CATS Climbing

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2030-08-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to CATS Climbing! This site is your source to the greatest climbing gym in the country, and the best climbing in Colorado. Here you will find the latest CATS happenings, and a guide to many of the best problems in CATS with pictures and videos to help you find your way.

Steep Wall Reset

2011-10-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I should inform you all that a couple weeks ago I completely stripped the Steep Wall. At Rob's request the Micky Mouse remains, but nothing else. Sadly yes Organic, Petzl and Epic are no more. This change was motivated by myself however, the Steep Wall at CATS is my favorite wall anywhere. Because of it's width, and lack of attention in terms of getting a constant supply of new holds, it was approaching the point of being stale. So I stayed in CATS until 1:30am on a Friday night and stripped the entire thing. The re-setting took a bit longer but all the holds that are going to be up are now up. There will still be some fine tuning over the next few weeks, as Danielson may make some adjustments and as some problems are set set, but the steep is completely fresh now and ready to go.

The main wall has been getting a very steady supply of new amazing holds including some yet-to-be-on-the-market very purist slopes which are actually a reshape of a BEAUTIFUL old E-Grips set. CATS is really starting to get pretty well done in terms of holds, we will continue to get more, but the Main Wall for instance is essentially devoid of holds that are not fantastic. Because of this I have started improving the Ramp Wall and even the Cave Entrance Overhang. So there are a variety of completely new lines emerging in areas previously unclimbed.

I would like to start posting more, but on November 3rd I defend my Thesis so I should be pretty busy until then.

Bubble Wrap

2011-04-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

The most infamous project in CATS if not Colorado. This was a series of holds that Chris Danielson put up a few years ago hoping that it would be quite a testpiece however I do not think anyone predicted that it would be ubsent for as long as it has been. Just off the top of my head I know Daniel Woods, Carlo Traversi, Paul Robinson, Seth Allred, Kyle Owen, Garret Gregor, Alex Puccio, and Andre DeFelice have all tried it. Carlo has said he has spent at least 15 days on the problem, and coming off of his recent 5 day ascent of the Game this holds some meaning.

A fantastic testpeice full of power, contact strength and tension.

Brown Disc 2.0

2011-04-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

The second, shorter, more intense climb I recently set revolving around a thin disc like E-Grips Ian's Tribal crimp. If you want something short and powerful and do not hate crimps this would be the climb to try. I find the climb to be very straightforward yet actually interesting and unique. I think this is mostly due to the actual nature of the line and the direction in which it climbs. Very much a typical boulder problem in design; a few somewhat difficult moves to a very difficult crux, to a desperate finish move. Video is here.

Sustained Watermelon

2011-04-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

What I hope will become a newer classic. When I sent this boulder, for me personally, it was perfectly sustained with a crux. Others have mentioned that the crux is actually very likely the first move. Regardless I am quite happy with this climb, there is a good variety of movement, power and controlled climbing, with the possibility of falling on any number of moves. But once again if you fall on the first move repeatedly do not be discouraged. Here is the video where you can hopefully observe the nature of the climb.

High Step

2011-04-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent climb if you enjoy crimps, lockoffs and can bring your foot high. The climbing is not terribly dynamic as long as you can commit to a throw to the lip off a slopey edge. This climb is relatively sustained; there are very few truely easy moves. The only easy moves on the entire climb is probably the first move and the third. The cruxes are probably the high step and getting out of it, and then shortly afterwards a very long lockoff to a very slopey edge. But I am happy to say that it is not very height dependant as it has seen ascents from 5'3" to 5'9".

Here is the video.

The Barndoor Boulder

2011-04-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

A standard V9 with a tendancy towards edges but certainly not something I would call crimpy. A line mostly inspired by the desire to link as many of my new ETCH Watermelon holds as possible. Watermelon because they are from different sets but came in the same color. This would be suggested to someone wanting to break into a solid V9 without a very paticular style, not overly crimpy, powerful or tension based. It is some suspense moves, a hard barndoor move and then a touch of spice to the top. You do a few nice intro moves with a touch of power and tension, then you swing your feet far left onto a good jib and execute a difficult barndoor move to a flat red 2tex edge. From there you stand to the Teknik Creamsicle, pull into a bad undercling pinch then grab a flat edge and jump to the top.

Here is the video.

Grip A and Grip B

2011-03-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is a very important post about what I believe far too many coaches and climbers neglect; grip positions. To simply state my thesis up front; I firmly believe that one should grip edges in only one of two ways; Grip position A or Grip position B.

Here we have grip position A.

This is the most powerful way to hold an edge.

One should keep in mind that whenever you are setting up for a powerful move or a hard lockoff, or really some sort of movement that is near your limit, the hand that you are moving off of should generally be in Grip position A.

Here we have Grip position B.

This is a very versatile grip which serves a number of functions, one of which is to prevent people who think Grip A is too stressful on the fingers from bitching at me.

Essentially the main purpose of this grip is increased tension and to a smaller extent some energy savings. This grip should be much more commonly used on steep walls and on very poor edges, or those where the danger of dry firing may be high.

The basic logic behind Grip B is to address the weaknesses of Grip A. Grip A requires more energy, pulls in one direction, and one cannot really do a move pre-Gripped A. Grip B is really the more dynamic grip. On dynamic moves and deadpoints one should hit edges in Grip B.

First off it is easy to hit a hold immediately into Grip B. On this note it is easy to explain some of the tension element. So on a dynamic move on the steep, you move up at the hold, your fingers connect on the hold and your body then starts to move away from the wall, right as you hit the hold your thumb should engage into Grip B, which then resists the outwards sag of your body. I think it is pretty easy to see and most people would agree it is pretty absurd to hit a hold in Grip A, if you have a video of someone going for a hold with their thumb over their fingers before on the hold please share. It is possible I suppose but completely loony.

Most people then of course hit holds open handed or half crimped without the thumb; like when climbing on campus rungs. Hitting holds without the thumb is of course very easy to do but is neglecting a very strong digit and a very high force generating grip. When actively using the thumb you have a greater chance of staying on the wall. This also will help keep your feet on as it prevents your body from moving away from the wall.

The other important and even more neglected use for Grip B is as the lower hand when the upper hand starts to connect with the next hold. In this case it is used for the same general reason; increased tension in the outwards dimension. So this is the very crucial to the steep A to B Flip. You power off a hold in Grip A and as your upper hand starts to connect on the next hold your lower hand should flip to B to help it, and your body stay on the wall. This is even more relevant if your feet cut as in this situation the lower hand will be doing next to nothing if it is not in Grip B.

And as a detail alluded to earlier, Grip B is superior on holds that you may be afraid of dry firing off of, or very poor side pulling edges. When you are in Grip A on a very poor edge you may be applying too much force in general and certainly too much force straight down. Grip B will force you to spread your weight over a slightly larger surface area on your fingers and will be applying pressure to the bottom of the hold with your thumb. This is even more relevant to very poor side pulls where if one attempts to straight A them there is too much downwards force for your hand to stay securely.

In this video you can see the B-A-B flip. Although in this particular shoot my hand cuts, but you get the idea.

And here you see a better example of hitting something with more speed in B and then flipping to A. The third to last move to the pale blue, but there are some good flips on the bottom as well but they are harder to see.

