Edgeworks Climbing Newsletter
March 2008
In this issue...
 
 

2007 T-Town Challenge
 
  2008 T-Town Challenge
4th Annual T-Town Challenge
Date: April 5th, Saturday
Session A (Female): 11:00am
Session B (Male): 2:00pm
Speed Comp: 5:15pm
Important Note!: Competitors and Coaches must check into iso on time! Check schedule for iso check in times prior to comp.
Click Here! for information and registration!
  2008 T-Town Challenge  
 
     

Edgeworks Climbers at Joshua Tree
 
  Austin, James, Brett and Mark  
Austin, James, Brett and Mark
By Edgeworks Member - Mark Webster
Our Edgeworks trip to Joshua Tree was conceived in November when I posted a "Christmas at Joshua Tree", note on the edgeworksclimbing.com forum. Brett responded immediately from Montana, and Austin from Tacoma not long after that.

I'd never met either climber but arranged to meet Austin that week at the gym. As soon as we shook hands, I realized I had seen him around the gym for months. We soon became regular leading partners at the gym and I began to believe the trip would take off, but we needed someone with a bigger car.

I sent an email to Mindy from the Tacoma Mountaineers about the trip and she forwarded it out to all the Tacoma members. Soon we heard from James, a very experienced climber, who had the required 1986 Dodge Caravan, which he called: "Flipper", because, as James said, "it's a dirty gray color, and it has a tendency to flip over".

  Mark following Brett up Pinched Rib  
Mark following Brett up Pinched Rib

We met a few times at the gym getting to know each other and had a great time. We met Brett on the evening of the 16th, loaded up Flipper and hit the road. We did the trip down in 26 hours, though it would have been faster had Flipper not blown a radiator.

I knew it was going to be an entertaining drive down when I noticed Flipper's rear lift gate door had to be supported with a broom handle. All the side doors made ominous creaking and snapping sounds when opened, and both the gas gauge and speedometer were broken. By placing Austin's GPS on the dash and waiting 5 minutes, we could sort of establish our speed, and the gas gauge low fuel light would blink on when we had 40 miles left. It was a classical example of the dirt-bag climbers car.

We started our trip with a few moderate climbs around Hidden Valley campground. We taught Austin to lead trad on the first day and he was soon leading cracks with confidence. Joshua Tree ratings are what is known as "old school" ratings. A 5.8 crack can feel like a 5.10b if your crack climbing skills are rusty. The bolts on most of the routes are disturbingly far apart. I remember leading a 5.9 that had normal spacing of about 8 to 12 feet on the hard section, but up where it eased off to easier (though still tricky) 5.8 friction, the bolts were 30 feet apart. I got thoroughly gripped on that one and had to hang at the bolt until I could wrap my mind around the possibility of taking a 60 foot screamer.

We continued to climb around the Hidden Valley campground area for the next couple weeks, slowly working out the rust in our climbing skills. The gym is great for making friends and keeping your fingers strong, and the leading there is good for the head, but climbing outside is another ball game entirely. Still, we were loving every minute of it and gradually worked our way onto some harder climbing.

  Brett leading Dappled Mare (5.8)  
Brett leading Dappled Mare (5.8)

We woke up to high winds one day and headed down to Indian Cove Campground which is a thousand feet lower and protected from the winds. There is some beautiful climbing down there, and even some multi pitch routes. My favorite lead at Indian Cove is a deceptively hard 5.7 called Duchess Right.

When you look at it from the bottom, it appears to be a straight forward 60 foot fist jam problem. James tried it first and had the good sense to back off after placing my number 2 Big Bro. I think of myself as an experienced off width climber but that crack was horrible. I found I could hold on well enough to not fall out of it, but there was no way to move up. I tried my entire bag of tricks including heel-toe jams, chicken wings and hip jams but nothing worked...I couldn't even move half an inch past the crux.

Finally I tried stacking two fist jams one on top of the other to span the seven inch crack. To my amazement, I was able to do a pull up on the stacked fist jams, wiggle my hips free, do a crunch, wedge my right hip back in and raise the double fist jam. There wasn't any pro of course as I only had the one Big Bro, but after 15 feet I got in a micro cam and was able to finish the route.

