2011 SCS Nationals!!!

Sport
Results
1. Carlo Traversi
2. Magnus Mitboe
3. Matty Hong
4. Alex David Johnson


Male Highlight Video

(Louder Than 11 - Video)


Female Video Highlights


Results
1. Sasha DiGiulian
2. Paige Claassen
3.  Dana Riddle
4.  Alex Johnson

(Louder Than 11 - Video)


Speed

        Speed climbing went really well this year, it ended up being me and Joshua Levin vying for the title.  Joshua did a very impressive run in the 6 second range.  I knew I was going to have to step it up on my next run.  Thankfully, I climbed smooth and fast and just clinched 1st place, earning me the title of Open Speed National Champion!

Cage Free Video plus some Extra's!!!

Big ups to Chuck Fryberger Films and DeadPointMagazine for taking some time to shoot a little video after my recent succes at ABS Nationals!  I had a blast working with everyone and hope to do more in the near future!!

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2011 ABS Youth Nationals!!!

Final Results:

1.  Alex David Johnson

2. Griffen Whiteside

3. Michael Beyer

Qualifers

Semi Finals:

Sorry I do not have any videos for finals but they were by far the best climbs yet for Junior Finals, great job setters!!!

2011 ABS Nationals Highlight Video!!

You can check out the highlights from the Championships here http://jonglassberg.lt11.com/2011/02/15/2011-abs-nationals/

2011 ABS NATIONAL CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was pretty bummed because without that third bonus hold I knew I probably wasn’t going to make finals.  I then get a text from my buddy and fellow 5.10 athlete Josh Levin who crushed in the comp by the way, that I had made it!?!  At first I thought he was just messing with me, so I text him back, “Are you serious??”.  He then calls me and confirms that I did indeed make into Finals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I just went crazy, running all around Spicy Pickle, the restaurant that I was eating at, not being able to contain my excitement!!! Haha.  I then went back to my hotel and took a very nice nap before heading over to the wall for finals.  They ran finals in a world cup format style.  In the world cup format style; they bring out the competitors one by one and introduce them to the crowd.  Then both the male and female preview their 1^st problem, climb it and so on for #2 and #3.  As I was the last to make finals, I was out first to climb. 

Finals 1 (Bonus)

The first problem was not your usual problem, it started with a goofy but fun mantle to friction paper in the shape of two hands, and then you fell into a pocket and threw out to a jug.  In order to get to the next hold I a figure 4 came in handy.  This was the first time that I had ever utilized a figure 4 so my first few attempts at reaching the next hold were rather sloppy. Lol After several attempts I ended up sticking the bonus hold, but falling shortly after in attempting to reach the next hold.  I gave it a few more burns and managed to touch the second to last hold.  It was cool being able to go 1^st out on each of the problems, I felt it was a lot less stressful because you did not have to sit in the chair and wonder how everyone else had done.  I was not stressed though for Finals because I did not have any expectations, I just too busy having too much fun; just happy to be in finals.  No one managed to send problem #1 for the men, se we all entered problem #2 ready to take revenge and SEND!!

Finals 2 (Send)

As soon as we turned around to preview the problem and I saw how the problem was, I knew this one was going to be fun.  It suited my style perfectly.  First attempt I just barely missed a key hold.  Second time around I knew what had to be done, turned it on and Sent!!  To my surprise problem #2 gave the others some trouble.  The last move was rather unforgiving and spit off several of the climbers on the first attempts to the top. 

            Finals 3 (Bonus)

            Going into problem #3, I knew if I wanted, any chances of winning I was going to have at least get the bonus hold on my first try and or send the problem.  I had a really good burn on the problem, just barely missing the finish hold after a rather large dyno that had skipped the last half of the problem.  I had some good goes after this one, but this by far was my best attempt. 

