Freedom!

'Ello there lads and lassies! A new route series has begun! William Wallace lives on as his legacy continues to inspire. Come on in and prepare for a battle with the wall on routes such as "it's Our Wits", " That Make Us Men", and "Albu Gu Brath"! As always, thank youforyour support at Granite Arch! We'll see you on the walls! 

<><  THOR

The Brave 19

Finally the memorial routes have all been completed! Thank you Granite Arch climbers, members, teams, and parents for supporting these families and their sacrifice with me. Fire fighters risk their lives daily to protect us and our loved ones. Total strangers to most of us, fire fighters often go unnoticed and I thanked, please take the time to thank a fire fighter, EMT, police officer, or SAR team member for their dedication to our well-being!

The Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew members: 

Thanks again for your support of these men and for your support ofGranite Arch. See you on the wall!

<>< THOR 

The Memory Continues

Hello again and welcome back! As promised the memory of our false heroes from Granite Mountain Hot Shot Crew are being honored at Granite Arch via the new route names I set. Of the nineteen fire fighters who died in the blaze I have completed almost half of them. Their names on our route placards will continue to be updated until they are all up. This is only a small gesture but it supports a bigger picture, the honorable job of fire fighters everywhere. Thank you for supporting the fallen and the fighting. Nd thank you for supporting us at Granite Arch! 

For all you lone climbers and BlueWater Auto Belay wall enthusiasts we have something new and different for you! Our intern route setter, T-Rex, has set a top rope training wall on the east wall in the main room beneath the auto belay. The routes remain up but there are numerous holds with no tape! That means you can climb anyway you want to on that wall and practice unique moves and positions while on auto belay. Come on in and experiment on the training wall! Enjoy, my friends. 

<>< THOR

In Loving Memory

Hello members, new comers, and fellow bloggers! This week, and for some weeks to follow, the theme for my routes will be a tribute to the honor of the brave 19 hotshot crew members who died fighting to protect the homes and property of the people of Prescott, AZ. On behalf of all the staff here at Granite Arch I want to thank and honor these fallen heroes in a special way. I knew one of the crew personally and had the honor of working with him for a short time with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Rest in peace friends, fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the families of these brave crew. 

You've Got Mail

Hello Granite Arch friends and Fathers! I hope you all had a special day of celebration in honor of your fathers and grandfathers this weekend. This week at the gym offers some new routes AND  new problems! In addition to all is we also have a new style of training wall in the boulder room. Look for the wooden angled wall covered with holds with no tape. The purpose of this training wall is to use as many holds as you can while staying in the wall; a freestyle circuit training wall. Come on and try it out! We'll see you at the Arch!

<>< THOR

Also!!! Don't forget to leave mail for me in the Thoughts?! bucket in the main top rope room. Your input is helpful. Tell me what you like about a  route or what you don't like about a route. Ask me for certain moves or hold. Tell me what your favorite movie quote is! There is paper and a pen on the podium by the bench for you to use. 

And lastly, if you haven't already, Like Granike arch Climbing Center on Facebook to show your support and to be kept in the loop! 

Blessings on you all. 

<>< THOR

School's Out

It's been over a week since my last post and a lot has been set since then! GA now has three extra long Lead Only routes for those of you who want more of an endurance training. Look for the two-colored tape holds in the Cave for Defiance and Bialowieża Forest. Look for the superman tape to the left side of the big roof wall for Mother Russia. We also have a new batch of TR routes up and a lot of them have slopers! Come on in and practice your sloper strength and your endurance at the Arch!

As you may notice, Bruce Lee is no longer setting at GA. He has moved on and will be missed, though you will still see him climbing with us. Lil'P is coming on board and is filling the void and will be setting much more often! So look for his routes and don't forget to give us both feed back or ask questions when you're here. Have a good weekend! 

A special shout out to all of our new grads. Congratulations and well done. Schools out for summer! 

<>< THOR

Mid May Update!

What kind of nut is good at rock climbing? Come on in to Granite Arch and ask me!

 I have been working at the Arch for two months now, today! I want to thank you members and guests out there for all the feedback and ideas ya'll have provided. You dedication to GA keeps us open and you climbing. If you haven't been in to climb for a couple of weeks you're missing out on all of the Princess Bride quote route names! If you have a favorite quote from the movie that you would like to see on a route, submit it in the route setter feedback jar on the podium in the main room. I'll have a look at it and if it fits I'll put it on a route! See you on the crags!

<>< THOR

Post-Competition

Wow! What a crazy week it has been! It's been a while since my last post but so many things have happened in that time. The SCS climbing competition at your very own Granite Arch climbing gym was a big success this Saturday! We had a terrific turn out of contestants and team Granite Arch did so well! I'd like to congratulate each and every member of our team for your hard work and efforts paying off. I'd also like to give a shout out to all you supportive and encouraging team parents for your commitment to your child(ren) and our our team! We couldn't have done it without you. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. I also want to congratulate all of our dedicated coaches and GA staff for doing such a great job and making this competition and excellent one.

