Ball boulder and put up all new routes. Come rip your skin.

nu

Climbing News:
Ethan Pringle. When he was 21 years old, he climbed Realization (5.15a), Bah Bah Black Sheep (5.14d), Esperanza (V14), Goldfish Trombone (v14), the proudest line at the buttermilks--the highball Beautiful and Damned (v13), this is just to name a few... He climbs benchmark routes, he climbs benchmark blocs, and he has a really strong head for scary stuff. In early January of this year he broke his heel falling off the last moves of the "Mandallion" a solid v14 which climbs the sit start into the "Mandala", and finishes on the "Mandala Direct"; this has only been climbed by Paul Robinson. With a bad injury he was only able to take off his cast a few weeks ago. Now, he can finally wear a large Moccasym on his bad foot.. and climb!! This past weekend was his first day climbing outside in 5 months. And he climbed a solid 5.14. off the couch. The route was at Mickey's Beach and is called the Beach Arete. Fellow bay area local Kevin Jorgeson had the first ascent. Ethan may not be climbing any futuristic-hard crazy highballs in the next couple weeks, but expect alot from him in the next few months, from reading his blog it is easy to see he is very determined and is training hard.


BigUp Productions makes the best climbing films. Bar none. Dosage 5 will be premiering next week in Boulder, CO. this is what you can expect in the new film.

• Beth Rodden on Meltdown (5.14c) trad FA in Yosemite which would be awesome by itself. However, there will also be footage of her climbing on other traditional testpieces like The Phoenix (5.13a), Cosmic Debris (5.13b), Peace (5.13c/d) and Book of Hate (5.13d).
• Daniel Woods on the FA of Jade (V15) in RMNP plus Paul Robinson on the second ascent. Several other double digit RMNP problems from Daniel and Paul as well.
• Chris Sharma trying his two possible 5.15b projects in Santa Linya and Siurana, Spain.
• Dani Andrada on his 5.15 route/boulder Ali-Hulk Sentado in Rodellar, Spain.
• Daila Ojeda on 2 5.14s in Santa Linya and Siurana, Spain.
• Patxi Usobiaga on 2 5.14cs in Santa Linya and Margalef, Spain.
• Randy Puro and Tommy Caldwell on new boulders in Yosemite, including the 1st and 2nd ascents of Dogwood (V12), FA of Yabo Roof (V12), FA of Xenophile (V11), 2nd ascent of Tim Clifford’s Park Life (V12) as well as ascents of Drive On (V11) and Kumba (V11).
• Footage from Yangshuo, China featuring Mike Fuselier and Axel Ballay. FA of American Gangster (5.14b) and 2 other 5.14 FAs
• Dave Graham, Ty Landman, Jon Cardwell, Jason Kehl and Chad Greedy in Arkansas. Lost in The Hood (V14) FA, Wood Grain Grippin (V14) FA, many more FAs in the V12-V13 range.
• Jason Kehl and Chris Lindner bouldering in Albarracin, Spain
• “Secrets of the The East” - the unknown gems of New England with Paul Robinson, Matt Bosley and more - FAs of several V10-V14 problems around NY, CT, and MA.
  

get psyched! I know I am. Every dosage has been better than the last. And ThreshHold is working with Josh Lowell to be on the list of venues for the Reel Rock Film Tour...


Bouldering WORLD CUP in AMERICA... The first ever America bouldering World Cup, is being held during the Teva Games in Vail, Colorado. From June 5th-7th. This is huge. Top American competitors include Chris Sharma, Daniel Woods, and Paul Robinson, for the men.. And Lisa Rands, Alex Puccio, and Alex Johnson for the women. It will be very interesting to see how they stack up against the Europeans. My personal favorite for the event is Gabriel Moroni, of Italy.


GYM NEWS:

The Campus Board is up! It will be 100% complete after we get the wood rungs in the mail from metolius on monday. Rest your tendons so you can destroy them next week. Here is a really good article and regime for campus training. Specifically for training for raw finger strength/power. http://moonclimbing.com/SchoolRoom.aspx?ID=18 .
train hard. but be careful.. campus training is advanced training and should be used with seriousness and caution.

Routesetters & Comps

By Susánica Tam - Routesetters are arguably the most important component of readying a venue for a competition. Their experience and knowledge of the sport take center stage during comps when professional climbers step off the mat onto the start holds. A setter’s ability to effectively challenge but also separate a field of talented climbers is crucial to the comp’s success. Armed with plastic, a pocket full of wrenches, and some devious innovation, this close-knit group can choose to push a climber’s flexibility and precision in one problem, or test power and imagination in the next.

