WEEKEND WITH PARADOX SPORTS

Last month I had the opportunity to be part of the Paradox Sports weekend that took place as every year in Ouray. We had the chance to climb all weekend long. Climbers with out legs, arms and even on wheelchair climb all day long. It was a total honor for me to be part of of that great event and be able to help as much as I could. They are a total inspiration for me. It helps me to remember that even when I have bad days I do have 100% great health, all my fingers, toes, arms and legs.
The energy of the weekend was awesome talking about good actitude, they have the best !!!!!



As an example here it is Sean O'neill sending some steep ice. We had he chance to work on a system for him to use for ice climbing.  

   

Saun having great times swinging away!!!!!!!!! 

All the crew and it fearless leader Malcom Daly.

Thank you Paradox Sports for letting me climb with you all. Totally looking forward for next year!!!  

TEVA GAMES

The first winter Teva games were a total success.

Many different mountain sports, including climbing, were part of the awesome and fun weekend that took place in Vail, Colorado.

The mixed competition structure that they made was like the ones that I have climbed on in the Ice World Cup in Europe.

Basically, it was two routes that mirror image each other and two competitors climbed head to head as fast as they can. Once at the top, they were lowered down to rest for 3 minutes, then switched sides and went again. The way the competition worked, was a single elimination format, pretty much if you lose against the other competitor you are out. If you win, you get to go to the next round and do it all again.

Because of the set up, unfortunately, there was not any ice on the structure. Instead, they put this new foam that you can swing into, like as if it was ice. It was pretty interesting, because nobody, not even the people who made it, knew how it would work.

Before hand we all met to talk about rules and how this whole thing is going to work.

Then it was time for the comp!!!!!

There was a total of 20 competitors, 17 men and only 3 women.

Because of the numbers, men and woman were in the same group.

The competition started, it was such a cool and fun format.

I got to go the second round after winning in the first.

Only 10 competitors got to move to the next round.

Next round went by and only 6 of us advanced. Once again refuel and get ready for the next round. the Competition is getting harder and harder. The next round would be the one that would determine who will go to the finals.

By this point we all knew the route pretty well and the time is getting faster and faster.

The round was super fast and we all climbed great. Now there was only 4 of us to go to the final. At this point the night was falling with the snow that was increasing. More and more people were gathering to see the finals. The energy was awesome. Time to climb again, this round determined 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th places.

I got to go against Stanislav a 6 foot 3 inch Eastern European cardio machine. Our competition was pretty tight, but in the end only one of us climbed faster and it was him. After climbing the route 10 times a full speed I was pretty tired and glad that it was over.

Final Results:

1. Sam Elias

2. Stanislav

3. Brian Gilmore

4. Andres Marin

5. Marcus Garcia

For the girls, the judges decided to have a final between them even though they all had gotten eliminated in the first round. It was between Emily Harrington and Dawn Glanc.

Unfortunately, neither of them where able to finish the route either time, which was a little disappointing Emily fell lower than Dawn which give her a pretty easy first place. Hopefully, next year more woman can be at this event.

In the end it was such a great times. Climbing as fast as you can competing against friends and have good all times.

Totally looking forward next year.

This is how the structure looked like.

Pretty steep in the end of the route. The round things where the foam holds.

OURAY ICE FESTIVAL PHOTOS

Here are some shoots of the Ice Fest.

This is one of my favorite shoot here myself, Annie and our friend Simon on the last day of the Ice Fest.

Lots of people are getting ready for the Petzl party !!! Lots of cool energy on Saturday.

I start my day warming up with y good friends Brian Gilmore and Simon.

After some laps it was time for me to give a go to the comp route. The bottom little insecure but pretty easy climbing.

After some easy section the ice bridge was next. Get psyched breath deep and start getting serious with the figure 4 and 9 business.

Long move to get stablish on the bridge and sending time!!!!

The sequence to cross the ice bridge was incredible. This was the first time that the competition route goes from side of the canyon to the other. Incredible movement!!

Right after making the cross over in the West side of the canyon the sequence start with a sporty head points to good holds.

Here I'm reaching big for the second long move at the upper wall,

The middle of the upper wall was pretty fun with lots of long moves and hard climbing the last crux move was coming before start swing at the ice.

Just a few moves on the ice before make it to the top, In terms of energy I was felling pretty good with lots more fuel in the thank.

Be able to top out in competitions it is a great felling. Especially when only 2 of us where the only ones!!!

Spending sometime with the press feel's always funny.

Ceremony night !!!! Good times with some friends and some good $$$ for placing 2.
Many thanks for all the friends and family for been there for me totally awesome times.

2012 OURAY ICE FESTIVAL RECAP

The 2012 Ouray Ice Festival it was a total blast.

This festival it is my favorite, I can see friends that I haven't seen in a while, teach clinics for some of my sponsors and do the mixed climbing competition.

The festival opening was on Thursday starting with two slide shows, one given by my room mate Dawn Glanc and the other was given by myself about the last expedition that I did in Kyrgyzstan. The theater was full and we all had great time.

Friday, I woke up early to teach some clinics. A half day on beginner ice for Petzl, and the rest of the day I had the chance to hang out to talk with some friends and rest for the competition.

At 4 pm all the competitors had to go to a meeting to talk about starting time and route details. We all were informed that one of the competitors was caught scoping the route with a high power lens and he got disqualified. The rules were super clear in terms of not looking at the route with any extra eyes. In fact, it has been like that for the past 10 years.

