Sierra's Year in Review

Coming to the end of 2010
So I have never written a blog before about a whole year in review, but I decided that it was time to take a look back at the wonderful year of 2010.


The year started off with ABS Regionals in California, I had a crazy time as usual with everyone there, I’m so glad to be a part of the California group!


After California I stepped up and started training as hard as ever for ABS Nationals! Despite crazy weather delays and three cancelled flights, I ended up flying into Raleigh and driving to D.C. for the competition. And let me say that Virginia was freezing! But aside from that it was another great competition that I had a lot of fun with my friends at, and it qualified me for the World Cup!


After ABS Nationals, I did not compete in any major competitions until June when I was fortunate enough to compete at the World Cup. The World Cup was really an eye opening experience for me, I have never seen so many extremely talented climbers in one place.


At the World Cup every climber seemed like they had a chance of winning! I’m still amazed at how good of a climber everyone was, it was really an eye opener for me. The World Cup also gave me dozens of memories I will never forget, whether it was hanging out with the team or running around Vail on an adventure.


The World Cup signified my start of summer, and I spent the next few months relaxing and enjoying not being in school, while also training for my next competition at the trade show.


Unfortunately for me, the trade show signifies the end of my summer and the beginning of school. Still though, I think it is the best way possible to end summer! There is nothing like going back to school and being able to share the amazing stories of the trade show.


The show was crazy as usual, and despite not making it to finals, I had a great trip still! It seems as if each competition just further encourages me to push myself, regardless of how I place.


The trade show was my major competition this year. I competed at one local competition in Arizona for the bouldering season. I also competed at a competition on a Thursday night in Tucson, which extremely fun! I love being able to go to competitions in the middle of the week, it makes school more exciting for me!


Now I’m spending the remaining two weeks or so of my year relaxing, sleeping in, and being so glad that I’m done with school for two weeks!


2011 will be fun, I can’t wait to see all the opportunities the new year brings!

A cool video of Katie Lovelace

Courtesy of http://goclimbarock.wordpress.com/

Max Zolotukhin pulls ridiculous numbers

Orville's Pirates Cove Experience

With cool dark blue water, and golden sand, climbing is probably the last thing that would come to mind, until you get there. You walk down stairs into a cove with rocks all around, their height ranging from 20 to almost 70 feet tall. There is one main climbing area, the roof. Completely horizontal in parts, the hardest route coming out is a V7. The holds are the part I remember the most though, not the water, or the sand, or the fact I’m climbing on the beach, but the holds. On the routes, there isn’t a sloper route, or a crimper route, but more like a mixed route, going from crimp to jug, to pinch, to pocket to sloper.

Watching ships sail by, and chalking up my hands is truly a unique experience. There is no one I wouldn’t recommend this to. With a lot of a walls unchalked, there is definitely room for more routes, if only someone would establish them…

Orville Clarke III

Big Dyno on Spindler in the City of Rocks, ID

Alex Puccios Switzerland Blog

Switzerland!!!

I arrived in Europe about 3 weeks ago now and had a little rough start to the trip when I hurt my shoulder a little in the gym the day after I got off the plane. I thought it was going to be bad, but 2 weeks later I was ready to hit the rock, FINALLY!
I'm now in Switzerland. The first few days Chris and I went to Magic Wood. It was a little sad the forest was all wet, But he still showed me everything and I fell in love in with it. After looking around for a while we found 2 dry boulders, Never Ending Story part 2 (V11) And Massive Attack (v11/v12). NES part 2 was my very first boulder problem in Magic Wood… I was surprised that I got up in so quick. I fell on the first move a bit and the time I finally stuck the first move I sent! Then to the left I saw Massive Attack and got up that in a few tries. even though 95% of the forest was wet and mucky I was able to leave the forest feeling accomplished. What a great feeling to be here!
Next day...
I now sent Never Ending Story Part 1 (V12) ….. Yeah! So psyched. Only took a few goes! Now I'm super psyched to do the link since both parts have gone! Never Ending Story here I come!!!
But first off to Cresiano for a few days to let the forest dry out. then back to Magic Wood!

The next day I made did 2 more V11's, Octopussy and Free For All. They both went down really quick as well. Free For All in 3 tries and Octopussy took a few more. Again they were the only things we found dry in the forest. Cant wait for all of it to dry up!

