December and the Holidays

Just a schedule update for December

Tuesday December 6th - practice
Thursday December 8th - NO PRACTICE.  Rest day for team kids going to Regionals in Boise.
Saturday December 10th - USAC Big Sky Regionals in Boise.  Charlie and Kaleb will be representing Steepteam.
Tuesday December 13th - practice
Thursday December 15th - practice, this is the last practice till January 3rd.

As standard, all dates are scheduled in the Steepteam Google Calendar, linked from the right sidebar.

Significant Dates ahead include the USAC Northwest Regional Championship in Seattle in mid January and the Montana Bouldering Championships at Steepworld on Saturday February 4th.

Space Rock Jam

There's no practice this thursday because we are setting for the 2011 Space Rock Jam taking place on Saturday November 19th.  Competition starts at 11am and runs till 2 pm, dyno comp and awards after.  Registration is at the door only.  Please show up early so we can get everyone registered on time.

Cost is $35 +$5 for non USAC members.  The fee gets you gym admission, 55+ new new been climbed before routes, a black light experience, t-shirt, dyno comp, awards and raffle prizes, wow, there's some good prizes this yea!

Charlie's mom is coordinating baked goods to sell at the comp to raise funds for the Steepteam non-profit.  If you'd like to help out please contact the gym.

No practice Thanksgiving week, the next official team practice is November 29th.

Bozeman Full Gravity Day

Spire Climbing Center's Full Gravity Day Bouldering competition in Bozeman is Saturday November 5th.  Youth Competition starts at 10am, be at the gym 30 minutes early. 

Gym directions and the opportunity to save $5 by pre-registering on-line available  HERE. 

If you signed up for the ABS Regional Competitive Team your attendance is mandatory and your fee will be covered by Steepteam. 

Thank You

Last night's slideshow by Rusty and keg tapping by Tanner raised $316.75 for Steepteam.  A huge thanks to all that came out and partied with us.

Mount Logan: A Benefit for Steepteam

Thursday October 13th we will be cutting practice 30 minutes short at 8:30pm to allow the gym to host a slideshow fund-raiser.


Steepteam has made much progress in the last year, most significantly becoming a fully certified non-profit. To celebrate the years efforts by everyone involved and showcase our local climbers venturing out into the big big world, we'd like to invite you witness Rusty Willis (team member Justin's dad) and partners presenting a slideshow of their trip to climb Mount Logan this past summer.  Mount Logan is the tallest peak in Canada, and one of the largest single mountain massifs in the world.

$10 gets you admission, and for those 21 and over, beer from Carters Brewery.  Doors open at 8:30, 30 minute slideshow begins at 8:45.  The event is targeted towards adults but team members may stay and watch the slideshow at no charge.

All proceeds go to Steepteam, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to providing climbing mentorship and training to Billings area youth interested in improving their climbing skills through practice and competition.

A huge thanks to Rusty for showing us how sweet it can be up in the big mountains, Steepworld for giving us a space to host in, and birthday boy Tanner Callender and Jim Barron for donating a keg.

New Team Uniforms

Those attending last night's sign up got a sneak peak of the new team logo and uniforms.  T-shirt costs are covered in the team fee and will be handed out before the first competition in Bozeman.  The shorts however at this time are optional and are an added expense.  We have selected the best climbing short currently available on the market, the Prana Mojo.  Lightweight, flexible, and frequently worn be the worlds best climbers, this is a high quality short.

Steepteam will coordinate and cover the printing costs for anyone who brings in a pair of new grey Prana Mojo shorts by October 28th.  The shorts retail for $40 and can be found HERE.  You may be able to find deals elsewhere on-line.  We also plan to make a team order. If you'd rather have us get you your shorts we need your name and size on the list by October 13th.

Some of our younger members may not be able to fit into the smallest size shorts available (XS).  For them we will also cover printing costs if the climber brings in a new pair of similar looking grey shorts that fits them by October 28th.

