http://fiveten.com/ http://fiveten.com/images/stories/NewBox_black.png http://fiveten.com/ http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14079-regionalization-ellis-whitson http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14079-regionalization-ellis-whitson This past weekend the USA Climbing Regional Championships took place around the nation at a host of different climbing gyms. This year Earth Treks (Rockville) hosted the Capital Region championships with over 100 athletes vying for invitations to the Division 5 championships in Watertown, MA this June. A number of people had expressed interest in what it took to put together and pull off this competition, I’d like to take the opportunity to recap the preparation and route setting that lead up to and through the event.  ]]> Thu, 16 May 2013 04:37:00 -0400 14079 2013-05-16 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_regionalsprep01-1368679075.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_teamet2013-1368679075.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_regionalsprep02-1368679075.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_regionalsprep03-1368679075.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_regionalsprep04-1368679075.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14078-spring-in-colorado-angela-payne http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14078-spring-in-colorado-angela-payne After some unseasonably snowy weather, Spring has finally come to Colorado!  I have been trying to take advantage of the mostly gorgeous weather to get outside and climb.  I have been working at a new job recently, and I am finding that when I do have time to climb, I am much more motivated to do so.  As a result, I have actually managed to get some great climbing done over the past few months.   ]]> Wed, 15 May 2013 04:24:00 -0400 14078 2013-05-15 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_hug-right-1368591882.JPG http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_meagan-martin-on-authentic-battle-damage-1368591883.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_tetris-1368591884.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14076-cinco-de-marmot-alex-fritz http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14076-cinco-de-marmot-alex-fritz Shannon and I spent the Cinco de Mayo weekend down at Smith Rock helping out Yukon Trading Company at their annual Cinco de Marmot event. Yukon puts on the event every year for big outdoor retailer companies like REI employees to come out and enjoy a few days testing out some Marmot gear and getting to try some rock climbing at one of the most historical sport climbing locations in the world. Shannon and I played rope gun and spent the day putting up some top ropes and belaying the retail employees so they can get some taste of... ]]> Tue, 14 May 2013 03:24:00 -0400 14076 2013-05-14 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_mirko-caballero-rude-boys-660-1368501899.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14075-yes-austin-is-weird-nicholas-milburn http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14075-yes-austin-is-weird-nicholas-milburn I think I will just write a quick blurb about my adventures last weekend. Brendan Mitchell, a recent addition to the Brand of the Brave, told me he was going to be in Austin for his dad's (Bruce) 50th birthday and that I should join him so we can climb together. I jumped at the idea. Tiffany Murphy and Sam Rothstein also drove down from Dallas and we meet up with Joe Gifford who lives in Austin. We all arrived at different times, so I ate dinner with Brendan and his family at this super nice golf... ]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 23:02:00 -0400 14075 2013-05-13 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_lime-1-of-3-1368486130.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_lime-2-of-3-1368486130.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_lime-3-of-3-1368486130.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14072-back-in-the-game-adam-pustelnik http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14072-back-in-the-game-adam-pustelnik Well it ain't gonna be too much but just wanted to share some good vibes of coming back to the game of climbing, and this time full time. So there's been the accident on Naranjo with Nico. Then a lot of recovery at different hospitals (not to mention runing out of them for climbing). After came the competition including last years World Championships in Paris. Then some more hospitals. And since now things look quite straight foreward got more motivation to share it with you. Soo If you feel like enjoy the photos form Alex Raczyński form... ]]> Thu, 09 May 2013 21:31:00 -0400 14072 2013-05-09 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_labaczek-adas-karola-1368135072.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_labaczek-adas-karola-9-1368135072.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_labaczek-adas-karola-2-1368135073.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_labaczek-adas-karola-9-1368135073.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_labaczek-adas-karola-5-1368135073.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_labaczek-adas-karola-10-1368135074.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_labaczek-adas-karola-6-1368135074.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14066-new-project-new-obsession-andrea-cartas http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14066-new-project-new-obsession-andrea-cartas After I finish my classes like climbing guide, we travel to Andalucía to find new projects and share good days with friends. Destiny: Jaén, route: Anita,8b+, an old 8c now 8b+ hard and beatiful, with power moves, tufas and steep funny climb. In only tree tries I'm in love with this route...now I hope to come back again in two weeks and try to do it!! It has been a fantastic four days climbing with some of the bests climbers in Spain (Dani andrada and Luis Alfonso Felix, who did 3 Satellites, 8c+) and definitely the best... ]]> Tue, 07 May 2013 08:52:00 -0400 14066 2013-05-07 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14066_dragon-1367916965.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_20130422-151515-1367916740.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14064-ccs-nationals-francesca-metcalf http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14064-ccs-nationals-francesca-metcalf It’s been a pretty busy end of the semester, but finally, I’m finished with finals and able to focus on climbing a bit more. This summer will hopefully be filled with a whole ton of climbing trips and a few competitions in there too. A few weeks ago was CCS Nationals in Melbourne, FL, which was the biggest competition I had done in a few months. This was my second time competing at CCS Nationals, and again, it was probably my favorite competition of the year. This year was even more awesome than last year though because we... ]]> Mon, 06 May 2013 01:04:00 -0400 14064 2013-05-06 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_podium-1367802249.