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.