Practice Regional Bouldering Championship

On November 12th Climb Tacoma hosted a practice regional championship competition so our teams can become acquainted with the championship format. Team Edgeworks had good participation at the practice event and many kids who are new to the format got a good idea of what will be expected on December 10th. Thanks Climb Tacoma!

The Championship Format: Championship competitions are typically an ‘onsight’ format. To onsight a problem is to climb a route clean on the first attempt without prior information about the problem. After initial registration, climbers are taken to an isolation area. Competitors are taken to the wall prior to the start of competition for a preview. When the competition begins, the competitors will climb one at a time and usually have four minutes to make as many attempts as they want, ideally ‘onsighting’ the problem. There are strict rules forbidding any discussion about the route or wall with climbers who remain in isolation. Following the attempt, a climber may stay in the viewing area with spectators and those other climbers who have previously completed their climb. They may not return to the isolation area.

Fundraising

NEW! We are selling raffle tickets to benefit Team Edgeworks starting Nov. 29th through the Annual sale and Member appreciation event on Dec. 2nd. One winner will have their choice of climbing shoes or harness. See front desk for details.

Upcoming: Discounted Clip and Climb passes are coming. Hand these out to all your friends, neighbors, relatives, and acquaintances. For every certificate redeemed Edgeworks will donate $10 to the team!

Mark your calendar: Team members will be available on January 7th from 1:00p-3:00p to belay anyone who redeems their coupon during that time.

Team Budget: We’ve heard some good ideas about how to spend all this money we’re raising, including a lock-in, bowling, or a bowling/lock-in combo, a pizza party at Dorky’s arcade, and more. Keep the ideas flowing, and we’ll plan on doing something fun mid-February once the bouldering season is over.

Upcoming Events

December 2

Annual Membership Sale and Member Appreciation
Team Edgeworks Raffle

December 10

Regional Championship, Vertical World Redmond
http://www.usaclimbing.org/Regional/101-Puget_Sound.htm

Next PCA Meeting

There will be NO December PCA meeting.

Team Trip To Vantage – October 22, 2016

Those team climbers who participated in at least two competitions this season got to go on a climbing trip to Frenchman’s Coulee in Vantage, WA. There was a big turnout, and everyone had a great time! Coach Josh Bennett posted lot’s of pictures to the Team Edgeworks Facebook page. Check it out!

Fundraising

NEW! This December/January we will distribute coupons that are good for discounted Clip and Climb passes to all our friends, neighbors, relatives, and acquaintances. For every certificate redeemed Edgeworks will donate $10 to the team. As a bonus, on January 7, Team members will be available for a few hours (time TBD) to belay anyone who redeems their coupon during that time.

BAKE SALE! Thank you to everyone who contributed baked goods and/or your time at the bake sale during the Blacklight Bouldering competition! It was a huge success!

Blacklight Bouldering – Results

Congratulations to the following Team Edgeworks competitors who competed in the Blacklight Bouldering competition at Edgeworks Climbing on October 29, 2016:
MYA
Hal Warren 3rd
Elliott McDonald 11th
FYB
Brette Hume 2nd
Elizabeth Hume 13th
Grace Wilkerson 16th
Terah Gruber 19th
MYB
Kohle Andrews 1st
Ethan Riggle 7th
Austin Elliott 8th
Braden Adams 14th
FYC
Sophia Terrill 1st
Halle Rife 13th
Maya Loveland-Haslund 17th
Bianca Haslund 22nd
MYC
Kaj Hansen 7th
Noah Larsen 9th
Jonah Andrews 12th
FYD
Ireland Kress 5th
Kaela Cameron 7th
Reagan Kress 13th
Paisley Kress 19th
MYD
Parker Andrews 13th
Aaron Larsen 15th
Jageli Rife 16th

Full results can be found here: http://bit.ly/2fu3Z88

Team Spotlight

Keep checking the bulletin board, Team Edgeworks Blog, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest installment of the Team Spotlight! A different team member will be highlighted every month and you never know when, or who, it will be!

Upcoming Events – November 12, 2016

Practice regionals at Climb Tacoma. Time TBD

Next PCA Meeting

November 17, 2016 6:30p in the Edgeworks lounge.

Upcoming Events

Vantage – October 22, 2016
As a reward for team climbers who participate in at least two competitions this season we are offering the opportunity to participate in a climbing trip to Frenchman’s Coulee in Vantage, WA. Registration is limited to the first thirteen participants, so if you haven’t already registered, sign up soon!

