New school, new me…same old knees.

Today it finally happened. Today was the day that I was told the story of Lolo’s knees….now, if you have yet to hear the story, you might want to skip ahead to the part where we all wish Gab-e a happy birthday….because I’m definitely about to spoil it. However; I will only let you in on one story…it does happen to be the best story. THE story of that dreaded first day of the seventh grade for Lols. You see, it was her first day in a new school. New school…new Lolo…but evidently, she had the same old knees that had given her trouble since before Pre-K…but on this day; this first day of C lunch (which, in case you’re wondering, is quite different than A and B lunch) in which she has no friends…none…she grabs her food and casually walks to an open seat at a table. After carefully stepping her right foot over the bench, she begins to attempt that second leg (in my head, I’m imagining she is also saying “Hey, y’all”…but I could be completely wrong here. Probably not). As she does so, the left knee completely dislocates and she falls to her demise. But, thats not all!!! No…the ever-talented Lols somehow manages to break her wrist while trying to catch herself on the way down! Did she go to the nurse? No. What about tell anyone she was hurt? Too easy…no…she stayed through lunch in its entirety, holding her wrist and trying to forget about her knee for that awful hour – probably sitting in an awkward silence. Not sure if she made any new friends that day…guesses? I was told this story while we were all stuffing our faces with chips and salsa after waiting for what seemed like hours for everyone to be seated at La Costa something (Mexican restaurant) where we dined in celebration of Gabe’s 14th Birthday!!! The wait was worth it to get everyone at the same table to help him bring in his new year and we were all happy that we got to be there for it. The sombrero and accompanying song helped mucho.       I’m going to let the kids take over this one now…

Dude, Gah-bae, I’m trying to spell it phonetically so that people pronounce it correctly!! You finally made it, it’s all down hill from here amigo. Look forward to just coasting through life with care free ambivalence from this point on. Keep it real home slice. -Coachella

Gabe!! happy bday bff. you are super cool and an awesome person to hang out with. you’re the coolest fake Mexican i know. have a good one. – embrey

Happy Birthday Gabby! You looked super cute in that sombrero at dinner. Hope you had an awesome day! – Balls

Happy Birthday, Gabe! You crack me up and you have the best riddles (that stupid albatross). I hope we made your birthday awesome and we love you!!! -Danielle

gabe, happy b-day!! you should wear a sombrero more often! You look very fashionable in it! Whenever you climb, you look stupid. Jk. Love ya, Gabe!!! -Amelia

happy birthday Gabe you are amazing at riddles and nice speed time on the 15 meter! -Kiara

Happy Birthday Gabe! You are hilarious and a fantastic speed climber! -Izzo

HBD friend!!! congrats on being older yuh. -breeze

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABE!!! you’re finally 14- momo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY -chad

happy birthday fam -swagg

Happy birthday!! hope it was great. you cool. -ellery

Feliz cumpleanos habriel. -Ashton

I love you Gabe. -Brendan

Happy birthday Gabe! happy 14th bro! – Niko

Happy birthday Gabe. -Gentry

Happy birthday Gabriella!! Love ya -Claire

happy birthday amigo. u da bomb- lauren

Gabe is the best 14 year old i know and the best gallon buddy-you know who

HAPPY B-DAY Gabe! Hope ya had an amazing day!-jessica

Happy birthday in Spanish, Chico. -Rita

Italian Hands! -Stan

Bro! Super proud of you can’t believe you’re 18…you get to vote, buy lotto tickets, and many other things most of which you shouldn’t have or be doing! Thank you for being my team translator for those kids who aren’t bilingual like me and you! Anyway much respect, thankful you’re spending your birthday with us! Coach K.

Happy Birthday Gabe! – Alex Yo soy muy happy to have you on this trip and your birthday to coincidentally fall on this trip too! It’s been awesome learning mexican food names AND being able to write you a second, smaller note! We’re gonna play more frisbee. -Eric

Happy Birthday, Gab-e!!! I hope you had a GREAT time celebrating with your climbing familia! It’s been great getting to work with you on this trip!!!! Stay crafty!   -Emily

Today, we were joined by Eric, who put in some amazing speed runs after spending the past week backpacking and eating freeze-dried food, and Chloe, who got right to work on some tough onsites. Welcome to the pack, guys!       In case you’d like to know more about our day…here are some photos! Hope you enjoy!                                -You know

Nice Ice Baby

As a rest day, today began by leisurely watching the World Cup Finals round in Haiyang, China, which our pad lends itself well to. The kids recognized a familiar voice commentating; that of Josh Larson, which added a whole new element to the enjoyment of the event…and the mocking flew freely.

