prAna: Sustainable Clothing

Chris Sharma, Dean Potter, Paul Robinson and many many more!

This year, Reel Rock turns five, and co-founders Sender Films and Big Up Productions are celebrating by taking you on a global ride like never before. From death-defying speed link-ups of the wildest faces in the Alps, to Olympian displays of strength and tenacity on the hardest boulders ever climbed, Reel Rock 2010 features a breathtaking journey through the vertical realm with the heroes of rock and snow.

Coming to Rocklands this year I had one main climb in mind, Monkey  Wedding, V15.  This line was first climbed by Fred Nicole over 8 years  ago.  I had briefly tried this line the first time that i came to  Rocklands but at the time, the line felt way too hard for me and I knew i would have to come back stronger if Iever wanted to send it. Before my trip, I trained super hard! I knew I would have my work cut  out for me on such an amazing and hard line!  I began working the  climb early in the trip but because of bad weather and sharp holds I  was not able to give it that many days of work.  By the middle of  August, I had tried the line a decent amount and felt like i was
getting very close to sending.  The weather was beginning to get very  warm and my trip was coming to an end very shortly, so I knew I had to  get it done in very soon!  On the last day of my trip in Rocklands, I  managed to nab  the second ascent of Monkey Wedding!  The feeling of  sending such an awesome line made me so realize how much hard work and  effort has to be put in sometimes to get something done.  It is all  worth it when you are standing at the top of your project feeling
nothing but pure euphoria. I am now in Cape Town for the next few days, bouldering and hanging out.  My girlfriend and I head to Europe on August 31st!  We are going
to be heading to Austria first and then off to Switzerland for the  Fall!  Stay tuned for more updates!

~Paul

Alex Puccio and Daniel Woods walked away with top honors at last weekends Battle In The Bubble and a $1,000 each in prize money. With Paul Robinson injured and Chris Sharma at the New River Rendezvous, no prAna athletes figured in the mens finals but the women came through like champs! Alex Puccio remains undefeated since she joined the prAna team this year. Angie Payne (2nd), Tiffany Hensley (7th) and Tyler Youngwerth (9th) all looked strong with Angie pushing Puccio the entire way. Congratulations to all the participants as we look forward to another great year of events.

Check out the Highlight Reel from The Spot Gym  HERE

Photos Courtesy of Ben Fullerton

Courtesy of bigupproductions

It was an event that came down to the very last problem to determine the champions. A full house watched some of the best climbers in the world duel it out for top honors at the RocComp in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a great opportunity for a global audience to watch the live webcast by UBC. We are sure more live climbing action will open up the sport to a much greater audience.

Chris Sarma Flashing Finals via YouTube

Earth Treks Roc Comp: Presented by Mountain Hardwear and the UBC pro tour

By Charlotte Jouett-Bosley

This wasn’t your average climbing competition. The Earth Treks Roc Comp, quickly named the biggest comp ever held on the east coast, started the UBC Pro Tour off with a bang this past weekend. On Friday, Earth Treks’ Columbia gym hosted a dual pro-qualifying round and citizens’ competition with over 300 competitors. A vendor village filled the parking lot swarmed with people trying out climbing gear, playing on the slackline demo and filling their bellies with amazing food. The following day, the top 20 men and women pro athletes from Friday’s qualifying red-point round took to the walls at Earth Treks’ Timonium for semi-finals. Top athletes battled it out in the semi-final and finals rounds that were broadcast live online around the world. With over 500 spectators, the crowd went wild when Chris Sharma made the impossible possible, being the only person to send two of the three finals problems and executed moves that left even the pro climbers’ jaws dropped and the crowd in awe. Comparable to a rock concert of epic proportions, some of the most amazing climbers were showcased by lighting, music and energy like you’ve never encountered before. Congratulations to prAna athletes Chris Sharma, Paul Robinson and Alex Puccio for their top place finishes.

Chris called us Sunday morning and he was still buzzing from the energy at the Earth Treks comp. Being the old guy out there, who doesn’t climb on plastic and rarely boulders anymore, he had no expectations for his performance. In the end, he said it was one of his most memorable competitions thanks to the vibe of the crowd, his competitors and his good friend Obe Carrion, the MC for the event, going crazy on the mike. Chris is off to Spain now to get some burns in on his latest project “First Round First Minute” and he’ll be back for the New River Rendezvous in Fayetteville, WV in May.