            In the end, I ended up finishing in a very impressive 2^nd place next to the very talented Sean Mcoll from Canada.  I cannot describe to you how ecstatic I was when I had found out that I had placed 2^nd in the 2011 Open ABS Nationals, earning me the title “2011 ABS NATIONAL CHAMPION.”  I still cannot believe it! Haha

            Next up is Youth ABS Nationals (Feb, 18-20).  Then Canadian Nationals, World Cup in Canada, Vail and Arco Finals which is held in Italy this year!  2011 is going to be one fun year cannot wait! J

Special thanks to all of my sponsors who have helped me throughout the years: Rock Candy Holds, Organic and Five Ten, and a very special thank you to my family and MOM!!!

2011 ABS Nationals Semi-Finals!!!

Really my only goal going into semi-finals was to make it to the final round, to be honest I didn’t care how I did (obviously I wanted to my best) but in reality just making it to the finals was good enough will all of the top competitors in the running such as D-Woods, Sean Mcoll, Magnus and others.  This time we only had 3 problems unlike the 6 for qualifiers.  It was very important that I flash every problem and or get the bonus hold 1^st try if I wanted to get into finals later on that night. 

Semi-Finals 1 (Flash)

Problem 1 was put on the slab portion of the wall.  I had to think a second about how I was going to start the problem as the right hand was not very good and you had to do a slight dyno out right to thankfully what was a decent hold.  I did each move on this problem with the ut most care, as I knew flashing the first problem was very important in me advancing to the finals.  To my relief I flashed the problem setting me up nicely for the other 2 problems to come. 

Semi-Finals 2 (Bonus)

            I really enjoyed problem number 2 as the holds were friendly and the moves my style.  I ended up sticking the bonus hold on my 2^nd attempt, which I was very pleased with.  Sadly I was not able to finish the problem but I was happy with my performance and just glad I got the bonus hold. 

Semi-Finals 3

            This problem gave me some trouble; it started on two not so good slopers.  My first attempt I slid right off the holds onto my back lol.  I quickly got up before too many people saw haha.  Finally, I got my hands and feet right and was able to stick the next few moves.  I did not have the one arm strength to do the intended beta, so I tried a mono match to set myself up with the other hand for the next move.  It worked but I slipped going to the bonus hold. 

I knew that without the bonus on problem three it was going to be close as to whether or not I sneaked into finals.  

2011 ABS Nationals Qualifiers!!!

            I was really excited this year for the 2011 ABS Nationals because unlike every other year, this year it was going to be held inside of a warehouse with optimal seating and a BRAND NEW wall!!!  Unfortunately, I had not yet seen the wall so I did not know what to expect.  Let me tell you though they did an AWESOME job on the wall once I finally saw it!!

Thankfully, for qualifiers again this year we had six problems with four minutes climbing time and four-minute rest.  I was very excited that we had six problems again this year.  Because the competition was held inside of a warehouse, we had the option to choose where we wanted to warm up.  I chose to go to the spot as I feel it is the best bouldering gym around.  I was set to climb at 3:52 and let me tell you the time could not come quick enough!  I could not wait to finally get on the wall and climb.

            Qualifier 1 (Flash)

Problem one went down rather easily, I felt it was a very nicely set problem to get everyone warmed up for the other 5 to come.

            Qualifier 2 (Flash)

I actually, like when I see slab problems at comps because it mixes it up and they are rather nice because you don’t get crazy pumped on them.  I over gripped slightly on this problem just because I wanted be ready in case a foot slipped on me lol.  Thankfully, my feet stayed solid and I was able to flash the second problem. 

            Qualifier 3 (Flash)

I had a great time on this problem, big moves to solid pinches.  For some reason my feet did not want to stay on for this problem, literally every move my feet decided to slip off, making for a rather epic climb haha. 

            Qualifier 4 (Flash)

As soon as I turned around for problem four I knew and saw all of the small but positive crimps, I knew it was going down.  I love crimpy style problems. 