Say Hello to Chris

Fellow Steepteam climbers say hello to Chris Guyer. Steepteam's new head coach. Punk rocker Chris has been climbing for 5 years, working at the gym for 3 years, and has already developed a solid all around climbing resume.  From scary steep ice climbs in Cody, pumpy 5.12 sport routes in Ten Sleep, and long alpine trad routes in the Beartooths, Chris has great skills and experiences to share with other climbers to help take them to the next level.


I recently sat down with Chris for a brief Q & A

J: Favorite sport climbing area?  

C: Which ever one I'm at.

J: Favorite boulder problem? 

C: That one really cool route in the gym, it has pink tape, I think its a V4.  

J: Favorite ice climb?  

C: Funeral for a Friend (WI4, 200') above Glacier Lake in the Beartooths, it's what got me psyched about climbing.  

J: Favorite route on the rims?  

C: I really enjoy doing laps on Becky Crack at Zimmerman if that counts. Otherwise its probably Rockchuck arete at Gregory Hills.  

J: Favorite route you've done all time?

C: I really, really enjoy the Standard Route (5.10, 800') up the Tower Innocence in East Rosebud Canyon.

J: What is your training mantra? 

C: Anything worth having is worth working for.  Work hard.  Also, I thoroughly enjoy eating pints of ice cream, horrible for the health, but oh so delicious; I train so I can eat ice cream, who cares about climbing hard.

Chris will be leading our Local Competition Team, but don't expect practice to be all Ben & Jerry's and popsicles.

Sign Up Tuesday October 4th

Steepteam will be hosting a sign-up session from 6 - 7pm on Tuesday October 4th.  To assist us with our team planning we ask all climbers to register at this time.  Coaches and board members will be on hand to handle registration, forms, waivers, and questions about the Fall Winter 2011 Program.  Steepteam currently cannot process credit cards so we ask all registration fees to be paid with check or cash.  Thanks!

Fall 2011 Competitive Bouldering Session

Schedule Highlights:

Oct 11 - First Practice

Nov 5 - Bozeman Full Gravity Day

Nov 19 - Billings Space Rock Jam

Dec 10th or 17th - Regionals - Boise

Jan 14th - Divisionals - TBD

Feb  4th - Billings Gnar Star Climbing Comp

Feb 10th -  Nationals - TBD

Structure:

The fall and winter season is Steepteam's competitive bouldering session which is open to anyone born ages 9-19. This fall we are hosting a USA Climbing - American Bouldering Series (ABS) specific practice team and a local comp practice team.  At the beginning of the season team members will be asked commit to one squad or the other.  Depending on climbers ability and maturity there is a potential for team rearrangement after practices have begun.

ABS Team Expectations:

All team members on the ABS practice squad are expected to register for the American Bouldering Series (ABS) with USA Climbing and attend all practices and competitions with the team.  Attendance at competitions is very important.  In order to compete at Regionals you must compete at a minimum of 2 local competitions.  Please note the dates of the local competitions and schedule accordingly.  There is an additional competition fee of $140 to be on the ABS practice team.  This fee covers your USA Climbing membership ($70) and pre pays you for the 2 local competitions ($35 each).  The ABS team will be head coached by Joel Anderson.

Local Competition team Expectations:

All local comp team members are expected to attend all practices and local competitions.  They are not expected to partake in USA Climbing National qualifier events.  The local comp team will be practicing along the same trajectory as the ABS team culminating in a new unique climbing comp hosted by Steepworld at the beginning of February. The Local Comp team will be head coached by Chris Guyer.

Team Costs:

Gym Fees: This grants climbers access to use Steepworld Climbing Gym. All team members are expected to hold a membership at the gym while on the team. A three month membership runs $100 and gives you full access to the gym.

Team Fees: This cost covers coaches time and travel for 25 practices and a minimum of 3 competitions, uniforms, insurance, administration, and other necessities needed to run the Steepteam non-profit program. For the 2011 fall session the team costs will be $140. The ABS Team has an additional mandatory comp fee of $140.  This cost may fluctuate in the future dependent with the goals of the program and the number of kids participating.

