Colorado High School Climbing League
For over a decade now there has been a grassroots high school rock climbing program that has been kept alive by coaches and booster programs from different schools throughout Western Colorado. Programs started forming on the Front Range over the years as well, thanks to indoor climbing gyms Inner Strength in Fort Collins and City Rock in Colorado Springs. In the 2008/2009 season the first state finals competition was held at City Rock and has continued every year since then. In the 2010/2011 season Lifetime Fitness in Parker Co started hosting comps making a Central Region for a true state wide league.
The league season runs roughly October - February. During the season various teams in the regions host local comps that are typically open to anyone in the state. In general competitions are held on Saturday afternoons.
The objective is to provide an opportunity for the high school students to build a supportive team, support safe and smart climbing, compete and have fun.
Philosophy of the High School Climbing League:
· Encourage the team aspect of the sport (participants score count as an individual but also team score with 3 or more from the same school)
· Encourage well-rounded climbers (they will be required to complete bouldering problems and roped climbs)
· Support all regions, schools, and individuals trying to develop high school climbing
· Have an event that is limited to the best climbers in the state but allow others a forum to compete as well (varsity vs jv concept)
· Create systems that incentivize teams and individuals to get more people involved
· Trust that regions, teams, and schools are best-equipped to determine their most competitive students.
· Increase awareness of high school climbing
· Remember that, above all, these events should be fun.
The league is for HS and JR High students from all over Colorado. For the purpose of organizing competitions the state is divided into four regions.
Central Region: including Boulder, Denver, Golden, Lakewood and Longmont High Schools
Northern Colorado Region: including Berthod, Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland high schools
Southern Colorado Region: including Colorado Springs and Pueblo
Western Slope Region: including Grand Junction, Gunnison, Montrose and Glenwood high schools
The regions above identify cities in the region, however all high schools in proximity of these cities are welcome and invited to join.
Any high school or jr high school student from any school public, private, or home school.
Regardless of your experience you are welcome to join, even if you’ve never climbed before.
Boys and Girls.
Western Slope Stats: 2010/2011 season
138 students competed throughout the season.
Participants from:
· Montrose High School
· Colorado Rocky Mountain School
· Ridgeway/ Ouray (combined team)
· Glenwood Springs High School
· Gunnison High School and home school
· Coal Ridge High School
· Fruita Monument High School
· Grand Junction High School
· Yampa Mountain High School
· Palisade High School
· Various jr high and home schools in the Grand Valley
Competitions:
One pre-season comp was held at Grand Junction Climbing Center
As well as 7 regular season competitions.
· 3 @ Grand Junction Climbing Center
· 1 @ Montrose High School
· 1 @ Colorado Rocky Mountain School
· 1 @ Ridgway Secondary School
· 1 @ Colorado Mountain College on behalf of Glenwood High School
and a regional competition at Grand Junction Climbing Center to help determine who to send to state.
In total 26 boys and 23 girls represented the Western Slope at State Finals in Colorado Springs in 2011. The top 13 boys and girls were varsity and the rest jr varsity.
The Western Slope proved very competitive at state finals.
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Female Varsity-Team:
Montrose placed 1st
CRMS placed 2nd
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Male Varsity-Team:
Gunnison placed 4th
CRMS placed 5th |
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Female Varsity-Individual:
Summer Igo, FMHS placed 2nd
Alana Lin, Montrose placed 6th
Sam Cooke, Montrose placed 7th |
Male Varsity-Individual:
Josh Duft, Gunnison placed 2nd
John Tinker, FMHS placed 8th
Lucas Justice, Gunnison Placed 10th |
Regular season competitions are open to any high school or jr high student from any public, private, or home school. We count 3 or more students from the same school as a team for the purposes of team scoring. For each competition the gym or school climbing wall staff will set new routes varying in difficulty for the participants to work on. During the competition participants have 3 hours to complete the hardest routes they can in both bouldering and top rope, the top 3 from one discipline and 2 from the other count as their total score. Competitions held at the different high schools are often bouldering only do to the size of their facilities and the number of participants that show up.