As far as our routes, I received a lot of helpful feedback on many of our comp routes. I thank those of you who shared your thoughts with me. You share with me a passion for excellence in this gym and I appreciate it. This week I will be changing the placards on our 34 comp routes to normal gym placards, adding names and displaying the ratings so everyone can enjoy a taste of the competition. For those of you who are lead tested at Granite Arch I highly encourage you to bring along your own lead rope and try our lead routes from the competition. We set four new lead only routes on the arch and hey are waiting to be enjoyed! If you are interested in learning more about Lead climbing ask our awesome desk staff about signing up for our next Lead climbing course. You won't regret it! See you on the wall! And please, don't forget to climb responsibly. We want everyone to make it home after a good day of climbing. Rock on!

<>< THOR

New Traverse!

Alighty, we have some fun new things for you all today. I set a new traverse with awesome new tape that Adam picked up last week! Check out the pic below or just come in and see it for yourself (the name might give you a hint). This traverse is a bit longer than its predecessor (white tape w/ black squiggly). It's a' Me! Mario! begins at the narrow arête wall by the gym entrance door (now with a new route), wraps around the first arch pillar then finishes where the old traverse also finished, or visa versa. The extra length makes this V3 traverse pretty pumpy but that's what makes it fun! If you'd prefer you can cut under the small arch and trim off about a dozen holds form the problem for a shorter warm up experience. It's your climb! Put in what you want to get out of it!
Like A Cat is the new route on our wall previously used for speed climbing. This wall is the closest section of wall to the gym entrance door. Please, if you plan on climbing this balancy arête-with-a-side-pull make sure your belayer is in full control of the brake line and fully alert! The anchor at the top of this route is NOT double-wrapped and will not aid in slowing down the climbers descent when they fall or are being lowered! Spread the word too. This is a fun wall with a realistic, outdoor style belay anchor (cold-shuts) at the top instead of a steel cylinder. Enjoy the climb, but enjoy climbing responsibly more!

Once again, thanks for reading! I'll be out of town all next week but if something comes up that is newsworthy, it will appear here. Have a blessed weekend. Climb hard! Think harder!

<>< THOR

Prep Day!

Hey ya'll! I wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading our blog and supporting Granite Arch! Today we dedicated our morning to gym maintenance. Check out Adam rock'n the grinder as we clean up some old bolt holes under the roof! There were no new routes set today, but rest assured, there are some awesome things coming in the near future!
For those of your who haven't yet heard, Granite Arch Climbing Center will be hosting a climbing competition on Saturday the 27th of this month!! Check out our Facebook page or our website for info and details or ask us questions when you come in for your next climb sesh'! See you on the crags!

Vedauwoo and Friction Climbing

For all my friends out there who are unfamiliar with friction climbing, aka Slab climbing, fear not! Your are not alone. Friction climbing is a style of climbing that lacks "normal" holds and requires the climber to focus on balance and footwork. This requires patience and poise but is no less exciting than "normal" rock climbing. Slab climbing gets its name from the large, unbroken, and pitched-in slabs of rock where large amounts surface area contact of your climbing shoes is ideal. A few miles north of Laramie, Wyoming is a big, granite, climbing haven called Vedauwoo (pronounced vEE-duh-voo). Vedauwoo is known for offering many styles of climbing and slab is one of them! Vedauwoo granite is sharp, abrasive, and full of crystal; perfect for friction climbing, terrible for keeping skin on your body. I first experienced slab climbing in Vedauwoo last summer and I loved it! Vedauwoo is home to my favorite friction route and today I have brought a little piece of Wyoming slab to Granite Arch! Look for Drop-Zone (blue tape) on the right-most bar on the Cave wall (left of boulder room entrance if facing toward the boulder room). Bring your balance and fancy footwork for this unique route. Give it a try and tell me what you think! And, as always, your constructive comments and feedback are appreciated.


Don't forget to join, comment, and share this blog to stay connected and informed on routes, route setting info, and more! Thank you for supporting Granite Arch Climbing Center!

First Comp of the Season!

I want to send out a huge congratulations to our Team Granite Arch competitors! This weekend our awesome team competed in the local competition held at Rocknasium in Davis. I had the privilege of experiencing the event and watching our team put all their hard work to the test. They climbed hard, with outstanding attitudes and I can speak for all the staff when I say our climbers made Granite Arch proud! Well done team! We want to give a special thank you to the parents of each team member as well. Thank you all for you dedication to your child, for getting them to practice and always being there  for them to encourage and support them. It is paying off in amazing ways!

Stay posted for updates on new routes this week and I'll see you on the wall!




Setter's Corners readers DON'T FORGET to enter your email address on the right column to keep updated on new route sets by email!

Humming Bird and Living Water

Ever wonder what a Humming Bird feels while in flight? Perhaps you're thirsty for some Living Water? Whether you're curious or not there are two new routes available on the arête wall under the Trueblue auto belay! Come give 'em a shot let me know what you think! Don't forget to share your thoughts on any route by filling out a Route Setter Feedback Slip (just a small blank piece of paper provided for you on the wooden podium in the main room). Get pumped! Get climbing!

Setter's Corners readers DON'T FORGET to enter your email address on the right column to keep updated on new route sets by email!

Hello all!
Welcome to our new Route Setter's Corner.

Here you will be able to read about our new routes as they are set, give feedback and discuss techniques with our resident setters.

PLEASE SIGN UP FOR EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS IN THE RIGHT COLUMN >>>