Afterschool Programs

We are hoping everyone has fun and relaxing holidays, and that all the young climbers are getting energized for our winter session of after-school programs. For more information, and to register go to: www.climbmaxnc.com/specialprograms.htm. Here are a few photos from past sessions.

Blogging on hold...

It looks like blogging has been on hold for the past month or so. Well since then, we had the 2009 Fall Flash Fest. Bringing out 70+ competitors, it was a blast. Check the results here: http://www.climbmaxnc.com/FFF2009.htm#Anchor-49575

Fall Flash Fest 2009 -- ClimbMax -- Asheville, North Carolina from climbmax nc on Vimeo.

Construction photos Fall Flash Fest 2009!

Here are the first two stages of the goodness happening in the gym. Comments welcome!

Construction

Every year for the FFF, we try to spice the gym up a bit a la construction. A few years ago we painted, last year we erected the turret, and just last night we tore down the biggest free standing wall in the gym (the he-man wall). Want to know what's happening? See you at the Fall Flash Fest, November 14!!

FFF Registration OPEN!!

Registration is now open for FFF 2009. Details, poster, registration form here.

See you there!

No updates on FFF 2009. Coming soon...

There's a good vibe all around the gym right now. Friction is great with the low temps and low humidity, some great problems are up, especially in the 3-5 dot range and the staff is all fired up for FFF, while the youth coaches are preparing for the youth comps in a few weeks.

Dodge the rain and send some hard problems. Get amped for the fall season, gain some strength, and meet some new climbers.

www.climbmaxnc.com

Dave in China

David Sharratt is the general manager here at Climbmax and has taken a 5 week leave from the US of A to partake in a climbing expedition to Seerdengpu, China, to tackle an unclimbed big wall in the Himalaya. Follow his expedition here:

http://www.sharrattphoto.com/news.asp?ID=5

Good luck Dave!

Send hard!

Over the next two weeks, routes on the turret and wall #2 (as you walk in the door and on your right) will be stripped off in lieu of new routes! So any projects you might have, now is the time to send them!!

This is our last strip/set project before stripping the entire gym in preparation for Fall Flash Fest 2009. FFF '09 will be Saturday, November 14. Registration and more info coming soon. Keep a watch on this blog for updates.

FFF is an annually hosted, American Bouldering Series sanctioned, bouldering competition held at Climbmax Climbing Center. Redpoint format, we strip the entire gym clean and then set anywhere from 30-40 comp routes the day/night/morning before the comp. Classes include Youth, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, men and women. Prizes last year included a couple of 60m ropes courtesy of Diamond Brand and Mammut, a pair of La Sportiva climbing shoes (ABS), a Black Diamond Pack, some tri-cams and a gri-gri (Diamond Brand), some locally made Earthsports chalkbags (Earthsports Designs) and too much other stuff to list. So long story short, we give out righteous prizes to top competitors. Come out and win some gear!

To get you psyched:

Climbmax Fall Flash Fest from lvmrock on Vimeo.

Pics of post-SAUCI madness

For SAUCI, we completely stripped and reset the boulder, the He-man wall and the cave. Attached are pictures of these features, with the plethora of new routes!

For pics from the comp, click this link to our Facebook album.

New Blog, New Routes, New Season

Hey everyone!

Welcome to the brand new blog of Cimbmax climbing center, western North Carolina's original climbing gym. The mission of this blog will be to provide up-to-date, relevant news about the gym as well as important happenings within the southeastern climbing community. With that being said, it is my hope that this will be a community effort; a lot travels by word of mouth within the climbing world, and we'll need your help to keep everyone informed about access issues, closures, comp dates and locations, sick sends, etc. Feel to drop by and talk to us or give us a buzz at 828-252-9996 if you hear of anything that you think the community should know about!

There has been a LOT going on here lately! On September 11th, Climbmax hosted the second S.A.U.C.I. (Southern Appalachian University Climbing Invitational) competition of 2009 with a great turnout and some serious crushing. The top male competitor award went to Chris Noga of East Tennessee State University for the second time this year, while the top female award was handily snagged by UNC-Asheville climber Flannery Mikusa. Western Carolina University took the top college spot, closely followed by ETSU in second place and UNCA in third. Thanks to all the competitors for coming out! (Special note to college students: our semester climbing passes are still for sale! Come purchase one and climb for free until December 11th.)

All you bouldering fiends know what hosting a competition means: lots of new routes! At last count, 30 new bouldering problems have been put up since the night of S.A.U.C.I. (that is not a typo!). We have new routes ranging from V0 to V7/8, so there is a little something for everybody.

Autumn is just around the corner, and the next great NC bouldering season will arrive on its heels. Temperatures are gonna drop, crowded forest floors will clear out and the traditional summer swarms of bugs will leave, rendering all of our favorite outdoor climbing areas pristine and ready to be visited all winter long. Full-time access to Rumbling Bald was officially opened as of early August, and all large-scale projects within the area are completed (read the full article here). It also appears that peregrine falcon closures are no longer in effect as of August 15th, but it would be wise to call the area you plan to visit for specific information regarding peregrine nesting; read more about peregrine closures here.

That's all I've got for now! Again, if there is any news that you think should be broadcast to the community, let us know and we'll try to put it up here. See ya on the rock!

-- Rob