Compared to some countries, the United States has fewer internationally-certified setters, but the U.S national level comp-setting crew functions cohesively, frequently fine-tuning and exploring new possibilities of their trade. High-level setting involves rigorous certification processes as well as a sprinkling of skill—apprentice/intern setters are currently required to climb V6 and 5.12 before applying to join the club—and these minimum standards will be increased next year, said Mike Helt of routesetter.com. At the upcoming Vail Teva Mountain games, chief setter Kynan Waggoner and his crew including Mike Moelter, Jamie Emerson and international setter, Korea’s Donghyun Kim will be showcasing their work.

New Line at Stoney Point

Dimitrius Fritz has added a new line at the historical bouldering area Stoney Point. Dimit's line is behind Uma Gumma, on the same boulder. He calls it The old man and the Point, and suggests a rating of v8.

15-year-old Wonder Kid

Adam Ondra, the 15-year-old Czech who has already completed nine 5.14d or harder routes, added perhaps the first and most famous 5.14+ to his resume this week: Action Directe in Germany’s Frankenjura.

On May 19, Ondra redpointed the classic Wolfgang Güllich testpiece, characterized by dynamic moves between tiny limestone pockets. He had thought at first that one dyno on the big overhang might be too powerful for him, but after about 15 tries he stuck the move. Güllich first climbed Action Directe in 1991, two years before Ondra was born. It has been repeated about nine times in the 17 years since.

Ondra had already completed one 5.14d this month in the Frankenjura: Unplugged, the Markus Bock route that Ondra called his hardest send yet, taking five days of effort. Ondra also recently won the bouldering competition at Melloblocco in northern Italy’s Val Masino, a festival that drew more than 4,000 people. Watch the video of Ondra making the first repeat of Antropos (8B/V13) during Melloblocco:

Thresh Hold in Urban Climber Magazine

Well, if you havn't seen it yet...issue #23, we are Uraban Climber's Plastic Paradise of the month. They did a great full page story on us toward the back of the magazine. Please check it out. Also this month in UC check some great coverage for the past ABS comp season. Remember guys, OCT 4th is the first ABS comp of the season right here at Thresh Hold Riverside. Start Training.

Coordination Training to Enhance your Climbing

Written By: Dale Partridge - B.S. Exercise Physiology

There is a lofty amount of science behind the sport of rock climbing that I think most of us rarely tap into. I don't know if its the because of the "scientificness" and the energy put into understanding it may be too much for some to handle. Or if most of the tips out there are just not as applicable as they should be. Regardless of the reason the information is out there. I have been doing a little research on my own for the last few months on the topic of Neuromuscular efficiency. I studied this for about a year in school at the National Academy of Sports Medicine while working on my degree and thought it would be a cool post for a forum.

So here we go hang on tight.

Neuromuscular efficiency is the ability of the neuro-musculo-skeletalsystem to allow agonists (big muscles), antagonists (oposing muscles exe: bicep & tricep), synergists (smaller muscles that help the big muscles), and stabilizers (tiny muscles usually surrounding the joints) to work synergistically (together) to produce force, reduce force, and dynamically stabilize the entire kinetic chain.

Wow! Holy crap what the Hell did that mean?

In more layman's terms... its means coordination. Its how well your muscles, nervous system, and you brain cancommunicate. When it comes to sports whether climbing, baseball, or lawn bowling there is a certain matter of time your neuromuscular system uses to adapt to a certain movement, motion, etc. In climbing we see this all of the time. Example: You're projecting a V7 at the Tram and your first few goes are horrible but after working the moves a few more times you slowly but surely are sticking sections of your project. What is happening here is your neuromuscular system went from speaking English and Spanish to speaking Spanglish. It takes time to warm up if its not trained often.

Now the questions is... What about those climbers who flash hard problems all the time? Well they have awesome neuromuscular efficiency, and they're strong. For the rest of us who aren't flashing problems left and right here are some tips to make the time from your first go to your "send" much faster.Work your hand eye coordination, foot eye coordination, core tension, balance, body stabilization, static movements, dynamics movements.