Boys and girls compete separately (though at the same time). For regular season competitions we divide them into three divisions: recreational, intermediate, and advanced. For regionals and state the divisions change to jr varsity and varsity, the top 13 boys and 13 girls in both divisions make it to state. The focus of the league is to get people excited about climbing regardless of ability. We put a lot of energy into the recreational division and make sure that we always have routes that most anyone can climb. On the other hand we want the kids to train hard and be dedicated so we give them something to strive for, and just about every kid wants to make it to state.
During the competition the kids don’t know how hard any of the routes are, they only know how many points they are worth. They are also not limited to only climbing the routes in their division. It is up to the individual to try their hardest and climb what they can during the comp and the division they fall into is determined by the hardest route they climb that day. This helps some kids that hold themselves back by thinking they can’t climb a particular grade, a lot of times they surprise themselves.
The important thing about these competitions is the positive energy. You can hear everyone in the gym cheering on a competitor that is about to make a hard move and the roar when they stick it. Most kids work together on a route even if they are from different schools so it becomes more of the kids competing against the wall rather than against each other.
Some of the schools, Glenwood Springs for example, have more of a club approach as a opposed to a team. In Glenwood Springs the club meets regularly at the CMC climbing wall and the coaches teach the kids how to climb and be safe and teach how to use the different climbing gear but also about climbing etiquette. While some of their kids are motivated and come to competitions (two of their girls made it to state last season) many of them just climb for the fun of it.
Many kids that don’t fit into traditional sports find a home in climbing. While a large number of kids that participate in the league do play other sports for their school, there are quite a few that don’t. The layout of competitions makes it easier for kids to learn and grow without the pressures of team sports. Also, everyone has the chance to compete at their personal best regardless of how hard they climb.
Understanding that many schools don’t have the budget or facilities for a climbing program we have an open invitation to any high school or jr high student that wants to come.
Every year sponsors like Evolv Sports and Summit Canyon Mountaineering discount their products for the league teams to help the kids and facilities get the gear they need. This helps keep cost for the program down and makes it easier for people to enter the sport. Evolv Sports also generously donates shoes and chalk bags that are raffled off to participants at some of the competitions.
Each school program has come about differently. Many of the programs are funded entirely by fundraisers and booster clubs. As an example the Ridgeway/Ouray team is supported by the Voyager Youth Program. In December 2010 they finished construction on a climbing wall at the new Ridgway Secondary School and they hosted a regular season comp in late January. Below is a letter from the head coach from Ridgway/Ouray, I asked her to tell me about how the team formed and what obstacles they’ve faced along the way.
The Ridgway-Ouray Climbing Team was formed by Voyager Youth Program about 7 years ago. Originally we practiced in Montrose, then were able to build a small boulder wall in Ridgway Elementary School, which we used for several years. This year, we completed our "big" wall at Ridgway Secondary School. While Voyager still sponsors the climbing team, both Ouray and Ridgway schools now recognize climbing as a sport and students on the team can earn credit for participation. Voyager has been able to sponsor the team through volunteer efforts, donations from parents, and a huge amount of community support. Parents provide ALL transportation for practices and competitions (so while the school recognizes the athletes, parents had to drive to states, pay for food and lodging, etc). Over the years we have grown the program from a small team of 10 youth to two teams - middle and high school, each with 11 youth.
Some obstacles we have faced include gaining recognition from the schools, funding, and gaining respect from the community. We have overcome all of these and currently climbing is well respected in the community. Hopefully in the future the school will give the same amount of funding and appreciation to climbing as it does to basketball, but simply giving the kids recognition and support is a step in the right direction.