After the meeting we all had our jerseis and starting numbers. Mine was 7 and I was pretty happy with the number not too early not too late. It was time to head back home and get some rest.

Morning came fast, and it was time for the competition. The morning was beautiful and pretty warm too. I teamed up with my good friend Brian Gilmore to warm up, also our recent friend Simone, from France, joined us. Simone, an extremly strong young climber, who I had the chance to climb with for two weeks prior to the event, was a huge inspiration for us. His fitness level is incredible.

After couple of pitches for warm up, it was time to get ready. While I was putting my boots on, I saw that one of the competitors got to the top!!!!!! At that point, the bar was raised. Anybody with the aspiration of making it to the podium pretty much needed to make it all the way to the top.

Finally, it was my turn!!!!

Close my eyes took a deep breath visualize myself climbing all the way. The judges gave me the one minute left to check out the route, then, three, two, one! Climbing!

The first part of the climb was pretty intense since the rock is smooth at the bottom of the canyon, and the feeling of falling down early is always there. After that section, it was time for the first crux the Ice bridge!!!!! The route traversed across an ice loaf,from one side of the gorge to the other side. It looked hard, my commitment level was super high. The sequence started with figure 4 and 9 and 4 and 9, after some more crazy moves, there I was on the other side of the canyon.

At that point it was time for the final and last crux section of the route, the head wall. I was totally focused on my breathing and each movement that I was doing, with pure intention. Rest breath, BIG move, clip. Do that same sequence again. It is kind of a surreal experience, and I start realizing that I'm getting higher and higher on the route to the point that I'm swinging into the ice near the top. A couple minutes later I'm standing on the top of the canyon and a couple hundred people cheering with me on. What a cool felling!!!!!

Now, it was time to wait for everyone else to go and see the results. The rest of the competitors went and nobody else topped out the route. Looking at the results, I ended in second place after the canadian guy climbed the route 6 seconds faster than me!!!!!! Great job Nathan Kusher, an unknown climber who showed how it is done.

People ask me if I'm bummed to lose just for 6 seconds? To be honest my answer is NO NOT at ALL. Getting to the top for me was a personal goal regardless in which place I end up. Plus, I had a knee injury about month and half ago where I wasn't sure if I'm gone be able to climb for the rest of the winter, so I'm more than happy with how I climbed

I want to thank to Brian Gilmore, French Simone, Will Mayo, Sam Elias for all the inspiration. Competitions are 70% luck 30% fitness. It is extremely difficult to predict what is going to happen and this year Nathan and I got that 70%.

After the comp it was time to celebrate like a rock start with some great friends!!!!!!!

Next and last day of the Fest was very the snow finally show up I did one more clinic and the most especial moment of the weekend happen when a bunch of friends got together to celebrate Alison and Bean lives with some histories and good moments.

I want to thank to everybody who make this great event happen and I'm looking forward to be able to part of it for awhile.

BIRD BRAIN BOULEVARD

This season it has been a great so far. tons of ice, the mixed and alpine routes are in great shape!!!

Some days ago I had the opportunity to climb my favorite route in the San Juan's with my sweety.

It was her first time on the route and first one of the season for me.

The route it was as always super fun!!!

This season the lower part of the route have tons of ice and the upper part it is pretty dry making it little different than previous years.

Annie had tons of fun following every pitch in great style!!!!

We make great time on route.

The gear for this route this season is:

Cams 2 sets from .3 to 3 and one #4, pins, half set of stoppers, 4 medium screws, runners and a 70 M rope with a 5 mm tag line.

A nice view of the first pitch.

Anita following the second pitch.

The upper route does not have much ice, but fun climbing anyway.

Anita topping out with a huge smile on her face. Summit shoot what a great times!!!!!!!!!!!

This season it has been a great so far. tons of ice, the mixed and alpine routes are in great shape!!!

Some days ago I had the opportunity to climb my favorite route in the San Juan's with my sweety.

It was her first time on the route and first one of the season for me.

The route it was as always super fun!!!

This season the lower part of the route have tons of ice and the upper part it is pretty dry making it little different than previous years.

Annie had tons of fun following every pitch in great style!!!!

We make great time on route.

The gear for this route this season is:

Cams 2 sets from .3 to 3 and one #4, pins, half set of stoppers, 4 medium screws, runners and a 70 M rope with a 5 mm tag line.

WINTER IS HERE !!!

It is nice to be back in the San Juan's.

I take a deep breath fell the cool San juan air in to my lungs. Open my eyes I find myself surrounded by an awesome view. My back yard!!! I think to myself, happily, this is the place where I will be hanging out for the next 5 months.

4 ANNUAL ICE NIGHT

The 4 Annual Ice night at the city rock climbing gym in Colorado Springs it was a great event.

This was my 3rd year going to the event, and every year it getting better and better Lots of climbing gear demos from Petzl, BD, Cassim and Evolve make this event pretty fun.

This year I had the opportunity to give a slide show about my last and most recent expedition to Kyrgyzstan. After the Slide show it was time for the competition The route was super fun, about 20 competitors from all over the country. In the end the podium was 3rd place Andres Marin, 2 place Marc Beverly and the winner of this year was Gordon MacArthur. unfortunately it was a DQ on the comp Sam Elias how did the best of all got a DQ because a touch a wrong hole :) Other than that we all had a great times and I'm totally looking forward for next year.

Thanks to all who did the event happen and for all the spectators!!!!!!