Edyta Ropek, athlete supported by Five Ten, will take part in prestigious World Games competitions, which will take place in late July and early August in Cali, Colombia. Champion of speed climbing is awarded a qualification from the International Federation of Sport Climbing. 

Sasha DiGiulian’s name is bound to ring a bell with just about anyone who has grazed the edges of the climbing scene in the past two years. With her groundbreaking tick-list of 5.14d redpoints and 5.14 onsights, coupled by a brutal competition year (for her competitors that is), Sasha’s last years in the climbing arena has put her pro-climbing career in full swing. Her poster girl image has gone beyond the climbing mags and graced the pages of more traditional media outlets like Vogue Magazine and The Washington Post. Sasha graciously “took five” with me amidst her new and...

This is my third competition of the season. There were 63 climbers in the open category. This time the foreign climbers came from Toronto, New Brunswick and U.S.A. I met a very nice man, Josh Larson, who is on the U.S.A. climbing team.The competition had 50 problems for the qualifying round. The qualifying round was hard because the level of the climbers was higher than the last competition. I was amazed to flash problem 50 and this made me very pleased with the qualifying round. After three hours of climbing, I completed six problems beyond problem 41. This score...

Since I got back from the USA the time has flown by. October was a month of daydreaming that we had started our trip to the RRG a month later as I witnessed, from afar, just what the cutting edge climbers can do with lots of time and lots of good conditions. Back here in Scotland I have been busy and ill in about equal doses. Though the schedule all involves climbing, it is amazing how little climbing it leaves you time for yourself. The playful fun of coaching the TCA Glasgow Youth...

The competition season has arrived. I have decided to do five competitions. The first one was in Montreal at the gym Allez Up. There was a large number of participants. I think it was the biggest competition in the last two years or even more. In the open category there were 102 competitors. This is a huge number and the gym Allez Up managed it with no trouble. I saw some climber friends from Toronto, kingston and Ottawa. It is always nice to spend time with your friends while you climb.The competition had 60 problems for the qualifying round....

I’m two comps into the season so far and have done a lot of learning so far (or at least I feel I have, hopefully the lessons stick). It’s quite different having comps start this early for those of us in Western Canada. Typically at this point, we’ve only had 1-2 fun comps. Mentally, I don’t think I’ve been quite ready for it but the plus to that is that I haven’t focused so much on my week leading up to comp routine/prep. I’ve been able to pinpoint a few things that work for me and a few that...