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_group-1367802250.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_finish-1367802250.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14063-trying-to-train-in-joes-valley-flannery-shay-nemirow http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14063-trying-to-train-in-joes-valley-flannery-shay-nemirow I'm in Joe's Valley, Utah, for the second time this month. Shannon is making breakfast in the van (sausage, eggs and broccoli). I've got a hot cup of coffee and the air is crisp and clear. If I weren't in such poor physical shape, today would probably turn out to be a fantastic climbing day. ]]> Mon, 06 May 2013 00:26:00 -0400 14063 2013-05-06 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_2013-04-19-15-54-40-1367799965.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_2013-04-19-16-18-31-1367799965.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_2013-04-25-11-13-05-1367799966.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14062-exponential-challenge-day-5-and-6-benjamin-rueck http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14062-exponential-challenge-day-5-and-6-benjamin-rueck Rifle! Rifle! I love Rifle! Yeah! These were the thoughts of a simple mind at this point... I was tired and worked beyond all reason.... but hey it was going to be an incredibly fun day getting 16 pitches of limestone in before noon. At least that was the goal... the sooner the pitches were completed the sooner Rob and I could head over to Front Range of Colorado and rest for the impending doom of Clear Creek and eventually Shelf Road. Pulling into Rifle Mountain Park my immediate excitement went away... ]]> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:25:00 -0400 14062 2013-05-05 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14062_john-dickey-1367947747.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14062_john-dickey-2-1367947749.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14059-le-tour-de-front-range-part-one-emily-dudley http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14059-le-tour-de-front-range-part-one-emily-dudley As I write, it’s snowing. This past weekend it was almost 80 degrees. I don’t envy Colorado meteorologists. Like typical Colorado, the weather has been fluctuating between sunny at 75 degrees and 19 degrees with two feet of snow. In between spring snow storms I’ve been searching out dry areas to climb. By sticking close to home I have lucked out and been able to climb despite the massive snow fall we’ve been experiencing. Fortunately, close to home crags include: RMNP, Elkland, Red Feather Lakes, Horsetooth, Poudre Canyon, and Carter Lake.  ]]> Thu, 02 May 2013 03:52:00 -0400 14059 2013-05-02 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_red-feather-1367466720.jpeg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14056-pure-imagination-complete-brad-weaver http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14056-pure-imagination-complete-brad-weaver I’ve managed to make it back up to the Red River Gorge the last couple weekends. Last time I checked in via my little blog post I said that I had been trying a route at the Chocolate Factory called Pure Imagination 5.14c. To recap my previous post, I found out after my first couple of attempts that the route is HARD! Small tic-tac moves on small holds was a style I used to excel at. Now, however, this style of climbing feels strange. It took me a few tries for my body to start to remember how... ]]> Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:43:00 -0400 14056 2013-04-30 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_photo-1-1367347439.JPG http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_photo2-1367347439.JPG http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14055-sot-del-bac-opening-new-routes-in-a-wall-of-cracks-ferran-guerrero-hervas http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14055-sot-del-bac-opening-new-routes-in-a-wall-of-cracks-ferran-guerrero-hervas The Sot del Bac is one of those places that I have a special affection and always surprises you, the chances of forcing free itineraries, you can unleash the imagination climbing is immense, itineraries steeped in history, this school has been the school learning of many generations, hence the chaos that may seem at first glance on their routes, here is learning to climb, curious this last, as it is of the few places in the peninsula that his rock is the same as in the Dolomites where many were initiated here to transfer their knowledge to the great... ]]> Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:27:00 -0400 14055 2013-04-30 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14055_fisura-arlet-6a-01-1368113893.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14055_fisura-arlet-6a-02-1368113893.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14055_fisura-arlet-6a-05-1368113893.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14055_fisura-arlet-6a-07-1368113893.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14055_paret-de-les-fissures-1368113894.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14055_sot-del-bac-agulla-del-salt-cara-est-y-papallona-2013-1368113894.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14054-vegas-baby-aicacia-young http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14054-vegas-baby-aicacia-young A couple weeks ago, I made the spontaneous decision to travel to Las Vegas for some climbing. I had never climbed near Las Vegas, but Red Rock was high on my climbing bucket list. I climbed for a couple days in Red Rock Canyon and Mount Charleston, which were complete opposites in terms of the atmosphere. Red Rocks offered beautifully sculpted sandstone, huge huecos, warm sunshine, and plenty of fellow climbers. Mt. Charleston, on the other hand, provided pristine limestone, tiny textured holds, brisk winds, and peaceful solitude. I climbed routes all over the spectrum at Red Rocks, but... ]]> Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:01:00 -0400 14054 2013-04-30 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_imag4041-1367294480.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_p4230068-1367294480.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_p4230064-1367294482.JPG http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14053-its-a-progression-nicholas-milburn http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14053-its-a-progression-nicholas-milburn Two days of epics in the Ozarks. Who would have thought so much adventure could happen in such a short amount of time? After all this was just a spur of the moment kind of thing. At least for me it was. After the Capital City Crux competition in Austin some of the Dallas crew were talking about Arkansas. I was excited about my weekend of nothing when they invited me to come with them. Going to Arkansas to test myself against that sweet sandstone sounded much more fun than doing nothing at home. After convincing... ]]> Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:02:00 -0400 14053 2013-04-30 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_stone-27-of-34-1367283763.