Pre- Setting Training, New Holds, and New Problems!

Hey Everyone!

After a successful night of Route-Setting on Saturday, I got some sleep and planned to meet Matt the following evening to start the bouldering turnover! It was a beautiful day out, and without enough time to hit up Squamish we decided to do a training session on the outdoor wall at B5. We thought it might be cool to make a little time lapse of our session, so Matt brought a camera and did things on a computer I am incapable of doing!

After training we stripped all the problems in the centre of the wall and got to work setting 8 brand new ones!

Highlights from the first night are the Purple/Yellow V2, and the Green V9! The majority of the problems on this set are definitely set with a very “commercial” feel, lots of fun moves, the feet are a little forgiving and its more about pulling on holds then un-locking tricky sequences or getting your hips just right. The kind of problems you want to come climb after work on a hot day when your big life decision is whether you should drink beer or go bouldering.

Kyle Joined Matt and I on night two and got to work setting a really classy V1 (blue/white) as well as a brand new 5.10a with brand new holds in the back of the gym over the garage! Nice, Open moves, on good holds take you up that slightly overhanging section of wall that often only has one route 🙂

Thats right… I did say NEW HOLDS! I recently put in several good sized hold orders with several top companies, and we will see over 1200 top of the line holds entering our stock between now and November!!! The first order that showed up was from Atomik or as I refer to them as “My Jug Company” They make lots of great holds, but they make lots of amazing jugs, they are also a little easier on the budget then a few of my other favourite companies which allows us to order lots and lots of holds from them. Climbing gyms EAT jugs, especially steep gyms like B5, you always need more, and even if I ordered 5000 tomorrow we would still need more. This order of Red/Pink jugs will allow us to add more terrain in the “Building Block” grades and help us get more people exposed to climbing!

With new holds in toe, Matt and I got to work finishing up the bouldering on the centre wall. Adding another 7 problems to the mix, Plus Kyle’s V1, making that section of wall as packed with holds as it usually is 🙂

I climbed yesterday with my girlfriend and a few friends and was feeling pretty good about this new set, I had a lot of fun on what we put up and I feel like a lot of the problems are very “repeatable”. Highlights from day 2 are the Yellow/Green V6 and the Blue/Orange V4.

Check out the Beta Spoiler!

Before signing off I also want to let everyone know that due to the Youth Performance Camp and Performance Team Selection Camp happening at B5 next week the Left side of the bouldering wall, and the Cave area are going to be very “thin” for the next week! The problems however will be changing frequently and we will have a whole new set at the end of the weekend on both walls!

Thanks for Reading!

Word Of Advice: Always Eat your Greens!

Hey Everyone!

Continuing our trend of stripping/setting all in one colour, this week was all Green Routes!

Hayden’s New Helmet is not WCB approved and features a self-beard trimming chinstrap made of duct tape – **No Hayden’s were injured in the making of this blog… No WCB rules were broken either.

Kyle and I started the week off on Friday night, as we do, with the stripping of old routes – Nothing special happened Friday, 8 routes and 3/4 problems came down in an attempt to round up as many green holds as we could! We worked fast and got out of the gym just before 1am which is a little more reasonable then some other nights… like Saturday.

One thing worth noting before we move on – The night schedule isn’t that bad for us, but the one thing that really sucks is really unfortunate is the number of “dead routes” throughout Saturday. During the regular year, we strip/wash after closing on Sunday, and then begin setting and washing again on Monday morning, which always means no “dead ropes”. Unfortunately that’s not a luxury we have right now, so if you are someone who climbs on Saturday mornings we apologize!

Hayden snuck this photo of me setting on the ABC.

Saturday night was a really great night of setting, one of the most enjoyable nights of setting i’ve had in a while! Hayden, Kyle and I were all in, everyone had a few “Im psyched on that” routes to set which always makes the night a little more enjoyable!

Kyle’s selfie while setting the Green on the Main Event.

Kyle started his night on the Main Event, replacing the green 12b. The new one is with out a doubt MY favourite route in the gym! This climb is a real gem if you ask me, comprised mostly of slightly in-cut edges and mini jugs this new 12b takes a wondering line up the steepest section of the Main Event. This climb features solid, consistent movement the entire way up the wall, no real cruxes, and no points where it “ramps up”. There is a “big” move about half way up between two in-cut holds, but when we moved dynamically we could all easily touch the next hold with our elbows! We have been trying to keep the moves less big and powerful recently – but we still want people to be comfortable doing a wide variety of movements, and sometimes, outside you just have to GO!

Kyle ended his night by setting a sweet 5.7 on the Pillar – “building-block” moves on super solid holds take the climber out a slightly steeper section on this wall, the key is to keep your hips in and your weight on your feet to conserve arm strength!

Hayden tackled two routes last night, a 5.10d on the “Turret” and a new 5.11b in the “Chimney”! The first route he set was the 10d on the Turret using a bunch of “olive” coloured holds from So Ill and Teknik. This climb is technical and crimpy, with sloping footholds and balance-y, lateral movements. As is usual at Base5, efficiency through the bottom sections is key, the wall gets steep at the top, and several tough moves on mediocre holds lead you too a massive jug, and a powerful move guarding the finish chains! This is a great route for warming up if your strong, or if its at your level a really good project to work on your technique!