Orville's Comp Blog

Recently I attended a competition, The Gun Show, at the Spot in Boulder Colorado, It’s part of the ABS and the Spot bouldering series. There were almost two hundred people competing there, many of whom where some of the best climbers for their age I’ve seen. The head problem setter there is Carlo Traversi and by far some of the best setting I have had the pleasure to climb.
My personal results were third place in youth B, a standing I’m very proud of. My scorecard didn’t look like what it should’ve but I proved sufficient. I flashed all five of my problems, A8, A9, A10, O1 and O3, yet I couldn’t manage to get anything more even though I had all my problems halfway through the comp. I’m eagerly waiting for my next opportunity to climb at the Spot, competition or not.

Although I didn’t have huge expectations for the bouldering competition at the Front Idaho, it didn’t disappoint. The comp, Boise Boulder Fest, was a typical three-hour red-point format, (and to prevent from crowding) had two different comps with an onsite comp for the finals. To qualify for the finals you had to get top five over-all from both sessions, regardless of division. Despite the small gym size, the Front had more than enough problems to keep me busy all comp long.

I managed to get into the finals in third place overall, but didn’t complete any finals problems. On the first finals problem, the third move is a sideways dyno to a sloper that I managed to grab, but my feet swung and cut my hands off the wall. When I landed, I mildly twisted my knee and sat out for the rest of the finals. My favorite problem at the comp was an easy V8 that I didn’t manage to finish, but I’m confident if I was back there now it would be a piece of cake. It was a crimpy beginning to a gaston to a sloper-crimp then a big move to a mini-jug and finished on edges. I got to the second to last move, took my hand off of the bottom hold and my top hand was to tired to hold my weight. I enjoyed the comp, and it’s shaping up to be a good season!

A Post from Adam MacKenzie

Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Comps and Camera
Finally I am starting to feel strong once again. For the first time in a few months, I feel almost back to where I was before the injury. Last Thursday was the first of two Donkey Kong Comps at Rock'n and Jam'n 2. I was able to send 23 out of 35 problems. This coming Thursday is the second comp at the North Rock'n and Jam'n. Doing 23 problems last Thursday has put me in a good spot to hopefully finish in first for both comps.
Before the Gun Show at The Spot I purchased the new Nikon D3100. The main reason behind this purchase was to be able to get higher quality climbing footage from all of my adventures. I was able to test it outside last Sunday and start to put it through its paces. I am very excited to what this camera can do. Look for some great new videos in the coming weeks.

Katie Lovelace's Summer

My long summer has come to an end and I have moved on to new climbing, in a new state, at a new school! After graduating from high school in early June, I was absolutely ready for an adventurous and unpredictable summer.
In the beginning, I mostly decompressed from school by relaxing in the sun, attending music festivals and concerts, skydiving and, of course, climbing with the Boise crew! Most weekends we found ourselves sweating on the boulders at Reynolds Creek or City of Rocks.
Also this summer I had the opportunity of working at the Asana warehouse where I filled chalk bags, cut out fabric, and earned enough m&ms to pay for travel and more climbing trips! For most of July I was in Nepal with my mom and sister, trekking through the SoluKhumbu region of the Himalayas below Mt Everest. I reached a new personal altitude record when we hiked up Kala Patthar at 18,162 feet.



I represented Asana at the Outdoor Retailer Show in SLC in August where I was able to meet many inspirational climbers, reunite with old friends and work on my autographed poster collection! I continued climbing with friends, working, and preparing for college life at Cal Poly!
Now, I am officially a Cal Poly Mustang and when I'm not in class you can find me climbing at the Slo-Op gym, slacklining in the park, napping on the beach , or in my dorm room trying to study amidst a mess of crash pads, kiteboards, guitars and music posters. Hopefully I will still have enough time to explore the crags on the Central Coast and go to the beach once the quarter really starts getting hard! If you're ever in California looking for someone to climb with just let me know, I'm always looking for new climbing partners! Have fun out there and climb hard!


- Katie Lovelace

Congrats to Alex for a Sweet Cover Shot

Kevin Jorgeson Poster

Our new KJ Pro poster is in and ready to ship in all of our orders!

