BouldeRAVE 2010

On Friday, October 22nd 2010 Urban Rocks Gym hosted Boulderave, our inaugural Halloween Climbing Party. The night was filled with activities and offered something exciting for everyone. All participants were engulfed in the energetic lights, music and a cosmic atmosphere. In addition to hosting gear demos, two mini-competitions, a costume contest and a huge raffle, the purpose of the night was to raise food, funds and awareness for the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.

BouldeRAVE 2010

On Friday, October 22^nd 2010 Urban Rocks Gym hosted Boulderave, our inaugural Halloween Climbing Party. The night was filled with activities and offered something exciting for everyone. All participants were engulfed in the energetic lights, music and a cosmic atmosphere. In addition to hosting gear demos, two mini-competitions, a costume contest and a huge raffle, the purpose of the night was to raise food, funds and awareness for the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.

Boulderave was undoubtedly the biggest and most energetic event hosted at Urban Rocks to date. Bringing in around 300 participants, $250 and 100 cans of food it was also the most successful event at U.R.G. Not only was it great to see our regular members and previous visitors having a good time, it was really exciting to see loads of new faces in the crowd getting their introduction to the world of indoor pebble wrestling. Whether participants were new to climbing or had been scaling the walls for 20 years it is scarce to find a climber in the South East who has participated in such a unique event.

To set the stage, first the house lights were turned off and the music turned up. Next, courtesy of Lee University Theatre Department, colored wash lights flung lively blues, reds, purples and yellows on the climbable surface of the wall. With the addition of a couple of professional studio lights provided by Chattanooga State Media Department and some dancing DJ lights, the already vibrant scene was intensified to make a high energy climbing party. Topping it all off, black lights provided that elusive neon glow all boulde-ravers were looking for. Of course, the party would be nothing short of a gathering if it were not for gym member, Ron Nance, lending his bumpin’ sound system for the event’s tunes that stayed on point with the night’s various comps and contests.

Outside the cosmic craziness, climbing manufacturers set up gear booths in the parking lot showcasing the newest climbing gear on the market. Rock/Creek pulled together shoe companies Evolv, Five Ten and La Sportiva as well as gear manufacturers Black Diamond, Petzl and BlueWater Ropes. The shoe companies and their knowledgeable reps allowed participants to try out (and climb in) a bunch of different models of shoes. Sticking with the cosmic theme, Petzl and Black Diamond demoed the newest headlamps on the market as well.

At 8 o’clock the lights turned to the lead wall as competitors geared up for the first ever speed climbing mini-comp to be set on the prominent, steep and over hanging lead wall. Competitors climbed head-to-head top roping up to the 6^th bolt, leaping to the glowing tape signifying the end of the route and finishing the climb with a 15 foot whipper (Google it). Highlights of the speed comp were seeing Escalade Gym owner, Chris Sierzant, and TBA’s resident strong girl, Kasia Pietras, battle head-to-head in a 3-round climb off. Sierzant pulled ahead taking the cake, but they ended the series with a crowd pleasing mid-air high five to end the event.

Up next was the dyno competition. “Dyno” = dynamic move = climbers (some dressed up for Halloween) flinging themselves from starting holds to various finish holds towering 8 feet above. With U.R.G. in house entertainer, MC Chedder, on the mic the competition began with the qualifying round. 20 competitors received 3 chances to snag the highest hold possible. After narrowing it down to 8 finalists the smaller dynos were removed and replaced by 2 super dynos. The results were close: a 3-way tie for 2^nd place between Preston Alexander, Jacob Fellers and Nate Bierce, but of course long-armed Chris Sierzant smashed the 2^nd placers taking 1^st for the event.

