Steepteam First Practice Tuesday & Steepworld Sale!!!

First practice is this Tuesday September 30th!  Come down, signup, and climb.  Full details are in steepteam.com post below.   If you're indecisive, we offer full refunds on the team fee before the 3rd practice.

As a benefit, all team members get $10 off climbing shoes at Steepworld.  In addition to that, Steepworld is currently hosting a progessive sale where you can get up to 40% off all clothing and outerwear.

Winter 2014-2015 Competitive Season Finalized

HOW TO SIGN UP
We will host a sign-up session and first practice Tuesday, September 30th. 6pm for Junior Team and 7:30pm for Senior Team, at Steepworld Climbing gym. Waivers can be signed, team fees can be collected (the team cannot accept credit cards at this time), gym memberships can be paid (credit cards accepted). If you cannot make the sign-up / first practice please call Joel Anderson (406-860-7616) prior to secure your spot on the team.


WINTER COMPETITION SEASON
The Steepteam Fall Winter Season is open to all youth climbers ages 8-18 and focuses on indoor competition climbing. The team will participate in a tour of bouldering competitions against other Montana youth teams in Missoula and Bozeman. All competitions are bouldering competitions, meaning climbs are 10-15 feet tall with a padded floor and climbers do not use ropes.

LOCAL CLIMBING or USA CLIMBING
We have decided to renew our focus in developing lifelong climbers. We feel that local competitions provide great benchmarking and goal setting opportunities in a friendly environment while helping foster the greater Montana climbing community.  Thus, we are not requiring team members to participate in USA Climbing sanctioned events. Climbers wishing to compete at a USAC level will still have continued support by the team and coaches.


GEAR:
All team members are required to have their own gear, this includes shoes, chalk bag, and appropriate climbing attire.


SHOES:
Rental shoes greatly hinder the development of good footwork and are not acceptable. Shape and fit are the number one priority. All team members should have a climbing shoe with a downward pointed toe, preferably velcro or slip-on. The fit of the shoe should be snug and tight with little foot pain. Shoes should be sized for no more than six months of growth. As bonus Steepworld has offered all team members a $10 coupon for climbing shoes and there is currently a good selection of shoes already on sale now.


2014-15 WINTER SCHEDULE
Starting Tuesday, September 30th practices will be twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays with breaks for the holidays at Steepworld Climbing Gym.
Junior Team: (born in 2006 - 2002) 6pm - 7:30pm
Senior Team: (born in 2001 - 1996) 7:30pm - 9pm


Competitions:
October 18 - Saturday - Missoula Competition
November 8 - Saturday - Bozeman Competition
November 22 - Saturday - Billings Competition
December 6 - Saturday - (OPTIONAL) USAC Regional Championship - Garden City, ID
January 10-11 - Sat-Sun - (OPTIONAL) USAC Divisional Championship - Reno, NV
January 31 - Saturday - Montana Bouldering Championships - Billings
February 13-15 - Fri-Sun - (OPTIONAL) USAC National Championship - Madison, WI
Full Calendar Schedule can be found here.


EXPECTED COMPETITION SEASON COSTS:
$335 + competition fees and travel costs = total for the 4 month Winter session. The total
cost is broken down below.


TEAM FEE:
$200. Fees cover coaches time and travel for 30 practices, 4 competitions, team shirt, insurance, administration, and other necessities needed to run the Steepteam nonprofit program. Currently the non-profit is unable to accept credit cards.


GYM FEES:
$135 for a 4 month gym membership. Steepteam practices at Steepworld Climbing Gym in Billings Montana but is a separately operated non-profit, thus two different fees need to be paid. Team members are expected to maintain a membership at the gym while team is in session. Annual and family memberships are also available that may reduce costs. Gym fees are separate from team fees.


COMPETITION FEES:
To be determined. Climbing competitions have entry fees around $25-$45 per competition and the team attends at minimum 3 competitions per season. These prices are set by the host gym and cover the costs for routesetters to set and prepare for the comp as well as t-shirts, awards, gym time, etc.


SCHOLARSHIPS:
Steepteam offers need based scholarships on a case by case basis. Talk to Steepteam Director Joel Anderson (406) 860-7616


ABOUT STEEPTEAM:
Steepteam is 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.
Competitive Head Coach: Dillon Key (281) 450-2422
Non-Profit Board Members: Joel Anderson (406) 860-7616, Thad McGrail, Jim Barron

Assistant Coach Position

We're finalizing planning for the 2014-15 indoor competitive season. Full information will be up on the steepteam website Tuesday September 9th.

ASSISTANT COACHING POSITION

Steepteam is looking for an assistant coach to work with our head coach Dillon Key.
Skills we are looking for; the love of climbing, positive attitude, the ability to boulder V2 outdoors, and comfortable leadership skills with kids.  Must be available Tuesday nights 6-9pm, Thursday nights 6-9pm, and some Saturdays, October through end of January (holidays excluded). CPR and First Aid training are not mandatory at start of the season but will be expected to be acquired within a reasonable time.  Compensation is on an hourly basis, based on experience.