Ryan Guerra Sends Demon Daze!

WOW, what an amazing weekend. I spent the past weekend with some teammates and our sponsor from Asana at the City of Rocks, ID. I guess magical would be one of the best ways to describe it. Not only did I have the good fortune to climb with some very good and long unseen friends, but I was lucky enough to nab the 4th ascent of Demon Daze. It is by far the most proud and aesthetic climb of my entire career and it was great to finally get the send. I can't even express the psyche from the climb and I'm glad that the climbing season is starting off so well! Here are a couple photos from the climb. Stay tuned for more fall updates!

Charlie Barrett on Deadpointmag.com

Check out the great video on Deadpoint Magazine. Charlie Barrett is crushing in the Sads
http://www.deadpointmag.com/videos/watch/bouldering-sads

Julian Bautista to compete in Scotland

Youth World Championships are in Edinburgh, Scotland. Training was good & fun and I feel ready and in shape for the comp.


I had my last training session at Rock City and all packed up n' ready to go. Can't wait, I've been looking forward to it all summer!

www.247.tv/climbing/freestream Live coverage starts Sept.9 (they are 8 hours ahead of us).


Thanks for your support,
Julian Bautista

Dan Beall tears it up in RMNP

During a trip to Boulder for about 3.5 weeks, Dan did some amazing hard lines. He considered it a breakthrough trip. Unfortunately something came up and he had to head home about a week early, but the trip was still very encouraging.

He stated that he had a fairly unproductive first week, getting acclimatized and dealing with really poor conditions, but by the end of the second week he figured out that night sessions were the method and got to work.

I managed to tick off:
Jade V14/15
Friday the 13th V10
Two Ton Tongue V10/11 (Sorta flashed, did it first try from what I thought were the starting holds, then did it again first try from the actual start a couple moves lower)
Hi Fi V11
Secret Splendor V12
European Human Being V12
The Lockness Monster V12


"All these except Jade I managed to do really pretty quickly, and that really was the coolest part. Before march of last year, I'd never climbed harder than V10 outside, and now I was finding that I could pretty easily do all the moves, on basically everything we tried, pretty quickly and easily in isoltion. I was also really close on Nothin but Sunshine V13, Top Notch V13 and Don't Get Too Greedy V13, but we didn't have the chance to go up and finish them off. Unfortunately, we had very little media from this trip as all I was armed with was a little point and click cannon digital camera, and most of what we were doing was at night in very low light. I hope in the near future as temperatures cool down to start trying to take some higher quality videos for dpm, but that will be dependent on my access to a reasonable camera, which I'm working on."

Asana adds Alex Puccio to the Team!

Asana is super stoked to announce that we have added Alex Puccio to our team of athletes. Alex's resume is astounding, including the following:

2010
1st, Unified Bouldering Championship, Salt Lake City
1st, Battle in the Bubble, Boulder, CO
1st, ABS Nationals, Alexandria, Virginia
1st, Earth Trek's Roc Comp, Timonium, Maryland
2009
1st, Bouldering World Cup, Vail, CO
2nd, Mammut Bouldering Championships, Salt Lake City, UT
3rd, ABS Nationals, Boulder, CO
3rd, SCS Rope National Championships, Salt Lake City, UT
1st, Triple Crown Bouldering Series, Horse Pens 40
V12
Diaphanous Sea (Hueco, TX)
Tequila Sunrise (Hueco, TX)
A Maze of Death (Bishop, CA)
Trice (Flag Staff Mt. CO)
Clear Blue Skies (Mt. Evans, CO)
The Marble Sit (RMNP, CO)
V11
Left Graham Arete (Boulder Canyon, CO)
We Call Him Michael (Joe’s Valley, UT)
Gentleman Jack (Joe’s Valley, UT)
Worm Turns (Joe’s Valley, UT)
Formula 50 (Clear Creek Canyon, CO)
The Kind Traverse (RMNP, CO)
Shwerer Gustov (Hueco Tanks, TX)
My Life in a Tank (Hueco Tanks, TX)
The Worm Turns (Joe’s Valley, UT)
V10
Mo Jo, (Hueco Tanks, TX)
Free Willy, (Hueco Tanks, TX)
Echstine, (Hueco Tanks, TX)
Red Rum, (Bishop, CA)
Slow Dance, (Bishop, CA)
Acid Wash, (Bishop, CA)
Beef Cake, (Bishop, CA)
Bubba Gump, (Bishop, CA)
Resident Evil (Joe’s Valley, UT)
Freak (Joe’s Valley, UT)
Finger Hut (Joe’s Valley, UT)
The Marble (RMNP, CO)
Bierstadt (Mt. Evans, CO)
Swiss Crisp Mix (Hueco Tanks, TX)
Public Execution (Mt. Evans, CO)
One Mule Wonder (Bishop, CA)
Dead Serious (Hueco Tanks, TX)
Power of Silence (Hueco Tanks, TX)