            Qualifier 5 (Flash)

As you can imagine I was pretty psyched at this moment having just flashed problems (1-4).  For problem five, I went right hand to a pocket then for the next move had to throw out to a crimp.  I was slightly nervous for this move because I could not find a way to do it static (as you can see in the video).  I ended up blindly dyno-ing for the crimp over the lip and to my surprise and excitement, I caught it!  The problem finished up with some technical crimp moves. 

            Qualifier 6 (Bonus)

After climbing five problems, fatigue was starting to set in, although I still had enough gas in the tank for one good burn.  I ended up getting the bonus without too much trouble.  For some reason after pulling the crux move, I decided to down climb and try another way to get to the top (not smart idea) lol.  My first burn ended up being my best attempt for this problem.  Unfortunately, I was not able to keep the flash streak going, however I had made it to the next day which was all I really cared about. J

Ecuador Bouldering Videos

Ecuador Part 1 - Bouldering

I have just recently returned from the Pan American Games which were held in Ibarra Ecuador in which I took 1^st place in Juniors for Bouldering and Sport and 6^th place for Speed. It was a real privilege for me to represent the USA in the first ever Pan American Games. The games had a very impressive turn out with representation from Argentina, Canada, Mexico, USA, Venezuela and of course Ecuador. Bouldering was the first discipline to start off the competition. Due to weather conditions the competition schedule had to be rearranged and moved around a lot; however it all worked out in the end. Bouldering Qualifiers went really well as I was the only one in Junior to send 4 of the 5 problems. In doing so I felt pretty confident about my chances of doing well for finals which were the next day. I really liked the way they held finals, because they used the world cup format. In the world cup format all of the six finalists, preview each of there four problems. Each climber then takes turns climbing the problem, once everyone has finished we then move onto the next problem. This way each climber has a good solid rest between each problem, allowing the problems to be harder in difficulty. I really liked problems two and three for finals. Problem two had a sick dyno to two spiky looking holds, my first attempt I didn’t fully commit and slipped off the two holds. Second go I fell on a cross move in which you had to step your foot up really high. Then third go I had my beta down and finished it off. Problem three was really unique in that you started the problem by swinging from a hold attached to a rope to another hold on the wall. I thought that was really unique. I ended up flashing problem number four as well making me Continental Champion for Bouldering in Junior Male. As you can imagine I was super stoked!!!

Bouldering Awards

Photo - Cami del Castillo

Qualifier #1

Photo - Faith Sullivan

Bouldering Qualifier #2

Photo - Faith Sullivan

Bouldering Qualifier #3

Photo - Molly Gaynor

Bouldering Qualifier #4

Photo - Faith Sullivan

Bouldering Qualifier #5

Photo - Faith Sullivan

Bouldering Finals #1

Photo - Vanessa Rubio

Bouldering Finals #1

Photo - Vanessa Rubio

Bouldering Finals #1

Just barely snagging the under cling with two finger

Photo - Vanessa Rubio

Bouldering Finals #2

Photo - Tomas Vila

Bouldering Finals #2

Photo - Vanessa Rubio

Bouldering Finals #2

Photo - Vanessa Rubio

Bouldering Finals #2

Photo - Tomas Vila

Bouldering Finals #4

Photo - Vanessa Rubio

Bouldering Final #4

Photo - Vanessa Rubio

Bouldering Final #4

Photo - Vanessa Rubio

Check Out the NEW Hangboard by ROCK CANDY HOLDS!!

Some Good Advice

Pick up the newest edition of DeadPointMag for a tip from yours truly on how to succeed with the ladies! ;) (pg20)

Dead Point Magazine Interview and Music Video

Check out DeadPointMagazine for my exclusive interview with yours truly about my recent online music video sensation and for some funny questions. A big thank you to Matt @ DeadPointMagazine for the interview.