I believe that this is a very large part of training that is very neglected. I am not perfect and I am sure if you go through my videos you can find some poor grip positions. But I try to climb on edges using only these two grips. Essentially the two biggest problem most people have climbing this way is that they either overuse Grip A, or they climb half-crimped but neglect the thumb. There is no advantage to climbing without the thumb pinching the bottom of the hold (Grip B). I am aware there is some argument that training with the thumb over the finger(Grip A) is bad because it is simply a crutch for your fingers. I would say that you should train in a way that you climb and that if you never train Grip A then you will be unprepared for it outdoors. But climbing without using the thumb at all is a waste and not superior in any way that I can think of.

Grip A delivers maximum strength on a hold. Grip B is for energy savings and increased tension.

If your look at a lot of the really strong climbers like Daniel, and I think the biggest exponent of Grip A and B; Jon Cardwell (Lots of fantastic A B action between 1:10 - 1:40). You see that they do not frequently half-crimp without the thumb. That is a lazy grip.

I think keeping in mind these two grips and using them as exclusively as possible will certainly make you a stronger better climber. It is one of my most important pieces of advice for those who are looking for some.

None of this applies to route climbers.

Red Hornytoad

2011-03-09T01:20:00.000-08:00

The long, physical, feature testpiece. I had originally done the Boss encouter with an amazing Floating Iron Cross move, but sadly feet first seems to work. Daniel recieved the FA very shortly before putting up the Game in Boulder Canyon.

FA: Daniel Woods

Other Ascents: Paul Robinson

Best and Worst Hold of the Week 2

2011-03-05T18:15:00.000-08:00

Old Comfy Crimp and Lippy Crimp

This week I will review two very basic looking positive crimps, one shaped very well and the other not so well.

First up for our Best Hold of the Week we have this black, well aged, E-Grips Comfy Crimp. The E-Grips line of Comfy Crimps is an old school classic that is still very much in production and is essential to any overhung wall. Throughout E-Grips' history, I, personally, am aware of three generations of texture: Old Exfoliating, Old Glass, and Modern. Between the Glass and Exfoliating textures I am not actually sure which is older, the Exfoliating generation is however much more common in CATS compared to the Glass generation. The Comfy Crimp that is featured here is a member of my favorite generation of the three; the mythical glass generation. Having a hard glassy surface has a number of advantages. Because the surface of the hold is not very porous it does not get shoe rubber or chalk embedded in it, the hold can get chalk stuck onto the surface, but with a proper brushing it is as good as new. I will not restate all of my texture points made in the previous post, but it is also great to be able to pull hard on these holds for hours and days without any wear to your skin. I am not even entirely sure why holds are not this texture now, perhaps they chip easier.

Now onto the shape. Once again I apologize for not having posted a Grip A and Grip B blog post yet. For now just know Grip A is full closed and Grip B is what is pictured to the left. It is very easy to shape a hold which feels fine for a full closed crimp, it takes much more subtlety to shape a good Grip B. But this crimp does a great job. Sometimes Grip B works well simply because there is enough texture for the skin to grip the bottom of the hold well. But it is much cooler and more motivating if there is actually micro-features that you are pinching. Micro-features here are quite crucial as mentioned earlier this hold has very little texture. So the subtle little divots in the hold actually play an important feature in making the hold a pinchable edge. The simplest reason though perhaps that I like this hold is simply the way the actual grab of the hold is shaped. This may be somewhat subjective, but I really love gently rounded incuts. I am known for loving razors and such but really my favorite holds are rounded edges with a very small incut in the back. In the case of this hold the incut is quite large, but it is the same idea. These holds allow you to hit the edge with quite a lot of speed without hurting your fingers, there is no edge to catch on your pad, there is no texture to grate your skin. In addition the sides of the hold are in effect "open" which make the hold much more versatile as a side-pull of gaston, I will discuss how some holds fail to take this into account shortly within this post. In summary this is very positive friendly hold that is great on the steep and can be used anywhere from V4 to V11 or to VGodKnowsWhat if turned aggressively enough.

Now we move onto the worst hold of the week. An overly lippy, close sided, oddly lengthed crimp. First I will address a very obvious issue when you grab it. It is not really 4 fingers but feels odd to use 3. Because this hold was for some reason designed like a watering trough, if you put only 3 fingers in, your fingers sort of slosh around in the hold, there is not something in the back where you can bite into to hold your fingers in place. On the previous hold, if you decide to crimp for 3 fingers for the hell of it, you are fine as you can crimp down into the back of the hold. But this hold is designed completely differently. Like I just said, seriously this crimp is like a watering trough, there is a flat surface on the inside and a big lip surrounding it. You can technically fit 4 fingers in the hold, but it is not comfortable as your fingers start to want to break free of the stupid cramped urethane walls imprisoning them. If the hold was not close sided it can sometimes be ok to scrunch 4 fingers on a small hold as the pinkie may just barely wrap around the side of the hold or something along those lines, but with this design that is not possible. There are even more problems with this close sided design. It makes this hold extra uncomfortable if used as a gaston or side pull. This is because, lets say the hold is turned 55 degrees clock wise and is intended to be a left hand gaston, what ends up happening is that your pointer finger will be smooshed down onto the side lip that this hold has. So you will actually be pulling down onto the side of your finger, the same thing happens as a sidepull except with your pinkie. This is dumb for a few reasons. First this is very uncomfortable on your fingers. Secondly, thank God, there are not too many problems with down pulling slot crimps. This is what that type of pulling is replicating. I am not saying they are not out there, my first V9 revolved around a downpulling vertical slot/seam. But let me tell you they suck, massive blood blister on the side of my left ring finger for the exact reason I was discussing above; you are pulling down onto the side of your finger. Even for use as a foothold this closed design is useless and inferior. When the hold is rotated you either have to turn your foot oddly to toe into the good part of just edge on the stupid lip. I am not saying having bad feet is bad but I rather it be an actual bad foot not this weird standing on the side of a lip business. So we have now established that these holds are quite poor for sidepulls or gastons. But is it good for downpulling if you have either really small or really fat fingers? The answer still, impressively, is no.
Here is a slightly out of focus shot of the hold with my fingers on/in it. The pointer is dropped for a better view. It would be better if I had more photographs but I was having trouble shooting this hold. But one of the problems you should be able to see here. When you are established and pulling on the hold there is excessive contact from the lip of the hold onto random parts of your finger. I say random because where the lip is contacting your finger is not where you want to or can really pull from. This makes pulling on the hold actually quite painful as much of your weight hits low on your finger near your crease. An additional problem with using this hold even in a down pulling position is when you think about hitting the hold at speed. Basically you painfully catch that stupid huge lip on the crease of your finger. This causes not only stupid pain, but also potentially injury related pain as you can actually bruise your tendon/pulley, at least in my experience.

In summary big lips cause comfort problems, potentially will lead to more injuries and suck even harder if it is a huge closed lip. Rounded glass textured incuts are very versatile and can be trained on quite easily for a variety of moves and difficulties.

I will not post a Hold of the Week this coming week, but I will make a Blog post.

Best and Worst Hold of the Week 1

2011-02-25T21:31:00.000-08:00

The Dolphin Pinch and the Duck Pinch

To start things off with this series I decided to pick two holds which I have a fair bit to say about and that contrast well together. This is also a good example of an ancient CATS style hold, a Straight Up, beating a modern Teknik hold.