Hayden’s second route, the 11b in the Chimney is another good one! engaging movement on flat-sloping edges takes you through the steepest section of the wall with a little help from the walls “natural” holds, the crux is navigating the balance-y top-section!

I set 4 new routes on Saturday night, 5.10c in the back, 5.9 on the Turret, 5.9 on the ABC, and 5.11a on the ABC.

I started off by replacing the 10b next to the “crack in the back” with a slightly harder route for all the climbers who are looking to move into the 11a grade. This 10c starts out fairly simple, with some nice cross moves on good holds. The middle section of the route will test how creative your grip positions are, as you work your way through weird “knobby” holds, remembering to use the “natural” feet, until your at the roof. Big holds take you over the lip and interesting movement, requiring more use of the “naturals” for your feet, take you too the top! Up next was the 5.9 on the back side of the Turret, close to the Auto-Belay. This route is a little more technical then the “Blue 5.9” in the back , but it has way better hand holds and generous foot options. the crux sequence is moving through the two “mint green” horns about midway up the route. The key is to find the left foot holds out on the vertical wall, this gets you in the most secure position to move through the next few grips.

Becaaauuuuse…. I am at risk of writing a 1000 word post – the 5.9 is a great little warm-up for the seasoned climbers, or a perfect footwork trainer for the newer climbers, smaller holds teach you to get your weight on your feet! The 11a on the ABC is very sequence dependent, this tick-tacky climb brings a “new feel” to this steep little section of wall. Lots of feet and intermediate holds will make a wide variety of people happy about this route!

Tonight and Monday Matt, Kyle and I will be working on the centre of the Main bouldering wall!

Stay tuned!

Thanks for Reading!

Fresh Problems and the Knee Bar Selfie

Hey Everyone,

I finished writing the last post at about 3:30am on Saturday, so as you know it only really covered 2 nights of this weeks efforts.

Sunday night was fairly jam packed, I came in early to walk around and talk to some people and get their opinions on a few of the colours we were setting with that night – the shades of the Orange and Grey we used weren’t the best so I checked with a few of the members before moving forward with those routes.

Matt and Kyle arrived at the gym around 9 and after prepping our holds for the night we stripped the “less steep” Aka the “Right side” of the bouldering wall. We took down the two long blue volumes and replaced them a big triangle close to the ground, and another big one up at the top – we took the time to add a bunch of extra T-nuts to the volumes so we could have some better holds options.

The three of us teamed up and set 10 new problems V0-V7 with a continued emphasis on keeping the moves accessible to climbers of all heights. We also came to the conclusion that we were being a little harsh with the grading on some of the last sets so we tried to make this set a little more reasonable.

The first stand out problem is Matt’s new Orange/Black V7 – with a dynamic opening and subtle, technical ending this one is a crowd pleaser! Here is a beta spoiler if your curious..

…. That obviously didn’t go so well, but it was soo funny we decided just to roll with it and film a beta spoiler for another problem – Here is the Black and White V2 Matt set, this video is free from dry fires and is funny in absolutely no way.

Other problems I thought were special:

The Red/White V5 by Kyle:

Start with the foot on the volume, a tension-y foot swing leads you to a large red block, after that just stay on the flat edges to the top! Super fun, lots of flow and the right amount of “interesting”

The Green/Black V3 by Me:

I was pretty happy with this one, just a simple fun problem, all the feet are in the right places, all the holds are comfortable and the movement is varied – Do the second move using an “Inside Flag” if you want the extra style points and to save your energy matching your feet!

Sunday night also saw 2 fresh routes go up!

Kyle set A beauty 5.9 on the centre Auto-belay using an arsenal of light orange holds. This was the colour I was surveying the members about… I was worried it was too close to the neighbouring yellow routes bet everyone I talked to didn’t think it would be an issue. I personally don’t think it is a problem, but If you can’t tell the difference let us know and we will make sure not to use them near yellow routes again!

Selfie from a perfect no hands Knee Bar!

I also set another 5.11a on the Main Event (Thats right, there is three 11a/b routes on the steeps now!!) this grey route starts off with some technical face climbing on solid incut holds with lots of foot options – an un-usual press move into the “Ear” feature takes you on the steep section of the wall. Fun, “Open” moves on good holds will lead you to the anchors. If your courageous you should stop and enjoy a no hands rest by Knee-Barring the “Ear” – But, please… No Selfies like the one above, this would not be safe if the gym was open!

Matt and I both rolled in on Monday night as well to add a few more problems to the “Less Steep”.  I was definitely psyched to see a big session on the new problems, and seeing the beta people were coming up with was super cool! Once the crowds cleared and the gym closed we got to work adding 5 new problems, A V0 and V1, two V3’s and a Tic-Tacky V7 with a “Granite” theme! It’s always harder setting the last few problems of a wall, Usually the hold selection is getting bare, and the wall is getting full – but I am actually pretty happy with how these turned out, plus the wall has enough holds on it for all the people who love making up problems!