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_stone-20-of-34-1367283763.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_stone-9-of-34-1367283763.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_stone-6-of-34-1367283763.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_stone-13-of-34-1367283763.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_stone-3-of-34-1367283764.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_stone-16-of-34-1367283764.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14050-springtime-in-northern-california-will-roderick http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14050-springtime-in-northern-california-will-roderick With spring under way, the weather has been great in Northern California, and so I’ve had the chance to climb outside more often. Over spring break, I went back to Castle Rock with some friends from home and finished some problems that I hadn’t previously done. School started soon after that, and then came CCS regionals in Reno, Nevada. It was great to have about 10 people from the Stanford team compete and the whole trip was a lot of fun. There was a bouldering/sport climbing competition as well as a speed competition – it was pretty... ]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 03:53:00 -0400 14050 2013-04-29 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_will-roderick-1-1367207620.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_will-roderick-2-1367207620.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_will-roderick-3-1367207620.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_will-roderick-4-1367207621.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14049-leavenworth-clean-up-alex-fritz http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14049-leavenworth-clean-up-alex-fritz My mom drove me out to Leavenworth today for the Leavenworth Mountain Associations clean-up event! There was a surprisingly good turn out for the day and I was psyched to see so many people willing to help keep one of Washington's most well-known and biggest crags clean. My mom and I did a little cleaning, but I spent most of the day doing a FiveTen shoe demo at the 8-mile campground for those of who were helping out. I like doing demos because it's pretty cool helping people finding the right shoe for their feet, or making recommendations based... ]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 01:26:00 -0400 14049 2013-04-29 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_img-20130427-211757-1367198766.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_img-20130427-134910-1367198766.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_img-20130427-131839-1367198766.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_img-20130427-193631-1367198766.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14047-hueco-spring-break-kyle-francis http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14047-hueco-spring-break-kyle-francis Obviously I’m pretty late on this, but my latest trip to Hueco was awesome! I got to get on a bunch of climbs that I have always seen, but never been able to even touch, this time though, it was different. We had four days of climbing and the trip had about 10 people, all over the age of 15, needless to say, things always got out of hand, and very fast. The trip was awkward though, with climbers who maxed at V5-V12, all on one tour, thus making everyone compromise at all times. This was fun though, as... ]]> Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:08:00 -0400 14047 2013-04-28 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_martini-left-1367186916.JPG http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_car-insta-1367186916.JPG http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14045-exponential-challenge-day-4-benjamin-rueck http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14045-exponential-challenge-day-4-benjamin-rueck I decided that The Power of Two at this point seemed a little off-key.  The title doesn’t really matter that much… but by Day 4 the power was out of the equation for me… and it turned into just challenging!  Without further explanation for the title change let the saga continue: ]]> Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:49:00 -0400 14045 2013-04-28 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14045_413-1367426274.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14045_iphone-160-1367426275.jpg http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14044-road-trip-to-joes-valley-greig-seitz http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14044-road-trip-to-joes-valley-greig-seitz Recently, I made a long trip to Joe's Valley. I was down there for just over a week. During this trip, I didn't have a goal in mind. I was trying to have low expectations. I knew if my expectations weren't high, I wouldn't be disappointed with the outcome, regardless of how it went.I was there for a total of eight days. Three of these days were rest days. My trip felt very short while I was there. Time flies when you're climbing in Joe's Valley. It's hard to make trips to... ]]> Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:06:00 -0400 14044 2013-04-26 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_photo-1-1366996002.PNG http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_photo-2-1366996003.PNG http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_photo-1366996003.JPG http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/_photo-1366996003.PNG http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14043-getting-gnarly-mayan-smith-gobat http://fiveten.com/community/blog-detail/14043-getting-gnarly-mayan-smith-gobat Like I mentioned… My focus over the last few months has been on training. My goal for this winter was to learn how to train. I felt that this would make the biggest difference to my climbing, because power is my greatest weakness and I have never really dedicated any time to training… Thanks to my amazing friend and climbing/training partner, Ben Rueck who welcomed me into his world, I have had the chance to get to know and train with Rob Pizem and the crew at Grand Junction Climbing Center. This time spent here in Grand... ]]> Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:59:00 -0400 14043 2013-04-25 http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14043_img-2097-1367249973.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14043_893487-10151369885293341-1690676910-o-1367249974.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14043_photo-3-1367249974.jpg http://fiveten.com/images/stories/jreviews/14043_gnarly-logo-copy-1367249974.jpg