Local brewery, Terminal Brewhouse, was the official after party sponsor for Boulderave donating a keg of their tasty Maibock to the event. While competitors eagerly waited for the comp results, MC Chedder kicked off the raffle. Thanks to climbing companies and local sponsors, we were able to raise $250 in raffle ticket sales for the Chattanooga Food Bank. Prizes ranged from the highly sought after Blue Water climbing rope and 5.10 climbing shoes to some of the newest headlamps from Petzl and Black Diamond, gift cards to local eateries and a 2-hour photo session with Chuffer Photography.

A special thanks goes out to all of the volunteers who helped the event run smoothly and to Rock/Creek and the vendors who brought all of the latest gear and friendly vibe. Also a big thanks to the sponsors who donated raffle prizes to really increase motivation for raffle ticket sales. We look forward to the Boulderave being the Halloween climbing event in Chattanooga for years to come. Rumors have already been circulating about having a live DJ for Boulderave 2011!

Pics and Video soon to come...

2010 RiverRocks Ruckus

If you stepped in to Urban Rocks this past Friday night, you were saturated with color and surrounded by the area’s youngest climbers. This new immersive experience at Urban Rocks was developed for the RiverRocks Ruckus, an event held as a part of Chattanooga’s inaugural RiverRocks Festival. It was a night of free cosmic climbing for children and families. Generous volunteers donated their time by helping child participants ascend to the top of the thirty-five foot climbing walls and returning them to the ground complete with tired fingers and wide smiles. Good Dog had their tasty on-the-go hotdog cart on-site and contributed a percentage of their profits from the entire night.

The event was a huge success bringing in over 300 excited participants and raised over $200 for the Ronald McDonald House. Even more exciting was the debut of cosmic climbing at Urban Rocks Gym. Overhead lights were absent and in their place a vivid light show accompanied by high-energy music. A special thanks is given to Lee University Theatre Department for lending stage lighting that made this cosmic experience possible.

Thanks to our generous local sponsors, Urban Rocks raffled off prizes throughout the event. The lucky raffle winners went home with prizes donated by Insane Paintball, North Shore Yoga, Montlake Golf Course, Blue Orleans Creole Restaurant, Lupi’s Pizza Pies, Holiday Bowl, Stone Cup Coffee House and the Hunter Art Museum. One hundred percent of raffle ticket proceeds were donated to the Ronald McDonald House.

Urban Rocks Gym looks forward to continued partnership local charities and our next cosmic climbing event, BouldeRave on October 22^nd, benefitting the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.

2010 Evolv Summer Series - Series Wrap-up

This Friday the 13th Urban Rocks Gym hosted the finale bouldering competition of the 2010 EVOLV Summer Series. In preparation for this competition, route setters stripped nearly the entire boulder and put up 60+ new boulder problems. As a special treat for competitors, gym owner and furniture designer, Chris Gibson, built six new volume features for all competitors to enjoy.

The competition began at 6 PM and by 8:30 PM all scorecards were turned in; however, the night did not end there. While competition coordinators tallied the competitor’s scores, the fun continued with climbers hurling themselves at twelve different dynos on our overhanging lead wall.

For climbers who exhausted all energy during the main competition, grill-master and URG member Walt had free hotdogs and drinks for those ready to re-fuel. After throwing down some crazy dynos and eating some good grub, the raffles and awards began. Thanks to some of our sponsors: Evolv. Rock/Creek, Friksn, Mountain Khakis, 3-Ball Climbing, Insane Paintball and Ruby Falls, every competitor left the competition with something in hand, be it a pair of Evolv climbing shoes, some cash or other climbing swag.

A few highlights from the competition and the series:

Mother and son combo, Susan Hulsey and Grant Speer, crushed it again in Female Recreational and Youth categories, respectively, receiving 1st place in the final competition as well as 1st place in the overall series. In a close battle for Male Recreational, Nick Doss won 1st place in the finale while Steven Holdaway took 1st place for the overall series.



Brooke Hadden, local Chattanooga climber, and Mohssen Fathi, representing Climb Nashville in all three comps, took 1st place in their respective Intermediate categories. Sean Smith won first overall for Mens Advanced and Ron Nance pulled through winning the series in the Masters category. All series winners went home with a free pair of Evolv shoes.