Worlds Edinburgh Scotland 2010

-Photo Alex Fritz-

Worlds this year was amazing, it was held in Edinburgh, Scotland. I only made it for speed this time around and ended up taking 17th place. The venue in which the games held was amazing it was by far the biggest gym i have ever seen, it was built inside a quarry. I got a chance to explore the wonderful town of Edinburgh, with all of its castles and interesting scotish architecture. I had a really fun time meeting new people, climbing and cheering on all of the other competitors. Cannot wait for next year WORLDS!!

-Photo Alex Fritz-

Rifle!!

After the SLC ORSM, my friends and I decided to go to Rifle, Colorado. We crammed four people into a little Nissan Versa and away we went. We rolled into Rifle Mountain National Park around midnight. The following day we decided to check out Ruckman Craig. I had my eyes set on ‘Don’t point that thing at me’ a relatively short powerful 5.13c. It started off with about 45ft of a sustained 11d then transitioned into a pretty tough v9 boulder problem, into about 20ft of pretty easy flat wall climbing. By the time I had worked out the beta I had run out of steam for the day. After a good nights sleep, I went back to Ruckman and sent ‘Don’t point that thing at me’ first go. I was super stoked!! I then set my eyes on ‘Beer Run’ a super classic 5.13a. It was one of the longer routes that I got on while in Rifle at around 90ft. My first attempt on the route was spent trying to figure out the beta. After I was sure I had all the moves down, I went back up it later on in the day and sent. The next day we decided to check out Winchester Cave. I really wanted to try ‘7 PM Show’ which I read was a good 5.14a for young climbers, along with ‘American Prayer’ another 5.14a. I was able to get about half way up ‘7 PM Show’ and make some progress on ‘American Prayer’. I was really excited to get to work some 5.14’s. Even though I did not send, I feel trying the routes made me a stronger and more well rounded climber. I was also able to get ‘Bite the Bullet’ 5.13c down to one fall. I can’t wait to go back to try and send that route. The third day we went to Wicked Cave. I was really pumped to get on ‘Believe It’ another really short powerful 5.13c. My second attempt on it, I fell two moves two moves from the clipping jug. I was confused and tried to dyno to a non-existent hold. I was pretty bummed. I tried it again and got close to the top but was too tired to hang on. That night all I could think about was sending that route. I ran the sequence through my mind over and over again until I had that thing down. The next morning it was game time. After warming up, I got my game face on and sent ‘Believe It” first go. This route was really different than a lot of routes I had done because it had two knee bars, one right before the crux and one right before you clipped the anchors. It was really cool to be able to experience and learn a new style of climbing that I am not very used to. Shortly after, I Flashed ‘The Beast with two Backs’ 5.13a. Rifle is a very sick place to climb. I recommend if you have not gone, GO! The routes there are amazing and will challenge you in many different ways. I cannot wait to go back!!

Trade Show

August 31st 2010. I boarded my plane which was headed to Salt Lake City, Utah for the annual Outdoor Retail Show and Unified Bouldering Championship competition. This was my first OR competition in Utah. Unfortunately, I was not able to train as much as I had wanted to for the intense competition due to a recent ankle injury, however; I was as psyched as ever to climb with the Pro’s Daniel Woods, Chris Sharma, Dave Graham and many others. Qualifiers were intense; the route setters did a very good job of keeping you on your toes with their unique setting style. I qualified 19th, earning me a spot into semi-finals. Our shuttle from the warm up area to semi-finals was a pimped out SUV stretch limo. The limo ride was super fun. I also enjoyed getting to know the other climbers during the ride as well. For semi-finals we had three routes. I onsited the first problem, which was a technical flat wall problem. This left me plenty of time and energy for the second and third problems which were both long powerful moves on an overhanging wall. I did equally well on both problems, getting about half way up on each one, which bumped me up to 16th for my overall score. Unfortunately, this was not good enough though to make finals. UBC did a really good job of putting on a very exciting final. Next year I plan to come back even stronger and make finals, be a part of the Finale experience.

