Asana Gear at The Front!

The Front now has Asana crashpads in stock- just in time for bouldering season. We currently have the Hero Highball and Dynomite crashpads in stock.

Learn more about them at www.asanaclimbing.com

We also have Asana logo flexfit hats and NEW Asana chalkbags!

If there's something you see on the Asana website that you want, The Front can special order it for you.

Thanks to Asana for their continued support of The Front's All Abilities Citizens' Comps.

Training Week 2: Power

Now that you have a base under you with some endurance it's time to work some power.

Week 2:
Warm-up: Make sure to stretch and get a good warm up in by traversing climbing easier problems, doing some type of cardio for 15-20min.

Focus is building burst strength, dynamic movement and building strength in forearms, wrist, and hands:
Start working harder moves
On easier problems try skipping moves/ holds to practice that burst strength
Working Problems that are 1-2 grades harder (resting to full recovery in between tries)
Start Climbing in the cave to build overall power
Goal to get pumped, climb to fatigue

Technique:
Dynamic movement

General Strengthening: Dead point/ Contact strength
Campus
Hang-board
Systems Board

If you have questions feel free to ask The Front staff. Make sure to cool down, stay hydrated and re-fuel with in 30min. of workout to help with a quicker recovery.

Evolv Climbing Shoe Demo at The Front!

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14 5PM - 9PM

Come to The Front and try out the Sharma Signature Series Optimus and Optimus Prime climbing shoes. Mike from Evolv will be at The Front to answer your questions about Evolv's mission and its products.

Looking for a great all-around velcro shoe? The Front carries the Evolv Defy. Ask Front staff if we have your size. We can also special order Evolv models if you already know what you're looking for!

Visit www.evolvesports.com to check out the full Evolv line!

Thanks to Evolv for their continued support of our comp series and their contributions to our climbing community!

Week 1 of training for Deadpoint

Start training and get ready for Deadpoint!

Begin with working endurance:


Climbing sustained for 10-15min.
Intervals of 3-5min. on the wall climbing for 45 sec. and resting for 15 sec. stay on wall

Focusing on proper resting technique:
Avoiding the pump
Technique Work
Standing on feet
Hanging straight armed

General Strengthening using the Hang-board: builds forearm, wrist, and tendon strength
Start with jug holds and work into the crimps and slopers.
Hang for 10-15 sec. 3 sets each hold.
Core
Wrist curls and pronators/ supinators

Ask Coach Chris or a Front staff member if you have any questions. Have fun! Drink a Protein Shake from Front Mart within 30 minutes after your workout to insure proper recovery. If you don't recover properly, you won't get full benefits from the workout. Don't forget to stay hydrated during your session.

Deadpoint Training Plan Coming Soon!

The Front's All Abilities Citizens' Comp season will be getting kicked off on October 25 with our infamous Deadpoint event! We'll have all new problems for all you guys and ghouls to pull down on, plus over $3000 in great schwag from our sponsors.

REGISTER NOW HERE!

The Front puts on the Citizen Comps as a way for Front members, fellow Utah climbers, and visitors from other states to get together in a positive environment to climb on new problems and maybe push themselves to climb a little harder than usual. Many climbers keep coming back to the comps to hang out with old friends and meet new ones. Winning schwag is a cool bonus to climbing in the comps too.

There are also those climbers who use comps to measure their progress since the last comp. For those who are wanting to improve performance but have hit a plateau, we'll have a training plan to offer training tips for climbing at a new level both at The Front and on your projects outside.

Stay tuned for the training plan that will make your wildest climbing dreams come true!

Be sure to visit our sponsors' websites for all your gear needs by clicking on the sponsor logos on the left side of the page. We couldn't put on these events without their support.

Maple to Joes

With the Subaru packed and coffee in hand I was ready for the weekend. Next stop Maple Canyon. The temps were good and the climbing was awesome. Spent most of the day climbing in the Maple Corridor, where Amiee was able to get her lead head on by taking advantage of the good mix of routes the Corridor has to offer. On our way out we ran into Ben, Mike and Ashley. Here's Ashley taking care of business on Raindrops of Lichen.

After a quick stop at the Maverick in Ephraim to re-fuel, we were headed to Ephraim Canyon Rd. to make our journey into Joe's Valley. Unfortunately the road was easier to navigate then hoped for. By being well marked and a well maintained dirt road. The ride was still worthwhile; we even saw some wild life.