Ryan Guerra's Summer Report

Summer Adventures...
Well, being a high school student and a climber puts me in an interesting predicament. I have 3 months with very few obligations and all the time I could ask for... during the hottest portion of the year. With the motto "beggars can't be choosers" in mind, I took advantage of the cards I've been dealt, putting almost 1,000 miles a week on Sanchez the van over the course of July. My main project this summer has been Demon Daze, a 20+ ft boulder problem behind the Elephant Rock formation in the City of Rocks. Unfortunately the heat has been affecting the amount of time I can climb it during any given day, and now, after 3 sessions, the send still eludes me. Even without adding another major tick to my list, the summer has been full of good times spent amongst great friends out on the rock and in some of Idaho's coolest places (mainly just the city). Unfortunately, I have two HUGE assignments due at the beginning of my senior year, so climbing in august will be limited to one big 10 day adventure in Utah, of which there will be photos!







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10 Commandments of Bouldering

Have fun with this one...Feel free to print and post!

Getting ready for the OR Trade Show in SLC

New pads, bags, ottomans, holds, and t-shirts

Fun night of climbing last night. Our new holds are on the wall at the gym!!

The new Matador is a lode of delicious slopey flavor!

Julian wins it!

ASANA Team Athlete, Julian Bautista wins the 2010 USA National Sport Championships in his respective age category held at Stone Summit in Atlanta, GA.

Morty Doing his Thang!

Beau Stuart on climbidaho.com

The Buddha Belly from Jimmy Bowman on Vimeo.

New Video of Julian Bautista in Bishop

Sender Film Posts Battle in the Bubble Highlight

Battle in the Bubble 2010 Highlight Reel • Sender Films from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.

Video by Sender Films - Sender Films was on location at the Boulder Reservoir for the 2010 Battle in the Bubble hosted by The Spot Bouldering Gym. Here are the highlights from the top men and women during finals. Alex Puccio and Daniel Woods took first in this head-to-head format, even though neither the men's nor women's finals boulders were flashed. Angie Payne and Julian Bautista fought hard during finals, each taking a close second.

Go The Spot's Website for a full list of results.

Battle in the Bubble Goes Off!

Thanks to everyone at The Spot Climbing Gym, Steven Jeffery, the route setters, Kevin Jorgeson, Andy Mann, Asana Competition Pads, Walltopia, and ClimbIt Holds for making this event a memorable one!
With the head-to-head nail biting finals including Angie Payne, Alex Puccio, Julian Bautista and Daniel Woods, the Battle in the Bubble has set the bar for high-flying comps.

Follow the updates at The Spot's website as well!

Battle in the Bubble Pad Stuffing

On Tuesday, May 11th, we spent 6 hours stuffing 30 enormous competition pads for the Battle in the Bubble on Saturday, May 15th at 7:00 pm.
5' x 10' x 24 inches thick! 4,000 pounds of foam.
Thanks to the Spot and to all of our dedicated volunteers.
Go to the link below to learn more about the Battle>>>
http://www.thespotgym.com/bouldering-gym/Battle-in-the-Bubble/What-is-it.aspx

Asana's Latest Flooring Project

We are busy as anything wrapping up the manufacturing process on the custom bouldering surface for Stone Summit, the largest gym in the United States. We will be installing the middle of May. This place is ridiculously huge and will be an exciting place to train and compete. Check out the video put on YouTube by Stone Summit.