Practice Regionals and Party – November 19 – Climb Tacoma
In order to prepare for the format of the Regional Competition held in December, Climb Tacoma is hosting a practice regionals competition. Any climber who has qualified and plans to register for the competition in December is invited to participate in the practice event. There will be a party following. Details are coming soon.

USAC Memberships

Everyone who wants to qualify for the Regional Bouldering competition should have their USAC membership by now. Please be sure to record your USAC number and keep it in a safe place. We will no longer be able to access them via the USA Climbing website.

Fundraising

NEW! Details are coming soon for our newest fundraising opportunity. This concept makes it easy for everyone. We will distribute certificates that are good for discounted Clip and Climb passes to all our friends, neighbors, relatives, and acquaintances. For every certificate redeemed Edgeworks will donate a portion to the team.

BAKE SALE! Team Edgeworks is holing a bake sale during the Blacklight Competition in October. To help out, or for more information please contact Shana Hanft-Rife, or Heidi Kress.

Blacklight Bouldering – October 29, 2016

Registration for the 12th Annual Blacklight Bouldering Competition and Party at Edgeworks is now live online! See the Edge Blog for details.

Social Media

Check the lobby bulletin board, Facebook and Instagram for Team Edgeworks news and information.

Next PCA Meeting

October 20, 2016 6:30p in the upstairs lounge.

Every month we highlight a Team Edgeworks Climber to get to know just what makes our kids so stoked to climb. Let’s find out something we never knew about one of our competitors:

KAELA CAMERON

Kaela is a ten year old Club Team climber who has been climbing since 2012. Since then, she has developed a preference for bouldering. Not only does she like bouldering during class, but she spends some of her free time in the gym bouldering with her dad Josh.

Recently, Kaela has begun attending local competitions in both bouldering and sport climbing. She has her eye on the goal of competing in the Regional Bouldering Competition this December!

In addition to climbing, Kaela likes to dance and play video games, loves the smell of her Mom’s brownies, has a brother Liam who also loves to climb, and wants to be an artist or a gamer when she grows up. Say hi to Kaela next time you see her in the gym!

Every month we highlight a Team Edgeworks Climber to get to know just what makes our kids so stoked to climb. Let’s find out something we never knew about one of our competitors:

HAL WARREN

Hal was inspired to start climbing after reading Within Reach: My Everest Story by Mark Pfetzer and Jack Galvin, about a teenager who after training at a local climbing gym reached 26,000 feet on Everest, he was 15. Hal wanted to be just like Mark so at age of 11 he asked his parents if he could start training for Everest at Edgeworks. That was October 2011.

His excitement for Everest has since waned, but Hal says “From that first trip to the gym I was hooked.” After about a year, he joined Team Edgeworks and began competing at local competitions. He has progressed quickly and competed last year in the Bouldering National Championships in Madison, WI where he placed 35th! “I trained very hard to accomplish that dream. My coach and friend Jon Manz has been a huge motivation in my training…”.

His goals are to make finals at Nationals, and to send a V11 this coming year. His favorite quote:  “What would you try if you knew you could not fail?” – Unknown

@hwclimbs  #absroadtoglory

Climbing Team Newsletter

July 1, 2016

Divisional Competition Recap

It’s been an exciting summer already with ten climbers advancing to Divisionals in Bend, OR on June 18th and 19th. Of those Edgeworks competitors who climbed in the qualifiers on Saturday, four advanced to finals: Riley Hume (MYA), Kohle Andrews (MYB), Brette Hume (FYC), and Kaj Hansen (MYC). Congratulations to Kohle Andrews for finishing in 2nd, and Brette Hume in 7th. Both will receive invitations to compete in the national competition in Kennesaw, GA next month!

Smith Rock State Park Climbing Trip

After the competition wrapped up, Edgeworks team members got together for a team building outdoor rock climbing experience in Smith Rock State Park, Terrebonne OR, one of the most well known sport climbing destinations in the country. Temperatures soared on Monday, but that didn’t stop the smallest of the group from climbing the most pitches of the day. Halle Rife showed us all what passion for the sport of rock climbing looks like! We found some shade on Tuesday and had a successful half day of climbing before heading home, happily exhausted.

UPCOMING! Leavenworth, WA Climbing Trip

What we anticipate to be an annual bouldering trip to Leavenworth, WA, is scheduled as a one day trip on Thursday, August 18th. Details are being worked out and will be announced soon. Mark your calendars now! Meanwhile, a committee on the PCA is researching options for overnight camping next year.

