Day 3

Hi All,

Yesterday (Thursday) was our 2nd climbing day in Maple. We essentially went to the same three places, Minimum wall, Pipe Dream, and the warm up area. After climbing we headed home where Grill Master Chris made everyone delicious burgers. Rita and Peyton helped prepare the toppings and Claire made coleslaw out of lettuce.

The highlight of the night was the making of the Avatar show intro – remade starring John as Ang. The film was directed by Niko and featured Maya and Merrit and many of the little ones as the “Fire Nation”. Prepare yourselves for a whole YouTube deabeut of the real intro, re-make intro, and a behind the scenes special!
This morning (Friday) Claire, Micheal, Chris, and Marisa left at 5am to make the journey to Moab for a life-changing experience: SKYDIVING. Claire originally had the idea on Thursday when she went around asking all of the 18+ if they would ever skydive. Little did we know she was serious. They originally wanted to book it for Saturday but the only time they had available was Friday at 8am. It was everyone’s first time except for Micheal, who has been twice before. To make a long story short, I will summarize each person’s experience. Claire: Literally falling from the sky and still looks like a model. Micheal: Had infinite amounts of fun. Chris: Chill as a cucumber until it was time for the jump. Marisa: derp-ing the whole way down. They all want to go again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.

The climbers explored a new wall today called the Demascus Wall. We had a group at Demascus wall, Pipe Dream, and a new wall of an unknown name.

Here are what a few of the kids answered to the question, “What did you climb today?” Note that we did not know then name of most of the routes we climbed, only the grades.

Claire: “I went SKYDIVING! And fell on my warm up”.

Tate: “I sent nothing, I belayed a lot of people and projected a few 12’s”.

Kiara: “I climbed 4 routes, 2 12c’s and 2 12b’s and also belayed Kyle [Ellis] twice and almost got killed once”.

Favorite: “Uhhhh I sent 2 12a’s and I got on a couple of 2 12c’s and topped them both!”

Bob Dylan: “A 12b”

Big Mike: “I sent a 12b and I tried another 12b.”

Merritt: “I did an 11c in Pipe Dream and took some sweet photos”.

Graysonjason: “Nothing. Well, I did a 10b. That was really fun. Then there was this 12c that was really hard. It was called “12c”. I topped it.”

Jessica: “Today was my worst day. The hardest thing I sent was I onsighted a 12d and then I did 2 12c’s, and a 12b. Then I projected a 13a and almost got it. Twice”… Poor girl.

Niko: “I did Diggler, 13a and then I did all the moves to Wyoming Sheep Shagger. Dope.”

John: “I tried Diggler and just didn’t do it. I went to the unknown cave with Peyton and Eric and did a 10 and then flashed a 13”.

Maya: “Um, I rock climbed. I one-falled The Great Feast, 13c”.

Lolo: “Um, I guess I did 3 pitches on Diggler, and tried to onsight a 12c, The Tree Route, and I fell”.

Katie: “I did not climb a single thing today. I went to the second draw of a random climb so that I could take pics of Grace and Emerson. Then I went on an adventure hike and fell down”.

Rita: “I did a 12b, I dont know what it’s called”.

Momo: “I did a 5.AMAZING. I’m proud”.

Grace: “I did a 10 and then Ellis threw a waterbottle at my eye and I lost all my motivation. I also tooks some really coiol photos”.

Oceana: “I did a 12 and then I did a 12b but I couldnt make one of the moves. I also sent a 12a second go”.

MagHag: “I did two pitches. Both 12’s and I have no idea what they are called. I also hiked with Karen”.

Kyle: “I was awesome today. And, I tried to beat the downhill record and it is inmpossible. I onsighted a 5.11 and I was really proud of myself because it had some really hard moves on it!”.

Nerr: “I did a 12a at Pipe Dream and 4-fell Diggler on my onsight go, which was kind of exctiting”.

Niko, Chad and Kyle decided to race down the mountain from Pipe Dream, which is the farthest crag up the mountain. It is a little over a mile from the parking lot and the final times were: Niko: 5.5 mins Chad: 3.4 mins Kyle: nowhere close to either of those. It was quite the sight to see them bounding their way down the steep and rock terrain without hesitation.

For dinner we went to one of the three resturaunts in the cite, Pizza and Pasta. Everyone is now back at the house, nice and full and happy. Tomorrow we are getting up bright and early to depart Mt. Pleasant and head to SLC, where the training for Nationals will begin! Tomorrow, Roman arrives and Marisa leaves.

 

Goodnight!

First Blog post!

Hello all,

We are all settled into our house in Mt. Pleasant, UT after a weekend competing at Divisionals. Overall, the comp went great! We entered with Team Texas making up roughly 28% of the competitors, in finals we made up roughly 37% and we ended up taking 44 total kids to Nationals!! Awesome job, team!