     

Things got a bit more exciting when we stumbled upon the Salt Lake City Sports Complex which houses indoor and outdoor pools as well as an ice arena…interesting combination, I know. Regardless…I was pretty blown away when Breezy unassumingly walked to the end of the diving board, then busted out some craziness that I have never witnessed in person. Girls got talent.

   Nerr tried… 

Brochill had his own methods of entering the pool with a not so appealing end result…

    

Might have to start calling him Ouchbro.

Of course, the frisbee made an appearance…

   

Needless to say, it was a pretty stellar rest day!!

               

Afterward, we decided to beat the 100 degree heat with a little place that was aptly named “Nice Ice, Baby” where one could get shaved ice in a styrofoam cup larger than all of our heads combined for a mere $4. Seconds were had, thirds in some cases. Brita somehow managed to get a straw into a coconut which; for whatever reason, didn’t seem at all random for this group.

     

Once back home, Ellis and Brenda headed to MillCreek to set a few more onsite routes for the kids to try tomorrow while Stan prepared the biggest pot of pasta I believe I have ever come across. Roughly seven pounds of ground beef went into the sauce if that is any indication of what we were up against. Food babies are running rampant as we are now settling in and preparing for an epic double day tomorrow.

Until then,

The Outsider

Spectators by the thousands

I’ll start at the end and work my way back from there…

Today was intended to be a half rest day/ half optional climbing day that turned into a half rest day/ coaches climbing day.

So, I suppose it really did start off like any other rest day. We graciously let the kids sleep until 9:30 and then had one heck of an excursion through the aisles of Walmart, that went a little something like this (yes, those are Gangsta socks and yes Kyle is actually having a lovely time wishing he was at lunch instead):

   

…and while the girls were up front doing the saltine challenge (for those who don’t know what that is, its six saltines in one minute. Think it sounds easy? So did I….) …the boys were finding other ways to entertain themselves…for HALF AN HOUR. No joke. Half an hour.

     

After Wally World, we returned to the condo to regroup and it was decided that we would head back to MillCreek for an optional climbing session. What that turned into was a lot of exhausted kids watching their coaches try to make their way up jug hauls; ending in….well…you saw it…The girls were not at all hesitant to let Ellis know exactly what he “should” be doing on the wall; resting or otherwise. It should be mentioned that both Kyle and Ellis were taping the ever-living crap out of their fingers, I was climbing with one foot due to a recent surgery and Dendy….well, Dendy was doing just dandy. Regardless of anything, we were all reminded today of how much we really love this sport and what it means to be able to share it. Today was a great day; indeed. Thanks to TZ for all of the photos of us! We hope you guys enjoyed the show…our bones are breaking as we speak…

               

while the kids did…..

…and laughed at this…

Today Marisa and Nico arrived. Nico was in too late to join in on the afternoon session, but Marisa showed up ready to climb…after a day like she had, I was thoroughly impressed by her onsites this afternoon…

Mello also had a killer session, ticking a 13a off of his project list with enormous support from his team. Alex also put up a couple of quality onsites and earned himself two stars.

Kraire, Brenda and Yonnie were invited to Park City to get on the Psicobloc wall on the re-Grand Opening of Olympic Park. In the words of Brenda, it was “AMAZING. There were roughly 2,000 spectators to see demonstrations from climbers as well as the US Ski Team.

After climbing, we all piled into the vans and made our way to Whole Foods for dinner, then had a relaxing night in the house complete with base jumping videos, Disney and Nutella…cause why not?

     

Tomorrow should be Park City. Hopefully tomorrow we will all be in  Park City.

Until then,

The Outsider

“Do you belong to a church group?”

“All you had to do was stay, beautiful eyes. American girls change…I wish you would. You’re not sorry. All you had to do was stay out of the woods, Tim McGraw. The last time, should’ve said no. I knew you were trouble, Red Ronan. 22 eyes open, fifteen breathless blank spaces. I know places all too well; treacherous.

Both of us change. I want you back. I’m only me when I’m with you. Untouchable. If this was a movie, you’d belong with me. Tied together with a smile, today was a fairytale. Stay beautiful.”

-TSwift (sort of)

Yes, it was a Taylor Swift kind of day. Again. At least for breakfast, when adolescents were being woken up not by their alarm clocks, but by every girl in the house (and Yonnie) shouting, not singing, along to their favorite pop princess. We were off to a good start, indeed.