Hope you guys enjoy all the new stuff! Let us know what you think on the “Feedback” Page!

Thanks for reading!

The First Real Post – All about those Orange routes!

Welcome to the first “Real” post on the Base5 Setting Blog!!

First of all – check the new “Whats the spread?” and “Feedback” pages! These pages will allow you to constantly check the current grade spread in the gym, as well as contact us (anonymously if you want) at anytime to give your 2 cents!

Now, as some of you know we have recently switched the setting schedule to accommodate the summer camp being in the gym during the week. What this means for us is setting during the late nights – and what it means for you is lots of new routes and problems come Monday 🙂

This week started out as usual on Friday night, where Hayden and I came in to begin the stripping, this week we were tackling a bunch of the orange routes in the gym.

The reason we strip routes of the same colour is to help us mix the holds around, so the routes aren’t constantly being set with the exact same grips. This week we stripped 8 orange routes and only plan to put 7 back up (don’t worry we are setting a few more in other colours) which will give us a really good chance to mix all the different shapes up.

I capped off friday night by setting this new Green 11b over the Garage door. Its a technical face climb, on crispy edges with pretty generous foot options – the crux comes about mid way, crossing off the “Oh, thats pretty sloppy edge” around mid height – you will be rewarded if you climb this one smoothly and with good technique, the last few moves aren’t “Hard” but they would be tough if you were tired!

Saturday night it was Hayden, Matt and I in for setting, as Kyle is off photographing a wedding! on the Menu was 5 new orange routes, Mostly in the 5.10 range – as well as a new problem on the left side of the boulder wall to help fill it in.

Hayden Jones working on the ABC wall

Hayden was tasked with setting two new routes in the front of the gym, a 5.11a/b on the left side of the chimney (his last route there was amazing) and a 5.10a/b on the ABC. The Orange on the ABC is the classic “feel” for 5.10’s on this wall – a nice, techy, slabby opening that makes you think, with a slightly pumpy ending to test how well you did on the bottom of the route. Good, open hips and some good route-reading are the keys to this new 10b! Hayden’s other route of the evening came out a little bit soft, we called it 10d, but what its lacking in difficulty it definitely makes up for in quality. This is a really nice, technical, flowy route with a wide variety of movement – the key to making this one feel the grade is to make sure you milk those corner positions and rest your forearms for the final few moves!

Kaleb Setting the new 10a on the Turret

I (Kaleb) got to work on two of the most climbed lines in the gym – The 5.10 on the front of the Turret, and the 11a/b on the right side of the Main Event. The feedback on the last two versions of these routes were that they were both too powerful so my goal this week was to replace those routes with something that everyone would have fun on! The new Orange on the turret comes in at 5.10a, Tick-tacky moves on okay holds with good secure feet lead you to the head wall where nice sinker jugs and plenty of feet take you to the top. The crux is getting your feet up on the larger “font ledge” hold around mid way up the route! The new route on the Main Event will be popular with the shorter climbers, while I utilized the big jugs, and the steep angle to force some nice open cross overs, and some undercling moves this route comes chalked full of extra foot holds, and little intermediate options. Matt and I could have been feeling strong but we thought this was a pretty “accessible” way up the Main Event, we settled on 11a, only because the wall is still that steep – but it is easier then the purple 11a… Which we decided to up-rate to 11b!! You want to fight the pump on this one so move fast and look for drop-knees, heel-hooks and back-flags to get your weight on your feet so you have some juice for the end!

Matt having his photo taken un-knowingly

The newest member of our setting team (but one of the most experienced…) got to work on Saturday by setting a beautiful 5.10d on the vertical section between the Main Event and the Alcove. The route starts with a tricky section through the “teeth” holds – the key here is to stand on the big grey volume. The rest of the route features nice flowy movement that allows you to naturally sail to the top of the wall, no real cruxes and lots of options for people to dial in the best beta for them – Again the goal here is to fight the pump, so good footwork and smart climbing will make this one feel easy! Matt ended his night by setting a fun V6 problem on the left side of the Steep using a bunch of nice new yellow holds!!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned to hear what we are going to do Sunday and Monday!

Welcome to the Base5 Setting Blog!

November Sessions 2014 at Climb Base5 Photo: Kyle Rurak

Hey Everyone,

Welcome to the Base5 route-setting blog,

The goal of this blog is to offer an inside look at the route-setting program at Climb Base5!

The first order of business is to introduce myself. My name is Kaleb Thomas and I am the “new” head route-setter at Climb Base5. If you are more interested in where I came from, how long I’ve have been setting and other information feel free to check out my “Bio” HERE.

Western Regionals at Climb Base5 in 2014 Photo: Kyle Rurak

With this blog our goal is to bring you weekly content, that takes you into the mind of our route-setting crew. We will post photos of new routes, videos of really tricky sequences, and offer descriptions and beta cheats for the routes and problems that are driving you crazy! We are also going to offer insight on certain changes we are making through out the gym; we are constantly trying to push what we do with the program and we want to open up the dialogue between the setters and climbers to offer the most comprehensive setting product in the lower mainland.

Stay tuned for our first weekly update!