The parties around the campfires in Joshua Tree are almost worth the drive all by themselves. During our second week we were sitting in camp over breakfast and bemoaning the fact that there were very few women climbers around. We felt like a bunch of gold miners up in the Yukon, starved for the site of a real, live woman. Almost as if in answer to our dreams, two lively young women walked up and asked if we knew Andrew, who was our neighbor.

  Party Down  
Party Down

They promised to come back that night with a guitar, a violin and another guitarist named Tucker who was traveling with them. They turned out to be very good musicians. So good in fact that we formed a band that night: two guitars, a violin and me on the blues harmonica. After a couple rehearsals around the next few campfires we took our band on the road down to site 16 where there was a huge campfire, a sweat lodge and 24 bundles of wood.

The crowd loved having a live band, and we enjoyed the heck out of entertaining them. During a break, we heard the sweat lodge was having a ladies only hour, and our two new friends (Amy and Jessica) left while Austin, Tucker and I took a break and enjoyed the fire and starlight.

An hour later, I noticed a commotion at the door to the sweat lodge and turned to see Austin, starkers except for a small towel held in his hand, turning in the light of 20 headlamps for the cheering crowd.

I asked him later how he ended up in the sweat lodge during the ladies hour and he just smiled...the guy has all the luck.

After we met the girls and Tucker, we began climbing with them every day, they were a ton of fun to hang out with. We've stayed in touch with Jessica and her friends from Portland after we returned to Tacoma.

Jessica, Austin, Paul, Richard and I re-united down at Smith Rocks over Presidents day and had a great time. It's fun how we have built a little community of friends at Edgeworks and it gets bigger all the time. I used to go in there and know maybe one or two people, but now I see people I know in there all the time.

Kudos to all the employees at Edgeworks for running a great facility!

For more pictures and the complete story (click here)!

 
     
Edgeworks Team 9th & 28th at Nationals!  
  2008 ABS National Championships  
 

Congrats to Billy Beggs and Larkin Flodin of the Edgeworks Climbing Team! They climbed hard at nationals in Boulder.

 
  ABS National Rankings
9th
- Billy Beggs
- Youth D
28th - Larkin Flodin
- Youth B

 
  These guys are climbing hard and are 9th and 28th in the nation. It doesn't get much better than being nationally ranked.  
  Congrats to Coach Mike Kimmel too for the great job he's done with the Edgeworks Climbing Team.  
   

Edgeworks Climbing School
 
  Edgeworks Climbing School  

Edgeworks Climbing School

Edgeworks Climbing School offers professional instruction for all levels of climbing. Whether you are just starting out and want to learn the basics, or you've been climbing for years and you want to learn technical outdoor rock skills, Edgeworks Climbing School will help take you to the next level.

With each series of classes the curriculums are designed to progress you through each level of climbing quickly.

 
Learn the essential skills
 
Advanced technical skills
 
Master outdoor skills
 
Learn crevasse rescue
 
Train to climb hard!
 
Cater your instruction to you

Edgeworks members receive a 15% discount on all classes!

   
 
Junior Climbing Program 3-6  
 

An ongoing, quality climbing experience for climbers ages 3-6 years old. The Junior Climbing Program 3-6 offers an active curriculum taught by our professional, experienced staff in a safe indoor setting with high instructor to climber ratios. Our Junior Climbing Program builds a foundation for strong, fit, motivated, goal oriented kids and the climbing is just plain fun!

 
  Benefits:
* Climb regularly with other kids
* Daily curriculum includes climbing games and activities
* Learn basic climbing skills
* High instructor to climber ratios
* Safe, fun and fit activities taught by professional instructors

 
  Details:
* Duration: 2 Sessions per Week
* Dates: Tue/Thu 3:00pm - 4:00pm
* Prerequisites: Ages 3-6 years
No Experience Necessary
* Cost: $79/month
 
  Junior Climbing Program 3-6  

  Edgeworks Military Night  
  Edgeworks Military Night
 

Edgeworks salutes our military with a night of climbing just for you! Bring yourself, bring your crew, bring your whole squadron! Show your military ID and get your Day Pass at a discounted rate!

 
  Benefits:
* Climb at a discounted rate!
* Do something fun with your friends
* Meet new and active friends
* Get a great workout
* Learn to climb hard!
 