Today, the team split up and the sporters went to Momentum’s Sandy location to work on onsites while the speedsters returned to MillCreek to work on their sprints. Mello and Alex (yet to be nicknamed) joined the lineup today and both put up some quality first attempts, earning stars to stab onto their charts.

     

The kids got to witness Brenda onsite a 5.12a in the flimsiest of running shoes in a battle against Yessica….both sent their climb, but it was pretty touch and go for Brenda…I regret to inform that I possess no photo of the happening. There IS a video floating around, however.

       

After lunch, we all returned to MillCreek for another session. After getting a PR yesterday, TZ continued to work the speed route, as well as some trust falls with Nerr just for…giggles. All kids got to perfect their sequences with Stan in preparation for their next speed competition.

     

In the words of Coach Kyle…the kids also embraced the suck…

We then took over another fine dining establishment: Olympus Burgers…a little greek, a little burger…ya know…it works…where we got that oh so bothersome question, “do you all belong to a church group?”…(must have been the vans). No ma’am….No, we do not. The food was delightful, doe.

     

With that, I’m off to have my digits painted by a couple of little chitlins…adios.

-The Outsider

Highway to the Danger Zone

The alarms went off early today…6:50am early…but, as I rolled my way off the couch, I turned to see Durant at the kitchen table catching up on his Music History class work. This is not the first occurrence. Impressed. Completely impressed.

After everyone had gathered in the kitchen area, Stan decided to get the day started off right with Mr. Kenny Loggins, who took us right into the Danger Zone, in an effort to get the kids PUMPED UP for their impending nationals finals round rehearsal…or perhaps he did it to appease Kyle…either way, it worked and unbeatable runs were put up by Brenda, Beans and Yessica (also logged a mean 5.13a onsite later in the day) who all sent their climbs with unfaltering determination.

            

Today was also the first day that notes were given out; a tradition that I quickly became a huge fan of. Yessica got some major style points for creatively crafting her sentences – line by line – into Orbit gum wrappers for Dendy, adding a new sentiment to that good, clean feeling. He’s still smiling over that one.

      

After lunch, the kids who didn’t get the memo before had now gotten the memo and most returned looking a little something like….THIS!

 (Trying to imagine what it must feel like watching your face make its way up the wall…multiplied….all day long…but something tells me that Kyle has absolutely no problems with such flattery…in fact, i bet he is somewhere in a corner secretly patting himself on the back right now.

And then there was this again…

After battling some form of wicked stomach bug, Ginny put in a PR on the speed wall and his day was drastically improved. Danielle also had a great first session on the wall.

To round out the day, the boys thought it would be fun to put everyone through “stations-le-hell” as I would later refer to them after bearing witness…highly effective…highly difficult…highly impressive. Ellis documents…

Mashed potatoes and pork chops were a HUGE hit….go figure with this group….now for videos and some much needed sleep!

Until tomorrow,

The Outsider

There’s glitter in my cereal!!…a recap

In true rest day fashion…I, along with the kids, are resting. However; I feel it my duty to fill you in on a few things I may have missed along the way…

Sunday night, star charts were made…glitter was EVERYWHERE. Literally. Glitter is bouncing around on my keyboard as we speak. Not kidding.

…and Monday morning, Brita wasn’t so thrilled about where hers ended up….so, she…ya know….fixed it.

Brochill and Gab-e decided they wanted to fit in with the others…

…and now they do.

The kids handled their third day on better than any I’ve ever seen with minimal whining despite…well, this…

As Ellis said last night as I was in a NyQuil-enduced coma, the day began in Lehi, which was one of the most impressive bouldering gyms I have ever seen…the facility lent itself well to the Texan Takeover and the kids participated in an onsite bouldering competition. Momo and the Tank both killed it, sending all three climbs thrown their way. Brenda and Ginny downright refused to work the slab the good old girl way…Brita worked on her incapability to “hold on to big holds” thing, Embry and Delivery did not refuse to work the slab the good old girl way and Dendy got to lace up his velcro shoes and put in a solid (but losing) effort against Danielle. Twas a great morning…take a look…

The kids then went back to MillCreek for the second session, which included a round of onsiting as well as some more work on the speed wall followed by an ab workout that would make any grown man cry….

…and if all of that wasn’t enough, they still had enough energy to put in an intense game of ultimate….

Today was spent going out for breakfast (twice), Chinese fire drills, engaging in more ultimate and seeing Jurassic World. By the way, I don’t care what any boy (or girl, for that matter) (or Caillin) who was on this trip tells you about this movie….its awful. Tank and I will stand by that until the bitter end (we just might be the only two who share this opinion). But really, its awful. The T-Rex fight at the end and the park itself; I’ll give them that…but that’s all I’m giving them. Period.