Practice Times:

Starting Tuesday October 11th, practices will be Tuesday and Thursday nights, with the Local Team 6pm-7:30pm and the ABS Team, practicing from 7:30pm - 9pm. A more detailed schedule is linked from the right sidebar of this page.

Scholarships:

New this fall. To meet our goal of making climbing available to all Billings area youth, Steepteam will be offering need based scholarships.  Please contact Thad, Joel, or Jim for a form.

Coach Recommendations

See the sidebar links for some coach recommendations on gear and reading.

Fall 2011 Bouldering Session

All dates are tentative.

More information will follow in the upcoming weeks.

Oct 11 - First Practice

Nov 5 - Bozeman Full Gravity Day

Nov 19 - Billings Space Rock Jam

Dec 10th or 17th - Regionals - Boise

Jan 14th - Divisionals - TBD

Feb - Nationals

Thursday June 9th

The weather refuses to cooperate. Tonight's practice will be indoors at the gym at regularly scheduled indoor times. Practice will be fun and light.

Saturday's trip to Mill Creek is still on as of now.

Thursday June 9th

Weather permitting we will be at Gregory Hills.

Mill Creek - Saturday June 11th

Directions from Livingston to the climbing is located HERE. The drive from Billings takes about 2.5 hours. The climbing is on great rock and well worth the time. We will meet at a pullout on the right hand side of the road 0.25 miles past the Passage Falls Trailhead. Parking may be limited and we may need to park at the Passage Falls Trailhead and hike up the road to the rocks. A close up map of the area is HERE.

We will meet at the Warm Up Wall near the road (clearly visible from the road) at 11am. If the weather forecast looks bad and we cancel we will post here Friday night. We should be back to our cars around 3pm.

Thursday June 2nd

Thursday evening's practice on June 2nd, will be a bouldering session at Phipps park. Juniors leave the parking lot at 6pm, Seniors meet out at the boulders at 6:45. Bring your crash pads!

Cody Trip - May 28th

Saturday's trip to Cody is a go. Bring warm clothes. See the post below for the additional details. See you there.

Steepteam Social

The Barron's, Charlie, Jim, Karen, and Lola, have graciously volunteered to host this spring's Steepteam social event. All team members, parents and siblings are welcome.

Festivities will start after the Dirtfest on Sunday June 5th, around 5:30pm. Food, a little climbing, and casual chat will be the agenda. Burgers, Brats, and sodas will be provided. Everyone is welcome to bring sides, snacks, or desserts. If you're interested in helping the Barrons' out give them a call or contact the gym.

Directions:
The best thing for everyone to do is to park in the MSU-B lot on the corner of Rimrock and Virginia, and walk up our street (there is very limited parking at their house or in the cul-de-sac)
A google map is located HERE.

DIRTFEST

The Dirtfest is scheduled for Sunday June 5th, with registration starting at high noon and climbing beginning at 1pm. Contact Steepworld climbing gym for more information.

Cody Reschedule

Due to weather, Saturday's trip to Cody has been rescheduled to Saturday May 28th.

Thursday May 19th

Tonight's practice will be indoors at the gym at regular gym practice times.

Cody - The Island - May 21st

We'll meet at the Parking area at 10:30 am and walk in. The walk in is along the side of the road through two tunnels and is potentially the most dangerous part of our trip. The climbing is in the shade, bring warm clothes even if the forecast is in the 70's. The walk and climbing base area is flat and lawn chair friendly. If the weather forecast looks bad we will make phone calls Friday night. We should be back to our cars around 3pm. It's about a 2 hour drive from Billings.

Another map locating the parking spot is located HERE

Practice Thursday the 19th

Thursday the 19th we will practice at Gregory Hills unless weather prohibits.

Practice Thursday May 12th

This Thursday, May 12th, we will be bouldering at Phipps Park for our outdoor practice. Junior team will depart from the parking lot at 6pm. Senior team will meet at the boulders (visible from parking lot) at 6:45pm. Bring your crash pads!!!