North Face Young Gun Award

I was awarded the North Face Young Gun Award this year at the 2010 SCS National Championships. I would just like to thank everyone who had a part in this, and a very big special thanks to my mom as well.

SCS Nationals 2010

This was by far the best Nationals!! It was held at the newly built Stone Summit Gym in Atlanta. You could tell that this gym was built for competitions. There was more than enough room for all the climbers and the spectators.

Qualifier 2
"Photo by - Jason Barnes"
This is by far the best rope gym I have ever been in. The first and second days were redpoint qualifiers. No matter how you did the first day, you got to climb the second day; then they calculated your points to see if you qualified for semi-finals. The first route wasn't too bad; easily made it to the top. The next day, however, I did not feel that I was climbing very smart and got pumped out earlier than I would have liked. I made it to next round, semi-finals, in around 8th place. I learned from my mistakes from the previous day and was able to climb a lot better, resting where I was supposed to and climbing smarter.

TEAM SPONGEBOB
"Photo By - Jason Barnes"
This route was definitely the best of the comp, I feel, for it had a really sick sideways dyno to a huge jug.


"Photo by - Jason Barnes"
I was very happy with my performance on the route; I ended up tying for 4th at the end of semi-finals. I felt really calm going into finals; I cruised the first half of the route, earning me a big rest right before the crux at the top. I milked the rest for as long as I could without being pushed for time. A few moves after the crux I realized that I had done the wrong beta, I tried for 30 seconds to somehow get out of it and recover to finish the route but alas, I could not. I ended up falling lower than I would have liked putting me in 9th overall. Obviously I was not very happy with my performance, but what can you do. From this though, I learned many things that I can again improve on for future competitions. Thankfully, my performance in speed climbing was better than my performance in sport this year. I took 3rd place!! earning me a spot on the U.S. team and a ticket to compete in Scotland for the Youth World Competitons this September.
I now am going home to train for the summer OR competition held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

SCS Divionals 2010

Divisionals this year was held in good ol state of Texas. I competed in the Junior division. The first day was a redpoint qualifiers where we had two routes to climb. I easily flashed the first one and tied for second on the second route. This qualified me for finals the next day. I had a little scare on the finals route with one of the clips because somehow I managed to get tangled up in it.




Photos by - Tom Kiefer

I was thankfully able to calmly get out of it and be the only one to make it to the top. Earning me first in the sport division :). After finals, was the speed qualifiers and finals. The gym that we were at had just finished building the official IFSC speed wall the other day which was cool because we got to train on that in preparation of Nationals and Worlds. I unleashed my inner speed demon and worked my way into the number one position for speed as well. I was very happy with my performance this year taking home the win for sport and speed in my category. Nationals here I come!!


Photo by - Tom Kiefer

2010 Teva Bouldering World Cup

"Photo by - Nicole Kirby"
The highly anticipated Bouldering World Cup held in Vail again this year was another huge success. With Daniel Woods from USA taking home the GOLD!! This was also my first year ever competing in an adult Bouldering World Cup. I was super excited to compete against some of the best climbers in the world. Seeing as this was my first World Cup I didn't really know what to expect in forms of how the problems were going to be for qualifiers. I knew they were going to be hard, but I did not expect them to be crazy hard and they were crazy hard!! I did, however, manage to get two bonus holds on the first problem and on the third problem which I was super happy about. Even though I did not do as well as I would have wanted to I still had a really fun time climbing and watching the pros do their stuff on the wall. It was a really good learning experience for me. I now know what I need to improve on and what to expect for next year. This gives me that much more motivation to go home and train to hopefully make podium in the near future.