Sincerely,

The Outsider

Core for Dayzzzz

Heading towards our first rest day, we staggered forward into day three in a row of our training this week. To keep the energy high, we decided to start out the day by visiting the last of the three Momentum Gyms in Salt Lake- Lehi. Lehi is a bouldering only facility that hosts a massive amount of climbing in a fantastic open space environment, catering well to our lesson plan for the morning.

We decided to start things off with a full team, group competition involving head to head match ups between two teams of climbers. The climbers competed one at a time on 3 boulders each, collecting points for topping or beating their opponent on each boulder and amassing total points for the teams.

After a quick lunch it was back to it for session two at Mill Creek again! Our speed comp today saw some incredible results from the climbers. Embrey posted a new personal record of 12.46, Tiara clocked in a 16.51 (also her best) and Jonnie, Gennie and Durant all locked in some impressive B- Team runs despite to onset of fatigue taking over.

After speed, the climbers threw down one last onsight run before the punishing core workout to close out the day. Chad took MVP in sport onsights today with an impressive send of a relentlessly steep 5.12 straight out the main wall.

After the gym, everyone was exhausted and ready for dinner, but of course, ultimate took highest priority before anything else could be accomplished. Mandatory ultimate was in full effect, with the two teams rapidly ticking off point after point against each other in another very close match up. Izzo and Dendy blew everyone away by being two of the top players despite this being their first foray into ultimate. Chad closed out the day with a few of the most absurd catches we have seen yet.

Tomorrow….we rest….

Till then,

-Ellis

When one day feels like two, and Eddie Murphy stars as Mu…shu

There is certainly an advantage to training in a facility that sees nearly 1,000 check-ins daily: said gym opens its doors at 6am to please it’s members. I’m not so sure that our kids were equally pleased…but they put on a good face and braved the early hours in order to get in a double session today. It started off light with some stretching, bouldering and a brief interruption to get the eight-ish layers of chalk off of Nerr’s Sportiva Solution….and moved quickly into a round of onsites and some runs on the speed wall. Danielle and Ginny arrived late yesterday and turned right around to put up some impressive times on the 15 meters. Ginny is on sugar withdrawal hour 17…but more on that another day.

We returned to the condo to break for lunch and the girls gave Dendy and Ellis an education (at no cost to them) on the 36th Animated feature created by THE Walt Disney: Mulan. The boys were slightly hesitant until it was revealed that Eddie Murphy provided the voice of the ever-intimidating, indestructible Mushu (I can’t make this up…that’s all it took). After Disney and after reviewing some footage from the morning session, the kids loaded back up for their second set at the Millcreek location to get their hurt on in an all-out head-to-head brawl on the speed wall. The cheering was at an all time high and some poor front desk worker was tasked with asking the group to “keep it down a little…” but who was she kidding?! These kids are Texans….and adrenalized Texans at that. Her effort was enough for a five minute decrease in volume at best. We saw another personal best today: this time from Lolo, as well as some very tight heats among the younger climbers. It was impressive, to say the least. Afterward, the kids forged on in some circuit workouts on the bouldering wall as well as some more route onsites. Beans was able to step up when the fate of his team was put on his shoulders and bust out a 5.12b flash to save his group from a daunting session of up-downs. Momo decided she wanted to be a fighter and put in a brave attempt on a route that terrified her while being cheered on by all of her surrounding teammates. Tiara was calm and collected, as usual, and put up some proud sends in her own right and Yessica….well, she just can’t be stopped. Killed it.

After all of this, the day continued with a workout from Stan. Durant came hobbling down the stairs afterward, covered in sweat and when asked what he had just done, all he could put into sentence form was that he “thought there was only one set….so [he] tried really, really hard….and then there was another rotation and [he] thought that was the last one….so [he] tried really, really hard on that one…and then there was a third rotation.”

Back to the condo we went to get ready for dinner. Stan decided that quesadillas were in order and Kraire, Lolo and Breezy took it upon themselves to selflessly shred a gargantuan bowl of chicken WITH THEIR BARE HANDS (and fork) for the entire team while Brita made a bangin’ pico de gallo aka salsa fresca aka Ginny’s favorite thing in the world. The night was equally successful as the day and there’s another one for the books….