First, above, we have the Best, the Dolphin Pinch, dubbed by Ryan Silven, as it looks like a Dolphin. More importantly to this disscusion as I am not holding this hold superior due to the superiority of dolphins over ducks, is the fact that it is textured like a dolphin. One of my least favorite things about climbing at the Spot and Movement, is the fact that my skin may often give out before my fingers. It gives you the standard "gym skin" that you get from almost all gyms, the textured holds eat away your skin(and shoes), and climbing on it for multiple days leaves your fingers pink and purple and out of shape for anything outdoors. Also, quite importantly, it is better to grip a hold than have a hold grip you. Textured holds are not as good for training on multiple levels; bad for your skin and requires less crushing strength. The shape of this hold is also quite pure and versatile. As you can see the hold is in a position for the right hand, in this position the finger side is the smaller side, a way that I frequently like it, which emphasizes the pinching crushing nature of pinches. If I want to train fingers I will climb on crimps. But at the same time if you want, this hold can be rotated around to be used as a left as more of a slopey edge with a smaller thumb catch.

In summary this is a great hold as it has perfect texture and is thin in a sense which makes it hard but also slopey not a thin edge like pinch. It has been recently used to make "The Dolphin Pinch Problem" which I will feature soon.

And here, to the left, we have not "the" but "a" Duck pinch. Duck pinches are a title that I came up with to describe this stupid style of slopey pinch that hold makers continue to make for some reason. I hate pockets, but I understand that strangely some people want to climb routes, and then stranger still; routes with pockets. So I get that they are a specific grip that some people would like to be strong at. The Duck pinch grip however has no such rationale. They are not a specific type of grip ever encountered outside and do not make you stronger in any way. Training Duck pinches does not even necessarily make you stronger at Duck pinches. Essentially one can train edges, slopers and pinches(and I guess pockets). But if you take someone who trains on slopers and pinches and someone who trains Duck pinches and then have some sort of hideous duck pinch competition, the Duck Pincher will lose. But now perhaps I have gone to far without illustrating the Duck Pinch Grip.

Here you can see my hand gripping the hold.

My hand looks like a duck. As if my hand is saying "quack quack"

This is a Duck pinch.

You can detect Duck pinches at your home gym by simply squeezing a questionable pinch. If your hand looks like a duck, it is a Duck pinch and should be removed with the greatest of haste.

Duck pinches are stupid as you can not really utilize your thumb to pinch it but at the same time you cannot just hold it like sloper. Yes they can be meat wraped but lets not even go there.

But you may also be asking "Hey what if you just pinch it like a normal skinny pinch? The same way you hold the Dolphin pinch."

Well here is a picture of the grip in question. I can explain why this doesn't work slightly but you may have to go and try this at home to fully understand. As you can see there is a great deal of plastic between the point of contact and the edge of the hold. This means through that due to the terrible duck slope of the hold that if you try to actually crush and pull off of the hold this way two things may happen: one your hand will slide off the hold, or two your hand will collapse into the above Duck pinch position. Gripping it properly simply does not work well. It is like if you take a proper sloper like the ETCH Egg or something worse would be an even better example, like the slopey side of the ETCH Breastplate, and try to crimp it, it does not really work; it either feels like shit(the Egg) or literally does not work(the Breastplate).

Hopefully now you may understand why I hate Duck pinches, and why slopey non-textured pinches emphasizing thumbs are excellent.

This is my first post of the series so please let me know what you like and do not like.

It's Alive

2011-02-25T20:30:00.001-08:00

Well instead of an update telling you that there will not be updates, I have good news that I am going to start trying to put some time into the site again. I am still working through some ideas, but I will first off start posting videos and problems again, although I am not sure about the picture guides. Secondly I am going to start a blog series "Best and Worst Hold of the Week", where I feature two holds and explain why I love and hate them. I can promise some other blog posts as well regarding grip positions, holds vs. movement, and others. I of course cannot fill you in on all the news that occured but I will just start things off again with what has been happening recently.

For some news in a slightly familiar vein for those who visited the site previously, my friend Sasha Diguilian made a very impressive flash ascent of LaSportiva, this is the first female flash, something along the lines of 3rd female ascent and a rare flash for either gender. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that she had never been in CATS before and could not even make out the stickers so I actually had to point it out as she went.

Outside of the steep we definitely have a newest hardest climb usurping Keen Extension and Red HornyToad. It was set by myself and Ryan Silven and lacks a good name, not that we ever have "good" names in CATS. I suppose it will just be refered to as the V15/16, or perhaps in true CATS form; OrangeRedYellow as that is the crux sequence. Enough holds have changed since my old photo database that I cannot highlight the holds, I can take new pictures but I no longer have access to the quality camera that I did. But given that this is the first or second hardest climb in CATS I will take pictures next week to put up in the guide section. I will try hard to get footage of Daniel doing it, but not sure when he will be around and it took him three days so it is not on the circuit yet.

That is all of the news for now. But I will start updating again. So tell your friends and check in for new posts here, in the blog, and on the Vimeo Channel.

Current Status

2010-06-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, I know it has been awhile since much of anything has happened on this site, but I thought I would give an update on what is going on. Honestly one of the main reasons there has not been allot of activity here is because there is too much activity on the walls. Since my last post, and more importantly since last I took photos of the walls, there have been innumerable changes to the walls. Most problems up on this site remain but some do not. But most all of the new problems being put are with holds that are not in any of my pictures. The photos of CATS were originally taken with my father's 15mp camera which allows for the detail needed. I do not currently have that on hand. So CATS Climbing as a guide is getting more difficult. I can still take video, and I have some video on the CATS Climbing video page that I have not linked to this site, but there is not really a great reason why that has not been updated in the past. In the present/last month or two, both sites have seen very little activity because I have been resting/nursing a tendon injury. It is now rested, and I discovered this last week, not healed at all. So I am not sure what my current climbing status is or will be in the near future.

So this is not a post promising more updates or a renewed energy in the site, but I thought I would let people know what is going on. CATS itself is as always literally better than ever with a plethora of new holds and problems. So I welcome everyone to come visit and if you need any help climbing there let me know.

Pure Crimps

2010-02-20T17:02:00.000-08:00

A somewhat thin, very pure, short, crimp line. People find it to be painful, but the edges are not sharp at all, they are just very thin so it is more of a maybe bruising sort of thing. There is a pretty obvious small pocket crimp directly over the lip on the left side of the main wall, and just up and right of that a better more rounded crimp of the same series, from these two holds you do a jump to the large green Frank Loyd Wright jug, the right hand starts on a sand colored straight thin crimp of the same series as the crimps above left hand starts down and left on a grey and pink old crimp that is a very similar style to the right hand, you get the good red spike jib as a foot. The video is here http://vimeo.com/9300504

And for the request in the comments:

Start on two of the yellow circles(the razors I think) go to blue, come into green and jump to a jug? It will of course be hard to simulate without coming into CATS.

Recent Sends and Updates

2010-01-30T07:59:00.000-08:00

As I am being increasingly bothered by people telling me to update the website, I will provide the latest and most important news. Daniel has finnally returned from Europe(but is now in Hueco) and had the new best day in CATS history flashing 3 V12s and a V13, he also FLASHED the first ascent of a new Razor Ladder V14 in the steep, and sent a V15 in the steep after maybe 5 tries, and that is the short summary of the night. In more recent news Alex Puccio made a very impressive first Female Ascent of Keen! She helped set the problem nearly 2 years ago and has tried it a few sporadic times since but had not put much work into it. The problem, perhaps unlike Clear Blue Skies, really comes down to sticking the very long cross through 2nd move off of a heel hook. To say Alex is in good shape would be an understatement, I am starting to wonder if there is any move with a heel Alex cannot do.