After two days of competition we loaded up the vans and made our way to Utah to outdoor climb in Maple Canyon. But not without a few pitstops! Along the way we swung by Four Corners National Monument – the only place in the United States where four states meet, and where you can stand in four states all at once! Some kids were psyched, some were not. Was the location the ACTUAL four corners? The world may never know.

But it’s not, according to Google Maps.

We got into Mt. Pleasant around 1am on Tuesday where we encountered a real pickle. Upon attempting to call to check in to our AirBnB house, we were met with nothing but a voicemail box. We had to improvise and spend the night in a little hotel in Ephraim. Chris LoCrasto also arrived. Tuesday morning, we got into the house, dropped our stuff, and booked it to the crag. And man, was it awesome.

Tate, Rita, Koen, Chad, Eric, Matti, Grayson, Mike, Grace, Kyle and Katie started out at the warm up wall. John, Niko, Atlantic, Madhag, Karen, Merritt, Jessica, Ellery, Dillon, Ellis, Marisa and Izzo went to the Minimum wall first. Claire, Sophie, Maya and Lolo went to the Pipe Dream, where the real OG’s climb. After getting warm and used to the rock all of the warm up wall goers met up with the rest of the group at the Minimum wall. By the end of the day, we had climbed out the Minimum wall.

Everyone at the warm up wall did a 5.7 and a 5.9 then moved on to Minimum wall.

Minimum wall crew:

Tate, Grayson, Bob Dylan, Merritt, Cool Ellis, Grace, Sizzle, Big Mike, Matti, Marisa, and Ellis sent Minister, 11b. This was Tate’s first 11b!

Madhag, Jessica, Bob Dylan, Grayson, Nerr, Chad, Karen and Marisa sent Lunchchables, 11d/12a. Durant, Sizzle and Ocean topped it.

Jessica and Niko flashed Just a Little Something, 12+/13-. John sent second go and Favorite and Grayson topped it.

Jessica, Niko, John, sent Space Lord 12d. Nerr and Bob topped it.

Ellis and Peypey epically struggle bussed up the cryptic 12c.

Pipe Dream Crew

Maya sent Sprout, 13a. Lolo topped it.

Sophie, Lolo, Claire and Maya sent a 12a of an unknown name.

After climbing, we grabbed dinner and stopped at Walmart for groceries. In the evening, the older boys decided it was time for a makeover. Peyton and John now have fabulous new hair-doo’s. Some are fans, most are not. Lets just say that all Walmart purchases must now be approved before kids can buy them.

Here is John’s hair. I’ll save Peyton’s for tomorrow’s blog 🙂

 

Wednesday was a proclaimed rest day for everyone but Maya, Merritt, Cool Ellis, Lolz and Jessica. The non-resting crew returned to Pipe Dream to crush. Cool Ellis, Jessica and Lolo sent a 12a. Maya sent a 12c. Merritt took some epic photos! The resting crew headed to Snow College Recreational center for allllll the shenanigans that Team Texas loves. There was swimming, flipping off diving boards, basketball, volleyball and Nuke-Em. Chad officially wins the award for best flipping abilities – seriously this kid has no fear! Tate and Koen did their first back flip off the diving board after plenty of practice and lots of persistence. Kyle even did a Gainer off the high board. Izzo showed off her skills in basketball, volleyball, and diveboard flipping. She seriously is good at everything. Kyle and LoCrapo joined in a game of Volleyball and CRUSHED.

 

We got lunch at a fantastic pizza joint then headed home to rest. At 7pm a crew headed to the city’s high school to play a game of ultimate in the football field. We played our hearts in an awesome field, with awesome weather, under a rainbow. Team Cap’s were Niko and Mike and then Niko and Izzo. There were a few epic points gained by Chad, Cool Ellis, Karen and Micheal. The game was cut a bit short when Izzo was hit in the nose by Peyton’s swinging arm. Or her face hit his arm. Again, the world may never know. We all saw a lot more blood than we may have wished, and we also got to witness Isabel take the hit like a real champ. The girl had no tears, and only a good attitude. Niko sacrificed his shirt to help with the bleeding and we took her home. She is currently at the doctors getting her nose looked at. There is a card signed by everyone waiting for her when she gets home!

Tonights dinner was prepared by professional chef, head route-setter, and Co-owner of Summit, Chris. He made some awesome pasta that everyone loved! Tomorrow’s plan is to head back to Maple for more crushing. The group has plenty of projects to finish up and many more to discover.

And that’s about all for tonight! I will update more tomorrow 🙂

-Missa