Sincerely,
Amber Bray, Coach, Ridgway-Ouray Climbing Team
Montrose boasted the largest team this year with 44 kids competing throughout the season. At State, Montrose Girls won the varsity team division. They were one of the original teams to start participating in these competitions years ago when there were only 2 or 3 teams. Coaches have changed over the years and currently the program is in the hands of Adam Hobbs and Becky Keasey. They have been doing a great job of keeping Montrose competitive.
What Adam and I did...we didn’t make cuts, we let everyone climb and ended up with great kids out of it.
I think what made our kids so strong is that we encouraged them to have fun above all else. Second to that was some pretty tough conditioning, which contributed to some self attrition so cuts were not necessary. Our theory was they can only learn so much technique in a season so what they lacked in technique they made up for in strength. Our girls especially liked this, now whether that was influenced by a female coach I'm not sure. The girls
by the end of the season took a lot of pride in the number of pull ups and pushups they could do compared with the beginning of the season. I encouraged them to take pride in outclimbing the boys and focused on the strengths of female climbers.
One of Adam's insights during the season was that growing up our sports coaches could rarely perform at the level of those they were coaching. He felt like we gained the kid's confidence by being able to.
Becky Keasey, Coach, Montrose Climbing Team
The wall at Montrose High School was built 18 years ago, at the end of the last season the wall was considered a little too worn-out and in much need of being updated. Coaches and students put together a fundraiser and raised enough money to update their walls keeping the program on track and able to continue to compete at the high level they have in the past.
These are the rules for competition held at the Grand Junction Climbing Center. Each gym or high school wall makes their own rules based on the needs and limitations of their facility but the core rules remain the same across the state with safety being the primary concern.
Competition Rules:
This is a recreational competition. Our first priority is the competitor’s enjoyment and safety. That said…
· Top three routes from one discipline and top two from the other counts as your Final Score
· Each failed attempt up to three will be 10 points off of your score for a completed route
· Must have a spotter when bouldering, belayer while rope climbing
· Must spot/belay others
· You can use whatever equipment that is generally accepted in bouldering and top ropeing including climbing shoes, chalk, toothbrush, crash pads, helmet, and a properly fitting harness
· Must begin with hands on marked start holds, if there are two you can start with one hand on either but no matching (both hands) on one, top ropes with no marked start holds can be started from any marked hold(s).
· Must complete climb to the end on marked holds without external physical aid and match (both hands) on finish hold with control.
· No sitting or pulling on rope, belay must be loose enough to make moves clean and not aid in accent or provide rest.
· Top ropes that have no finish hold you must touch the anchor, boulder problems on the topout wall you must topout (entire body on top of deck)
· No Verbal Beta until after the first attempt, after first attempt beta is allowed even while on the wall
· You can work individual moves on a problem, but it is considered one attempt for each try.
· If you fall without reaching the first hold you will be allowed a second try without going to the back of the line however the failed attempt will count on your scorecard.
· If you fall you must come all the way down and wait your next turn to try again. After a fall you can make ONE MORE attempt to work the move before coming down but it counts on scorecard as an attempt and you cannot complete the route for points until next turn.
· If you use a hold or feature that is not marked as part of the route it will be counted as a fall.
· If a technical problem occurs (e.g. hold spins or breaks) competitors may return to the ground immediately to retry without penalty.
Lead climbing:
· Must be certified for lead climbing and must have lead certified belayer
· No skipping bolts
· Must make all clips before harness passes the bolt.
· No attempting a route on top rope before leading it for points.
· Completing a route on lead will add 100 points to your score for that route.
· No back clipping
· No “Z” clipping
· Must make all clips from marked holds on the route you are climbing.
If you would like more information please feel free to contact:
Randall Chapman
Western Slope Contact for CHSCL
Owner/General Manager
Grand Junction Climbing Center
team@gjclimbing.com
(970)314-3595
Dave Meyer
Western Slope Contact for CHSCL
Head of Climbing Program for CRMS
dmeyer@crms.org
To be added to the email list please send “add me, coach/admin” or “add me, student” to team@gjclimbing.com