In other news although we have not gotten many new holds since my last post(Chris! Get in here!) we have continued moving many holds and making many improvements. I am right in the middle of drastically improving the steep wall. Things are certainly getting better and not just because they are different, but the cost is that there are some problems listed on the site here which are a bit different now. Not many honestly, but if you have any questions feel free to ask, or come in on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday.

Winter Holiday

2009-12-15T14:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry again the site is going completely stale, but on the other hand no one seems to care. I have been very very busy with school work and as of late have not even been into CATS as much I would like. I bought two more sets of holds and Danielson threw in some extras, so the walls are just getting better and better, be sure to check out the steep. I suppose people have realised that my beta for Green Horny Toad is not the way and it has seen two more repeats to Andre and Paul. Besides the massive numbers of new holds not too much news as of now. I will be heading down to Hueco soon. Hope everyone enjoys their winter break.

Thanksgiving and New Holds

2009-11-20T13:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry that there has not been a lot of activity on the site recently. I have been putting a little more time into school. Also things have been a bit dry on the video side of things, but good news is that my friend Gabor is doing a video piece on training in Boulder, similar to the Patxi section of Progression that will include a lot of amazing HD CATS footage including UNCUT footage of Campus number 5. More good news is that I with some help from Chris Danielson got 30 new E-Grips holds that are absolutely amazing! The steep is the most transformed, but lots of new holds around in general as some other holds have been moved around, such as the Death Star in a more usable spot and I liberated a nice Lunar Flat out of the steep. Seeing how much of a difference these holds made actually just makes me want more, so there will definitely be some new ones for Christmas as well. A difficulty this brings up is that my photographs for CATS are outdated now as the walls are a bit different. I will have to decide whether to take more pictures, or just rely on video plus me being there to show problems. What do you think? Do the guide pictures help at all or should I abandon them? Remember as always if you see me in there to just ask for problems.
I am leaving for Maryland tomorrow to go climbing at my old stomping ground of Earth Treks, CATS may be closed some of these days, sorry I do not remember the details, but just call in. When I return I will probably write another blog post regarding ET vs. CATS and the changes they created in my climbing.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Hard Ascents

2009-11-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

Gabor Szekely and Paul Robinson have made a couple hard ascents this last week with Paul getting the second ascent of the crimp testpiece Keen Extension, and Gabor repeating Green Horny Toad for it's third ascent, after maybe a year drought of no ascents of the problem. CATS also recently gained an amazing new unreleased sloper on the lower section of the wall, that makes for countless new lines. Not too much else right now, I will try to get some more videos up this Friday unless I go to Joe's Valley.

Keen Extension

2009-10-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

I finished up my 3rd project of the season with the first ascent of the extension to the Clear Blue Skies simulator Keen. Keen extension adds maybe a CATS V11 ontop of Keen, very very small holds and a big lock-off. Keen Extension will still get V13, as Keen is pretty low in the grade, the extension is high in the grade. In comparison to Clear Blue Skies, Keen Extension is a problem harder than CBS into a problem as hard as CBS. This is probably the crimpiest climb I have done in CATS based on the ammount of finger death I felt when I was done with it. I will add it into the guide when I have video of the send and I also do not have a good picture because it uses new holds I put up just for this climb. Still is looking for a second ascent!

In site news, I have added a steep V9 and V12 and a super classic campus problem.

The Doable Climb

2009-10-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

A very good powerful and tensiony pinch climb out of the steep on fantastic pinches. I was trying to make climbs in the steep and was having trouble making climbs that could actually be done. But then I saw this amazing line which actually worked out to be V9, so I named it the Doable climb because unlike most stuff I was trying that day, it was actually doable. A really amazingly obvious line of pinches, strange I had not seen it before, here is the video: http://vimeo.com/7118084 for the finish you are supposed to do a fun little come in to the Bubble Wrap Tufa Pinch, and then match, slipped in the video, oh well. I will give one picture of the start to be clear but then it is pretty easy to follow from orange E-Grips mini jug, to blue Water Tufa, to pink Water Tufa, to Bubble Wrap Tufa Pinch, into Epic Taped ETCH pinch to the black ringer jug far out right.

The Small Holds Climb

2009-10-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

Another steep crimping testpiece, most of the difficulty of this climb is due to the size of the holds. The movement between them though is also not trivial or just tick tacking up small holds, a very hard jump in the bottom to a very small hold to a pretty long cross through off meager feet near the end. Here is the video: http://vimeo.com/7118495 I actually tweak my finger a little bit in the video. The second move, I grab a crimp and start to close it, and if you watch closely it snaps closed strangely, which hurts my pinky and ring finger, strange. Here are pictures as though as it is hard to see exactly how the climb goes just by video. The pictures do not show the start; Start Organic/Petzl with a small blue jib down and left then go to first crimp shown etc.

First Ascent: James O'Connor

Other Ascents: Daniel Woods, Paul Robinson

Sloper Campus

2009-10-15T14:17:00.000-07:00

Slightly separate from Campus Numbers 1-5, this climbs up the main wall. The line was visualized by Jamie Emerson shortly after we got a bunch of cool new holds including two sick Teknik holds. Maybe the most tension oriented campus problem, the moves are only difficult because of the holds, not too much power involved. I actually flashed the line this summer which is why I feel I cannot call it V12, so far it has seen two other ascents but no flashes. Big hands could be a serious advantage if it allows you to pinch the holds, therefore eliminating the need for tension. Here is the video: http://vimeo.com/7050168 Should be a very obvious line with the video's help. 5.10 Taped Circle sloper, Big Blue, yellow teknik, purple Teknik edge, Egg, Jug. Quiet a fun testpiece.

First Blog post, Epic video, Organic.

2009-10-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Not too much news. I now have video of Paul sending Epic up, and I have added the classic steep testpiece Organic into the V13 section, along with footage and my first actual blog style post in the Blog section of the site. Sorry I did not get video of left wall Keen up, but I have been fighting sickness. One thing of note is that there has been a strangely epic move linking all the lower Bubble Wrap holds, with a very awkward heel hook that had only been done by the heel hook master Alex Puccio. This move had been unrepeated for maybe a year until this Thursday when Andre De Felice stuck the move for its second ascent. The problem remains unclimbed.

Organic

2009-10-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

This last week I sent what has probably been my longest indoor project. And it reveals one of the most unique aspects of CATS which I think many have a hard time as seeing as being a positive feature, but I think is perfect for training and the way climbing in CATS works.

