Grand Valley Climbing Gym Update! Opens Sept 13!!!!

Contact Piz at pizem@hotmail.com for Motivational/Instructional/Entertaining Speaking Engagements, Climbing Instruction, Training and Weekly/Monthly Training Programs

Until then... Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: www.arcteryx.com www.camp-usa.com www.scarpa.com www.sterlingrope.com www.americanalpineclub.org www.brewersledge.com  

 The gym from the outside. A new building designed for the gym, not the other way around like most older gyms. The heating, air conditioning and environment was designed to be pleasant and easy to move around in, in addition to allowing the members to see what their friends are doing!

 After entering the gym, this wall will be on your right. At 44ft tall, it has been designed to be a great place for beginners and intermediate climbers learn to top rope and lead. Most of the wall is lower angle and vertical with some minor features accenting the climbing. There are about 20 top ropes that will be set which will keep everyone climbing and happy, even at the busiest times!

 Still some construction going on (actually they are moving out the tools to build the walls because they are all done. Now it is time to install the state of the art Asana flooring system which will make climbing in the bouldering area worry free! Notice the free standing boulder behind the tools. It is large and in charge with great angles to climb on!

 More of the bouldering area. The walls are over 10 ft tall which allows the routes to be more than 2-3 moves long! Again, the area was designed with big sweeping clean angles to allow for lots of variety in the setting. There is plenty of overhanging and vertical terrain to please everyone.

 Boom! The pit at 50 ft tall (plus overhang distance). We have 40 routes up and will keep putting more on the walls. I had a chance to try some of the climbs in addition to setting a few and the wall just keeps going. It is a nice place to work on technique, endurance, leading and even falling! Notice the 10 +ft tall ladder in the lower right of the photo.

 More of the pit. There are routes of all grades and styles on these beautiful walls.

 This is how you access the pit. There are cubbies for your bags. Notice the lighting, there are no dark spots in this gym.

 Again the rest of the pit. This wall is slightly overhanging to vertical and will allow some cool techy routes to be set.       

Snow Days

filing my hinge for smooth operation.

Making the intial measurements before making the cuts.

These are what we started with. Pieces of pine.

Dave and Ali on Halloween Eve. I mean Ron and Veronica!

Our house with lots of snow!

Last week we had a late October snow storm adn for my district, three snow days in a row!
I was able to rest, sleep in, clean the house, train for climbing and spend time with my wife.

It was a wonderful unanticipated break that will not be forgotten. I was able to build a garbage box for my house and work on my power at the local climbing gyms.

Jane and I also watched the movie Drag Me to Hell with some friends on Halloween Eve.

Climbing Tip Number Two

Fall may be upon us and the temperatures may be getting cooler, but even though the outdoor conditions are getting better for sticking to the rock, they may become a bit more unstable.

My second tip involves reminding you that when it's tough to get outside and you find yourself pulling on plastic, there are a couple things you should remember:

1. Your outdoor shoe may not be the best for indoor climbing. (ask a gym/shop employee to recommend a shoe that will be better for the style of the gym or home wall that you are climbing on)

2. Make sure that you climb inside just like you climb outside. Repeat your outdoor habits indoors, so your body will remember what your supposed to do and not get mixed up. (example of what not to do: if you are a slow and thoughtful climber outside, don't practice climbing as fast as you can on toprope. (It doesn't help you improve your technique or muscle memory or heart rate; it just makes you tired and ingrains climbing fast which is not what you want.)

3.Use the gym to practice some of the skills/movements that you have trouble on outside. That way you will build a better base for growth and development of your skill set for the future. Practice those things that you are not good at and accept that you will fail at completing them at the beginning and have faith that you will master them in a few weeks/months.