TIMBER CANYON - MAY 7th

Timber Canyon is 20 miles southeast of Bridger, off of HWY 310. A landmark based map is available at the gym and a web based map is available here and here. Mytopo.com says the coordinates of the canyon are latitude = 45.1722 & longitude = -108.6589. Both the landmark map and the aerial/topo map are highly recommended as signs are often non-existent and roads are sometimes no more than a two wheel track. A higher clearance vehicle is recommended. (Subaru or greater). Cell phone access is spotty at best.

Approaching the Canyon, as the road starts heading up towards the top of the south rim, be looking for a left turn that takes you into the mouth of the Canyon. The parking and access to the climbing is from this road further up the canyon. It is this segment where the road gets rough.

We are meeting out there Saturday May 7th at 10:30am and plan to climb till 2:30-3pm. The drive from Billings takes about 1.5 hours.

For those that want someone else to worry about directions, I (red Subaru Forester with a black Thule topper) will be leaving the Maverick station north of Bridger at 10am sharp. Anyone who wants to follow us should meet there prior to 10am Verizon time.

If you know where the climbing is, you are welcome to show up early as Jim and Thad should be out there ahead of the group.

Thursday April 21st

Due to the lack of school on Thursday and Joel's absence, we will be departing from our normal outdoor schedule. The outdoor session will begin at 4:30pm for Junior Team climbers at the base of "The Walkup" at Gregory Hills. Senior Team climbers may show up at 5:15pm. Climbing will end at 7pm.

Outdoor Team Climbing Sessions

Thursday nights at Gregory Hills, Zimmerman Park, or Phipps Park
Click here for last year's map (still applicable) to the climbing at Gregory Hills

TIMES:
Junior Team outdoor sessions go from 6:00 - 7:15pm
Senior Team outdoor sessions go from 6:45 - 8:15pm
All sessions meet at their respected times at the base of “Welcome to Billings” or the parking lot of Zimmerman or Phipps.
Due to a limited time window we will start at 6:00pm and 6:45pm sharp. Account for the 5 minute hike to the base in your arrival time estimate.

RULES:

1. All team members must have a climbing partner(s) with whom they will not separate from the start until the end of the evening.
2. Youth D’s are not allowed to belay.
3. Youth D’s under the age of 10 must have a parent / responsible adult accompanying them at all times.
4. All team parents are welcome to attend, watch, and learn.
5. Youth C’s may belay another team member with adult supervision. (highly encouraged)Senior team members (youth B, A & J) may belay // lead belay if they have been checked by Joel or Jim.
   
6. Only Senior team members (youth B, A & J) are allowed to walk along the top rim of the climbing area.
7. Wandering away from the group, horseplay, and rule infractions results in a warning. Second offense and you will no longer be welcome to climb with the team outside.

GEAR:
rugged shoes, harness, climbing shoes, chalk, chalk bag, water, warm jacket, hat, gloves, rain jacket, bug spray, camera. and a back pack to carry it all.

WEATHER:
A final weather go // no-go decision will be made at 4pm Thursday afternoon. If the weather looks questionable, call the gym (25-CLIMB) after 4pm. If the weather is unclimbable
we will have practice at our normal indoor practice hour times. Juniors 6pm, Seniors 7:15pm. If the weather goes bad during an outdoor session, kids will be
evacuated to cars at the base of the hill and wait for parent pick-up.

Bozeman Spring Fling

Saturday, April 16. Registration 8-8:45 AM, Climbing 9-2, Awards at 2:30ish. FIVE HOURS OF CLIMBING TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Online registration here.

Schedule Note

The team will not be climbing outside the first two weeks of practice. Our first Thursday outdoor session will be April 21st. The google calendar has been updated.