I set Organic only a few months after moving out to Colorado. I was psyched to set something hard, really hard, in the steep that I could work for years and that would make me stronger. When I was finished setting I was sure I had just set a V15 and there were numerous moves I simply could not do, the 4th move, the 6th move, the 8th move and the last move. As one of my favorite things in climbing is hard moves, right after I set it I worked it for a few weeks with Seth Allred, mainly trying the 6th move, off of the wood and to the pinch. We would hit the pinch and just swing off the climb. Eventually we learned how to hold a crazy circular swing for the move, and I did the other moves in a very low percentage manner. The especially frustrating one was the quite easy 4th move, everyone except me could easily do that move, it was just some non-square tension sort of move I really did not understand. Now that the moves had gone, and linking was still way out of my league, I gave the climb a rest for awhile. At some point or another Daniel returned from somewhere amazing and on his flash burn stuck the pinch with his feet staying. I was pretty mind blown, I had not even considered having your feet not cut. In another half an hour Daniel had the first ascent, and I realized the climb was probably not 8C and that I was very weak. At this point I think it is Spring 09, and I tried the pinch move again after a few months not trying. The holds feel good, I feel in ok shape, but for some reason I come off the problem completely differently and cannot repeat the move. Summer temps are setting in and I give the climb a rest again. Now that school is over and alpine season is prime, I spend 5 days a week in CATS and just climb climb climb. Late summer, the temps are not prime yet but I am curious and pull back onto Organic. All the moves feel easy, you just grab the pinch and tighten up, and somehow the mysterious bottom hard move is inconsequential, as it should be. After another month or so, as soon as the temps are out of the upper 70s low 80s, I hop on and narrowly fall on the second crux from the bottom and am soon falling post crux. This last Monday, I warmed up very briefly and pulled on. Every move just went perfectly, hitting all the holds perfectly with a new level of control. After 8 hard moves out of a 70degree(?) overhang I come to the last hold. This hold is complete shit, it would literally be a very very miserable crimp on a face that no one would use, even in CATS it would be one of the absolute worst holds on the main wall. You have to pinch it because if you crimped it you would just dry fire off because there is nothing to crimp on. None the less I simply pulled up to it, and with surprising lack of desperation stuck the flat brick Teknik finish hold. For me this was the end of an era. A little over a year ago I had set this climb thinking years of work and V15. Now it is done.

I am guessing that this is probably what it is like to send a project outside. A sign of progression, the end of a chapter, the next step.

This is something that is unique to CATS as far as gyms go, this cannot happen at the Spot or Movement. The purpose of this post is not to rag on other gyms, there is definitely an appeal to new set problems every few weeks or whatever. But CATS is about getting stronger, training, becoming a better climber. Being able to have actual hard projects is great way of measuring this progression and a great reward when you do get stronger. It is a great feeling when things are out of your league completely and then before you know it, the moves just aren't that hard anymore.

So I encourage you all to have projects and be dedicated. You won't get stronger doing climbs that are not hard for you.

Organic

2009-10-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

An older taped steep crimp testpiece. This was I think the first or second climb I taped in CATS along with the Bear Problem. Much less powerful than the more recent Petzl, but of a similar difficulty I would say. Organic is much more tension and staying on the wall through crimp strength than much else. Even the moves that feel powerful are not all that large, they are just off of small holds and bad feet. Here is the video: http://vimeo.com/6991137
The video does not really do many of the holds justice, the most miserable is the very last hold before the finish, it is literally smaller than the majority of foot holds at the Spot, but somehow you can move off of it.

First Ascent: Daniel Woods
Other Ascents: Paul Robinson, James O'Connor

The Season is Beginning

2009-10-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

First, sorry for the lack of updates recently. The winter CATS season is beginning! In the last month or so CATS temps have dropped around 15 degrees and grease levels are decreasing! I personally think this means the time for crimping is at hand, and have already dispatched two of my winter projects, left wall Keen and Organic in the steep. I will hopefully get video's of both of these up this weekend. The time of year also means CATS is starting to get a little more traffic. We do not have a ton of space, so please try to be considerate and tuck your things away as neatly as possible, and do not put all your stuff on the chairs, they are for people, not for your excess clothing.

In climbing news Paul has started to come in once a week or so and is dispatching some of my unrepeated problems, and putting away a few of my projects. Gabor has just returned and is remembering how much better CATS is than anything else and had some impressive V11 flashes last night. I am also very psyched for my friend Matt who just moved here from California, and is systematically putting away all the problems I show him. I appreciate this type of climbing and find it is much more productive than the ADD, no focus, stop-trying-things-if-they-are-hard approach.

Not a lot of new problems added to the site recently, sorry again, I am not running low, but am having trouble filming. The newish ones that I have added though are a good grade range including a V4, V8, and V12 campus. I will try to get some more up this week. But as always if you need or want new problems, just come in and ask!

La Sportiva Campus

2009-10-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

If you want to get stronger on crimps I would have to say that this is THE thing to climb on. And no I have not said that about any other problem. This is how to get finger strength. As a warning La Sportiva with feet should be a warm-up and you probably should have flashed it for this to be an option, but of course do what you want. This is where grading gets very tricky for me. Maybe not quite flash but I did this problem first try or so, and for me it is probably as difficult as CATS V10. However I am not sure who would do this problem besides those who have climbed V14 outside. . . .
But I could also be miserably wrong.
But then again maybe I am not, as there are climbers who have done V12 who have difficulty doing La Sportiva WITH feet.
How hard is this? I have no idea. So it gets V12.
Here is the video: http://vimeo.com/6822329

First Ascent: James O'Connor

The New Warm-Up

2009-10-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

I decided it would be good to have a cool warm up problem. Something that was actually like a boulder problem and less just a ladder of crimps or jugs, something I would make up for myself if I was a bit weaker. I think it actually turned out pretty good, maybe has reachy feet for short people, but they have figured out a different sequence. Also no complaining about the 5th move just push with your foot and get to the hold, it's not that bad. But varied movement on amazing holds. Highly recommended. Here is the video: http://vimeo.com/6820816 And a couple pictures.

Danielson's Return

2009-10-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

A very good unique bloc set by professional route setter Chris Danielson. Chris was out of climbing consistently for awhile but now has finally started coming into CATS regularly again. This was the first real boulder problem he made up for himself since his return. Interesting climbing on small slopers leads to a bump crux near the end. Here is the video: http://vimeo.com/6820750 and a picture

Keen's 4th ascent, New problems up

2009-09-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

Rob reports that Phil Schaal recently made the 4th ascent of the center wall Keen. Given that he has mostly climbed out the Park, I hope Phil comes in more! On a related not I have not started trying it yet, but I just finished setting the extension to Keen, so it will go to the top of the wall soon, for those that want to. I also spent some time during the day so that the lighting would be better getting footage of an amazing taped testpiece I put up a few months ago; Petzl. I think I got about as good of footage as I can get out of my digital point-and-shoot, so the problem and video is now up! Along with two very contrasting V11s and a good addition to the sparse V6-7 section. I have also been scrounging across the unclimbed back pit wall and have added a few more holds to the main wall. Also my friend Chris Danielson should be bringing in some amazing new E-Grips holds in the coming weeks, so come in and check it out!

Ryan's V7

2009-09-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

A very good less sandbagged V7 my friend Ryan Young set recently with a new ETCH pinch we got more recently than I have a picture of. Consisting mostly of a little power and a decent amount of tension, I did not think this was too cruxy of a climb, but people say the second move is the crux. Here is the video: http://vimeo.com/6548936 where my feet cut on the second move where they did not when I first did this problem, and most definitely should not. But oh well. Here also is a picture of the top, 2nd move on (the filled in circle is where there is now an amazing ETCH pinch). You start on the large Hudz plate right before the floor goes down hill with the red spike jib, reach out to a good white E-Grips Comfy crimp, handfoot, and come into the green pinch pictured.