 
Details:
* Dates: Every 4th Friday of the month
* Times: 5:00pm - 10:00pm
* Cost: $9 Day Pass (Regularly $15)
 

High School Night!
 
 
Edgeworks supports the local youth through monthly High School Nights! Get in at a REDUCED RATE, rentals are FREE and get a FREE Knots and Belaying 101 class.
 
 
Event Details:
* $10 Day Pass
* Student Gear Rentals - FREE!!
* Knots and Belaying 101 class - FREE!!
* Must present valid Student ID
* Liability Waiver must signed by parent

 
 
* Wilson High School - Friday, March 7th, 7-9pm
* Emerald Ridge High School - Friday, March 14th, 7-9pm
 
 
Edgeworks is seeking School Reps; if you don't see your high school listed, contact Margaret Chang at Edgeworks to set up a monthly high school night for your school!
 
   

  New Routes!  
 
New Routes
 
Edgeworks has set over 90 new routes since February 1st; we've been very busy setting new routes for you! Happy climbing!
 
 
Here's a sample of some of the best routes in the gym:
Top Rope 36: 5.8 Public Enemy
A slab route that teaches new techniques!
Top Rope 30: 5.10+ Dramatic Gopher
Fun archway start then stem the corner.
Top Rope 36: 5.11- Jefferson Twilight Blackula Hunter
Techy slopey slabs. Give it a try!
Top Rope 18: 5.12- Cool Hand Luke
A great project for your first 12.
Lead G: 5.10+ Saul Goode
The holds just keep getting smaller!
Boulder B4: V0+ My Kids Pull Harder Than Yours
Fun movement through the roof!
Boulder B2: V2 6+Army
Traverse the arch then power to the top out.
Boulder B2: V4 Ill Fated Adventure
  Great long roof route to a slopey feature.
Boulder B5: V6 Candiru
  Fun techy 6 to a big through on the nose.
Boulder B1: V10 The Perfect Pain
  Still trying to figure this one out? It's hard!
 

This Month at Edgeworks!
 
Days are longer, the rain warmer, and snow lines retreating. It's time to get outside. Check out our new and exciting Climbing School Courses: Edge Rock for beginners, Hard Rock for the intermediate, and Master Rock for exploring the vertical backcountry.
For our full schedule of this months calendar (click here)!
 
  Hard Rock Climbing School
Do you want to climb outside this spring? Check out our Hard Rock Climbing School. Learn to lead climb and set up sport climbing anchors. Smoothly transition outside by signing up for Outdoor Climbing with one of our experienced staff instructors.
For information and pricing (click here).
 
  Crevasse Rescue Class
Want to climb some volcanoes? Prepare yourself for glacier travel this winter. Continuing this month we are offering crevasse rescue on the second Friday of each month.
(click here) for more details.
 
 

Edge Yoga
As you prepare for climbing outside this spring, remember to stretch out those muscles, build your focus, and keep breathing. Edge yoga helps build balance, core strength, focus, and flexibility (mental and physical). Offered 7 days a week.
(click here) for more details.

 
 
Women's Night - 5-10pm, Friday, March 7th
Ladies - Come on in and climb, after 5pm at a discounted rate. Meet lots of new friends and climb hard with old friends. $9 Day Pass. First Friday of each month.
 
 
College Night - 5-10pm, Friday, March 14th
Seeking a higher education? Let off some steam and join other students for an evening of climbing at a discounted rate. Day passes are $9 with a valid Washington State College ID (24 years and younger only). Second Friday of each month.
 
 
Family Night - 5-10pm, Friday, March 21th
Bring the whole family and meet other climbing families! First adult family member pays full price ($15 day pass), additional family members pay $5. Third Friday of each month.
 
 
Military Night - 5-10pm, Friday, March 28th
Edgeworks salutes our active military with a night of climbing just for you! Day passes are $9 with a valid Military ID. Fourth Friday of each month.
 

Edgeworks Climbing - 6102 N 9th Street #200, Tacoma, WA 98406
www.edgeworksclimbing.com - 253-564-4899
 

This email has been sent to you from climb@edgeworksclimbing.com

You are receiving this email because you or a family member are a customer of Edgeworks Climbing
or have subscribed to our newsletter at edgeworksclimbing.com
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, click here.