Try Outs and Costs

TRY OUTS:

Next week on Tuesday the 29th and Thursday the 31st Steepteam coaches will be at Steepworld Climbing Gym from 6pm to 8pm for kids and parents to ask questions, register for the team, sign forms, and demonstrate the prerequisite abilities for the spring outdoor session. Climbers can come in at anytime during the hours posted above as these are not official practice sessions. All we ask is that climbers do come in on one of the days as we would like the administrative tasks out of the way when the team begins on April 5th. Please see the post below regarding what the prerequisite abilities are.

TEAM COSTS:

Gym Fees: This grants climbers access to use Steepworld Climbing Gym. All team members are expected to hold a membership at the gym while on the team. A three month membership runs $90 and gives you full access to the gym.

Team Fees: This cost covers coachers time and travel, ropes and anchors, insurance, administration, and other necessities needed to run the Steepteam non-profit program. For the 2011 spring session the team costs will be $130. This cost may fluctuate in the future dependent with the goals of the program and the number of kids participating.

Spring 2011 Outdoor Session

It's -4 outside, but spring is on the way. The focus of the spring session will be on climbing outside, the team will also attend two comps, (Billings and Bozeman) but will not be training for Regional, Divisional, and National competitions. Team members are welcome to compete in those events if they desire to do so. The winter bouldering session is our competition focused session.

TRY OUTS:

Steepteam is not a guide service. Steepteam is a program for youth with climbing experience to develop further skills towards becoming a life long rock climber. Our outdoor sessions take place in potentially dangerous environments which are not conducive to teaching beginners.

All team members are expected to have their own shoes, harness, chalkbag, locking biner, and belay device.

On the first day of practice all junior team members (birth years 1998-2002) are expected to A.) climb a 5.9 boulder problem in the gym, B.) properly put on and secure their own harness and C.) properly tie into a climbing rope.

All senior team members (birth years 1993-1997) are expected to A.) climb a v1 boulder problem in the gym, B.) properly put on and secure their own harness and C.) properly tie into a climbing rope, and D.) demonstrate proper top rope belay technique.

Tryouts will take place Tuesday March 29th or Thursday March 31st, where all climbers will be expected to demonstrate the above skills in front of a coach.

If your kid does not have the above skills, Steepworld Climbing Gym has opportunities to learn basic rock climbing skills and safety techniques through its Development Program. After the above skills have been established the climber may transition into the Steepteam program.

PRACTICE:

Starts April 5th and run every Tuesday and Thursday until June 9th. Tuesday practices will be at Steepworld Climbing Gym and the Thursday practices will be outside at Zimmerman Park or Gregory Hills. Junior team 6pm-7:15pm. Senior team 7:15pm-8:45pm.

COMPETITIONS:

April 16th - Bozeman

April 30th - Billings

May 14th - Regionals in Bozeman. All team members are encouraged to attend. You do not need to be a USAC member to compete.

If you are planning on competing towards USA Climbing SCS Nationals you will need to attend three local comps, thus you would also need to attend either Pocatello on April 2nd or Provo on May 7th. The Divisional Championship is June 18th in Salt Lake.

OUTDOOR TRIPS:

May 7th

May 21st

June 5th - Dirtfest

June 11th

The above dates can also be viewed at the STEEPTEAM CALENDAR

COSTS:

Gym Fees: This grants climbers access to use the Steepworld Climbing Gym. All team members are expected to hold a membership at the gym while on the team. A three month membership runs $90 and gives you full access to the gym.

Team Fees: This cost covers coaches, gear, insurance, administration, and other necessities needed to run the Steepteam non-profit program. We are still determining our spring session costs at this time, more info will be posted when known.

Visit Steepworld Climbing Gym or call 25-CLIMB for more information.

Nationals Results

Gnarly Charlie and Coltron Waymonator went down to Boulder for the ABS Nationals this past weekend. Out of the 39 best climbers in the country, Colton finished in 27th place and Charlie 3rd. Congrats to both on great performances.

Boise Regionals Schedule

HERE is a link to the Front Boise's website and tentative schedule for the Big Sky ABS Regional Championship on January 15th.