If interested please send a brief one page resume to billingsclimbingteam@gmail.com and or contact Joel Anderson at 406-860-7616

Summer Sessions 2014

EXPECTATIONS
Steepteam is not a guide service. Steepteam is a program for youth to develop skills towards becoming a life long rock climber. Outdoor safety techniques are the primary focus of our outdoor summer session. Climbers on the team should be born within the years of 2005-1996.  Younger team members will learn and practice the skills of top roping while older team members learn and develop sport climbing techniques. Practice and refinement of these safety skills as taught by the coaches is expected of all team members. Climbers showing minimal progress with the taught safety techniques will not be allowed to join the team outside.  As always, we encourage parents to participate and join the experience.

GEAR

All ropes, anchors, belay devices, and helmets will be provided for use by Steepteam.  Team members will need to supply their own harness, climbing shoes, and chalkbag.

COACHES
This summer we will have a team of coaches led by Steepteam alumni and strongman Ben Hoiness with current Steepteam competitive coach Dillon Key and Steepworld gym owner Jim Rott assistant coaching.  We maintain a maximum 4:1 climber to guide ratio on all outdoor trips.  If need be we will have other significant climbers from the community help out as assistant guides.

DATES & APROXIMATE TIMES

We've setup our summer into two condensed sessions for a more focused environment and simpler scheduling around summer activities.

JUNE SESSION 1
Open to all climbers, beginner to advanced.

TUE 3rd - Steepworld - 6 - 9pm
THR 5th - Steepworld - 6 - 9pm
SUN 8th - Dirtfest - Zimmerman Park 12-3pm - Registration fee covered in the session fee.
THR 12th - Steepworld - 6 - 9pm
SAT 14th - Island in Cody, WY - 10am-3pm
TUE 17th - Rims (Gregory Hills) - 6-9pm
THR 19th - Rims (Gregory Hills) - 6-9pm
SAT 21st - TBD, Bighorns, Mill Creek, or Allenspur

JULY SESSION 2
Open to climbers that attended session 1, those with previous Steepteam experience, or climbers without previous Steepteam experience that show solid outdoor 5.8 climbing skills.

WED 16th - Steepworld - 6 - 9pm
THR 17th - Rims (Gregory Hills) - 6-9pm
SAT 19th - Natural Bridge State Park near Big Timber - 10am-3pm
THR 24th - Steepworld - 6 - 9pm
SAT SUN 26-27th - Overnight camp trip to Ten Sleep, WY - Leaving Billings at 9am the 26th and returning late afternoon the 27th.

COSTS
Session 1 $200
Session 2 $225
Fees cover coaches time and travel, gym time, insurance, gear, and other necessities to run the Steepteam non-profit.  We try our best to keep costs to a minimum.  Comparatively, a full day of guiding with a mountain guide will cost the same or more than one of our entire sessions.

SCHOLARSHIPS:
Steepteam offers need based scholarships on a case by case basis. Talk to Steepteam Director Joel Anderson (406) 860-7616

SIGN UP!

We've set aside the evening of Thursday May 29th at Steepworld Climbing gym from 6pm - 7pm to signup, fill out waiver forms, ask questions, and meet coaches.  If you'd like to sign up but cannot make this event please call Joel Anderson at (406) 860-7616

ABOUT STEEPTEAM:
Steepteam is a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to providing rock climbing mentorship and training to Billings area youth interested in improving their climbing skills through practice and competition.
Non-Profit Board Members: Joel Anderson,Thad McGrail, Jim Barron.

MBC2014: PHOTOS

Steepteam Alumni, Kim Lemke (09), sends a route in qualifiers on her way to a 3rd place finish in the women's open category.

 Talented local photographer, Dave Shumway, photographed the 2014 Montana Bouldering Championship.  Take a look at his work here.

Montana Bouldering Championships 2014 Results

MBC2014 Results are now up and posted HERE.

Thanks for everyone's support during this season.  Most kids still have some time left on their gym memberships, stop by and climb on your own.

We'll have information on the summer programs in March.

MBC2014: Online Registration Available Here

You can follow this link to sign up and prepay for the 2014 Montana Bouldering Championships.  Please add the name of the climber to the comment box.  Registration will also be available day of at the gym. 

Schedule for the Upcoming Weeks

We are getting close to finishing up the competitive season and the Montana Bouldering Championships.  Here's the schedule for the next week or so.

Thursday January 30th - Practice as usual.  Yay-Yay.

Tuesday February 4th - Wall tear down and team pizza party.  Taking down tape and holds is a HHUUGGEE help in our prep for the route setters and climbing competition.  Junior team members can come in at their usual time of 6pm.  We'd like to invite the Senior team members to come in early at 7pm to join in a full team pizza party and then assist in hold tear down.

Wednesday February 5th - Hold washing.  We're looking for a couple of senior team members to help wash holds after school Wednesday afternoon.  All hours are considered donated to the Steepteam non-profit, a great volunteering experience for one's resume.  We'll feed anyone that works past 6pm.

Saturday February 8th - MONTANA BOULDERING CHAMPIONSHIPS - Competition begins at 2pm.  Full details here.  It is worth noting that the competition climbing time is 4 hours long and we are doing a soft start time.  The climber does not need to be in the gym for the full 4 hours.  One may climb for an hour, take a two hour rest, and then climb the last hour.  The climber may also show up later than the start time, and climb for only 2-3 hours.  The scheduling and strategy of time is up to each individual climber.

PS: Also worth noting is the Montana Climber interviews we've been doing concurrently with the promotion of the MBC2014.  Thus far we've talked to Dominick Speranza, Sarah Ho, Loren Rausch, and a couple more coming up!  Check them out here.