Battle In The Bubble

On may 15th I had the pleasure of being invited by Kevin Jorgenson and the Spot Bouldering gym to be one of the 20 professional climbers to compete in the Spots first annual Battle In the Bubble competition. It started off with an on-sight qualifier round at the Spot. We had 5 different problems, all set with different climbing styles. The first problem was set on flat wall and was very technical. The second problem was super long and focused a lot on endurance. The third problem tested your problem reading skills and your pinch strength. The fourth problem was how long can you hang with no feet on bad holds. And the last problem was pure strength and lock-off ability. It had a wicked hand foot match move that was super exciting to do and see other climbers perform. Unfortunately, I missed finals by one hold :( ending up in 11th out of 40. Thankfully I was able to fore run the finals routes which were held at the boulder reservoir. They had built two sick!! brand new walls for the competition. I had a blast testing out the finals problems on the new walls and hanging out with other super strong climbers. The Spot gym did a great job with this competition; I hope that they will continue this one for years to come. The way they did finals was really cool and unique. It was elimination style, each finalist tried the problem for three minutes and the top climbers moved on the problem two, and then problem three until only the top two climbers were left. They traded attempts on the final problem until one of them sent or they had tried it three times. Also, which I thought was cool was they had a skydiver parachute down from a helicopter and hand the setters the start hold for one of the problems before they started the competition. Awesome job Spot gym and Kevin Jorgenson at putting together such a great comp!

SCS Regionals 2010

My regionals this year for SCS was held at Climb Iowa in Iowa. They did a really great job as always of holding a very well put together and organized competition. This years regionals was a relatively easy one seeing as there was only one other person in my category. lol The comp started really early in the morning (not a fan of these early starts lol). I think I got up around 5.30ish wayyyy too early for me. Our first route was a very relaxing 5.11; it got the blood flowing and muscles moving. The next route was a very well set 5.12. The last route was a hard 12. I was the only one of the comp to send the finale route :). Taking 1st in sport. I also took 1st in speed as well. Climb Iowa set some very good routes for regionals that got you thinking and evenly spread out the field. Now that regionals is over I am going to go home now and train my butt off for divisionals because I know the competition is going to be fierce down in Texas where it's being held. Later

Goofing Off at the Red

For my spring break, March 30^th – April 4^th, my buddy, Eric Monson, and I cruised on down to the Red River Gorge. We arrived Tuesday the 30^th of March around 5 o’clock. Since we had some time to kill, we decided to go to Drive by Craig. I hopped on the classic Ro-Shampo 5.12a. The next day, Wednesday, I headed on over to The Gallery. I warmed up on Mosaic 5.12c, a very cool route, and then went over to Calm like a Bomb 5.13b, which I on sighted. It was a tricky climb for me, just because the route followed a crack and that’s not really my style, but I was able to power through. After that, I worked on a 5.14 project. I really enjoyed being pushed to my limit on nearly every move. It really got me motivated to get stronger. Thursday, I went on over to Midnight Surf I warmed up on Cell Block Six 5.12c. This route was amazing, big moves to solid holds. I then went over to Tapeworm 5.12d, which also had big moves to solid holds. Finally, I was warm for Shiva 5.13b. The route starts off with chill 5.11 climbing to a killer lay down rest, which I enjoyed for a longtime. After the rest, though, comes the crux: a very hard boulder problem and dyno followed by 12 climbing. After I got some good beta from a local that stopped by, I made quick work of the route on my third go. On Friday, I headed on over to The Mother load, one of my favorite crags. I had my eyes set on The Madness 5.13c I had tried this route at the end of the day last year and loved it. I sent it on my first go. I then headed on over to my nemesis Golden Touch 5.13b, a short but super crimpy route. I finally laid the route to rest on my fourth go that day. I was very happy to be done with that route. The last day Saturday, I went to Drive by Crag. I really wanted to get on the very cool line Kaleidoscope 5.13c. I ended up flashing the route, and skipped the last clip making for a nice 25ft+ run out. After Kaleidoscope, I worked on my project Super Charger 5.13d/14a. This is probably my favorite route at the red, just big bouldery powerful moves on big openhanded pinches. I was able to get the route down to one fall. I had a super fun time at the Red climbing and hanging out with my friends at Miguel’s. I cannot wait to get down to the Red again.