The next morning stopped into the food ranch for coffee and headed to the local park for the morning. After warming up with some Frisbee and monkey bars we were off to Area 51 to meet up with Jamie and Jeff for an afternoon boulder session. It was a little warm but good in the shade.
Another good weekend- it's always good to get out of the city.

Enjoy the week,

-chris

Back in LCC

Due to a stormy forecast and rain clouds in the sky Matt Toone and I decide to save on gas money and not make the drive to American Fork on Wednesday instead we took advantage of the climbing up Little Cottonwood. We met up at the Gate and hiked up to the Dihedral's to do a little trad climbing.

The day started out with a light rain which detoured us for the warm-up and looked for something with more coverage. Matt on the sharp end of things put up Equipment Overhang pulling the roof onto a slippery, rainy slab (the slab was nervy on TR). After that I was up on Black and White and John and Mary. Matt on the other end of things had the opportunity to catch my first whipper on gear, that was some live sports action. After slightly soiling myself, and taking a moment to pull it all back together I eventually clipped the chains. Thanks for hanging with me Matt. Shortly there after we called it a day. The sky showed a little blue and the sun came out for the hike back to the car. The day was good. The trad climbing was fun - I like what it does for my head and it is a good mix into my climbing diet.

Well I'm off on another adventure of climbing and dirt roads.

Have a good weekend.
-chris

HERA Climb for Life Event next weekend!

7th Annual HERA Climb4Life
Sept. 18-21

The 7th Annual HERA Ovarian Cancer Climb4Life hosted by Black Diamond and Exum Utah will take place September 18-21 in SLC. Jason Kehl, Joe Kinder, Katie Brown, Alli Rainey, Noah Bigwood, Kevin Wilkinson, Nate Gold and others will be on hand. A weekend of climbing, parties, yoga and films for a great cause. - Don't miss Parallel Universes, a multi-media presentation featuring three amazing climbers - Kehl, Kinder and Wirtz. Friday, Sept 19 at 7pm in the SLC Library. Cost is $10 at the door and there will be a raffle for great swag. Free entry for C4L participants. For more information go to: www.climb4life.org

Deal for Front Members from Save our Canyons

Patagonia presents
The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival
Hosted by Save Our Canyons

Thursday, October 9th
7:00pm – 10:00pm
Brewvies Cinema Pub (21+, must have ID)
677 South 200 West

Buy tickets or memberships online at www.saveourcanyons.org.
Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door, or FREE if you sign up to become a MEMBER of Save Our Canyons before October 1st*!

*SPECIAL DISCOUNTED MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS OF THE FRONT CLIMBING GYM!
(see below for details on how to get your discounted membership)

Special musical performance by The Radio Rhythm Makers!
And a keynote by Doug Scott from the Campaign for America’s Wilderness!

Join us for Food, Drinks, Film, Live Music, Raffle and more!

Instructions for FRONT MEMBERS on how to receive a discounted membership to Save Our Canyons:

If you’re a member of The Front Climbing Club and want to sign up for a Save Our Canyons discounted membership (which comes with a FREE ticket into the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival), follow these easy steps:

1. Go to www.saveourcanyons.org and then click on the “join or donate” link in the left column of the home page.
2. Scroll down and click on the green button that says, “enter amount” – Specify an amount.
3. We are offering discounted memberships to Front members at the following rates: $10 student, $25 individual, and $40 couple. Please enter the amount that corresponds. In the comments section of the payment page, please put, “The Front”. (Note: there will be a $0.50 shipping charge applied upon checkout)
4. We will send out one free ticket for each membership (two for those that sign up as a couple). They will be mailed to the address you list in paypal around September 22nd. You MUST have this ticket to get in to the film festival. We are not able to replace lost or stolen tickets or issue refunds, so please hold on to them!

If you just want to buy a ticket into the film festival without signing up for a membership, you can click on the “purchase item” button on our home page and buy ticket for $10/ea or pay $12/ea at the door the night of the event.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO ATTEND TOO!

Thanks so much – we hope to see you there!
- Save Our Canyons

Enter to win something sweet!

We're working on putting together member and setter profiles to post on the blog. If you're interested in being profiled, email Sandy at sandy (at) frontslc (dot) com. Each month we'll randomly draw a name from those submitted for a profile. Profiled members will receive a free month of membership, plus other sweet schwag.

Thanks to our members for making The Front the great community that it is. We're looking forward to an awesome fall and winter gym season.

See you soon!

-sandy

The Great Chalk Debate

The Front was bumping last night! It was great to see familiar faces, as well as some new climbers. The gym season is approaching (right after what will hopefully be a phenomenal outdoor fall bouldering season).