NEW!  Lock-in

By massive popular demand, we’re doing another Team Edgeworks Lock-In here at the gym.  The event will run from 10:00 pm on Friday, July 22nd, until 8:00 am on Saturday, July 23rd and will cost $20.  This will be the Friday following Nationals, and seems like a fun way to wrap up our climbing season.  You can sign up over the phone, or at the gym the next time you’re here for practice.

Summer Practice Schedule

Beginning July 1 there will be no Tuesday/Thursday practice. Friday practice will continue until Nationals in mid-July. All team climbers are welcome to join M/W practice.

NEW: The gym closes at 4pm on the 4th of July holiday so practice is cancelled. The regular practice schedule will resume in September.

Climbing Team Newsletter

June 1, 2016

It has been an eventful Spring season for the Edgeworks Climbing Team and their families.
We have restructured our Youth Programs, part of which aligns the Club Climbers program more closely with Team; we have formed a Parent Coaches Association to better organize Team/Club events, our competitive rope season is nearing the end, and we have a couple of exciting trips planned for this summer.

Program Changes

Aligning Club climbers with Team furthers the goal of ensuring our programs follow a natural progression from Beginning Climbers to Team. The Club class serves as a transition between Junior Climbers and Team by introducing the climbers to competitive climbing. Club climbers will participate in at least one local competition per season, and will be included in all special events formerly limited to Team.

Coaching Staff

Our coaching staff is similarly rearranged to reflect the change. Our new Team coaching staff includes Jon Manz, Head Coach; Lisa Ferazza, Assistant Head Coach; and Jimmy Grant and Josh Bennet, Team Coaches. Check out their staff bios to learn more about each of them.

NEW!  Parent Coaches Association

The Parent Coaches Association, or PCA, was created to further develop and streamline our Club and Team climbing programs, and to build a strong team foundation. The function and goals of the PCA will be to organize fundraisers and to plan events including but not limited to outdoor trips and picnics. Thank you to those parents who have volunteered to serve on the board: Co-Presidents Nicole Hume and Heidi Kress, Treasurer David Larsen, and Secretary Miriam Amdur.

Meetings will take place every third Thursday of the month at 6:30pm in the Edgeworks Lounge. All Club and Team families are encouraged to attend.

Competition Results

It has been a successful rope season this year. Ten climbers competed in Regionals last month at Stone Gardens in Bellevue! Congratulations to the following climbers who are advancing to Divisionals in Bend, OR on June 18-19:

Female Youth C: Brette Hume, Grace Wilkerson, Sophia Terrill, Elizabeth Hume
Female Youth D: Halle Rife, Ireland Kress (Speed)

Male Youth A: Riley Hume
Male Youth B: Kohle Andrews
Male Youth C: Noah Larsen
Male Youth D: Kaj Hansen

Trips

Following the Divisional competition in Bend, all Team and Club climbers are invited to participate in an outdoor climbing and camping experience at Smith Rock State Park guided by Jon Manz. For more information contact one of the PCA co-presidents, Nicole Hume: nicolehume@comcast.net, or Heidi Kress: Heidigrace@rocketmail.com, or come to the June PCA meeting.

Details about an upcoming climbing trip to Leavenworth over Labor Day weekend will be published in the August newsletter.

Updates

Keep your eyes on this blog for monthly updates on our amazing Team climbers! You’ll also find information, pictures, updates, and news on a bulletin board in the lobby of the gym.

3 Team Kids Are Off to Compete at Nationals!

After months of training and competing in several local, regional, and divisional climbing competitions, from Seattle to Bend, Edgeworks Climbing Team members: Kylee Beam, Kohle Andrews, and Alex Petty have each accepted invitations to compete at the USAC Sport Climbing Series National Championships at Stone Summit in Kennesaw, Georgia (July 9-12). This is an award reserved for only the top 35 competitors in each age group across the country so it’s not a stretch for us say that while these they may be small, these kids can probably crush harder that you!

“These 3 athletes are some of the best climbers of any age in the entire country. They’ve worked incredibly hard to get where they are and it’s an amazing experience to travel across the country with them so they can test themselves against the best the rest of the country has to offer” said Edgeworks Head Coach, Jon Manz.

Good luck, team! We’ll be watching and cheering you on from the PNW. CRUSH IT!