Last weekend I was invited to a small gym in Wichita, Kansas to set a small bouldering comp and for some coaching. I took off early Friday morning. I was particularly worked from setting for an ABS comp the day before in Fort Collins and a week of hard work at the gym + recovering from a bout of food poisoning in Hueco…excuses… However, Ryan Sewell, fellow setter and coworker at Movement is perpetually psyched on making things happen. I know a lot of people are like this, but Ryan really, really wants to get things done. Thus, I was inspired and we hauled out to Kansas. No problem! Its been the new motto…
Once we arrived Caleb Kortje and his father David greeted us at the Kansas Cliff Club. They showed us the bouldering room and the rest of the gym. Normally we planned on inspecting the wall, organizing some holds and problems and calling it a night but since we were wired from the drive we decided to start setting. No problem!
The next morning the crew woke up early and Caleb drove us the gym. Caleb and his father along with a couple friends hung out at the wall all day to watch us set. Every once in a while they would chime and ask questions about climbing or setting. The questions were always genuine and it was refreshing to be there to answer. Sometimes its nice to venture out of Boulder, a place where generally everyone ‘knows it all’... These guys were psyched and they wanted to learn and watch. After 8 hours of setting Sewell and I had 37 problems up and it was time to forerun. We invited Caleb and David to join us and we spent a good amount of the night bouldering, talking about climbing and laughing. Good times in Wichita…No problem!
The next morning Sewell was out early to visit his family in Texas and I spent a few hours with Caleb bouldering and going over comp/training strategies. It’s been great coaching and I cant help but reminisce on my past experience as a climber and competitor. It’s humbling and something I don’t thing I will ever loose touch of. Soon after, I was off. I said goodbye and thanks for the great time and hospitality. 9 hours back to Colorado, a new motivation. No problem!
Thanks for everything Kansas! Until next time…