With more people in the gym, the amount of chalk in the air increases. Our efforts to reduce the amount of chalk in the air include using uptake fans to suck the chalk out, the installation of the new air filters last winter (the boxes hanging from the ceiling), as well as our guerrilla attack on the gym this past spring with leaf blowers and face masks to blow years of chalk out of the rafters.

On our online survey, there is a question that attempts to address the chalk issue. But, we'd like to hear from you about this issue. Loose chalk versus chalk balls. Is there a compromise? The chalky air bothers some people more than others. We certainly don't want people avoiding The Front due to respiratory concerns. Please feel free to comment on this post to let us know what you think.

In the meantime, we can limit air chalkiness by avoiding throwing or dropping chalk bags/ buckets onto the ground. Falling when wearing a chalkbag around your waist spews chalk into the air as well (so don't fall).

Thanks for your feedback. I hope to see you at The Front soon.

-sandy

Check this out!!!!

With cooler temps, and the fall season I'm getting stoked to get outside. Spent this last weekend up LCC getting my skin and hands use to the granite climbing and working the circuit up there to get in shape for the bouldering season.

If you can't make it out during the week come check out the new problems set by Jeff, Tyler and Rich on Sunday. Keep up the good work guys. And if you have anything you are wanting to send on the West slab and Vert wall do it this week because next Sunday we will being stripping and re-setting those areas.

Get ready for new problems, and get strong for those outdoor projects

-chris

A great morning in Little Cottonwood Canyon

Coach Chris, Amiee, Ashley, and I set the alarms to get up early on a Saturday for a trip to LCC. We met at 9 at the Park and Ride (not that early, I guess) and hiked over to the Secret Garden to warm up. It was definitely a little warm, temp-wise, but there was some friction to be had. It was nice to get outside though. We met an SLC-import from Dallas, TX, whose wife works for great friend of The Front and the global climbing community, Petzl.

As we were packing up to head to the Cabbage Patch, Front members Bonnie and Grant showed up. It was great to see them.

Bonnie and Grant getting ready to warm up at the Secret Garden.

The next stop was the Cabbage Patch, a 5 minute walk up the canyon. After 5 more problems, my fingers were done. Ashley hiked the sit start to Fungus, as well as A Bit Slopey, despite the rising temps. Chris made quick work of Fungus, and Amiee got busy on one of the classic slab problems.

Today was one of the few times I actually remembered to bring a bag, so I could pick up trash at the boulders. I got a pretty good collection of used tape at the Cabbage Patch. On the walk back to the Park and Ride, though, I was quickly able to fill up the bag. Everyone else grabbed some trash too.

Above is the final trash pile. If everyone brought a bag with them every time they came up here, we could make a good dent in all the garbage that's accumulated.

-Sandy

P.S. Here's a picture of the sweet "subcutaneous flapper" I got when I overshot (but still caught) a jug on a problem at The Front. It didn't hurt. It didn't bleed. It was the best flapper I've ever had.

Benefits of Slopey Campus Rung training

A great way to increase open hand grip strength is to train on a campus board. Check out our slopey campus rungs in the east end of the gym. They're perfect for building contact strength and core strength. Using the slopey rungs on a regular basis also increases your confidence in hanging on slopers. When you can visualize yourself succeeding on bad holds, you can send the problem.

This climber could also benefit from some yoga. Check out our yoga class schedule here.

Launching The Front into the blogosphere!

Hey. Hey. Welcome to the virtual mouthpiece of the best bouldering gym in the West.

The Front Climbing Club is getting amped up for the 08-09 gym season. Get in here now to get in shape to send your projects before the snow falls!

The first comp of the season will be Deadpoint on October 25. Dig out a funky costume and pull on all new problems for all abilities! We'll have $3500 in schwag, plus a rad t-shirt for the first 50 entrants. So, sign up now.

Check us out at http://www.frontslc.com/ to learn more about our comps and see results and pictures by Nate Young of Crux Photo from past events.

Good luck to Front members Elliott and Ryan tomorrow at the Wasatch 100 Mile Trail Run! We'll be sending out the good vibes. Come get dirty with The Front every Wednesday evening at our Dirt Tour trail runs. Click here for details.

We'll be stripping and resetting the West Slab on Sunday, September 14, so that gives you a little over a week to send Men's Qualifier Problem # 1 and Women's #1 and #2 from the Mammut Bouldering Championships.

Stay tuned for updates on what Front members and staff are doing, saying,wearing, and spraying.