Growing up in Wisconsin left me a pretty rockless rock climber, and as much as the purebred outdoor climbers hate to admit it--thank God for climbing gyms!

I was lucky enough to have a great gym pretty close to my hometown. When I make my brief stops back at home, I love heading back into the since-remodeled, Nicros-owned Vertical Endeavors in St. Paul, Minnesota, so when I heard they were planning on opening another gym in the Twin Cities area I couldn't wait to see what they had planned!

Here's a great video of a fall from the main wall shot by Ben Mueller:

That day finally came this past weekend at the Grand Opening Celebration of Vertical Endeavors Minneapolis, and all I have to say is: BIG!! I was at the event representing Nicros, who built the gym, and Five Ten, giving a shoe demo. I had a lot of fun hanging out, signing posters giving away raffle prizes and climbing. The 60-foot lead walls are the feature attraction and I was given the opportunity of demonstrating "whippers" to hundreds of non-climbers and grannies. I just love hearing them gasp and squeal!

The next day I packed up and drove west. I'm sitting in Colorado right now, and very soon I'm heading out to Joe's Valley for a few weeks. I hope the weather warms up a bit!