The Font-Egg Dyno

2009-09-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

Another shameless power problem with the Egg. However going from the ETCH Font Pinch to the Egg was a move that had to be done, so this problem had to happen. Since I knew I was just making another power problem with Egg I decided to not half-ass it and just make a straight line line with as big of moves as I could manage.
And this is was the resulthttp://vimeo.com/6548691
As you may notice I did throw in one small hold; the last crimper on Keen. So that 6'3" 200lb people do not get too psyched. Along with a description this problem should be easy enough to figure out. Start Red Izze double jug with orange Bubble Wrap foot right above the kickboard, up to purple ETCH edge, Keen, on the painting of the climber on the wall the incut crimp on top of the painting's chalk bag, ETCH font pinch, Egg, top.

The Sustained Problem

2009-09-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

Not an endurance climb, but something I think that does definitely does not get it's grade from
one move. One of the strengths of this climb I think are the non standard grips. After the first two crimpers there are two really nice little pinch crimps, a cool loaf, and a Teknik Tron dual edge which you pinch. That and it is a little different from what I normally set, more static moves, I set a whole climb with only one jump move! Basically a good climb to do if you are getting tired of all my power climbs and heinous climbs.

Here is the video:http://vimeo.com/6548506 and a couple pictures

Petzl

2009-09-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

A serious steep crimping testpiece on a great line of amazing holds. One of my absolute favorites. The original goal of this problem was to make a better set, easier, more fun version of Organic. In terms of a full length, taped steep crimp testpiece. It worked out quite well except for the easier part. I think I did set this a little better than Organic, the moves are more interesting and the holds are much cooler. It was also especially good for myself because I found it to be a very sustained problem, I somehow came out of the finish jug around 6 times from the bottom. Although apparently I was wrong. The 4th move(getting out of the Orange ETCH undercling) is, according to Paul, much harder than anything on Organic, to the extent that this is the only problem I know of that took Daniel more than one day. So the grading on this is a bit tricky but I do not think it warrants V14.
Here is the video: http://vimeo.com/6548279 I know this footage is not perfect but it is quite hard to film the steep wall well and keep the feet in frame at all times. It is taped so do not think any pictures are necessary.

FA: James O'Connor
Other Ascents: Daniel Woods, Paul Robinson

New Holds

2009-09-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

A few pieces of news. First CATS will not be open tomorrow(Monday the 7th) for Labor day. My friend Gabor has just returned from Europe and brought a handful of interesting Euro holds which are now up, look for a few new incuts on the lower section of steep, new feet spread around, new sloper on the left side of the main wall, a cool plate and black edgepinch on the lower main wall, yellow crimper on the main wall, and a few other randoms spread around. Thanks for the holds Gabor! Although it is currently empty I have added a "Blog" section to the site for random musings and guest posts. When I get something to put in there I will probably post something here in the news section. I have also put up Campus Number 3 and 4 up on the site with video, which means I now how have to try to repeat Campus Number 5. Any opinions on whether the footage should be uncut or have some hold close ups?

Campus Number 4

2009-09-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

Strangely the first simple and the first crimpy campus problem made. Here is the video http://vimeo.com/6438780 although it is definitely a problem that is harder than it looks I have trouble with the grade on this one. It did not feel that bad to me, I did not feel it was a step up at the time, but a few things suggest otherwise. People have said that it would be V10 with open feet, it has been tried open feet without success, it has been tried by the very strong and still has zero repeats. . .
But if someone were to come along and piss it and tell me it is no harder than Campus Number 1 I would just think "Dang! I knew it!" and probably agree. I will compromise, guess and just throw the V12 grade on it. If you are really psyched on your fingers and pulling ability have at it!
Two finger bucket, right hand blue jib, red incut jib, top.

FA: James O'Connor

Campus Number 3

2009-09-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

The intense, most varied, longest of the campus problems. The bottom couple moves were set by my friend Jamie which inspired me to make the rest of the line. The top has been changed from the original because a hold got moved, I think Carlo and Paul repeated the original, cannot remember. Here is the video http://vimeo.com/6433563 I am aware that there is some dabbing of the feet on the wall near the end but is essentially impossible to campus on underclings without your lower body wanting to go in, so oh well. Perhaps is pushing what can be called V12 but I have a hard time grading these things.

FA: James O'Connor
Other Ascents: (since change, none)

La Sportiva (Girl 8)

2009-09-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

This is a taped crimp ladder up the center of the main wall. I originally set this problem quite awhile back for my friend Hanna so she could have a very girly V8 to work on(I sandbagged a little too hard maybe). So originally this problem was called the Girl 8, and it became a bit of a small holds testpiece, although I still do not think this would be V10 outside. Nothing but small moves on small holds, very little besides fingers is required. Here is the video:http://vimeo.com/6269588 that plus the tape should be plenty. The problem can also be campused from start to finish at around V12.
First Female Ascent Angie Payne

The Ultimate Bloc

2009-08-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

The hardest thing in CATS. I made this problem in a desperate attempt to try to set something that Daniel would not be able to do in a day. I failed, for a third time. On his flash attempt he got through 9 of the 11 moves. It was the most impressive thing I have ever seen in climbing. He sent in about another hour. When I originally set the problem the 6th move through the 10th were all the crux and I could only do the first hard move. I still have not done the 7th move. I believe this is perhaps one of the hardest climbs in the country, potentially behind Terremer. If you do not think it can be this hard because Daniel did it in a day then you clearly just do not understand Daniel on straightforward moves on a 70 degree overhang.

The problem starts with a little 5 move V8 or V9 set up problem, then a V10 move, then a V12 move, then a V11 move, to a V9 move to a V10 move to a V6 move. This is of course my feeling and I have not done the problem, but it should give a basic idea. Here are pictures, I do not think I will be getting video of this one. . .

Right V10

2009-08-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

The second of two somewhat mundane V10s I found and flashed in a day, this one has one slightly sharp hold and a cool big move to the Boss. I actually like this climb a lot, a few nice little intro crimp moves, a hard crux and then a hard finish toss to a jug lip, actually has zero repeats....
Here is the video http://vimeo.com/6334466 which should work well enough with a description.
Start on a massive right facing jug just below and left of the "Cool Wall" hold. Foot is on a incut chip out right between a Hudz hold and a left facing jug, small cross over to a white incut Comfy Crimp, reach out right to a thin flat Epic taped hold, cross into a two screw red sidepull, Boss, Red Hornytoad taped bubble wrap, Green Hornytoad taped finish.

Left V10

2009-08-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

The first of two somewhat mundane V10s I came up with and flashed in a day, it climbs very nicely though and if you want to crimp but have bad skin or are not psyched on even a little pain this is the climb to do. Or if you like shoulders, crimps and are looking for your first CATS V10. The video http://vimeo.com/6333822 should make it pretty clear, but I will describe some as well; you start on the "Cool Wall" plate foot on a flat/slopey red jib directly below and above the mini-roof and reach right to a crimp right over the angle transition between a right facing jug and a right facing flat edge, jump to the incut Green Hornytoad crimp and from there the video makes it obvious.