Until tomorrow,

The Outsider

Attack of Day One: Nationals Training Camp

After spending two days straight in a van with little to no sleep, this outsider would have expected day one of training camp to be packed full of complaining, extreme fatigue, loads of teenage resistance and perhaps a few tears…but I saw none of that…with the exception; perhaps, of the struggle presented by THE jar of mayo that refused entry of any kind. That is, until Durant put in a solid eight minutes of effort – ultimately ending in a question that still begs to be answered…”how do normal people open these things?!.”

          

After witnessing the most systematic lunch preparation EVER, we were all off to Momentum in Sandy for some onsite training and light bouldering. The kids were pretty floored when they were informed by the owner that this was their “least impressive location.” Onsites went well and the kids fought hard. The usual suspects were able to snag assents on nearly every 5.13 in the gym, leading setters Kyle and Steven to admit to themselves that they were in for a week of setting “some really hard climbs.” Nerr learned a quick lesson that eating a bag of popcorn immediately preceding a 5.13 onsite attempt will result in a not-so-stellar performance on said onsite…but hey….who can blame her?!

        

          

After the kids had completely dominated the first location, we headed to Mill Creek to get some time in on the 15m speed wall. A pit stop at Starbucks was a great excuse for Brochill to see just how much caramel he could fit into a Vanilla Bean Creme Frappuccino while Beans and Yessica had to settle for a cup of whipped cream (sugar rule definitely broken in what may now become known as “the neutral zone”). Anywho…the kids did great on their first day on the route and Kraire even got a personal best! After putting in some good runs, it was evident that the day had exhausted many of the climbers and dinner was quickly becoming a necessity. Despite the attack of day one, I think the psych is high for tomorrow’s return to the “MOST impressive location” for some onsite, some fitness and a whole lotta…well, something.

          

   

           

Training Camp 2015- Salt Lake City Bound!

Welcome to the start of a new chapter with Team Texas! We are getting settled in and recovering from our epic trip to Salt Lake, and this year we are joined by a friend of the team, Emily Varisco, who will be helping us out with blogging, coaching, photos and general shenanigans. I uploaded a few photos I shot today to get things started, and with that, I give you Emily’s inaugural blog post!

-Ellis-

The Trip That Would Never….Begin

12:00pm Friday: Team Texas members meet at Summit Carrolton.

12:30pm Friday: Ellis receives text from me stating that my flight from Philadelphia that has now been delayed for two hours, will be extended yet another hour. Frustration is mounting.

3:28pm Friday: Flight has landed…vans are circling…bags have not come out onto conveyer belt yet. Frustration is at an all time high.

4:36pm Friday: Bag spotted.

4:38pm Friday: I finally take my seat in van numero dos.

Thus begins my more than eventful adventure that we all like to call Team Texas Nationals Training Camp: 2015.

Despite their already long afternoon, spirits were high in the van and the kids were excited to get on their way.

5:25pm Friday: Team vans are slowly making their way through rush hour traffic and as TZ reads her fathers text, she reluctantly responds, “yes…we are still in Dallas…” My apologies.

Though this is my first trip with the team, I am no stranger to the way it typically operates. I have known many of these kids for quite some time and have participated in some practices. However; it must be said, that before plunging head first, eyes closed into this journey, I thought I knew Taylor Swift. I did not know Taylor Swift. I was also surprised to find that Brenda, Yonnie, Gabby AND Brochill ALL have a greater grasp on her than I; as can be demonstrated by their never-ending sing-alongs to Miss Tay Tay as she warns us (perhaps not us, exactly) that someday she’ll be living in a big ole city…and all we’re (perhaps not we, exactly) ever gonna be is mean. This is not all she speaks of…in fact; the girl carries on for roughly ten hours out of the total 24 spent in the van. Momo, Delivery and Nerr provided the dance moves that kept us all laughing the entire way to Four Corners.

After having lunch in Moab (we are on Saturday, now), we decided that it was worth it to make a quick visit to Arches National Park. Though hot, the walk to the twin arch was well worth it, as Coach Kyle came walking back with his sleeves not-so-stylishly rolled up and ready to make the final leg of our drive into Salt Lake. But…as this trip would have it…..there would be one more stop along the way. Big Don’s Pizza. Despite its unsightly exterior and slightly unfortunate name, the place delivered on its product and pies were housed.

Currently, at 11:30pm on Saturday, we have arrived in our digs for the next two weeks and the kids are busy scoping out their rooms and trying to figure out the wifi password. Some are wearing matching mumu’s….some are not. Sleep awaits. Until tomorrow…..

-Emily: completely underprepared, but thoroughly entertained nitwit.