This type of training takes a little more thought than traditional training regimens as well as the help of some cool out of the ordinary equipment. With my clients I often use a stability ball, airex foam pad, dyna disc, medicine balls, kettle bells, bosu balls, 1/2 foam roll, speed ladders, and floor markers. We have all of this equipment at our gym here in Riverside (Thresh Hold) if you want to ever stop by and try it out just let me know.

There are tons of sites on the topic as well as some articles by some of the smartest people in the world on sports medicine.

Here are some videos that show some cool exercises:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxPgXDGAzeo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJroZI_tYO8

Try throwing it in to your regimen and see if it helps break down your project time. If you ever have any questions feel free to contact me at: dale@climbthreshhold.com

Good Luck

Rock Climbing Summer Camp

Summer Camp... it was always a good memory for most. Personally, I did not get a chance to go to a rock climbing summer camp when I was young. I think its important to focus on the youth to grow the sport and community of rock climbing.

Thresh Hold Riverside will be hosting four one-week long summer camps for kids ranging from 9-16 yrs. Four days indoor and one day outside. If you have anyway of helping us get the word out to the public please get in touch with me at Dale@climbthreshhold.com. Thanks.

En Arche

THE GYM: 

Air Conditioning is coming soon...  In the meantime we are doing our best to keep the air well circulated.  It is better than outside!

LOCAL:  

Hopefully you got a chance to check out Jason Kehl's slideshow last week.  He has been repeating hard classics up at the Tram and at Black Mountain.  If you want to stay posted on his socal chrushage check out his blog. 

Allright, well it's not exactly breaking news... But our very own Alan Moore has recently repeated Dan Mill's "Devil's Dance" (v12)  This is the low start to the popular "Steep Sharma Arete" (seen in the climbing film "Rampage"), here's some footage.

WORLDWIDE:  

Chris Sharma. 

It is hard to know exactly what he is up to without waiting for the next production from BigUp.  He doesn't have a spraysheet and doesn't have a blog.  According to Dani Andrada, Chris is in the Catalunya part of spain.  He has been redpointing and onsighting some hard sport routes, including "Full Equipe" in Oliana, Spain.  He also just recently had the FA of "Victima Perfecta" (9A). What's next?

Paul Robinson. Paul added a one move wonder to the Veritas boulder in RMNP.  He dubbed it "Mendax" and graded it 8B (v13).  Local strongmen Daniel Woods and Jon Cardwell have both already repeated it, both doing the "contrivance" slightly differently, Daniel feels it is an 8A+ and Jon says his way goes at 7c+.

Daniel Woods. His stay in Europe is over, but just before he left he sent his project, a new 8C (v15) in Magic Wood called "In Search of Time Lost".  This is a left exit to Dave Graham's "Left Hand of Darkness" (8a) in the Darkness cave.  

Speaking of Dave.  He recently has badly injured the pulley in his right middle finger, disabling his left hand from crimping.  Yet, in Fontainebleau he was able to find a project not requiring a powerful left hand crimp, and he sent!  Dave's new problem is called "The Island" 8C (v15).  Looks like some crazy compression!  You can check out a short video here. 

RANDOM:  

Case study:  The Mandala.  Probably the most famous boulder problem in the

 world.  The only others that can compare are Midnight Lightning, Karma, and Dreamtime. FA'd by Chris Sharma in 2000. If you have ever seen the climb in person, and then watch the way Chris did it-it is mind-numbing.  The problem had been tried for over 20 years.  Much speculation rose about it's difficulty, many thought it was solid v14, Chris jokingly said it felt like v16, the way he climbed it, it may have been that hard. Dave Graham came along and found a micro-crimp that provided a much more reasonable (human) sequence, and graded it v12.  

Another noticeable ascent, was the recent first female ascent by Lisa Rands, I speculate there won't be another female ascent for some time.  

Tony Lamiche came along and added a low start to the problem, making for one of Bishop's three v14's (next to Edward's "Goldfish Trombone" and Birch's "The Swarm").  For those who can climb 8b+ it is nearly the most sought after boulder problem in the world.  To this day the Mandala SDS has only been repeated by Dave Graham, Daniel Woods, Paul Robinson, Kevin Jorgeson, Shawn Diamond, Matt Birch, Gabriele Moroni, and Sean McColl.  *note Paul robinson climbed the sit into the "Mandala Direct" (straightens out the original exit, also v12, FA: Jeff Sillcox), having the first and only ascent thus far.. he refers to it as "The Mandala Direct Assis".