The Original Pinch Problem

2009-08-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

A very old school testpiece for CATS V8 pinching. The second move is an interesting tension move and generally considered the crux, but it is relatively sustained and you can definitely even fall on the last move. There used to be a taped box to the left of the molecule to designate the finish, but it is now gone. So basically just go left hand somewhere to the left of the molecule. Here is the video http://vimeo.com/6333423 and a picture. Also as you can see in the video you are allowed to smear on the right wall, just be careful not to dab holds if you are swinging into the wall dynamically.

Right-Hand Mini Problem Sit

2009-08-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

A great new steep crimping power testpiece, the low start adds a short three move V10 into the Right-Hand Mini problem which I think bumps the grade into solid V12. Big moves on nice small incuts. I am not sure which is a better climb, between the low and the high. The High just goes straight into business without a jug in the middle, but the low starts at the bottom of the wall and adds good moves. Here is the video:http://vimeo.com/6331638 and pictures

FA: James O'Connor

Other Ascents: Paul Robinson

It Has Begun!

2009-08-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well I am pretty much finished with the layout and meat of the site, and have a small initial batch of problems now up, along with a ton of video(thanks Ellen!). A useful thing I just thought of is on the Problem Guide title I will keep a running number of how many problems are up on the site. So when you visit you can tell whether I have added any new problems or not since you visited last.

There are still many many classic climbs that are not up on the site yet, but in the coming weeks the number of problems will at least double I am sure. The V9 section of the site is particularly sparse but this is not from a lack of problems, I have loads of V9s. But I figure I might as well wait until I have video of them before putting them up. Just come into CATS Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday and I will be there and can show you infinitely more problems.

Keen

2009-08-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

The left wall Keen is actually the original. Rob at one point put up a bunch of jibs on the left wall and I made this line out of most of them. A very very crimpy perhaps easier CATS V12, requires a bit of pain tolerance and cool temps.

Here is video of the latest ascent

FA: Daniel or Paul?

Other Ascents: Seth Allred, James O'Connor, Matt Johnson

Epic

2009-08-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

THE pinch testpiece of CATS. I set this for Daniel after he did Organic in about 30 min, this one was harder for him as it took him 45 min or so. An amazing line of ETCH pinches with scarce feet making for interesting footwork. If you think you are strong on pinches have at it. It is taped with Epic stickers and starts near the bottom right of the steep. It is a fairly obvious line of all ETCH pinches except the first hold. Here is the video of Paul:
http://vimeo.com/6977881
FA: Daniel Woods
Other Ascents: Paul Robinson

Crimp Warm-up

2009-08-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

This is a good climb with small moves to warm up your fingers, it does however have a piss ton of holds and there is more than one way of doing it so the video here: http://vimeo.com/6291034 will help some and here is a picture as well, it ends on the plate over the lip.

Jug Warm-up

2009-08-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

A good warm up that is harder than a ladder of jugs but does not require any fingers. There is actually a really pretty foot sequence that can be done in the upper but I totally forgot it in the video which is here:http://vimeo.com/6289242 and I will post pictures to help as well.

Old Power V8

2009-08-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

This is a very very old problem I made up when I first moved out, perhaps the third problem overall that I set in CATS. A good mixture of power and tension on pinches and slopers makes this the Full Service of CATS V8. The original finish got moved slightly quite awhile back so the current one is somewhat half-assed. A good variation if this is not at your limit is to jump to the Egg at the end, but that could bump to V9. The video is here: http://vimeo.com/6288786 and I am giving a couple pictures as well.

The Classic Power Bloc

2009-08-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

A solid V11 testpiece of power, although sadly a bit easier for those who are taller. Nonetheless not too many repeats. Remember not to match on the red pinch, in general in CATS you cannot match on holds unless they are clearly designed for matching. Video is here: http://vimeo.com/6288147 And one picture of the bottom, after the red pinch goes to chunky white edge, then purple Teknik edge, finish yellow sandstone.

New Team Effort V7

2009-08-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

I very well set V7 by Silven, Philip and myself. This one has a great variety of movement and is much more interesting than the typical CATS climb. I have been hearing some complaining regarding the grade, well this is certainly much easier than the V8's and V9's I have been putting up so I guess I have to be consistent. I would be interested to hear though if you believe my new climbs to be generally harder for the grade than my old climbs, because then I guess I would have to adjust some, let me know. The video is here: http://vimeo.com/6273106
The video should be enough but I will run it through by words in case. Start Zbar jug, with a blue jib and a dirty yellow jib to start, left hand two screw teal crimp, into blue Teknik pinch, out to small green ETCH pinch, right foot on red jib just to the right of the big yellow loaf pinch, right hand to small tan/yellow pinch above the green font, right hand again to the pink eGrips scooped mini pinch, left hand Red Hornytoad.

Ellen's Climb

2009-08-25T15:55:00.001-07:00

This is in fact the second climb my girlfriend Ellen ever set, and it turned out to be a very good climb. Cool holds, reasonable movement, good sustained difficulty, feet are a little odd to use though. But definitely fills a good niche in the V6 area. Video is here http://vimeo.com/6271360 and a picture of the bottom as well to be clear, after the last hold in the picture the video should work, but if not; black eGrips crimp, small blue sloper, three screw teal crimp rail, big yellow sandstone to finish.

Blue Tape

2009-08-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

This was an excellent climb set by Peter Beal, and taped blue. A bit ago though me and Rob decided the gym was messy looking and took down a lot of tape this one included. I liked this climb though and continue to warm up on it, it should be remembered so here is the video of Ellen climbing it: http://vimeo.com/6271360 to help and a picture for the plethora of feet

Keen

2009-08-25T15:30:00.001-07:00

This is the CATS Clear Blue Skies simulator. Original concept by Anson modified and re-set by Rob, Carlo, Alex and myself. First this problem was untaped, then it had Epic tape, then the Epic traverse was set and this was reset Keen. Which fits well with the other Keen climb which is simple, short, crimpy and maybe a touch sharp. Although I realize that saying this is harder than CBS does not make this V13, this is a decent amount harder and many who have done the climb cannot do the 2nd move at all on the CATS CBS, so I will give it entry level V13. No flash ascents by the way. . .
Video is here:http://vimeo.com/6269195

FA: Daniel Woods
Other Ascents: Paul Robinson, James O'Connor, Phil Schaal, Alex Puccio

Green Hornytoad

2009-08-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

An epic masterpiece of movement and perfect holds. This is a taped climb that is very very hard for me to put a grade on, I did it awhile back without too much difficulty and Daniel flashed it but it has seen many many people who climb V13 and V14 fail on it so I guess I will go ahead and list it as a V13. If you send it and go "pshh that is V11" well good for you I do not really care.
Video is here: http://vimeo.com/6268642
Green Hornytoad is also one of my current campus projects all the moves have gone, and I have had decent link starting 2 moves in and falling on the last move. The future for sure.

If you can campus all the moves I will buy you 3 blocks of chalk.
If you campus Green Hornytoad and your last name is not Woods, then I will name a problem after you and will treat a meal at iHop.

FA: James O'Connor
Other Ascents: Daniel Woods, Gabor Szekely, Andre Defelice

Spider Man

2009-08-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

There are 4 taped climbs in CATS that are taped with various Spider Man stickers, the are very easy and cannot be harder than V3 and the easiest is probably V1. They are not supposed to be climbed open feet you are supposed to just climb them with tracking. Some of them climb awkwardly because it is harder to set a problem with only 8 stickers. But they are good for the CATS neophyte or as warmups. I will post pictures to help with the location and lines.