On the women’s side, the “Alex’s” continued their domination with another 1-2 finish with Puccio taking top honors.  Puccio said that she was in a lot of pain with a nagging finger tendon injury but she pushed past the pain because of the importance of the event.  She is giving it a solid week of rest with abundant icing and no climbing.  Her comments, “The comp was so awesome. The lights, the music, the people… what a show”!

It is great to see such a high level of climbing and we thank all the competitors, organizers and the crowd for making it such a superb event.

Men 1. Chris Sharma, 2. Paul Robinson 3. Daniel Woods 4. Vasya Vorotnikov 5. Rob D’Anastasio 6. Magnus Midtboe

Women 1. Alex Puccio 2. Alex Johnson 3. Lisa Rands 4. Francesca Metcalf 5. Isabelle Faus 6. Kasia Pietras

Crowd Videos From Sharma’s Flash

RocComp Images from Charlotte Jouett-Bosley,  Alex Kahn and Chris Hamars

You can check it out right HERE with the rest of us as we wish the best to all the participants including prAna athletes Chris Sharma, Paul Robinson & Alex Puccio.

Legends do make a comeback. Back in 2003 and 2004, the Roc Comp attracted the nation’s top competitors and over a thousand screaming spectators. DJs and professional video and lighting crews made the facility pulsate with an unparalleled energy that became legendary in the circles of pro-athletes and the attending audience. Years passed and other comps came and went, but in the trenches of the climbing community, the Roc Comp reigned supreme.

This year, we’re one-upping ourselves. Earth Treks Climbing Centers, Mountain Hardwear and the Unified Bouldering Championships are proud to announce the first event on the 2010 UBC Pro Tour, The Earth Treks Roc Comp, April 23 & 24, 2010. The 2010 Roc Comp will span two days of climbing and will host climbers ranging from the top pros in the world to beginners psyched to check out their first comp. The Citizens Comp and a hands-on Vendor Village will be held in conjunction with the qualifying red-point round on Friday, April 23rd in our Columbia climbing facility.

On Saturday, April 24th in our Timonium climbing facility, top climbers worldwide including Chris Sharma, Lisa Rands and Paul Robinson will compete for an $11,000 cash purse (courtesy of Russel Automotive) as well as cumulative individual point rankings towards the overall UBC Pro Tour Championship.

Come rub shoulders with your climbing idols, snort chalk and celebrate the power of this sport!

Paul Robinson in Minnesota from Nicros Club-JA on Vimeo.

Paul Robinson has his eye on a line called ‘Rasta Man Sit Start’ which is on the Granpa Peabody Boulder in Bishop, California. It’s a very steep and fingery climb that has never seen an ascent. Paul is spending this week in Bishop working on the ultra progressive problem and is feeling very strong. He has done all of the moves but now he has to link it up.

On Sunday, Chris Sharma came out to see what it was all about – after talking with Paul and trying a few moves, he confirmed that it could be one of the hardest boulder problems in the U.S.

The temps are cooling down later this week in Bishop, which will help with the friction on the tiny crimps of this climb and Paul is loading up on custard filled chocolate donuts for energy. Good Luck Paul!

Update #1 from ClimbingNarc.com

The Bishop Bouldering Blog is reporting that Paul Robinson realized one of his long terms goals this morning when he pulled off the FA of the Rastaman Vibration Sit Start at the Buttermilks in Bishop, CA.  Located just left of the well-known highball Evilution on the massive Grandpa Peabody boulder, the Rastaman Vibration Sit Start project had eluded many strong climbers over the years until succumbing to Paul’s dedicated effort.

Here is what Wills Young had to say about the problem in his post on the Bishop Bouldering Blog:

This extreme problem with a crux move to gain and dyno from a small left-hand pinch at standing height, was disregarded as near-impossible by many top climbers–with only a handful ever sticking the dyno. The line, in full is thought to be in the v15 range.

