Rope 6 has just been completed with a final route: 5.12a/b. Chris got the flash F.A.

Today we just set a 20 foot rope-required boulder problem on/under Rope #2. It amounts to three mantel problems stacked one on top of the other. For anyone who isn’t getting enough indoor practice for your upcoming bouldering topouts Here You Be! Rating: 5.10something.

Consensus is that two of Mike’s Coolness Comp problems which were all about displaying his e-grips were rated more stoutly than they really were in the rush to get things ready. “I don’t on-sight V3s” was a typical post comp comment. Or, “I’ve never climbed a V2 until I climbed this!”

A “V3” (starting under rope 12) was changed (3 holds were remo…

Rope 7 was reset just before the Coolness Comp. Hardest route: 5.10a; Route w/ most heelhooks: 5.10a (with 4)

Rope 6 was reset just after the Coolness Comp. Hardest route: 5.10d

Both ropes will see an additional harder route this week.

Note 1: This post was edited on 4/25/08. Today’s update is for clarity and corrects an error in the total climbing time per category.

FFC—Old Town will be hosting a 3-category (Beg/Int/Adv), 5-style (Bouldering/Toprope/Mock-Lead/Lead/Coolness) open climbing comp on Sunday, April 27 sponsored Trango/PMI/e-Grips/Flashed Bouldering (all from Boulder…

One of the Friday Intermediate climbers found a challenging set of holds to call a route on rope 7. The route required the climber to be a little tall—something that was easily addressed later. The route isn’t officially rated, but seems to be falling in around 5.9+/5.10a. There are some very cool bouldery moves on it. And I think we’ve got it wor…

The older 5.12b, the one on Rope #11—the one with one hold, one far far away hold—was given a new life. The hold was turned over 180 degrees. The grip side is now a little better. You still have to do the move and the follow thru. But it should go—still at 5.12b.

I have grown mighty weary of the dry erase marker “system”. Too many accidental erasures from someone resting their big head against the board is the primary culprit. I also feel that six (routes per rope) has become a rut that I need to break out of (you’ll notice eight routes on Rope 1, but they needed to be squeezed in where there really wasn’t …

I threw out a fairly good Week 4 lesson plan slated for this week’s Intermediate Level 1 classes and took a radical new approach to teaching. The result was EVERY Intermediate Level 1 climber advanced at least 2 decimal ratings (typical examples: the 5.7 climbers became 5.9/5.9+ climbers, and the barely 5.8 climbers were rocketing into the 10s—not…

Rope 5 is being reset. Instead of a full tear down we kept Todd’s 5.9+ and my 5.10d up for a few extra days (they seemed worthy). Todd and I used them as rough footprints to set two new routes. So now those old routes are gone/changed. Where there was a 5.9+ we now have a 5.10d, and where there was a 5.10d we now have a 5.12a/b. Big leaps, but the …