New Mini Power Bloc

2009-08-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

This is one of my most fun problems, big fun moves on decent holds, nothing really heinous to do just power around the wall. I was thinking this maybe was V11 as none of my friends could touch the moves, but I and a couple others flashed it(well I had to set it so it was not exactly flash, but I never fell on it) and Phil said I could not count it as CATS V11 if I were to do a points day so I guess it will get V10.
Video is here http://vimeo.com/6090442
And I will give a description as well: Start B3 with the green Orange Horny Toad jib, straight up to red ball, black ETCH pinch, big cross through to good White Fang pinch, White Smith sidepull, circular red two screw jib for feet, big move to the yellow ETCH sandstone.

Campus Number 2

2009-08-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

This is Campus Number 2, a slightly odd one because it is a piece of a problem that had feet, lots of slopers and Boss mastery. Climbs more like an actual climb, with matching, needing to set up, missing, accuracy etc. A difficult one for me to repeat, but Paul said it is easier than 1 and 3 so I guess it will stick with V11.
Video here http://vimeo.com/6096423 should explain it well enough, if not let me know.

Campus Number 1

2009-08-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

This is the first real campus problem I made up, although this is the full. The original just started high on the Lunar Flats. There are currently campus problems 1 through 5, plus a new sloper campus. They are numbered chronologically by when I set and sent them. Number one here is a nice friendly tension problem. I am not sure if it helps or is possible to quickly onetwo through the crux to the lip, but if it is, don't do it, stick the holds. In general onetwoing is not very acceptable. I think the video here http://vimeo.com/6089275 makes things clear enough, if not drop a comment.

Phil's Hard Climb

2009-08-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

This is another problem set awhile back by my friend Phil London. A combination of sick holds, power, and a commiting finish make this a nice steep testpiece for those entering double digits in the steep.

Here is the video http://vimeo.com/6097043 sorry it is not shot super well, hard to keep everything in the frame.

Here is a picture showing the bottom which may be hard to make out in the video. After the two last holds shown; bubblewrap ledge, pink ETCH pinch, pink ETCH pinch, green E-grips left facing jug.

The Nemisis

2009-08-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

This is a really good tension and power pinch and sloper problem. I originally put it up at V10 but it got a lot of attempts and no repeats until Paul sent after a few falls, so I guess it gets V11.

Here is the video: http://vimeo.com/6108036

Believe it or not the first two moves are what most people find difficult as peoples feet cut off the stingy jib. It starts on a purple ETCH Pinch and a jib crimp right below it, here is a picture of the start just to be clear

The Original Problem

2009-08-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

A very old climb for the current CATS, this was the first climb I set in CATS when I moved out here and the walls were still being filled in from Nationals. If you want to start climbing on the steep this is a must do intro problem with crimps, tension and a touch of power.

Video is here http://vimeo.com/6106271

The bottom is a little hard to see so here is a picture to help, after the last crimp in the picture the video should show it well enough; big move to finger bucket, come into undercut, up to three finger pocket dish thing, purple sidepull screw on, jug.

White Smith

2009-08-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

This is a super classic taped traverse set by the owner Rob, that can be climbed open feet at about 5.12b, jibs only(no tracking) at 5.13a or I have campused it in two pieces, if that were to go it would be pushing 5.14d would be my guess but route grading is not my field. It is very smooth movement on finger buckets for a little over 30 moves, the end is easier but from the bottom it climbs with a perfect consistency. A perfect warm-up if you climb routes or have climbed in CATS for a little bit and know where it goes, as it warms up the muscles and body given the 30+ moves and the fingers because all the holds are crimps.
Video is here http://vimeo.com/6092584

The Bear Problem

2009-08-21T10:04:00.001-07:00

This is a very simple, taped, CATS style climb set by my friend Philip London awhile back. Who strangely at the time had been to CATS maybe one other time. Very cimpy with tension and not very much pain. Has actually seen more flashes than redpoints as Daniel, Paul and Carlo flashed it and I did not.

Video of the climb is http://vimeo.com/6105050

Given that it is taped and there is a video I do not see much need for a description, just remember you do get a foot out right for the end.

The New Pinch Classic

2009-08-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

This is a really good obvious line I saw after I put up some new holds. A variety of moves on pinches; compression, stabs, crosses it comes together pretty well. And tall people should not complain about the high foot near the end, it works perfectly fine for a friend of mine who is 6' 1"
The video for the problem is http://vimeo.com/6088053
Starts in good deep incut scoop, right foot on green Orange Horny Toad jib, left foot (which I do not start with, but some do) is directly left 8bolts on a strange right facing edge. The rest should be fairly obvious from the video. Green ETCH, Yellow ETCH, little black, big white, green font ETCH, Epic 50cent edge, Jug.

Old Compression Bloc

2009-08-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

This is an old very fun problem, and although it has slopers and pinches it climbs very differently than something you would find at the Spot. Better to be taller on this one, but don't dab the first move. Video of the climb is here http://vimeo.com/6108853
Starts left hand fat pinch right hand Hudz plate, right foot straight down on a red jib on the kickboard. Jump into the fat Teknik pinch, left hand to red Teknik pinch, right hand red Pusher sloper, left hand strange brown seam crimp, right hand old school E-Grips jug pinch, jug.

Bubble Wrap Dyno

2009-08-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

This is a relatively old problem, not too hard for the grade and friendly holds. So definitely a problem to do if you can. There is video for this problem(http://vimeo.com/6095549) but I will describe some of the beta anyway, especially as the feet can be hard to see. You start on the two obvious slopey jugs with a red jib on the kickboard out right, easy reach up move to a rounded incut crimp, bring left foot up to a green Orange Horny Toad taped jib and do a slightly harder reach move to a small vertical rock pinch, feet in starter, and do a tensiony reach up to the bubble wrap. Right foot on the first crimp and Moon kick up to the Spider Man taped jug.

Gallery

2009-08-20T23:49:00.001-07:00

Up and Running Soon!

2009-08-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

I think I have figured out how to get the blog to run the way I want it to. I now need to takes lots and lots of pictures and spend some time in MS paint but in the next couple weeks I will hopefully get a lot of problems up onto the site. I already have almost a dozen videos up of some CATS classics on my Vimeo, so be sure to check that out for now! And let me know if you have any suggestions, be gentle. . .

About CATS

2009-08-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

CATS(Colorado Athletic Training School) is a 10,000+ square foot training facility primarily devoted to gymnastics and climbing.

CATS is located at:
2400 30th Street
Boulder, CO 80301

and can be reached at 303-939-9699

For becoming a stronger, better rockclimber there is simply no better gym. CATS does not coddle with too many jugs, big feet, dihedrals or silly climbing. Especially with a crew of friends, CATS is very fun as well compared to traditional gyms where you have to deal with crowds and poor setting. CATS is whatever you want it to be, you can spend all day doing 30+ move traverses, crush out 3 move power problems on the smallest crimps you have ever seen, or climb out the absolute pinnacle of training; the CATS steep wall.

Not only is CATS the best place to train, but it is the cheapest.

$5 for a day pass, which after 8pm gives you full access to the rest of the facility which includes bars, rings etc.

$45 for a 10 pass punch card

$30 for a month pass

$290 for a one year membership