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.