More to come at the Bishop Bouldering Blog (and presumably this fall’s Reel Rock Tour)

Update #2 from BigUp Productions

Two years ago Paul put in about five days working the moves, but had to abandon ship with a split tip. This season he returned with obsessive focus (and compulsive skin care) to try and get it done. The line involves two setup moves on tiny crimps, and a long reach to an amazing, terrible pinch. Then a quick foot switch, and a dyno from the pinch to a bad crimper. Paul fell trying to stick the dyno about 20 times over the past week of attempts,  coming agonizingly closer each time. From the crimp there are some decent holds to turn the lip, then a delicate slab and the same endless topout as Evilution to reach the 50 foot summit of the boulder.

Falling repeatedly from the dyno, and running out of time on his spring break from CU Boulder,  Paul struggled to pinpoint the right conditions required to clamp down on the glassy pinch, jump off it, and control the swing. He tried dawn starts, evening headlamp sessions, and even full sun, but his left hand kept blasting off the pinch mid-swing.  When spring break ended, he drove to Vegas, dropped off his girlfriend Alex at the airport to fly home for school, then turned around and returned to Bishop to stay as long as necessary.

Earlier in the week Paul had commemorated his father’s birthday with a meal at Amigos, the low-key mexican restaurant that’s become a Bishop climbers’ institution. Chip Robinson had taken his young son out bouldering since the age of 10. The last time Paul worked the Rastaman project, Chip spotted him on every attempt. Bishop was one of Chip’s favorite places in the world, and they’d made a tradition of birthday meals at Amigos. Eight months ago Chip passed away after a long illness, and now Paul hoped to climb the project, his hardest problem ever, in his father’s honor.

The night he returned from Vegas, Paul slept fitfully. He dreamed that he called home and his father answered the phone. Paul saw himself training on his old basement wall in his parents’ house. Every hold was a small pinch, and he floated past them all. He woke at 4:30 with a sense of urgency, went to his laptop and checked the weather, and saw rain coming in a few hours, with the possibility of several grim days ahead. He grabbed pads, hurried to the boulder, and did five pullups to get warm. The pre-rain moisture in the air gave him just the slight stickiness he needed to control the pinch, and he climbed the problem on his second try, calling it Lucid Dreaming.

V16 is the number he’s tentatively putting on it. The only other proposed V16 in the US is Daniel Woods’ problem V16 in Boulder Canyon, and the two problems couldn’t be more opposite. The Game is nearly horizontal and involves 8 big, thuggy moves that perfectly suit Daniel. Lucid is mildly overhanging and boils down to 2 heinous moves on tiny holds, which perfectly suits Paul. Daniel’s tried Lucid, and Paul’s tried The Game, and each has struggled, though no doubt each will eventually succeed on the repeats.

It’s an exciting and productive friendship / rivalry to watch develop, as the two best boulderers in the country play to their strengths and push each other to continue expanding the limits of power, precision, and pain tolerance. We’ve been documenting the process this year for a new short film on Paul and Daniel that will play on the 2010 REEL ROCK Film Tour.

We are looking  forward to seeing the soon to be released CORE. Chuck talked about how busy he was a couple of months ago and now we know why. The quality of Chuck’s work is amazing as seem in the prAna athlete profile videos he put together for Fred Nicole and Paul Robinson. Check out the HD trailer for CORE…

From the director of PURE…

CORE goes to the heart of climbing. Join an international cast of the sport’s most dedicated athletes as they stick it when it matters most. Shot in 35mm Ultra High Definition, get ready to see every detail of some of the nastiest pieces of rock ever climbed.

A close examination of each character offers perspective beyond just their achievements on the stone. From Helsinki to Hueco, Africa to Italy, the enclosed forests of Tuscany to the vast open space of the American West, this film is a study in the landscapes and lifestyles that define our sport.

Be there, in the moment, as a 5.14 traditional route gets its first ascent. See the mind-bending footage from Livin Large, Nalle Hukkataival’s monster 8C. Watch as Fred Nicole polishes off his multi-year project in Switzerland – his hardest ever. All these achievements and more are brought to you here in Chuck Fryberger’s followup to the hit bouldering flick PURE. These are the moments and the athletes that define our sport, documented here with a unique style that invites the viewer to be part of the experience.

Featured Athletes: Nalle Hukkataival, Matt Wilder, Fred Nicole, Kilian Fischhuber, Kevin Jorgeson, BJ Tilden, Lucas Preti, Cody Roth, Michele Caminati, Jamie Emerson, Sarah and Steph Marvez, Berni Fiedler, And Many More.