Hannah Donnelly's Update

Here is an update regarding Hannah Donnelly's great achievements over the past 3 months.
Hannah, a 12-year old, climbs with the Gritstone Climbing Club in Auburn, CA and is sponsored by Asana.
Congrats Hannah. Keep up the great work!

>>
Newspaper write-up- Auburn Journal
ABS- Feb 2010- 21st of 34 competitors!
SCS Local- March 2010- 1st place ands 2nd overall female
Lake Tahoe Triple Crown- April 2010- 3rd place overall














photo: Ben Furtado/Auburn Journal

Asana Sponsored Vertical World Team Takes First

From Tyson Schoene's Blog (VW Team's Coach)
2010 ABS national championships
just got back from washington DC where the team and I attended the ABS national championships. we had a great weekend. after a rough start, our kids pulled it together and came away winning the national team championship, again.17 kids in total qualified for the 2 day event and we had 7 that made it to finals. alex fritz placed 2nd and made national team. sam wolff placed 6th just missing national team. audrey hsu placed 4th and made national team. lil sid trinidad placed 2nd and made national team. melina costanza placed 3rd and made national team. victoria cartwright placed third and made national team. drew ruana (who barely sqeaked into finals in tenth place)was the only climber to flash all four finals problems and placed first and made national team.our spirits after qualifiers were a little down as you can tell from the footage of alex, but obviously something came around.very great result. i am very proud.i get so stressed leading up to this event, it makes me hate it, but the minute i get there it all feels better. i do love this.thank you kids, you really make this fun.

Stephanie Carter Joins the Asana Team!!

Oh yeah, Another strong woman on the team! We are always psyched to see potential in our athletes, and with Stephanie this is very true. She has been making an insane amount of progress in the last year and shows promise for continued contributon to the climbing world.

Here's some info about our newest member to the team.

Age- 21
Years climbed- 4
Best climbing experience- This is tough, I’ve had so many great experiences. If I had to choose one though, it would have to be when I sent my first V6. It was just a super mellow day with a bunch of my friends out Eldorado Canyon.
Biggest accomplishments- Just always trying to keep climbing fun. Whether I am climbing inside or outside, climbing easy problems or projecting something hard, I always try to keep a positive attitude.
Favorite style- My favorite style has always been little crimps on slightly overhung walls, but recently I have really enjoyed working on my greatest weakness, which is slopers.
Favorite climbing quote- "...'failure to fail' regularly in climbing is the ultimate failure to realize one's potential."
Favorite Foods- Pop Tarts & Red Bull!
Movies- My favorite non-climbing movies would have to be RocknRolla, Wall-E, and Ashes of American Flags. Between The Trees is my favorite climbing video.
Music- Wilco, Bob Dylan, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Beirut, The Flaming Lips and Radiohead

Craig Hurst sends Absolution, Idaho V12

Check out the photos of Craig Hurst on Absolution, one of the hardest problems at Reynolds Creek in Idaho. Craig told us he spent 5 or 6 days trying to send, then on January 12, the temps and his insane crimp strength were just right for completion. All photos courtesy of Rick Reuter.

Asana Welcomes Rick Reuter to the Team

Asana is stoked to welcome our newest climber to the team, Rick Reuter.

He has only been climbing for 2 years and is already killing it in local comps and in the boulder field!
Age- 25
Years climbed- A little over 2 years
Best climbing experience- Spring Break 2009. A group of about five of us set out for a seven day trip to Ibex UT. That trip ended up turning into a three day Ibex session before the weather took a turn for the worse, at which point we headed to and finished our spring break in Bishop CA. Despite the poor weather, the exposure to the different types of bouldering (quartzite and highball granite) make this particular trip the most memorable.Favorite style- Crimpy, shouldery lie-back moves.
Favorite climbing quote- "Don't pay attention to the grade, if it looks fun then work it and send it." Advice given to me when I started climbing.
Favorite Climbing Snack- PB & J Sandwiches... Fast, easy, delicious.
Movies- I love those quirky, make the audience uncomfortable movies... I Heart Huckabees, Life Aquatic, and Amelie for example.
Music- Just about anything, although I do love to climb to chill acoustic music. Artists like Margot and the Nuclear So and So's and Rock Votolato.
Anything else people need to know about you- Basically I just love to climb and am stoked to be apart of this team. Anything else well... let's go climb and we can get to know each other.