A big thanks goes out to Evolv and Rock/Creek for helping us out tremendously by donating loads of place prizes as well as raffle prizes. Also a big thank you to 3-Ball Climbing who set up a both at all three events and Dr. Ted Showalter who offered a free stress screening and free massage to all competitors at the last competition.

All three competitions turned out great and all competitors came full of psyche. We already look forward to next year’s Summer Series. Until then, our Halloween Cosmic Climbing Blowout supporting the Chattanooga Area Food Bank will be the next competitive event that we will host. So, look forward to October 22 for a speed climbing mini-comp and a highball dyno competition, both on our lead wall!

Competition Series Results Below:

Youth Category
1st - Grant Speer
2nd - Amanda Escandon
3rd - Penn Sibley
4th - Ayla Williams

Masters Category
1st - Ron Nance
2nd - Jim Starry

Female Recreational
1st - Susan Hulsey
2nd - Allison Escandon
3rd - Yvette Damewood

Male Recreational
1st - Steven Holdaway
2nd - Nick Doss
3rd - Chris Parham
4th - Amir Fathi
5th - Jack Shearer
6th - Mo Edmonston

Female Intermediate
1st - Brooke Hadden
2nd - Chandler Wells
3rd - Jillian Sompel
4th - Bethany Macke

Male Intermediate
1st - Mohssen Fathi
2nd - Andrew Byrne
3rd - Anthony Escandon
4th - Adam Macke
5th - Danny Starry
6th - Brad Edwards
7th - Brenan Vega
8th - Josh Littell
9th - Travis Pyke
10th - Trent Kontovich
11th - Conor Cook
12th - Brendan Ryan
13th - Joel France
14th - Patrick McClenahan
15th - Sam Taylor
16th - Jonathan Swader
17th - Akshay Khona
18th - Paul Merchant
19th - Davis Woody
20th - John Stewart

Male Advanced
1st - Sean Smith
2nd - Kit Buckley
3rd - Phil Adams
4th - Matthew Ballard
5th - Brandon Campbell
6th - Nick Ridge
7th - Lucas Kindervater
8th - Kyle Musgrove
9th - Zach Campbell

EVOLV Summer Series - Part I (Post Comp Write-Up)

This past Thursday, June 10th 2010, was the kick off of the first leg of our three part Evolv Summer Series Competition. This competition was a red-point format meaning climbers were scored by their top five problems completed. We had a great turn out with over 30 competitors and great climbing was done by all. There were over 40+ new problems on the boulder which kept all competitors motivated throughout the comp.

Evolv has been generous enough to donate shoes for the winners of the overall series. A big thanks to all of our sponsors, including: Evolv, Mountain Khaki, Friksn, Metolius, 3 Ball Climbing, Insane Paintball, Cheeburger Cheeburger, Blue Orleans, and Ruby Falls. Thanks again to all of the competitors for their overall psyche and good vibes!

Urban Rocks will be having two more boulder competitions this summer with cumulative scoring for the big prizes being held at the last comp on Friday, August 13th. The next two comps will be bigger and better with crazier problems and even better raffle prizes. Look forward to an all day event for the Series Finale with slacklining and a cookout before the comp, a qualifying round of climbing followed by a finals round and the possibility of a speed climbing mini-comp during the after party!



The results are as follows:

Youth:
1. Grant Spear
2. Manda Escadon
3. Ayla Williams

Masters:
1. Ron Nance

Women’s Recreational:
1. Susan Hulsey
2. Yvette Damewood

Men’s Recreational:
1. Steven Holdaway
2. Nick Doss
3. Chris Parham

Women’s Intermediate:
1. Brooke Hadden

Men’s Intermediate:
1. Adam Macke
2. Mohssen Fathi
3. Andrew Byrne

Men’s Advanced:
1. Kit Buckley
2. Phil Adams
3. Sean Smith